«For this reason 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 what I have committed to Him until that Day» (2 Timothy 1:12).
PAUL SUFFERED for the cause of the gospel, which is why he was able to encourage Timothy to bear his sufferings. The apostle faced the utmost humiliation and conviction for criminal acts against the Roman Empire. But his faith and hope in the message, and in Him who had sent it, were stronger than ever.
The verb tense indicates that he had long trusted and continued to trust intensely; not only in the present but also into the future. That is why he was certain and convinced that there was already a place reserved for him.
Ellen G. White was a messenger of the Lord for seventy years. Today 150 books she wrote are available to us. She lived eighty-seven years and broke her femur on February 13, 1915, five months before her death. She knew she had little time left, but she always trusted in the arms of Jesus. On July 14, in a whisper, but with all the strength of her heart and the conviction of her mind, she said, «I know in whom I have believed» and went into a state of unconsciousness. Two days later, on July 16, she rested, like Paul, safe in God’s promise. Her life went out like the light of a candle, but her testimony and message are still shining brightly.
The hymn «I Know Whom I Have Believed» has strong and confident statements from writer Daniel Webster Whittle and composer James McGranahan, who accompanied Philip P Bliss as music director in his evangelistic campaigns.
Whittle’s mother, a devout believer, placed a Bible in his luggage when he went off to fight in the American Civil War. After bloody battles, having lost his right arm, and having been captured by the enemy, he took that Bible from the bottom of his bag and accepted the Savior whom his mother loved. After the war, he became a businessman and soon after a minister of the gospel. In the hymn he testifies of his total trust in Christ and His saving grace.
«There is transforming power in the religion of Jesus Christ, and this power must be seen upon us in far greater humility, in more earnest, living faith, that we may become a light to the world. Self must be humiliated, and Christ exalted» (Counsels on Sabbath School Work, p. 110).
May our lives always testify of the Lord’s transformative power, that we may humbly and fervently illuminate the world with the assurance of knowing Him in whom we have believed.
