What God Has Entrusted to His Church, 1 of 3 — Stephen Kaung

Will you please turn to 2nd Timothy. 2nd Timothy will begin with verse 8. Through verse 14. 2nd Timothy, chapter 1, verse 8. 2nd Timothy, chapter 1, verse 8. According to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages of time, but has been made manifest now by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who has unknown death and brought to light life and incorruptibility by the glad tidings, to which I have been appointed a herald, an apostle, and teacher of the nations, for which cause also I suffer these things.

But I am not ashamed, for 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. Have an outline of sound words, which words thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

Keep, by the Holy Spirit, which dwells in us, the good deposit entrusted. Keep, by the Holy Spirit, which dwells in us, the good deposit entrusted. Keep, by the Holy Spirit, which words thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

Keep, by the Holy Spirit, which words thou hast heard of me, the good deposit entrusted. Keep, by the Holy Spirit, which words thou hast heard of me,. Let's have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee for gathering us together unto Thy Name.

Wherever Thy Name is, there is Thy presence. We do realize that we are standing on holy ground. We will remove our shoes and take our place as Thy slaves before Thee. We will open our hearts towards Thee.

And we will say to Thee, Lord, what Thou hast to say to us. Speak, Thy servants hear it. We commit this time into Thy loving hands. Trust Thy Holy Spirit to give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation that we may truly know Thee.

And to know Thee and the One whom Thou hast sent is eternal life. We give Thee all the praise and glory in the Name of our Lord Jesus. We do want to thank the Lord for giving us such opportunity. We do realize that the end is coming.

We do not know whether there will be more time. And we do thank the Lord. He knows our need. And He gathers us together in His presence to prepare us for meeting Him. I believe, brothers and sisters, we all know the theme of this conference.

The Church’s Responsibility as the Coming of the Lord Approaches

What God has entrusted to the Church. Now, this is taken from 2 Timothy 2, 2 Timothy 1, verses 12 to 14. And I was assigned to share with you, dear brothers and sisters, verse 12. 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.

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. At first glance, I thought this was not suitable for our theme. Because our theme is what God has entrusted to the Church.

But here, Paul says, I have entrusted the deposit to God. But, brothers and sisters, a second thought. I think this is very suitable for our theme. For what can we entrust it to the Lord, which is not being entrusted to us first?

So, we do find that we have to know what God has entrusted to us first. So, we do find that we have to know what God has entrusted to us first. Then, we will be able to entrust it to Him. I have another thought.

I think this is a statement made by Apostle Paul. But then again, on second thought, I feel that this is for the Church. Because the Apostle Paul himself said, I am a heret and apostle and teacher of the nations.

He was called to be a preacher. He will preach to us what God has shown him. And he was also a heret. Heret, an apostle. And as an apostle, he was assigned to do a work. And that work is to build the Church.

And then also, he is a teacher of the nations. He must teach us how to build the Church. What is the responsibility of the Church? So, in every way, we find that this is related to the Church. I feel that this is a very timely theme.

Because this is a very special time. As everything is changing. As the coming of the Lord is approaching. We who are still here, we have a very special responsibility. We are here to bear the testimony of Jesus.

And we are here to bring in his kingdom. So we have a very serious responsibility. We need to know very clearly what God has entrusted to us. And we need to be faithful. When I was considering this before the Lord, I hoped that I will be able to share with you brothers and sisters in a very simple way.

Trust, Trusteeship, and Faithfulness

So when I thought of that word, entrusted, I was thinking of this matter of trust. So what I will do is, if God wills, that I will speak on the trust first. And then the second time, we will share on the trustee.

And if God wills, we will share together on this matter of trustworthiness. Now you know that in our time, there is something that is very common and getting increasingly popular. And that is, people tend to make a trust.

We will take all that we possess and put it into a trust. We want to be sure that everything will be taken care of. If one day we are incapacitated, or whether we are diseased, and we want to know that everything is well taken care of.

So we will consult a lawyer. And we will draw up a trust. We will put everything that we possess into that trust. And how it should be arranged and distributed. And most likely, the first trustee will be ourselves.

Because we trust ourselves more than anybody else. But unfortunately, we know that one day we will be unable. Or we will not be here anymore. So we will find someone whom we consider as trustworthy. A man of worth.

And we will appoint him as our trustee. When we are being unable, or whether we are diseased, then this man will take care and arrange all our possessions. He will not change our thoughts. But he will faithfully do what we have put down in the trust.

This is the way that modern man will do. But the question is, does God need a trust? Our God is the eternal God. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He will never die. He lives forever. And he is ever faithful and ever trustworthy.

So, so far as God himself is concerned, he has no need to make a trust. He is well able to take care of everything that he has. But strangely, we find that God seems to have the habit of making trust.

We wonder why. As I meditated upon this matter, I could not find a real reason for God to make a trust. Because he is well able to manage his affairs throughout eternity. And who is so worthy as he is?

He is the most dependable person to manage his own affairs. But we find in the word of God that he seems to delight in making trust. He will like to put what he has into the hands of man. For instance, in the very beginning, God created man.

God’s Trust in Humanity and the Dominion Mandate

He created man in his own image after his likeness. But after he created man, he gave man not only responsibility in doing works. Man is to guard and to till. But he also gave man dominion. Dominion over the fowls of the air, the animals in the land, and the fishes of the sea.

In other words, he puts what he has in a certain way. He puts some of what he has into the hands of man and asks man to manage for him. They are to rule over the earth. They are to bring all things back to the feet of God.

They are to exercise authority for God. So you find that God seems to delight in doing such things. And sometimes I wonder why. There is only one reason I can think of. And that is because God is trustworthy.

Because he is faithful. This is his character. And somehow he will extend that character to man. Because he trusts in himself. And he is perfectly trustworthy. Therefore, he puts trust in man. Hoping that man will be as trustworthy as he is.

You remember in Mark chapter 11, our Lord Jesus, how he cursed that fig tree. And the fig tree dried up. The disciples were amazed at that. And our Lord Jesus said, Have faith in God. In the original, it is Have the faith of God.

God is full of faith. And he wants us to have faith just as he has faith. He likes to extend his own character into man. And I think probably that is the reason why God makes trust. And he even trusts man.

Hoping that man will be trustworthy to him. Not only in the beginning of human history, he trusts Adam to rule over the ruined earth. And to bring all things back to God's feet. But as we read on, we will find that when man began to multiply, and how they rebelled against God, and during that time, people are worshipping idols, worshipping many gods.

And they left the one true God. So we find that God reacted. The God of glory appeared to Abraham. And because of his appearance, Abraham, by faith, believed and followed God. And out of Abraham, we find the nation of Israel.

Israel’s Covenant Responsibility to Display God’s Holiness and Righteousness

Now you find in the Old Testament how God sent Moses to Egypt to deliver the children of Israel out of bondage. And he brought them unto himself. He led them to Mount Sinai. And there he gave them the Ten Commandments.

If they should keep the Ten Commandments, they will be his people. And he will be their God. Now brothers and sisters, we know that the Ten Commandments, the first four commandments, are related to God's holiness.

He is the only true God. And aside of him, there is no God. He is holy. All together separated. He is all by himself. That's what holiness really means. And how there should not be any image made. And there should not make his name idly.

And there should be the keeping of the Sabbath. That is to say, to trust in the work of God. God has done it all. And we just rest in him. So the four commandments are pertaining to God's holiness. They express the holiness of God.

And the last six commandments represent God's righteousness. Because God is righteous. He does everything right. And he wants us to be right in all things. So in other words, you find that God, with the Ten Commandments, made a covenant with the children of Israel.

To put it another way, when the whole world was in idol worship, God raised up the nation of Israel to commit his name to that people. That his holiness and his righteousness might be known to the world.

To put it in another way, God has entrusted himself to the nation of Israel. It is a trust. But unfortunately, we find the children of Israel, eventually they departed from God. They found before God they were unfaithful and untrustworthy.

But that does not change God. God is still faithful and trustworthy. So we find in the fullness of time, God sent his son into this world. Born of a woman and born under law. That he may redeem us from the curse of law.

And that way we may receive sonship. So brothers and sisters, when God reacts, you find that he reacts in not only a positive way, but an increased way. When he sent his son into this world, he entrusted himself fully to his son.

Christ’s Faithfulness in Revealing and Glorifying the Father

And when his son was on the earth, he was to declare the father. Put it in another way, as you see the son, you see the father. Our Lord Jesus is faithful to the trust. Throughout his life, it is the father before him.

He came to glorify the father. He came to do the work of the father. He came to declare the father. Everything was the father. And he even died for the glory of the father. He is the one who has proved himself trustworthy to the trust to him.

But then we find our Lord Jesus, how he died and raised from the dead. And then after appearing to his disciples for forty days, he ascended up on high. And he was anointed as Lord and Christ. And on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down and united the hundred and twenty believers into one body under one head.

Christ Entrusts Himself Fully to the Church

And that is the beginning of the church. And on that day, our head, our Lord Jesus committed himself to the church. As God had not withheld anything, but trusted him all of his into his son. So our Lord Jesus as the head entrusted to the church's body all of himself.

It is a complete and perfect trust. And this has been entrusted to the church. So brothers and sisters, we would like to see what has God entrusted to the church. When you read 2 Timothy chapter 1, verse 8, be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.

Here you find the testimony of the Lord. To me, I feel this represents the trust that has been entrusted to the church. Our brother Lance mentioned last night. He said that in the book of Revelation you find the phrase the testimony of Jesus, the testimony of Jesus Christ is mentioned a number of times.

Why is it so? Because the testimony of Jesus is the very thing that God has entrusted himself to the church. What is the testimony of Jesus? We find that the apostle John he was exiled to the island of Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus.

Throughout the centuries in the church we find the testimony of Jesus. And we find people who are faithful to their testimony. Dear brothers and sisters, I often feel that we do not really realize what God has entrusted to us.

We find that God has entrusted Christ himself to us. And when he entrusted Christ to us he entrusted himself all to us. We do not realize what a trust that is. What is the testimony of Jesus? The whole Bible is the testimony of Jesus.

You remember our Lord Jesus said himself. He searched the scripture. You think there is eternal life in it. But you do not come to me to receive life. You also remember at the resurrection of our Lord Jesus how he conversed with the two disciples through e-mails.

And how he said in the book of Moses and the Psalms and the Prophets they all speak of me. So in other words you find that the testimony of Jesus is none other but Christ himself. I think in order to know what is the testimony of Jesus probably the simplest way is we turn to Revelation chapter one.

The Testimony of Jesus as the First, the Last, and the Living One

Revelation chapter one. We find that in the first chapter there is the vision of our Lord Jesus. And then in verse seventeen and verse eighteen. And when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead and he held his right hand upon me saying fear not I am the first and the last and the living one and I became dead and behold I am living into the ages of ages and have the keys of death and of Hades.

Now we know that the apostle John is the one who is nearest to our Lord Jesus. He is among one of the first two who came to our Lord Jesus. And among the twelve apostles he was the last one who passed away.

He was the one whom Jesus loved. And he was the one who lay upon the breast of our Lord and asked him. In other words he was most intimate to the Lord. We may all say that there was no one who knew the Lord as much as the apostle John.

And yet in this Patmos vision he saw the glory of the Lord as the high priest of the church. And you find he was fell down at his feet as dead. In other words his knowledge of the Lord Jesus while the Lord was on earth was full.

But the Lord in heaven that knowledge he was to receive. So dear brothers and sisters oftentimes we think that we know the Lord Jesus. Have we not believed in him as our Savior? Have we not believed in his cross?

Have we not experienced him as our Comforter? But brothers and sisters our knowledge of our Lord Jesus is always limited. No matter how much you know of the Lord Jesus there is always much more to know about him.

He is the infinite one. Now who is able to know God all of God? Even in eternity we are continuing knowing Christ. But brothers and sisters in the word of God he has revealed so much to us. And what we have really understood of God is very limited.

And it is the will of God that we should know him and know him and know him. So the testimony of Jesus is an all-inclusive testimony. It tells us who Jesus is and what Jesus is. And here you find a very simple statement.

And it is spoken by our Lord himself. Now who is Jesus Christ? He said, I am the first and the last. This is what our Lord Jesus is. He is the first. In other words, he is the beginning. He is the Alpha.

Everything begins with him. Whatever does not begin with him is not of God. He is the first. He has the first place in all things. And dear brothers and sisters, do we know him as the first? And the first in the Scripture does not mean that first, second, third, and so on.

First in the Scripture means he is all. And do we know him as the first? Do we let him be the first in our life? Do we put him among Moses and Elijah? Do we put him among Moses and Elijah? Do we remember the scene on the Mount of Transfiguration?

How Peter blurted out and said, it is so good to be here. Let us make three tabernacles. One for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah. And immediately the glory cloud of God passed over. And everything disappeared.

They see Jesus only. And the voice said, this is my beloved son here. In other words, you cannot put Christ among other people. Because it is the will of God that he is the first. He had the preeminence among all things.

And everything must begin with him. And this is not just a theory. This is a truth. And this is something that God wants us to know. That we realize that Jesus is the first. That everything in our lives must begin with him.

And he must be first in our life. Our God is a jealous God. He will not allow us to have anything to be equal with Christ. And this matter of the first applies to many things. And this is the testimony that has entrusted to the church.

Because in the church Christ is the beginning. Because in the church Christ is the beginning. Everything must come from Christ. And in the church Christ is incomparable. He is our all and in all. So you'll find Ephesians chapter 1, verses 22 and 23.

God has made him head over all things to the church which is his body. The fullness of him who fills all and in all. And this is the testimony of Jesus. And this is entrusted to the church. And then he said, I'm the last.

In other words, he is the ending. He is the goal. Everything sums up in him. And everything will give glory to him. If our aim, our end does not end with Christ whether our life or our service all these are vanity of vanity.

Because it is the will of God that all things will be ended in Christ. Sum up in Christ. Brothers and sisters what a testimony that is. One day everything will speak of Christ. Because this is the will of God.

So he said, I'm the first and the last. This is my place in the church. And then he said, I am the living one. Now this speaks of what he is. Our Lord Jesus is the living one. He is life. He is resurrection and the life.

That is what he is. We know of what he does. We know of what he does. But we often times do not know what he is. He is life. He is not only the origin of life. He is the giver of life. And anything that is related to him must be life.

Whatever is the life is not of him. Because he is the living one. Therefore he is over all things. So brothers and sisters what we need to know about Christ. What do we need to know about Christ? That is to know him as the living one.

To know his life. To allow his life to control us. To allow his life to be our life. And this is the testimony of Jesus. And then it is said and I became dead. Now that refers to his work. He is life.

But this life has gone into death. In order to rob death of his power and comes out in victory. Dear brothers and sisters we do thank the Lord that he came into this world and he was dead. He was dead.

But he came out of the tomb. He is the victorious one. We should experience him as such. And behold I am living to the ages of ages. In other words life has overcome death. He is the resurrection and the life.

And this is what we need to know him. When you read Philippians chapter 3 the passion of the apostle Paul is to know him. And how to know him? To know the power of his resurrection. This is to know him.

And he said, behold I am living to the ages of ages and have the keys of death and of Hades. He said, behold I am living to the ages of ages and have the keys of death and of Hades. In other words he has overcome.

The keys are in his hand. He can shut it off he can open it. Brothers and sisters and this is the testimony of Jesus. And this is what has been entrusted to the church. And the church is to bear this testimony.

The Glad Tidings as Christ Himself, Not Merely Its Benefits

Then again we find in 2 Timothy chapter 1. And in verse 8 But suffer evil along with the glad tidings according to the power of God. Here you find another term glad tidings. So what has been entrusted to the church?

God has entrusted to the church the glad tidings. Brothers and sisters we often think of what the glad tidings is. We think of the glad tidings as how our Lord Jesus did the work of redemption. How his blood was shed for the remission of our sins.

How his flesh was given to us that we may receive life. And thus we are saved. This is glad tidings to us. There is nothing more glad than this tidings. We who were dead in sins and transgressions and now Christ has come to save us.

We are thankful for that. And we feel this is our great commission. And we are to preach this gospel to the whole world. Brothers and sisters this is what we consider as the glad tidings. But when you read the scriptures you find the glad tidings that have been entrusted to the church is much more than that.

We consider the effect of the glad tidings to our lives. But the glad tidings is something much bigger. Because when you read the book of Romans you find in the book of Romans chapter 1 he said Paul, born man of Jesus Christ, had called a person separated to God's glad tidings.

And then in my version we have parenthesis which has been before promised by the prophets in holy writings and parenthesis. And then he said concerning his son and again in parenthesis come of David's seed according to flesh mark our son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness by resurrection of the dead end of parenthesis.

And then it follows with Jesus Christ our Lord. So in other words God's glad tidings what is God's glad tidings? Concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord. So the glad tidings is Christ himself. The glad tidings includes much more than initial salvation.

We see the glad tidings of the effect of it in our lives. That it saves us. Therefore it is glad tidings for us. But the glad tidings itself is Christ himself. He is much bigger than what his effect upon us.

So the scripture speaks of the glad tidings as the mystery of glad tidings. If you read Ephesians chapter 6 you find that the apostle Paul the apostle Paul says in verse 19 chapter 6 verse 19 And for me in order that utterance may be given to me in the opening of a mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the glad tidings.

也为我祈求使我得到口才能以放胆开口讲明福音的奥秘。. The glad tidings is a mystery. 这个福音是一个奥秘。. The whole book of Ephesians speaks of the mystery of the glad tidings. And we know that Ephesians includes much more than initial salvation.

So in Colossians he said the glory of the mystery among the nations which is Christ in you the hope of glory. So the glad tidings is Christ himself. The emphasis is on the person of Christ instead of the effects upon us.

Of course you cannot separate these two things. But the emphasis is on Christ himself. This would deliver us from being self-centered to Christ-centered. And this is the testimony that has been entrusted to the Church.

这乃是 这个见证乃是 交付给教会的托付。. Because the Church does not preach about himself. 因为教会应该 来阐讲他自己。. Will not preach about him herself. 教会不应该阐讲他自己。. The Church will preach Christ. 教会应该 来阐讲基督。. It is Christ that should be seen and heard.

And it is not the Church that at the forefront. So brothers and sisters, we are entrusted with the glad tidings. We often times think of Matthew 28, the Great Commission. And we think of the Great Commission as preaching to the nations that they may be saved.

But the Great Commission says, go to the nations and disciple all nations. In other words, it is not self-centered, it is Christ-centered. It is not that we got saved. It is that Christ be exalted. We be his disciples.

The Faith Once Delivered to the Saints

We follow him. We are transformed and conformed to his image. This is the glad tidings. So Christ may be all and in all. And then thirdly, we find that which is entrusted to the Church is the faith. We remember in the letter of Jude.

Verse 3. Beloved, using all diligence to write to you of our common salvation, I have been obliged to write to you, exhorting you to contain earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints. Here you find contain earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.

And the word contain earnestly actually means agonizing for the faith. You know in Ephesians chapter 4 in verse 5 it said one faith. We who believe in the Lord Jesus we should diligently keep the unity of the Spirit.

And in the unity of the Spirit there is one faith. And the one faith here refers to the fundamental faith concerning our Lord Jesus. It refers to we believe Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Because this faith makes us children of God. And all who believe in Christ and the Son of God we are one in the Spirit. But then when you read on to verse 13 Paul said until we all arrive at the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God.

So here you find the faith. Not one faith but the faith. One faith we already have. The faith we ought to arrive at. Now what is the faith? The faith includes all the truth that we find in the Word of God.

All the words of God constitute the faith. We believe in all the words the revelation of God. And this is something we will all arrive at. Because today different people may have different interpretations.

They may interpret differently of the Scripture. They all believe in the Lord Jesus. They all believe Jesus is Christ, the Son of God. And yet they have different ideas, different interpretations. But one day we will all arrive at the deep faith.

We will know the Word of God as the Spirit has taught. And we will arrive at the knowledge of the Son of God. And the knowledge is full knowledge. Experiential knowledge. Now today you experience Christ in one way I may experience Christ differently.

But one day we will all arrive at the unity of the knowledge of the Son of God. This is the time when the church is fully grown. And dear brothers and sisters it is the faith that has been entrusted to the church.

And this is something that we have to pursue. This is something we have to fellowship with one another in order that one day we may arrive at the deep faith. So to put it simply what has God entrusted to the church?

What has God entrusted to the church? God has entrusted to the church the testimony of Jesus. God has entrusted to the church the glad tidings. God has entrusted to the church the faith. And this is our responsibility.

So may the Lord have mercy upon us that we may know what has been entrusted to us. It is so much bigger, higher, greater than we think. Than we think. And how much we need to pursue together. May the Lord help us.

Let's have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee for Thy great love towards us. Dear Lord, we want to thank Thee for Thy great love towards us. You love us so much that Thou has entrusted Thyself to us in such a way that is far beyond that we even think of.

We do want to thank Thee that Thou can trust us in such a way. We do tremble before Thee lest we fail Thee. Only by Thy grace that we may be able to be faithful. Do pray that Thou will continue to enlarge our horizon.

Give us heavenly vision that we may really know Thee that we may be faithful to Thee. And it is all by Thy mercy we give Thee glory in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.