With the Lord's help I'd like
to draw your attention to some verses that we read together
in that reading of 2 Timothy 3 and part of chapter 4. It's
the last few verses that we read from chapter 4 that I'd like
us to bear our consideration from verse 6 to verse 8 of chapter
4 of 2 Timothy where the Apostle Paul writes, 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 his appearing. these words appear
then in this second epistle of Paul to Timothy Timothy as you
are aware was the spiritual son of the Apostle Paul he had been
brought up and nurtured in the things of God as we read in verse
15 of the previous chapter that from a child thou hast known
the whole scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus and this is the Apostle
Paul taking his leave of the Church and of his son in the
Gospel. It is the final epistle that
the Apostle Paul wrote. These two epistles, 1 and 2 Timothy,
and also Titus, are the instructions that were being given by the
Apostle Paul under the direction of the Spirit of God for conduct
in the Church. We read in the first epistle
of of this epistle that there should
be a due conduct in the church of God. And in this epistle,
as I said a few moments ago, he is taking leave of Timothy
because he knows that his time is very short he says that he
is now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at
hand when the Apostle Paul first went to Rome and it is recorded
for us in the last chapter of the book of Acts we are told
that that Paul dwelt two whole years
in his own hired house and received all that came unto him preaching
the kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the
Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him but it
would appear from this epistle that Paul is no longer at liberty,
he seems to be more in a prison rather than have a certain amount
of liberty and he is a Roman citizen so he is expecting to
be brought before Caesar and to hear Caesar's judgment as
to what would happen of course. It was in the time of of the
pagan Roman emperors who had no thought for the things of
God and the things of the Lord Jesus Christ and they considered
any new religion would be a threat to the viability of the Roman
Empire. that Paul was expecting to be
taken and probably to be executed. It's recorded in the 15th chapter
of Romans how Paul desired to go to to Spain and to preach the gospel in Spain. When therefore I have
performed this and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come
by you into Spain. It was his intention to go into
Spain. Possibly he was released from
his captivity some time after the first epistle was written
but certainly as he returned from Spain he was put in prison
for the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ so just as John was imprisoned
for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, I, John, who also am your
brother and companion in tribulation and the kingdom and patience
of Jesus Christ, was in the isle of Patmos for the word of God
and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. And the apostle Paul
was no less bearing testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ. And
so he knows his time is short and he wants there to be order
in the church. And so he sets about exhorting
Timothy to be a faithful pastor and to maintain the cause of
the gospel. And Timothy, of course, was the
first bishop or the first elder of the church at Ephesus, and
there is that setting forth by Paul in that epistle to the Ephesians
of salvation by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. For by grace
are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is
the gift of God. Faith is the gift of God, just
as salvation is the gift of God. and Paul, being a prisoner, he
writes from the prison to Timothy and the church at Ephesus and
he exhorts them to stand in the evil day. Wherefore take unto
you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to withstand in
the evil day and having done all to stand firm. He is exhorting the believers
at Ephesus He's exhorting Timothy some years later to be faithful to the gospel. And in this epistle for the partial
that we read together, we read that it was perilous times in
which they were living. So he warns them of the things
that would happen after he had been taken away to heaven and
that perilous times would come. And as you read that catalogue
of those things that will happen in those days that are perilous
times. It is a mirror, really, of the
times in which we live. Men shall be lovers of their
own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemous, disobedient
to parents, unthankful, unholy, and so it goes on. It is a catalogue of sinfulness and he concludes
that list of those indications by saying that these people have
a form of godliness but denying the power thereof and the exhortation
is to turn away from such. In another place the Apostle
Paul says come ye out from among them and be not partakers of
their wickedness and so he comes to exhort his son in the gospel to exhort
Timothy in chapter 4 but before that he reminds Timothy and it
reminds the church also of the importance of the Word of God. You see, if we drift away from
the Word of God, we have no anchor, we have no foundation. We need
to be rooted and grounded and fixed in and upon the Lord Jesus
Christ through knowledge of his Word. the psalmists are quoted
in prayer he speaks about the word of God that's a long psalm
176 verses that speak each verse of the word of God every verse has a reference
to the word of God blessed are the undefiled in the way who
walk in the law of the Lord wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his
way by taking heed thereunto thy word and so it goes on it's
often occurred to me the actual setting of the or the placing
of Psalm 119. It's immediately before Psalm
120. Now that's obvious, isn't it? But if you look at Psalm 120
and each one of the Psalms right through to Psalm 134, everyone
is headed a song of degrees. and those are the Psalms that
the pilgrims would sing and chant as they went on pilgrimage to
Jerusalem and it seems to me that the setting of that Psalm
119 in the Word of God as it is before the children of Israel
go on pilgrimage they need the Word of God and in our Christian
lives we need the Word of God we need to be rooted and grounded
upon the Word of God and there is no other option
for us. Christianity without the Word
of God is a Christless Christianity. It is a Christless religion,
I should say, because it is no Christianity at all. We must
be firmly rooted and grounded upon the Word of God. We have laws in our nation to
govern us and in the church we have the word of God to govern
us and we should be guided by this word this is our constitution
this is our rule book and it is never to be altered because
as Paul says to Timothy all scripture is given by inspiration of God
and is profitable for doctrine for reproof, for correction for
instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect
through the furnished unto all good works this is where we learn
of the Lord Jesus Christ I remember in Sunday school we used to sing
a hymn and the first verse was God has given us a book full
of stories which was made for his children of old it begins
with the tale of a garden and ends with the city of gold and
it tells us what happened in the past we see the world in
crisis the scientists are telling us are sending missiles into
rockets into space so they can see how the world began why spend
millions of pounds on such a thing when you have in the opening
word of the scriptures in the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth and the earth was without form and void and darkness
was upon the face of the deep and the spirit of God moved upon
the face of the water why waste all that money when we've already
been told how this world came into being but there we are,
that is the folly of man, isn't it? but we are to be based upon
the word of God and this is Paul exhorting Timothy to be faithful
to the word of God and then in this fourth chapter he further
exhorts Timothy to continue to be faithful he really just brings
out two exhortations in the first five verses which he expands
he says I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus
Christ preach the word, preach the word faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the word of God the gospel is the only way of
salvation the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only truth
that we wish to know and wish to declare preach the word go
and stand in the marketplaces, he says go and stand in the Areopagus
as I did those many years ago in Athens and I stood there and
preached and told the Greeks about the unknown God preach
the word, be instant in season and out of season whenever you
have the opportunity when you have your daily prayer and family
worship you should ask the Lord to give you an opportunity to
speak a word in season as from the Lord, and to speak to those
that are in need of the Gospel. Preach the Word, whether it be
in the place of worship, where we gather on the Lord's Day,
and meet together for Christian fellowship, or whether it be
in the highways and byways, we are to preach. Happy with my
latest breath, writes the hymn writer, happy with my latest
breath, I might but gasp his name, preach unto all, and cry
in death, behold, that behold the lamb and this is what paul
is doing he's saying to uh to timothy preach the word and preach
the the name of the lord jesus christ and say behold the lamb
behold the lamb of god that taketh away the sin of the world preach
of the lord jesus christ and the sacrifice that he made that
men may be saved and that sin is all those given in covenant
bond to the Lord Jesus Christ that everyone be saved with an
everlasting salvation and brought by faith to the Lord Jesus Christ
but then then he gives a second exhortation verse 5, but watch
thou in all things watch watch the situations the situation
in which you are found it says of one group of people they knew
the times, they were able to read other times there in the
Old Testament there were men who knew what was happening and
I referred also in prayer to Daniel how he sought by reading
the promises that were given to Jeremiah and he set his heart, he set
his mind to pray because the 70 years were full and he prayed
and confessed the sin of the people how much more we need
to come before God and confess the sins of other people and
to pray concerning the sin of the
nation and God would return himself to this nation. Do we not have
the desire that Isaiah had referred in his prophecy? Isaiah chapter 64, O that thou
would spread the heavens, that thou would come down, that the
mountains might flow at thy presence. But now, O Lord, thou art our
Father, we are the clay, and thou our potter, and we all are
the work of thy hand. And he prays that the Lord would
revive his work in that day and generation. So Paul exhorts Timothy
to watch the situation, watch what's going on and take every
opportunity that you have and do your afflictions, do the work
of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. and so we come
on to those three verses that I would like us to consider this
morning there are three things pertaining to each verse that
I would like for us to consider first of all there is Paul's
readiness for I am now ready to be offered and the time of
my departure is at hand then there is Paul's rejoicing I have
fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith. And then in verse 8 there is
Paul's reward. Henceforth there is laid up for
me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge,
shall give me at that day, not me only, but unto all them also
that love his appearing. So in the time that we have remaining
just to look very briefly at these three verses. First of
all, we see how that Paul is ready. I am ready. He is ready
to be offered. There are two things in this
verse. He is ready to be offered. There are two things that he
recognises. He is ready to be offered and
the word, the Greek word that is used here He means poured
out, his life to be poured out as an offering and a sacrifice. And then the second thing he
says, and the time of my departure is at hand. He was one who was
to suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ. He was constantly being
poured out in his life. Ananias was told that he must
suffer for the Lord Jesus Christ Acts chapter 9 and verse 15 Go
thy way the Lord said to Ananias for he is a chosen vessel unto
me to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and children
of Israel for I will show him how great things he must suffer
for my name's sake he must be poured out on the altar of service and preach the gospel and then
he says that the time of his departure is at hand he expects
to be taken away from this life and to enter into heaven for
I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure
is at hand and these things are no worry to him there is no burden
to him, he knows where he stands he knows that he stands in the
Lord Jesus Christ he is complete in him and he has been made a
recipient of that salvation for which the Lord Jesus Christ gave
his life and shed his precious blood and remember this, the
Lord Jesus Christ did not have his life taken away from him
he was never subject to death You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners. He
was without sin. And death, as you know, is the
fruit of sin. In the day that thou eatest thereof,
in disobedience, sin came into the world. The Lord Jesus Christ
was not disobedient. indeed he was obedient in all
his life there was his active obedience and there was his passive
obedience he was active in that he kept the law in all things
and never failing in anything perfect and without sin and then
he was passive in that suffering he gave his life a ransom for
many the apostle Paul he had every confidence in the Lord
Jesus Christ now do we have that same confidence? upon what does
the Apostle Paul know that he has that confidence? well we
know that he has no fear of death because he knows that the child
of God is triumphant in all things Romans chapter 8 that great chapter
that great chain of are blessings for the child of God for I am
persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities
nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height
nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord you
can do the utmost to a Christian believer but he
knows that he is safe in death the Roman church burnt and martyred
288 I think it was or if we count the unborn babe that was thrown
back into the fire in Guernsey the mother was tied at the stake
and as the flames licked her She gave birth to a little child
and the officers of the Roman church picked the little baby
up and threw it back in the fire. 288, 289. How wicked! And yet, in those situations,
the believers had every confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ. Why?
Because death had no terror for them, because death being the
fruit of sin their sin is being dealt with in the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for sinners. And as Paul writes
to the Galatians, he says, I am crucified with Christ Nevertheless,
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which
I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God
who loved me and gave himself for me. And the child of God
knows that that love is eternal in the past. for I have loved
thee with an everlasting love therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee and that love that he has for his people was
there upon Calvary's cross as he gave his life for them and
as he prayed for his people Father forgive them for they know not
what they do he wasn't praying for the Roman soldiers that were
nailing him to the cross he was praying for his people those
who don't know, didn't know the consequence and we ourselves
don't know the full consequences of what it cost the Lord Jesus
Christ to go to Calvary's Cross Father forgive them, forgive
the Church for they know not what they do what was done on
that day they don't know the consequences of the price that
was paid by the Lord Jesus Christ and He loves them in eternity
to come He loves them ever and he will never fail in that love. Loved with everlasting love,
led by grace, that love to know. Spirit breathing from above that
has taught me it is so. Have we been taught that? Has
the Spirit taught us that God loved us? that Christ loved us
and that he gave himself willingly for us that we might have that
eternal life in heaven so he is now ready to be offered because
death has no fear for him He is ready to be offered because
of the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember the great commission
that is there at the end of Matthew's Gospel, where the Lord Jesus
said, Go ye therefore and teach all
nations baptising them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you and lo, I am with you I am with you always
even until the end of the world and he says that where two or
three are gathered together in my name I'm there in the midst. And so Paul, he can face his
being offered by, because of the presence of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And when he was taken out, no doubt on that day many
years ago, to be executed or thrown to the lions or whichever
form of execution was in vogue at that time, he had the Lord
Jesus Christ with him. Likewise, you and I, when we
come to, if we are a child of God, if we've been called by
grace, when it comes to our time to pass from time into eternity,
we will have the Lord Jesus Christ. with us. Robert Hawker, the minister
of Charles Chapel there in, Charles Church I should say, in Plymouth,
there is just the shell of the old church there and it says,
I believe it's used as a council place, the local council place.
put their road-working engineering matter inside but at Charles
Church Robert Hawker preached and a
number of his psalms were put together with the title The Dying
Pillow because the child of God when he comes to die when he
comes to pass out from this time into eternity He has a soft pillow
and he rests in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul is able to say that he is
ready because of the promise of Christ Hebrews 13 and verse
5 we read let your conversation be without covetousness and be
content with such things as ye have for he hath said I will
never leave thee nor forsake thee, I will never leave thee
nor forsake thee we have that promise the child of God has
that promise and that promise is never found anywhere else
in the New Testament I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee we have other promises of course but it seems to me that
these words were spoken by the Spirit of God particularly to
the Apostle Paul I will never leave thee and I will never fail
thee. What a mercy it is that if we're
a child of God ourselves, if we've been called by grace, if
we ourselves have called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
if we have Christ dwelling in the heart, then we can say with
the Apostle Paul, the Lord Jesus has said, I will never leave
thee nor forsake thee. we have the promise of Christ
and then Paul is ready to be poured out and sacrificed because
of the hope of the Christian because of the hope of the child
of God Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of
God our Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ which is our hope there
are many people yesterday who paid their two pounds now, I
think it is the national lottery, I don't really know I would hope
that none of us here really know how much it cost to enter the
national lottery but there were millions, millions paid their
two pounds with the hope that they would be millionaires by
today of course millions and millions of people are disappointed
there's a great hoarding an electronic hoarding in the West Quay Centre
in Southampton which advertises the postcode lottery and there are people that pay
their £12 I think it is to become a millionaire you know there
are 1.7 million postcodes in this country so the odds of winning
the lottery are 1 in 1.7 million in other words there is no chance
or very little chance but irrespective they pay and they have the hope
and their hopes are dashed but you and I as Christian believers
if we are Christian believers if we have been called by God's
grace we have a hope A hope that cannot be dashed. A hope that
is sure and certain. As certain as the rocks upon
which we build up our buildings. We have a sure foundation, because
that foundation is the Lord Jesus Christ. A wise man said the Lord
Jesus built his house upon the rocks. and the storms came and
the house stood firm and when the storms of life come upon
us we have that hope that is sure and steadfast grounded firm
and deep in the Saviour's love, we have that hope. Paul says he is now ready to
be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. Well we
don't know when it is the time of our departure. but it behoves
us to be ready it behoves us to have that foundation it behoves
us to be firm and sure in the Lord Jesus Christ and then in
the second place there is Paul's rejoicing and again there are
three ways in which he rejoices I have fought a good fight I
have finished my course I have kept the faith he says he has
been a soldier and of course Paul writes to the Ephesians
where Timothy was the minister, the elder and he says, wherefore
take unto you the whole armour of God that ye may be able to
withstand in the evil day take the armour of God because you
are in a battle the soldiers like to go out on their parades
with their medals in front of them Paul could go out as it
were with his medals but his medals were not worthless metal
but he says that his medals are the people that have been brought
to faith. Wherefore, my brethren, dearly
beloved, and long for my joy and crown, so stand fast in the
Lord, my dearly beloved. There were his joy and his crown.
They were his medals. the men make them boast in all
these things but we can only make our boast in the Lord Jesus
Christ we are brought into heaven and he made a good finish I have
finished the course, I have kept the faith he finishes it and
because he finishes that course to which he has been called and
brought up to the end, he says, I have kept the faith. He says,
by God's grace, I've been faithful. Now, as we look within our own
hearts, can we say that we have been faithful? When the minister
points his finger at the members of the congregation, remember,
he's pointing three back at himself. and I can truly say this I can't
say that I've been perfectly faithful but I trust that in
the Lord that I've been held by Him Jude says in his epistle
at the end now unto Him not ourselves, now unto Him that is able to
keep you from falling if we were left to ourselves we would fall
if we were left to ourselves we would be like the silly sheep
seeing the grass in the far field he goes and pushes his way through
the hedge and he goes and he chews at the grass in the other
fields we wander prone to wander says to him writer Lord I feel
it prone to leave the God I love and then he goes on to say here's
my heart oh take and seal it seal it from thy courts above
now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to
present you faultless before the presence of his glory with
exceeding joy to the only wise God our saviour be glory and
majesty now and forever amen he has finished his course he
has kept the faith oh that we might be brought to that place
where we are enabled to on our deathbeds as it were say to those
that are waiting at the side of the bed I have finished the
course I have kept the faith what a mercy it would be if that
is our experience but then And finally, this morning, there
is Paul's reward. 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
then that also love his appearing. The crown, the coronation, and
the congregation. The crown. It is a crown not
made with hands, not made by himself, but it is a goal of
righteousness. It is a crown that is being made
and wrought out by the one who wore a crown of thorns. Oh, that
crown of thorns, the thorns of which pierced the skin of his
temple and the blood flowed down his face. The Lord Jesus Christ
shed his precious blood so that he might indeed give a crown
of righteousness unto all those who love his appearing the crown
the coronation and there is going to be a great coronation but
we will not wear our crowns we saw no doubt the photos of the
recent coronation of King Charles and he is there in Westminster
Abbey the crown is placed upon his head and he is ratified as
the king of this nation and he is taken through the streets
of London and there on the balcony we see him and the Queen with
their crowns on but the saints of God will not take part in
a coronation like that oh no, they will enter into heaven their
crowns will be given them and as they see the Lord Jesus Christ
whom having not seen ye love it will be with joy unspeakable
and full of glory the crowns that are in their hands will
be cast at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ for all his glory,
for the work that he has accomplished, and for bringing them safe to
heaven. Carry on, thy new creation, pure
and holy may we be. Let us see our whole salvation
perfectly secured by thee, changed from glory into glory, till in
heaven we take our place, till we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder. love and praise henceforth i
am looking forward to it says paul henceforth that is laid
up for me a crown of righteousness which the lord the righteous
god shall give to me at that day and not to me only, there
is that great congregation that huge number, a multitude that
no man can number brought by the precious blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ brought into the fellowship of the congregations
and the church and they will be brought safely into heaven
and the Lord Jesus Christ will be at the head of them and as
they stand before the throne of God The four and twenty elders
are singing the song, worthy is the lamb that was slain. The
Lord Jesus Christ will, as it were, stand on one side and wave
his arm over the whole of the church, the myriad of people,
the crowd that cannot be numbered. and he will say to his father
I and the children which thou hast given me and every one of
the congregation will be there and then through all eternity
to thee a grateful song we'll raise but oh eternity is too
short to utter all thy praise well God grant that we might
be amongst that number God grant that we might be there on that
coronation day and with our crowns place them at the feet of the
Lord Jesus Christ. In the 19th century there was
a poem written about Selina, Countess of Huntingdon and how
she heard Roland Hill preaching in the open air and she was brought
to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I can't remember the poem as
it is written, but I do remember the last verse. The full morpher is standing
there. casting her crown at Jesus' feet. Well, God grant that we might
each one, both men and women, children, old and young, gathered
there to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and to sing His
praises forever and ever. Henceforth, oh, can we say that
of ourselves? Henceforth, 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 and then the
next verse which we didn't read it says do thy diligence to come
shortly unto me and of course that's addressed to Timothy concerning
all those that are mentioned in the latter part of this chapter
but we can take that verse completely out of its context And we can
apply it to the Lord Jesus Christ, can we not? Do thy diligence
to come shortly unto me. Oh, do we not desire the soon
return of the Lord Jesus Christ? And we know, of course, that
the Lord Jesus Christ will be diligent. He is diligent in that
work. and the work of the Spirit is
that of diligence in that he brings his people to himself
and a complete church will be there and just as the children
of Israel it was said not a hoof was left behind so not one child
of God will be left behind everyone will be gathered unto the Lord
Jesus Christ for all eternity what a mercy and what a blessing
that will be will the Lord add his blessing to these few thoughts
for his name's sake Amen