April 27

1. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus.

2. To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

3. I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers right and day;

4. Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy;

5. When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother's love, and thy mother's Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

6. Wherefore I get thee in remembrance, that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

7. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but he thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

9 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;

10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

11 Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.

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.

13 Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

14 That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.

In verse 12 of this chapter we have Paul's experience. If there were nothing but ourselves, we might fear; but as long as we have the amplitude, the fidelity, the tenderness, and the love of Christ, we have that which is more than a match for all our sin. Doubt yourself as much as you will, but do not doubt Christ. When the Rev. Dr. Alexander lay dying, he was approached by a friend who asked him how he felt, and said to him, "Suppose you were now to go to the judgment seat, what would be your feelings?" He was then within twenty hours of his decease, and he knew he was dying. "What would be my feelings?" said he in reply. "They would be these: first, I would prostrate myself in an unutterable sense of my nothingness and guilt; but, secondly, I would look upon my Redeemer with an inexpressible assurance of faith and love. A passage of Scripture which explains my present feeling is this: '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.' Some persons read it, 'In whom I have believed,' but there is no preposition. Christ Himself was the direct object of the Apostle's faith. 'I know whom I have believed;' that is, I am acquainted with Him; I know Him." And relying on that only, he died, as millions of others have done, and as God grant we may, in the holy triumphs of the Gospel.

Closet Promise.—We which have believed do enter into rest.—Heb. iv. 3.

"Rest, blessed rest, no rest like this, The earnest of celestial bliss, The pledge of rest above:

The rest that Jesus only gives To him that in His presence lives, The life of holy love."