“I KNOW WHOM I HAVE BELIEVED”
Trevor R Campbell
Job 19: 25 to “liveth”;
2 Timothy 1: 12 from “for I know”
1 John 3: 2
It is a very sobering matter to be in the presence of death, beloved brethren and friends, but it is a wonderful triumph to be at the burial of a believer, for while there is the side of sorrow there is the side of triumph; and it struck me that it is a blessed matter that the believer knows certain things. There is a clamour in the world for knowledge and education, which may be right in its place, but all knowledge that relates to this scene is going to be left behind. But there is knowledge through faith that is eternal, and Job says, in our first scripture, “I know that my Redeemer liveth”. And our sister knew that; she knew that the Lord Jesus Christ, her Redeemer, lives. He is alive and He lives for eternity. The One that became dead is the One that is living to the ages of ages, and He has the keys of death and of hades, Rev 1: 18. And our sister, as having been put to sleep through Jesus, is in death, but there is a blessed Man that has been into death before her. That blessed Man, the Lord Jesus, went into death but He is no longer there. Think of that! Think of that word that could be said after He arose from among the dead: “Come, see the place where the Lord lay”, Matt 28: 6. He is out of death: how blessed! I trust that everyone in this room knows the Saviour, the Lord Jesus, the One that died on the cross and shed His precious blood, and went into death; went into the grave but is no longer there because, “my Redeemer liveth”. Nothing can change that: He lives! And our sister knew that and had an eternal link with that blessed Man.
Another thing that the believer knows is the One that they believe in. And that is Jesus; what a blessed matter. Paul writes to Timothy saying, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep for that day the deposit I have entrusted to him”. Well, our sister entrusted everything to the Lord Jesus, that was demonstrated in her life, a life of piety and faithfulness and a life that was pleasing to the Lord Jesus. How blessed that is, and she knew the One that she believed. She put her faith and trust in Jesus at an early age and that link that she had with Him is eternal and can never be changed. Do you have that belief in a blessed, living Man; the Redeemer, the Saviour? Do you know him? The apostle Paul did, “for I know whom I have believed”. Our sister knew whom she believed; she was convicted about that. Are you convicted in your belief that there is a living Man in glory? And Paul writes that he is “persuaded that he is able to keep for that day the deposit I have entrusted to him”. That deposit can never be changed because it is safe in the hand of Jesus. The Lord Jesus takes hold of you when you believe and He never lets you go. How blessed to have that assurance.
And then too our sister had the assurance that she would not only be with Jesus but she would be like Jesus. How blessed these things are; I trust they are your portion. John writes in his epistle, “what we shall be has not yet been manifested;” but he says, “we know that if it is manifested we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is”. Our sister was looking forward to seeing the Lord and being like Him. In these times confined to her bed what was before her was the Lord Jesus and His coming, and the hope that she had never wavered; and, beloved, that is available for you, to know Jesus now, the One that we are going to be like. We shall have a body of glory like His body of glory. How precious these things are! Our sister knew these things. And may we all, as being in the presence of death, take account of where we are before God, and have this conviction and the knowledge that these things are sure and are certain!
May the Lord bless the word.
Glasgow
19 November 2019