Preserved For His Kingdom

And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen! 

II Timothy 4:18 

Christ is King. He affirmed it before Pilate, and proved it on a host of other occasions in numerous ways. According to Paul, He will ‘judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom.’ This takes our thoughts back to Matthew 25 where Christ describes the last judgment by saying, ‘When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.’ Paul declares as much in II Corinthians 5:10 when he says, ‘for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.’ How could Paul, writing in our text, say with such confidence, that Christ would ‘preserve me for His heavenly kingdom?’ He indicates where his confidence originated in the first chapter of II Timothy when he says, ‘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.’ Paul’s confidence was in Christ to preserve him to His heavenly kingdom. Paul’s source of confidence is our source of confidence as well. We know Whom we have believed and are persuaded that He is able to keep that which we have committed unto Him until the day when we see Him face-to-face. We rest in Christ, believe in Christ, look to Christ, depend on Christ and hope in Christ, He is able to preserve us unto His heavenly kingdom. We rest upon His merits, His blood, and His righteousness. Christ is all we need. 

Our Glorious, Living Christ, 
we rejoice that You are King of kings and Lord of lords. 
We praise You that You will continue to reign 
until all of Your enemies become Your footstool. 

Tomm Tice
Where The Bush is Burning