Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Paul's second epistle to Timothy. Second epistle to Timothy, chapter
four, and reading for our text, the last part of verse eight. to Timothy chapter 4 verse 8,
the last part, and not to me only but unto all them also that
love is appearing. I want to speak really of the
whole verse but it is the last. Clause that is much upon my spirit. The whole verse reads, 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 is appearing. to Timothy chapter 4, last part
of verse 8. The Apostle is writing here his
last words to Timothy, his son in the faith that he had great
affection for, first met on his first missionary journey at Lystra
when Timothy would have been about 16 years of age. Timothy accompanied him on his
third missionary journey. And now, with the Apostle shut
up in prison in Rome, he writes to him in view of his coming
departure from this life. How soon the Apostle did not
know, but that he was ready and that he was prepared is very
clear. He says in verse 6, for I am
now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. 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 is appearing." He was,
after giving and really in the midst of giving advice and direction
to Timothy, very mindful of his own position and speaking of
his own position. However much we might speak to
others, be used in the Lord's service, we must always remember
that those things that we testify, believe, and speak of are what
we ourselves need and will rely on as we depart from this life
and appear in the presence of the Lord. The apostle speaks of the course
that he had walked and the fight that he
had fought. But he doesn't use the good fight
that he'd fought or the fact that he'd finished his course
or that he'd kept the faith as an evidence that the crown of
righteousness that he was to receive would be given to others
But the evidence that he does give, the token that others have
as well, it is but unto them, unto all them, not just some
of them, but unto all them also, as well as me, says the Apostle,
that love is appearing. We may ask ourselves, do we love? the appearing of the Lord. Do
we wait for his appearing? This is what the Apostle puts
as a token here, that the Lord will give a crown of righteousness. So on to look with the Lord's
help. Firstly, at the crown that was
to be given, the Apostle, that which he was looking forward
to. And then secondly, the blessings
that do not just belong to Bible saints, those that we read of
in the Word of God. They do not just belong to them. And thirdly, the mark given of
those who shall receive the crown, but unto all them also that love
is appearing. But firstly, the crown that the
apostle had before him. He says, henceforth there is
laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous
judge shall give me at that day. James, in his epistle, he writes
to those that endure temptation and he says that they shall receive
a crown of life. Peter, when he writes to the
disciples in their tribulations and in their trials. He speaks
of it being as a crown of glory. And the Apostle Paul, when he
writes to the various churches, he speaks of it as a crown of
righteousness. In the Revelation, we have a
crown of gold in verse in chapter four. And then later in that
chapter, we read of those that are casting their crowns before
him. There's many descriptions of
that which the Lord has prepared for his dear people. The Apostle Peter, in writing
to the churches, he speaks of that inheritance that is incorruptible
and undefiled, reserved, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you. There are many, many descriptions
The Lord speaks of mansions and a place that is prepared for
the people of God. And we have a picture of that
which is pure and holy and spotless, where there is no sin, where
there is no unrighteousness, where the Lord is there. A real
contrast to that that is here below. But the Apostle, he speaks
of this crown as being a crown of righteousness. The righteousness
of the people of God is the Lord Jesus Christ. We read in the
prophecy of Jeremiah, this is the name wherewith he that is
the coming Messiah shall be called the Lord our righteousness. And
then referring to the church, this is the name wherewith she
shall be called, the Lord our righteousness. It is what binds
the two together. The Lord Jesus Christ while upon
earth wrought out a righteousness for his people in his perfect
life of obedience all the way through his life. And that is
to be imputed and given to believers. and it is to be their righteousness,
how they shall stand before God's throne. We not only need our
sins pardoned and forgiven, blotted out through the precious blood
of Christ, but we may need to be made meat to be partakers
with the saints in light. We have read of the solemn appearance
before God's judgment throne, and that everyone shall give
an account, and what a solemn thought that that is. But with
the people of God, they shall lift up their head with joy,
because their account is settled with the Lord Jesus Christ, righteously
settled. Their sins are blotted out, and
their life is Christ's life. and their righteousness is Christ's
righteousness. The hymn writer says, "'Tis he
instead of me is seen when I approach to God." And it is that wedding
garment that covers the people of God that is their acceptance
there. The righteousness and blood of
our Lord both are needful and really the crown that of which
the people of God shall appear in the presence of God is that
crown of righteousness. That's how they shall appear.
That's how they shall be seen, the Lord, their righteousness. And so the apostle speaks of
it as a crown in that way. In another sense, it's that which
stands at the end of the way. It is the prize that is to be
obtained, and though we are counted here below righteous in the sight
of God, yet it is at the last we shall fully realize the blessing
of what the Lord has given to us. And so in the many different
ways that is set before us, we have a picture of a people that
have escaped this present corruption have been transformed and brought
to be with the Lord. We read in the Epistle of Paul
to the Corinthians how that he says there, if this earthly house
of this tabernacle, that is our bodies that we're in now, when
they are dissolved, that we have a building of God, a house not
made with hands eternal in the heavens. At death, the soul immediately
departs from the body and appears in the presence of God. But the
soul is not to remain without a body. When Paul finishes his
first epistle to the Corinthians, he speaks of the certainty of
the resurrection and the certainty of the provision of a celestial
body. And so he says in this fifth
chapter, in his second epistle, that we groan, not that we should
be unclothed, that is, that we should just have the soul depart
from the body, but that we should be clothed upon, that mortality
might be swallowed up of life. The apostle had this great expectation,
longing, and desire and it comes across in all of his epistles
setting forth before the Church of God that desire for the Lord's
coming and the kingdom that is to be and be part of God's children
in that kingdom. Partner, says the hymn writer,
of my throne shall be, say poor sinner, lovest thou me. And so the Apostle to the Corinthians,
he was willing to be absent from the body, but present with the
Lord. And it is a wonderful prospect
for the people of God and a desire for all that know the Lord here
below, that he shall come for them that they shall be with
him. And the Lord prayed that, Father,
I will that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I am,
that they may behold my glory. And Paul then, he speaks of this
crown that was to be given him, laid up for him, a crown of righteousness. It is there, it is waiting. It
is already for him. which the Lord the righteous
judge shall give me at that day, a gift from the Lord, not earned,
but wrought out by the Lord and given to his children. This is our standing. This is
our hope and way that we can lift up our head with joy amongst
thee. children of God in heaven. We'll want to notice then in
the second place the blessings that do not just belong to the
saints in the scriptures. Paul is very clear concerning
this, that not to me only but unto all them also that love
his appearing. What a solemn thing it would
be if the Word of God was full of men, of women, who spoke of
blessings that they had, how they obtained them, how the Lord
gave them to them, but there was absolutely no link whatsoever
between those blessings and us, between those persons and us,
and we could not take any comfort at all or any help from what
others had had. We might hear in life's journey
of others being given things by people, but that doesn't mean
that we will be given them. And to have set before us in
the word of God, those who have received blessings, if it is
to be a help to us, there must be a warrant to trace and to
have that comfort ourselves. The apostle, when he writes to
the Romans, in Romans chapter four, he says at the end of that
chapter, and he's speaking here of Abraham, Abraham who was not
justified by works but by faith. And he says that he staggered
not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith,
giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what he
had promised he was able also to perform. And therefore it
was imputed to him for righteousness. Because he believed that God
was able to perform what he had promised, it was put to his account
for righteousness. And then we read this, now it
was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to
him. It wasn't just for Abraham's
sake. Whose sake was it then? He says
in verse 24, that for the Romans, but for us also. To whom it shall be imputed if
we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,
who is delivered for our offences and was raised again. for our
justification. The blessing the Lord pronounces
upon a believer. We think of the hymn writer,
it is Christ makes a believer and gives him his crown. This
is the work of God, that ye believe in him whom God has sent. And
here is set forth Abraham, we know Abraham's life, we know
how that he twice denied his wife, how that he was by no means,
you may say perfect, why he tried to take matters in his own hand
to bring about the promised seed. But the Lord speaks of that and
he's numbered amongst those in Hebrews 11 of the faithful. those
that were brought to believe. We may look upon our lives, there's
many times we can say, well, we're like Abraham in that too. We acted in unbelief. We didn't walk in the right way. But then there are those times
the Lord has blessed us with being able to believe and to
trust. And like in Abraham's case, it's
as if the Lord passes by over all the unbelief and the doubts
and the limiting. Is anything too hard for the
Lord? The Lord says to Abraham, with God, nothing shall be impossible. But when the Lord gives, and
he gives faith, and there is a believing, then the gift that
the Lord has given The Lord lays that to that person's account. In other words, all of our doubts,
all of our unbelief has all swept away. And it's what the Lord
has given. And that's imputed for righteousness. And this then, what Abraham had,
is also written for us. If we believe on him, that raised
up Jesus our Lord from the dead. What an encouragement. And again,
I would say, maybe think of these Old Testament saints in how their lives are portrayed
in the word of God, not perfect, not an unbroken actions of belief,
but unbelief mixed with it, unlimiting the Holy One of Israel. Or like
James says of Elijah, a man subject to like passions as we are. We have to remember this when
we think of David's life, a man after God's own heart. Well,
if you've read through David's life, you'll see many times He
did things, he said things, you say, what? Is that a man after
God's own heart? Is that perfection? But the Lord looks at that which
the Lord had given him, the faith and the belief, the grace and
the trust that the Lord had given him. And David, he stood not
by his own righteousness, but by Christ, what the Lord had
done for him. And every true believer is the
same. You know, it's not as if the
scriptures say, if you're a true believer, your life will be perfect
from beginning to end. No, the scriptures say, if you
are a true believer, your sin-stained life with all its faults and
failures is covered with my righteousness. So, we have the case with Abraham,
not just written for his sake. We have the case with the disciples
in the Lord's beautiful prayer in John 17 for his disciples. He prays for them, the very first
part of that chapter, right through to verse 19, is all praying for
them that the Father had given him, his disciples, those of
the apostles. But then he says this, neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe
on me through their word. And so he takes all of those
petitions, all of those blessings that has been spoken to, those
that we read of and know what their lives were like and how
many times the dear disciples they disputed in the way who
was the greatest. Two of them desired to sit, one
at the right hand, one at the left, of the Lord in his glory,
the Lord said, no, that was to whom it was appointed. The others
were upset that they asked for that. We think of Peter's denying
his Lord. The many things that they went
through that proved they were just like you and I, poor fallen
sinners. And yet they have here the Lord
praying for them. making intercession for them,
giving them his word, seeking those blessings for them. I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them
from the evil. Sanctify them. Through thy truth
thy word is truth. And then all that is prayed for
them, he says, I don't just pray for these alone, but for them
also which shall believe on me. He doesn't say, for them also
that thou hast given me, or for those that are chosen in me before
the foundation of the world. Again, he puts the blessing on
those that believe. And those that believe are to
know. that they have already the blessing,
they already have that interest in his precious intercession
and prayers. We think of how the Lord prayed
in the attitudes and that blessing that is already on them, that
hunger and thirst after righteousness, even while they're hungering
and while they're thirsting, this crown of righteousness that
is to be given. It begins here below with a hunger
and thirst after it. Why? Because all unrighteous
and all unclean we are by nature. And the living soul will feel
it, will feel the emotion of sin in their members. They will
cry out, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from
this body of death? And so they're pronounced blessed
when they hunger for this. And so Paul here, in our text,
he speaks of that which he shall be given, what is reserved for
him or laid up for him, a crown of righteousness. And he says
that It is not to me only, but unto all them also that love
is appearing. Those blessings that he had was
to be had by others. Very often a young believer or
those newly coming to the faith or those seeking the Lord will
look upon the Lord's dear people as the excellent of the earth,
They might hear of them speak of the blessings that they've
had in their souls, the way the Lord has appeared for them in
providence and helped them. They may have seen the death
of the Lord's people and the end that they've made. Behold the upright, for the end
of that man is peace. and they might have desired,
let my last end be like his. Not like Balaam who didn't want
to live the life of the righteous, but desire that they might live
and be with the righteous and that they be blessed with that
same blessing at the end. Many have seen the grace of God
in others. And yet as time has gone on,
as the Lord has dealt with them and taught them and instructed
them, those same marks of grace, that same teaching, those same
blessings are known by them. And sometimes the Lord lets them
see or lets them know, takes them back to when they saw afar
off what he'd done for others, and then turns it round and says,
I've done that for you, poor soul. I've blessed you with that
too. I've helped you with that. You're
not a stranger to those blessings and those helps. The grace I
gave to the saints of old that you so looked upon and so desired
and asked me for, I've given them to you too. But you know
it doesn't do good for us poor sinners to see much in ourselves. Pride soon rises up. The hymn
writer says the heart uplifts with God's own gifts, makes even
grace a snare. And so we should not think it
a strange thing that we're often kept low and mindful of our sinnership
and valuing and looking forward to more and more that robe of
righteousness of the Lord. painfully feeling that we do
not have any of our own. And so under this second point
may be a source of meditation and when we read through the
Word of God, when we read the blessings and that which the
people of God have received before us, trace in it what the Lord
speaks to us and gives us also that same expectation of blessing
and of help. Really, the Word of God is full
of examples of poor sinners receiving of the fullness of Christ and
the blessing of Christ. As an example, the apostle says
that he was the chief of sinners and yet the Lord is able to save. unto the uttermost all that come
unto God by Christ. He says that really, if I have
been saved, then any can be saved. If the Lord has plucked me as
a bran from a burning, he can pluck any. And the encouragements
are there for poor seeking sinners. Okay, and the hymn writer says
that Every poor sinner is welcome
to the throne of grace, the Saviour's blood to plead. He who lives
to feel his need is welcome to the throne of grace, the Saviour's
blood to plead. And so maybe something we look
for, I've mentioned here with Abraham and the disciples and
the Apostle Paul here, and there are Other examples through the
Word of God as well, where the Lord has blessed his people with
such helps that those who come into similar circumstances are
to look for the same helps and blessings as those who've gone
before have had. I want to look then in the third
place, the mark that is given of those who receive The Apostle says, and not to me only,
but unto all them also that love his appearing. With the Apostle,
he uses this mark, those, all them that love his appearing.
When he wrote to the Romans regarding Abraham, he's speaking of those
that had the same faith, who believed. but now he gives another
token, and it is loving of his appearing. In the first place,
in the overall meaning of it, is looking for the Lord's appearing
either at death or when he comes a second time. The New Testament
church is looking for that, looking when the end of the world shall
come, There shall be a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. We have again the same emphasis
on righteousness. And when there shall be that
consummation of all things, the kingdom delivered up unto the
Father. But there is a appearing of the
Lord here below. And so when we read these words,
unto all them also that love his appearing, we can think of
how the Lord appears for his people here below. We could even
change the word of our text slightly and to put it in a way like this,
unto all them also that have loved his appearing. In other
words, that there have been times that the Lord's appeared and
they've loved those times. And so it can be gathered in
of the appearing of the Lord and it can be said of them as
in the text that they love his appearing. So what do we mean
in that? What can we understand by it? There are many ways. First I
would mention is a time of blessing where the Lord is pleased to
come and bless his children. Where they seek his face, where
they ask his blessing that he should come to them and bless
them and visit their souls. Grant them the spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Grant that If we've known
those blessings, then we know it is His appearing. I will not
leave you comfortless, I will come to you. The Lord did come
when He rose again from the dead. but to each soul in a spiritual
way. He comes to them, he visits them,
he blesses them. And to those that love his appearing,
that love those blessings, that can look back, thus their mind,
the spot and place where Jesus did they meet. Where their soul
is so full of the love of God, shed abroad in the heart by the
Holy Ghost. the set time to favour Zion,
those favoured blessed times, those times like David had when
he sat before the Lord, when the Lord had said such things
of his house and for him for many years to come, and you're
just overwhelmed with such blessings. Do we love the Lord? in such
appearings. But then there are those times
when He has appeared and revealed Himself to us, revealed Himself
through the Word of God, the lattice of the Word, shone upon
the Word, and you've seen the Lord there, or shone upon the
preached Word, as it was with the eunuch, how that under Philip's
preaching, he saw the Lord Jesus Christ in Isaiah 53, as it was
with the two on the way to Emmaus, as Christ preached in all the
scriptures, the things concerning himself and their heart burned
within them. They did not know who it was
that appeared to them at that time. But at the end of that
journey, he did reveal himself to them and later to each of
the disciples. Then were the disciples glad
when they saw the Lord. The Lord had appeared to them
and shown himself to them. They told what was done in the
way and how he had made himself known unto them in the breaking
of the bread. Those that love his appearing,
when he is seen, when he is revealed, it is the work of the Holy Spirit.
to take the things of Jesus and reveal them unto the soul. Have we, have our loved ones
had such times when the Lord has appeared and they've spoken
and we've spoken of what we've seen in the Lord Jesus Christ? It's been very evident that we've
loved his appearing. It has been a time of joy and
time of gladness. that we have seen the Lord in
that way. Another way of His appearing
is in answer to prayer. We may have been praying and
praying that the Lord would appear in a certain thing, whether for
a loved one or whether it is for something in providence.
And as we've waited upon the Lord in prayer, The Lord has
then been pleased to appear. Hannah, she says, for this child
I prayed. And she comes with the tangible
evidence of the answer to her prayer. The Lord hath appeared
and he's answered my prayer. He's broken my bonds. He's shown
me what to do. I remember years ago when working
here in the town in secular employment and trying to keep the ministry
as well, and feeling it's such a burden, and yet needing the
financial help, but not knowing how to continue. And we went
months crying to the Lord how we should appear, and we didn't
know in what way, how we should act. And then unexpectedly, we
realised, or we were told that the firm had been taken over
and I was made redundant and yet provided for. And it was
an answer in a way we'd never looked for. And speaking to the
firm, the managers, the partners that had taken over as they apologised
and spoke to me, I said, you need not be sorry at all. What
you've done is the answer. to many months of prayer. And
they, as unbelievers, they couldn't understand it. He said, I've
just made you redundant. How can that be an answer to
prayer? But it was the way forward. It
was what was the Lord's choice. It was how the Lord had intervened,
how the Lord had taken matters into his own hands and appeared
for us. And looking back, how the Lord
has appeared and how he has provided. and we cannot but love his appearing
when we cry unto him and he answers our petitions and he shows us
a way when we did not see a way and could not make decisions
ourselves and yet the Lord has made them for us and we look
back and we've known the Lord has done all things well. Do you? Do I love His appearing
in that way? And love Him for it, that He
has appeared? You think of many times in Providence
where we may have longed that the Lord would appear and show
us His way, show us His direction. And we look for that appearing.
And we love His appearing. We have some sacred times in
the scripture where the Lord has so appeared for his people
in a way of providence, and they've so rejoiced at what the Lord
has done. Where the Lord has fulfilled
his promises to them as dear Simeon, and he's been able to
lift up the Lord and say, Lord, now let us thou thy servant depart
in peace. My eyes have seen Thy salvation. What about in our troubles? What
about in our sicknesses? In our tribulations? Those times
that we've looked for the Lord to appear and He has appeared.
And He has given that help. those dark times, those times
when we feel so lifeless and cold and dead, one where the
scene will end. And the Lord has come and revived
our souls, blessed us with repentance and
godly sorrow, brought us near to himself again. The Lord has
appeared. You know it won't be just at
the end of our lives that we know of the appearing of the
Lord. I will come again, receive you
unto myself that where I am, there you may be also. He says,
I will come again. Yes, he has come the first time
as a babe and come upon this earth. But when the Lord comes
again to his people, and that especially in John 14, where he says that he will receive
you unto himself, into those mansions. His coming is not to
be of fear, the way he speaks it, it shall be a comfort of
his coming. Because his people already know
that when the Lord appears and when the Lord comes, it is a
time of blessing, of help, of joy. They love his appearing
because of all that has attended it over the years and I hope
this evening we can look back ourselves over the years and
in the many different ways that the Lord has appeared for us
and we can say we love his appearing because every time it has been
a blessed help, it's been what we've waited for and longed for,
And may we see it also with our loved ones and those that we
walk with, and see it as the token that it truly is here. Those that receive the crown
are those that have loved his appearing, that have evidently
looked for it, prayed for it, and loved it. May we think of
those times gathering together to give thanks, to give praise,
to realise that the Lord has intervened, that the Lord has
appeared for us, that he's been mindful of us. They fell down,
there was none to help. They cried unto the Lord in their
trouble and he delivered them out of their distresses. He sent his word and healed them.
The Lord knows how to appear for his people again and again,
coming to them like the disciples. They there were on the lake and
it was now dark and the Lord had not come to them. And he
came to them walking upon the waves of the sea. The Lord sees
his toiling people But where their comfort and joy is, is
when the Lord appears and the Lord comes to them. And so this
is a beautiful, a blessed token. One token that the apostle gives
here that identifies those that the Lord shall give a crown of
righteousness to. But dear friends, we don't need
more than one token, do we? The man that had been born blind,
he said, one thing I know, whereas I was blind, now I see. And if
we have this token, then we have all that we need. Do we love
His appearing? Have we loved it? Have our loved
ones? and not to me only, but unto
all them, not some of them, but all them also, that love his
appearing. To love his appearing is a blessing
from the Lord, that the Lord owns and marks out those that
shall receive the crown of righteousness. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen.