Laid up (606) apokeimai by Greek Word Studies

Laid up (606) (apokeimai from apó = from, away + keímai = to lie, to be laid up, to set away) means to put something away for safekeeping, to store away in a place for preservation (secular usage referred to money laid up or hidden). In the present verse laid up speaks of the the totality of glorious, eternal, blessing that awaits each believer in the life to come. There are only 4 uses of apokeimai in the NT... Luke 19:20 And another came, saying, 'Master, behold your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief 2 Timothy 4:8 (note) in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. Comment: Here apokeimai means to reserve as award or recompense and in secular Greek apokeimai was in fact a common term in honorary documents expressing appreciation for a sense of civic or other communal responsibility. Hebrews 9:27 (note) And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment. Comment: Here apokeimai is used figuratively to express the certainty of the Divinely ordained future of every living being. It is "securely laid up"! And the lie of reincarnation cannot change this certain outcome. Apokeimai is used twice in the Septuagint (LXX) (Genesis 49:10) and in Job 38:23 Which I have reserved (Hebrew = chasak = keep back, deep fro oneself; Lxx = apokeimai) for the time of distress, for the day of war and battle? In the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus commands his listeners... Lay up (present imperative = command to do this throughout your entire life! What a "treasure chest" awaits the person who obeys Jesus' command) (thesaurizo - our English Thesaurus = a collection of words) for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in or steal for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Mt 6:20, 21-note) Peter reminds his readers going through various trials that they have an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved (tereo) in heaven for you (1Pe 1:4-note). Heaven is where Christ is, thus heaven is where our hope is and ultimately our HOPE is not a PLACE but a PERSON, "Christ Jesus our hope", "the hope of glory" (1Ti 1:1; Col 1:27-note). C H Spurgeon in a sermon on hope says that "Our hope ... is special, because it is a hope which is laid up for us in heaven, a hope therefore which the worldlings cares not one whit about. He hopes that tomorrow may be as this day and yet more abundant, but he cares nothing for the land where time has ceased to flow. He hopes for riches or he hopes for fame; he hopes for long life and prosperity; he hopes for pleasure and domestic peace; the whole range of his hope is within the compass of his eye. But our hope has passed beyond the sphere of sight, according to the word of the apostle, "What a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." Ours is a hope which demands nothing of time or earth but seeks its all in the world to come...Cultivate, then, your hope, dearly beloved. Make it to shine so plainly in you that your minister may hear of your hopefulness and joy; cause observers to take note of it because you speak of heaven and act as though you really expected to go there. Make the world know that you have a hope of heaven. Make worldlings feel that you are a believer in eternal glory and that you hope to be where Jesus is. Often surprise them as they see what they call your simplicity, but what is in truth only your sincerity, while you treat as matter of fact the hope laid up for you in heaven. The Lord grant it for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen." MacArthur says that One result of our hope is a willingness to sacrifice the present on the altar of the future. That runs contrary to human nature....The Christian has a different perspective. He is willing to forsake the present glory, comfort, and satisfaction of this present world for the future glory that is his in Christ. (MacArthur, J. Colossians. Chicago: Moody Press or Logos) The Colossian Christians were a heavenly minded people and this future focus gave them a sense of security because anything or anyone deposited in heaven is safe. Jim Elliot, martyred missionary to the Auca Indians of South America said before his death that “he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose”. That is 20-20 "eternal vision". The Christian hope reaches into the future, for it is tied up with Christ’s second advent. This is why Christians are to love Christ’s appearing. Every Christian who lives daily in the anticipation and expectancy of Christ’s return becomes a steady, firmly anchored, unwavering soul. Hope that is anchored in the glories of heaven and in the heavenly One, inspires faith and love for meantime living. In context the basis of future, heavenly hope is the good news of the Word of truth (Ro 15:4-note) In Morning and Evening Spurgeon comments that... Our hope in Christ for the future is the mainspring and the mainstay of our joy here. It will animate our hearts to think often of heaven, for all that we can desire is promised there. Here we are weary and toilworn, but yonder is the land of rest where the sweat of labour shall no more bedew the worker's brow, and fatigue shall be for ever banished. To those who are weary and spent, the word "rest" is full of heaven. We are always in the field of battle; we are so tempted within, and so molested by foes without, that we have little or no peace; but in heaven we shall enjoy the victory, when the banner shall be waved aloft in triumph, and the sword shall be sheathed, and we shall hear our Captain say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." We have suffered bereavement after bereavement, but we are going to the land of the immortal where graves are unknown things. Here sin is a constant grief to us, but there we shall be perfectly holy, for there shall by no means enter into that kingdom anything which defileth. Hemlock springs not up in the furrows of celestial fields. Oh! is it not joy, that you are not to be in banishment for ever, that you are not to dwell eternally in this wilderness, but shall soon inherit Canaan? Nevertheless let it never be said of us, that we are dreaming about the future and forgetting the present, let the future sanctify the present to highest uses. Through the Spirit of God the hope of heaven is the most potent force for the product of virtue; it is a fountain of joyous effort, it is the corner stone of cheerful holiness. The man who has this hope in him goes about his work with vigour, for the joy of the Lord is his strength. He fights against temptation with ardour, for the hope of the next world repels the fiery darts of the adversary. He can labour without present reward, for he looks for a reward in the world to come. Lehman Strauss has the following article entitled "Our Only Hope" "Now if I sound a bit dogmatic it is because the foundation of my hope is the greatest event in world history, namely, the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil” (Heb. 6:19-note). The Apostle Peter wrote: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1Pe 1:3-note). The “us” in this verse refers to believers only. They are possessed of a hope that is stedfast and sure. But the man who has not been born again dare not look far into the future, because he is “without Christ” and is therefore as one “having no hope” (Ep 2:12-note). The new man in Christ is assured of a bright future because of the abundant mercy which God has bestowed upon him, and which is guaranteed to him by Christ’s resurrection from the dead. The hope is described by Peter as a “lively” (or living) hope. It is actively alive and is therefore that energizing principle in the Christian that produces hopefulness and optimism. All of the past hopes of man for a better world have been dashed to pieces, simply because Jesus Christ and His Word have not been taken into account. But the Christian hope is operative and vital. The Apostle Paul based the authority and dignity of his apostleship on the past and future offices of Christ. He wrote: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope” (1Ti 1:1). Here our Lord is presented as our Savior and our Hope. The Apostle shares with Timothy, and us, this common possession of hope, a blessing no other religion than Christianity can claim. Christ is the very embodiment of our hope, thus He is the secret of the Christian’s strength and victory. When Paul commended the saints in Colosse, he said: “We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you…for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel” (Col 1:3-note, Col 1:5-note). One wonderful thing about our hope is that it is associated with heaven. Possibly this is one reason why the worldling is without hope. Living for the world he cares nothing about heaven. He lives for that which he can see and taste in this world. He hopes for prosperity, pleasure and prominence in this life, thus heaven to him is not real because Christ is not real to him. Now heaven is not the Christian’s hope. The hope is not a place, but a person “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27-note). This is “the hope of the gospel” (Col 1:23-note). To the saints Paul says, it is “laid up for you.” Heaven is where Christ is, thus heaven is where our hope is. The fact that it is “laid up” means that it is safe, secure, sure. No man need ever fear about his future when his hope is laid up in heaven. Our Lord had this in mind when He said: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mt 6:18, 19, 20, 21-see notes Mt 6:18; 19; 20; 21). Tell me where your heart is and you have told me where your treasure is. Does Christ have your heart? If so, then your hope is not misplaced. The Colossian Christians were a heavenly minded people and this gave to them a sense of security. And why not? Anything, or anyone, deposited in heaven is safe. The Christian hope reaches into the future, for it is tied up with Christ’s second advent. This is why many Christians love Christ’s appearing, for when He comes again He will bring with Him a reward for those who have maintained hope in Him. That reward is also “laid up” for us in heaven. Paul testifies to it in the following words: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing” (2Ti 4:7, 8-notes). Notice the use again of the words “laid up.” These words mean the same as “safely deposited.” They are used here by Paul autobiographically. This is his final and farewell message. One day back yonder he gave to Christ his heart, he deposited all his treasure in heaven. From that moment on, Paul was a specialist. He said: “This one thing I do…I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Php 3:13, 14-see notes Php 3:13; 14). Until the end, Paul the aged ran the race well. The Lord had had all of him. He kept his eye on the goal. And what was that goal? It was “His appearing.” He longed for and loved Christ’s return. You see, his hope was “laid up” where his heart was. To him, Christ was everything. His was a sure hope. How sure is yours? (Bolding Added) (Excerpted from "Our Only Hope" in Bibliotheca Sacra, volume 120, #478, page 135, 1963) (Bolding added) W. H. Griffith Thomas writes that... This hope is said by St. Paul to be laid up for believers "in the heavens," and the verb is particularly worthy of notice because of its use elsewhere. Thus, a crown of righteousness is said to be "laid up" for those who love Christ's appearing (2Ti 4:8-note, ASV), while it is also recorded that it was "laid up" for men once to die (He 9:27-note). Another solemn contrast is drawn in our Lord's parable of the pounds, where the unfaithful servant "laid up" his master's gift instead of using it (Luke 19:20). In two Old Testament passages, moreover, it is declared that the Lord has "laid up" His goodness for those who fear Him (Ps 31:19-note) and "sound wisdom for the righteous" (Pr 2:7).No Christian life, then, is complete which does not include in it this forward look of joyous certitude toward a bright future, for hope as a grace is not a mere spirit of what we call hopefulness, or a natural buoyancy of temperament. It is a distinctly Christian virtue, the result of union with God in Christ; and it has for its immediate object the Lord Jesus at His glorious appearing, and for its ultimate, eternal and exhaustless substance the glories of heaven and God as our all in all." OF WHICH YOU PREVIOUSLY HEARD IN THE WORD OF TRUTH THE GOSPEL: en proekousate (2PAAI) en to logo tes aletheias tou euaggeliou: (Colossians 3:16; Acts 10:36; 13:26; Ro 10:8; 2Cor 5:19; 6:7; Eph 1:13; 1Thes 2:13; 1Ti 1:15; 1Pet 2:2) The Word of truth - The word (logos) of (the = definite article = specific body of) Truth. Click for all uses of this phrase. In this context it is a great definition for the gospel. The full phrase the truth of the gospel is used instead of simply the word of the gospel, as a hint against the false teachings being promulgated in their midst.

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Laid up (606) apokeimai

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