I Know Whom I Have Believed

Introduction

I don’t know how many times I’ve preached a sermon with this title, and yet you’re not getting a repeat. I love this statement of Scripture. I know whom I have believed. And of course, it comes from 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 12, where Paul says, as he talks about, as he is encouraging Timothy to retain the standard of sound words and to preach the gospel, he says, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted him until that day. But I want to ask you this, and I think it’s an important question that we need to keep before our minds at all times, and that is, why did we come here today? Why are you here?

And I think that’s a question you need to entertain if you’ve not done it recently. Why did you come here?

All I’ve ever known in my experience is association with those who claim to be the church of Christ. Now that’s not true of everyone in this audience this morning, but that’s my experience. And if that’s your experience, then there is, as I’ve said many times before, some baggage, perhaps, that goes with that. I mean, would I be a part of this? Would I still be worshiping in a place that has church of Christ on the sign, if it were not for my tradition? The fact that I happen to be born to Ken and Henrietta Mock, who were worshiping with those who claim to be a church of Christ. Well, the morals are here today from Tampa. They know my mom and dad. And my mom and dad are going to be here actually about ten days.

So is that why I’m here? Is it simply a matter of my tradition? Is my analysis really is my analysis of Scripture affected by my past, my experience, my tradition? Do I just see everything in Church of Christ colored glasses? You know, rose colored glasses. Do I have like Church of Christ covered glasses through which I’m seeing everything in Scripture? And perhaps it’s not as I imagine it. And that takes me to the story that I’ve told before about the fellow who gets to heaven, and Peter is taking him on a tour of heaven. And as they come down the corridor to one door on the left, he tells the man to be quiet. And he looks above the door. There’s a sign that says Church of Christ.

And there’s a window, and he can peer in, and he says, Shh, they think they’re the only ones here. You know, so obviously the point of that story is to even belittle my way of thinking, but it has denominational thoughts and concepts. There won’t just be members of the church of Christ in heaven. Because some people lived under a different covenant. They never were members of the Lord’s church. And so they’re going to be more than just members of the church of Christ in heaven to begin with. Everyone who was righteous according to the covenant to which God holds them accountable is going to go to heaven. Now, when I put Church of Christ on the sign, not me personally, but us as a group, what are we saying by that?

We’re simply claiming to belong to Christ. Everyone who belongs to Christ is going to go to heaven. But as we talked on Wednesday night, he who does the will of God is going to be the one that goes to heaven, Matthew chapter 7, 21 through 23. And look, if my requirements that I teach, if what I am suggesting to you that you ought to do to please God is more strict than what God has actually taught in his book, then I stand in danger of the judgment. And I’m not going to be one of the people in that place. Teachers receive a stricter judgment, James chapter 3 and verse 1. But when I say this, whenever you use this term church of Christ, people are thinking denominationally that we are somehow a denominational group like this denominational group, and we could choose names like Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, whatever the case might be, Pentecostal, but that we’re just a group distinct from them, and we have some kind of an organization like they do, and that’s just not the case.

And if there is something like that with Church of Christ, I’m not a part of it. I can only answer for what we believe and teach and practice in this place. And either we belong to the Lord or we don’t. And if we do belong to the Lord, then we have a very real hope of glory.

But where does that leave everybody else? Well, let me tell you another verse in 2 Timothy that I want to call your attention to. And this really settles the matter as well, not just Matthew chapter 7. The Lord knows those that are his.

If anyone loves God, he is known by him. 1 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 3. The Lord knows those that are his, and it’s not just about a name on a sign. Are we truly those who belong to Christ? The firm foundation of God stands having the seal. The Lord knows those that are his, and let everyone who names the name of Christ, again, a lot of people will say things, but let everyone who names the name of Christ abstain from wickedness. Now there’s some of the righteous requirements involved in truly being of Christ. And those are going to matter. So what’s the big deal about all of this? Is this what we’re doing this morning? Is this what God had in mind from all eternity?

You know, the church was the eternal purpose of our Lord. We read in the book of Ephesians. Is this it? Is this what he had in mind? And we said very recently that from a carnal worldly perspective, this, I don’t mean to insult you. I’m insulting me along with you. This doesn’t seem all that impressive from a worldly point of view. And that’s why we asked recently, what’s the big deal about the church? You know the answer, right? That we gave from Acts chapter 2, and I wanted to bring this to your attention again. Because in Acts 2 and verse 38, he said, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

That’s what the big deal is. If we are truly of Christ, we have received this. The gift of the Holy Spirit. And what is that? Now you know that if you heard that sermon, right? It is all that the Holy Spirit had been promising in the Old Testament. All of those prophecies that anticipated the Messiah’s reign and all the glories that go with it. It included the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in terms of spiritual gifts, but it included much more than that. It included Jews and Gentiles, the lion and the lamb laying down together all of those people who would come into one body in Christ. That’s what the big deal is. And if we’re truly of Christ, that’s what we have. We have received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And that’s special, whether you realize it or not, but listen, you have to perceive that from a spiritual perspective. It is not something, and Paul talks about this in length, really another issue that he’s dealing with, but the principles applied here that you can’t measure things from a carnal perspective. Like the way Paul looks, I mean, he looked terrible. His personal presence was contemptible, the Corinthians were saying. From a physical appearance point of view, Paul looked awful, and yet he was alive spiritually. He was an apostle of Jesus Christ, and he was going to heaven. So these things have to be assessed from a spiritual perspective. And I want to tell you, that’s what we get lost in sometimes. We don’t look at this from a spiritual perspective.

That’s what’s amazing about this, whether there’s just 50 people here or less. Or we’ve jammed the building. Let me tell you what’s special about this. And I was looking through my notes this week, some things I was going to say in this sermon that I left out. And so I was going to get this in here. What’s so special about this? I won’t tell you what’s special about this. Those who are truly of Christ are blood redeemed. Who have been bought with the precious blood. That’s the only way we can be a part of this. And not only are we blood redeemed, as a result of that, we now have divine connection. We have access. We have fellowship with God and all the assistance and blessings that go with that.

And that’s not all. As those who are shining as lights in the world, trying to live that righteousness that we talked about. We have an exalted purpose. Okay, that’s these three things are special. We have been blood redeemed. We have divine connection. We have an exalted purpose as his people, and then there’s this the glorious destination that awaits us. Okay, let’s get back to our original question. Why are we here? Is this really what God had in mind? And how can we know for sure? How confident are you of that? And how can you be confident? I talk a lot about confidence. I think it’s important because I see members of the Lord’s body without confidence. How can you be confident? Look at these verses with me in 1 John chapter 3.

I have come to appreciate these verses this week in a way that I had not before. I just taught 1 John. And in this section, he is repeating the basis for their fellowship and all that they are. Remember the three arguments that we talked about when we studied 1 John. There is the moral argument, you have to walk as Jesus walked. There is the social argument, you have to love one another, love others in Christ. And there is the convictions argument, you have to believe the right things about Christ. And all three of these are in this section. And he’s talking about our hearts being assured before the throne of God. And the reason why I’ve, and that’s actually verse 19, I believe, comes before this section.

I think a lot of people that I preach to, their hearts are not assured before the throne of God. That’s what I want this sermon to result in today. Your heart being assured before the throne of God that I am indeed of Christ. I am his child, and I have those four incredible things that we just looked at that make this such a big deal. And so he talks about things in which our hearts condemn us, and that’s another whole sermon in and of itself, and that God is greater than our hearts. God can do something with our guilt that we struggle to do with our guilt. But then he says, beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. And whatever we ask, we receive from him because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.

And this is his commandment that we believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ. Now that’s convictions. And love one another, that’s social, just as he commanded us, and the one who keeps his commandments, that’s moral, the one who keeps his commandments, abides in him, and he in him.

Now let’s just deal with that spirit part. That’s a little bit different than Acts 2 and verse 38, though a part of it. The Spirit whom God had given them was giving them revelation by miraculous means. And you know, you wanted an indication in the first century, okay, is this the real thing or not? And they’re dealing with Gnosticism. There’s a threat to their faith that he’s dealing with in 1 John. And he’s saying, go back to what you know, to what is objective and what is real. You know you’re the people of God because the Holy Spirit is revealing things through you and to you. That’s the Spirit whom they had been given. He said, not only trust that, trust what the Spirit is telling you, and do that.

1. Truth Matters, and Truth Can Be Known

That’s real. That’s right. That’ll get you to heaven. Trust in that. And so for us, since we do not live in the era of miraculous spiritual gifts, that’s another sermon that I’ve preached. We have the result of what the Spirit gave to them in the completed New Testament, New Covenant of Jesus. So we can have confidence in the same way through this message that comes to us through the Spirit. Three things about this text quickly, and we’ll be done. Number one, this is an important point. Truth matters. Truth matters, and truth can be known. You know, a lot of people, I just don’t know where the answer is. I don’t know what the answers are. I don’t know where the answers are. I don’t know the answers.

John is saying, you have the answers. We keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. Now, young people, is that very hard? That’s not very hard. Your parents are authority figures in your life, and they ought to be. Now, you understand this concept, right? Mom and dad has some rules for you. You keep the rules. And when you keep the rules, mom and dad’s countenance toward you seems to be better. You do the things that are pleasing in their sight. Tony took out the trash. Tony shoveled the driveway when snow came in abundance in southern Indiana in the winter time. Because my dad, when he came home, wanted to get up the driveway. I don’t know why that was so important to him.

But I shoveled the snow. We had these, we had real trees in Indiana too. I’m sorry, Texas people, but real trees, tulip poplars, they were massive. The problem with massive trees is when there’s a storm like we had last night, limbs are everywhere. I had to pick up the limbs. Worse yet, the fall. When leaves were knee deep in my yard. And it was a big yard. Guess who got to rake the leaves? Where were my sisters in all of this? I don’t know. But we understand this concept of keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. That’s really simple, isn’t it? This is not rocket science, as we say. In fact, the rocket scientist might struggle with this. And might stumble over this because so often with those who are great in intellect, and again, I don’t mean to be demeaning any of you or me as well, but those who are often with great intellect stumble over this.

And that’s what Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 1 and chapter 2.

Not many mighty, not many noble. Didn’t say no noble, no wise, no mighty. He says, not many. He has chosen the things that are not to nullify the things that are. These things appeal to the average person. You and I, there’s not anybody in this audience who can’t do this. And I know sometimes that it seems like an endless, an endless pursuit of the will of God. It just, I mean, it’s Bible study after Bible study after Bible study, and class after class after class, and we sort of get bogged down in doing that all the time, I think. Let me tell you what it does. The more you digest God’s will, the more you appreciate what God is telling you. And the more you mold yourself into the image of Christ, the more confidence you are going to have that this is indeed right, that I am pleasing God, and that glory awaits me.

And I have answers for the futility of our world, and how quickly we’re being hurled through it as we age and die. Seeing how all the pieces of scripture fit together aids our understanding of his will. And I appreciate it more and more in Ephesians 5, as he encourages us not to be partakers of those who engage in acts of disobedience. He said, You were formerly darkness. I found a way to get this in. Anyway. You were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Now, what has happened to us physically this morning? We were in darkness. Now we have light.

2. Jesus Is Fact, Not Fiction

Spiritually, again from a spiritual perspective, we were in the dark. We were and living in the dark as we follow immorality. But now he says, you’re children of light. That’s our exalted purpose. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth. Trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. That’s what Jesus said. If you abide in my word, then you are my disciples. John 8, 31 and 32. That’s a simple but important point. The second is also simple and important. Jesus is fact, not fiction. And we need to trust in him. Did you see this phrase? This is what jumped out at me when I read 1 John 3, 21 through 24.

We believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. You know what that means, right? That’s not a title that he wears. A specific name or title, Messiah, Christ, Savior, Jesus. It’s all that he is. It’s every name that he wears. It’s the I am statements that he made. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. That’s what we believe. When He said, I am the good shepherd, and I am the door, and I am the resurrection and the life. I am the bread of life. I am the sustenance that you need. We believe in all of that. And because he descended to the uttermost and died even the death on the cross, he now has a name that is above every name.

There is no one who rivals Jesus in importance, in position, in status, in power. He alone sits at the right hand of the Majesty on high. And I want to tell you, I believe that with every ounce of my being. And I’ll tell you why. Because the evidence is first historical. This is a real event of history. The evidence is first historical, and the eyewitnesses are credible and abundant.

Well, how strongly do you believe it, preacher? Okay. Everything that I’ve got. Everything. All $6.74. Everything that I have. No, it’s more than that. My house, which I only partially own, the bank owns more than I do. Okay, my equity in my house, whatever it is. My cards. My bank accounts. I want to tell you. I would place it all on the line. Everything. You could take all my clothes. Everything that I have in this material world. You could take it all. If I’m not telling you the truth about Jesus. I believe it with everything that I have. And I told you before, this is what I keep coming back to. When life is tough, when I am in pain, when I don’t understand, when it gets hard to go on another day, and some of us get there, and some of us experience difficulty worse than others.

But no matter how hard it is, I keep coming back to this. I believe in the name of the Son of God. He lives. And as we’ve said, we use the expression that the proof is in the pudding. I did some research. I wouldn’t know what that meant. When you eat the pudding, you realize just how special all those ingredients are. The proof is in the eating. That’s actually the original phrase. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. When you eat and digest the will of God, the proof is in the pudding. That you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans chapter 12 and verse 2. God knows what it is, it’s his wisdom. But as we ingest it and digest it and live it, we see that it is good, acceptable, and perfect for our lives.

3. Blessed People Who Have Enlisted in His Service

That’s what John is saying. And so the third thing flows out of that. We are the blessed people who have enlisted in his service. How are you going to look at this? Okay, not many mighty, not many noble, just average people, average intellect, varying intellects, varying economic and social strata. Some with money, some without. Every ethnicity. But blessed people. This was God’s plan. Through your descendants, God told Abraham what? Shall all the nations of the earth be blessed? The ideal state of living. That’s what you’re in. He tells these believers. There are all these threats. There are people who are wanting to lead them away. There are still threats. There are many threats to our faith. If we listen to the wrong things and develop the wrong convictions, and that’s what’s going on in 1 John, be careful what you’re listening to.

Appreciate this. Blessed people who enlist in his service. Why are we blessed? He says in 1 John 3. Those who keep his commandments abide in him. And he in him or in them. That’s a wonderful. It’s the relationship. So what happens? Two main things happen when we come to the Lord on His terms. Back to Acts 2 38. There’s sin on my account. What do I need to do? Repent and be baptized. And we talked about in our class on Sunday morning very recently, being immersed in water in the likeness of Jesus, death, burial, and resurrection. Repent. Change your attitude toward that feudal way of life and be baptized in the name of Jesus. We believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ. Be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission of sins, and you shall receive all the Holy Spirit of promise.

You shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So two amazing things happen when we come to the Lord on His terms. We receive salvation, and we come into relationship with God. He abides in us, and we abide in him. Value that relationship this week as you live your life, as you try to keep his commandments as you live your life and the things that must go on in your life to sustain it. Think about your relationship. Talk to God about the things we’ve heard here today. About the confidence that you need to have, that your heart needs to be assured before his throne. You know the truth. You believe in the name of the Son of God, and you are a blessed person if you have enlisted in his service.

And the other marvelous thing that happens is glory. The New Testament talks about glory a lot. One more passage I want you to look at with me in Colossians 3. This is what Paul is saying to the church at Colossi when he says, if you then have been raised up with Christ, we were baptized, we’re raised up with Christ. And again, that has to be perceived spiritually. I mean, I’m still sitting or standing here on the earth. But spiritually, in my inner man, I have been raised up to sit with Christ. Keep seeking the things above. Where he is. That’s literally where he is, the right hand of the Majesty on I’m Hebrews 1. Seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

That’s challenging. How many times have we heard that verse? That’s challenging, isn’t it? So often we are being drawn and attracted to the things we see on earth. Spiritually, we’ve got to direct our thoughts to the higher things, where Jesus is. Set your affections on things above. For you have died. That’s what your baptism meant. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. It’s hidden from this world. They don’t perceive it or understand it. But the idea is that we have come into a relationship with Christ. We’re with him. And when Christ, who is our life, and that’s what makes this special, when Christ, who is our life, is revealed, and he will ultimately be revealed, and every eye shall see you.

Then you also will be revealed with him in glory. I struggle with this word. I really don’t know what it looks like entirely. Think about that glory. But I tell you, it sounds spectacular. And you don’t want to miss it. You will be with him in glory. But it’s this simple. Do you believe it? I mean, you have to enlist in his service.

Conclusion

You have to accept his salvation on his terms. He who believes and is baptized shall be saved. That’s the way Jesus told it to his disciples in Mark 16 and verse 16. Is there someone in this audience who has been reticent to acknowledge Jesus lives? He’s the reigning king. I need him to be my Savior and friend. I need to enlist in his service. Or perhaps you’ve done that in times past, but you’re sort of resting on the laurels, the name. We’re church of Christ. Oh. But are you really living of Christ? Let everyone who names the name of Christ abstain from wickedness and receive his help in that pursuit. Is there someone who needs to appeal to him and to his people for help in that great pursuit?

An exalted purpose we have as his people. Can we help someone today? This is what it’s all about. Let’s stand a second.