Sermon Central
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Guarding The Treasure Within You
Contributed by Samuel Olumoko on Aug 13, 2004 (message contributor)
Summary: Most of us have no problem guarding our material possessions. We have no problem putting our money in the bank. No problem at all keeping our cash money away from thieves. But when it comes to our spiritual treasures, we tend to be careless. We expose ou
GUARDING THE TREASURE
8/12/04
TEXT: 2 TIMOTHY 1:14;
"Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been
entrusted to you". (IISBV).
"Guard the good Deposit given through the Holy Spirit indwelling in us". (MKJV).
"You have been trusted with a wonderful treasure. Guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit, who lives within you". (CEV).
"O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called knowledge". (IISBV).
INTRODUCTION
Most of us have no problem guarding our material possessions. We have no problem putting our money in the bank. No problem at all keeping our cash money out of reach of thieves. But when it comes to our spiritual treasures, we tend to be careless. We expose our spiritual gifts and treasures for the devil, the thief to steal, kill and destroy. (John 10:10). It is our responsibility as Christians to protect the blessings bestowed upon us by the good Lord.
BODY
What spiritual elements do we need to guard from the reach of the devil?
1. Salvation: The greatest and most precious gift given to us is our salvation. Salvation is freely given unto us but is not cheap. Jesus paid a great price to procure our eternal life with the Father.
Romans 5:9 Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
Ephesians 2:5 (even when we were dead in sins) has made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are saved).
From the scriptures above, we can see that our salvation is a special grace from God procured through our Lord Jesus Christ. It cost Him His precious life. Therefore we need to guard this treasure. How do we guard our salvation? Through the Holy Spirit indwelling in us.
Philippians 2:12 "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out (cultivate) your own salvation with fear and trembling".
Through the Holy Spirit, we guard our salvation by cultivating it as we do plants. Everyday we thank the Father for this precious gift and ask Him to show us what we need to do for His kingdom. Everyday, we reach out to the lost and offer them the gospel which is able to save their soul. We guard it as we become sober and vigilant. (1 Peter 5:8).
We have a precious promise that the Holy Spirit has begun a good work in us and He will complete it until the day of Christ. (Philippians 1:6). He will never leave us nor forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5).
2. Peace: Apart from our salvation the other spiritual grace we need to guard is His peace within us.
John 16:33 I have spoken these things to you so that you might have peace in Me. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.
The peace in the Lord is what the bible calls perfect peace. (Isaiah 26:3). It is a peace that is given to those whose heart trust in God. How do we guard this spiritual treasure?
Philippians 4:4-8) "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, Rejoice!
Let your moderation be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
We guard the treasure of peace by doing the following:
r "Rejoicing in the Lord always".
Don’t allow things keep you off balance. Count all things all joy (James 1:2). Know that somehow, God will bring something good out of it.
r Letting your moderation be known to all men. That is, let it be such that others may see this peace of the Lord in your life. This does not mean that we were to make an ostentatious display of it, but that it should be such a characteristic of your life that it would be constantly visible to others.
r Not being anxious about anything: We guard the peace by not worrying about our lives. Instead, in prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, we constantly make our request known to God. (Read Matthew 6:25-33).
And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7).
3. Love: The most significant treasure embedded in us is God’s unconditional love. It is a measuring stick by which we are known as His disciples. Many Christians know very little about this treasure. 1 Corinthians 13 is devoted to teaching us about this virtue. Love is more than a fruit of the Spirit, because 1 John 4:16 tells us that God is love. It will take our whole life to perfectly walk in His unconditional love. We never get to the point where we can say with all confidence that we are perfected in His love. It is a growing process.
