If you would, go ahead and turn
with me in the scriptures to 2 Timothy chapter four. 2 Timothy chapter four, I'll give
you a moment to get there. And while you're turning, let
me say that our dear friend and brother, Larry Pearman, left
this realm of time into eternity last night, about seven, as I
said earlier, to see and be with the Lord Jesus Christ. And I just love to think about
that. I mean, I love to think about it. I've thought about
it a lot lately. This world would say that Larry
passed from life to death, but really Larry passed from death
into life. And he did it many years before
he left here last night. Over the past few weeks and months,
those who have visited Larry have seen him suffer greatly.
Yet, in all that suffering, He never lost sight of his standing
in Christ. Before he got really sick, we
had some precious conversations that I will always cherish. He never lost sight of his standing
in Christ. You and I weren't ready for him
to depart. That's just a fact. But Larry
was certainly ready. On several occasions, he told
me just that. I guess a couple weeks ago, he
said, David, is it wrong for me to want to leave? He said, I don't want to leave,
Lou. It's selfish for me to want to. He asked me, he said, is
it selfish for me to want to leave? I said, not for a child
of God, it's not. For to live is Christ and to
die is gain. And I have great confidence and
assurance that that is so. I pray you do too. Now here in 2 Timothy chapter
four, beginning in verse six, Paul says this, he says, I am
now ready to be offered. And the time of my departure
is at hand. Have you ever given much thought
concerning what it means to be ready? Paul is simply saying
here that he's prepared. Prepared by God's power, by God's
purpose, and by God's providence. He's all set. One of the sayings
that I would use is, he had all of his ducks in a row. But there's
really only two ducks in this row. There's do and there's done. There's works and there's grace. Salvation is not in what you
and I do for God. You and I cannot do, we cannot
work a single work of righteousness that would cause God to be mindful
of us in any way. Salvation is all about what God
has done for us. We say that all the time, don't
we? Because it's true. It's true. Are we saved by our
works? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. For our work would have to be
perfect to be accepted by God. And everything we do is far,
far from perfect, isn't it? So mixed with sin is everything
that I do, that it's nothing but evil in God's sight. So then how are we saved? Well,
we know Paul very clear about that. We're saved by grace through
faith, and that's not of ourselves. The grace nor the faith is worked
up by us. It's the gift of God, not of
works. Paul reiterates, lest any man
should boast. And if you know Christ and him
crucified, it's easy to line those ducks up. In this day of
religion, I hear folks boast of their great faith. I hear
men and women boast about all that they do for God. It's nothing
but filthy works of righteousness. That's all it is. God will not accept it. He just
won't. Paul said, I'm now ready to be
offered That word offered means to be poured out. I was thinking
about how Paul was a vessel that was emptied of self. Yet at the
same time, he was a vessel that was filled with Christ. But when
Christ was finished with him, In this life, in this flesh,
in this world, he was poured out of this frail cup that we
call a body, this vessel, this frail vessel in which we reside. And this mortal put on immortality. And this corruptible put on incorruption. And death was swallowed up. Swallowed up in victory. Paul
said, I'm ready to be offered. I'm ready to be poured out. I'm
ready to put on immortality. I'm ready to put on incorruption.
Do you know what? So was Larry. So was Larry. Paul said here, he said, the
time of my departure is at hand. I'd have you consider that this
is no sad event. There's no fear here. He said,
the time of my departure is at hand. Paul has an air of confidence. There's a confident assurance
in Paul's speech. This is not the end while this
is just the beginning. This is a joyous occasion while
this is only a departure. A departure into glorious things. A departure into eternal things. And this is an encouraging departure. This is an assuring departure. And Paul writes to Timothy here
with great assurance and with great confidence and he says
that his departure is at hand and he speaks of it as if it's
a great promotion. Do you know why? Because it is. A great promotion. Paul wrote
in another place, he said, for I'm in a strait betwixt two,
having a desire to depart and to be with Christ. And then he
said this, which is far better. Far better. Nevertheless, to
abide in the flesh is more needful for you. No, not more needful for Paul. To depart would have been far
better for him. For our dear friend to abide
in the flesh longer may have been more needful to you, Lou.
It may have been more needful for this church. We're going
to miss him greatly. It may have been more needful
for his son and his grandchildren, but not for Larry. Paul, in these verses, stands
like a proud and faithful military man heading home after many tours
and years of service. And he says, I'm now ready, I'm
prepared to go home. The time of my departure
is at hand. My ship's at the dock, and it's
all fueled up, and everybody's on board. He's supposed to be
there, and everything that is on board is complimentary of
the host. He foot the whole bill, and everything
is now ready, and the time of my departure is at hand. Nothing else to be done. Just
rest in what my Savior has provided as I head home to see Him face
to face. Notice in verse 7 that Paul says,
I fought a good fight. Now that word fought here, it's
not at all a boastful word. Actually, it means to struggle. It doesn't draw any attention
to anything that Paul did. It means to struggle. Paul is
saying, I have struggled through and in this fight. Nothing for
me to brag about. Christ did it all for me. All
I had to do was believe and God enabled me to do that. And all
I did was struggle the whole way. I struggled to believe. I labored
fervently to trust in Christ alone. Do you know anything about
that? Oh, wretched man that I am! There's only one who can deliver
me from this body of death, and that is Christ my Lord and my
God. And he says, now I finished my
course. I used all the gifts that God
gave me. I kept nothing profitable back
to His people. I've not shunned to declare all
the counsel of God, the course of God's predestinating power
and providence that was laid out for me. I finished. I finished
it. And the most remarkable thing
of all this is, I've kept the faith. I've kept the faith. Paul is saying that God and His
love, mercy, and grace gave him the gift of faith to hold fast
to the gospel that God revealed to him so many years before.
And being kept by God's power, Paul said, I've kept the faith. And God gets all the glory, not
me. I kept the faith because He kept me. I once breathed out threatenings
and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord. I sought to destroy
the Lord's people, He said at another place. But God knocked
me off my high horse. God's got a way of doing that.
He knocked me off my high horse into the dust. And not only did
God reveal Christ to me, but He revealed Christ in me. And Paul says with Jonah, without
saying it, salvation is of the Lord. And Paul confirms that
by what he says next in verse 8. He said, henceforth, that
word means furthermore or besides, there is laid up for me a crown
of righteousness. Now did Paul earn this righteousness
by his good fight of faith? Did Paul merit this righteousness
because he finished his course? Was Paul saved and given a crown
of righteousness because he kept the faith? No, the faith was
God's gift of grace to him. So how did Paul come into the
possession of this crown of righteousness? It was laid up for him. It was
laid up for him. That phrase, laid up for, in
the original Greek means reserved and appointed. The crown of righteousness
was reserved for Paul. And the crown of righteousness
is reserved for all God's people. The crown of righteousness was
appointed unto Paul. And it's laid up for all whom
God gave to Christ in eternity. In Ephesians chapter 1 verse
5, Paul says, having predestinated us. That means the same thing. Having laid up for us. Having
reserved for us. having appointed unto us the
adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of God's will." I'm so glad he added that. You
know why? Because I'd take glory in it for myself. What does God lay up? What does
God reserve? What does God appoint unto His
elect? It's a crown of righteousness.
We must have a right standing with God. That's what righteousness
is. It's to have a right standing
with God Almighty. And the word righteousness, again
in the original language, means equity. Equity. Outside of Christ I have no equity.
Outside of Christ I have no worth. None. Not a little, none. There is none righteous. How many? No, not one. No equity found in us. But in
Christ, our righteousness, there's great equity. In Christ, there's
a crown of righteousness. Don't you like the way that sounds?
The crown of righteousness. It's noble. It's majestic. It's a crown of righteousness.
It's the crown of righteousness that belongs to the King of kings
and the Lord of lords. Paul had written that I might
be found in Christ not having my own righteousness. Not having
my own equity. which is of the law, but that
righteousness which is through the faith of Christ. See, he trusted in the faith
of Christ, not in his faith in Christ, but in the faith of Christ.
Big difference. Big difference. The righteousness
which is of God by faith. It's a crown of righteousness.
It's Christ's crown of righteousness. Christ is our righteousness.
Paul never claimed to have any righteousness of his own. My
friend Larry never did either. Oh, he'd tell you, I'm just a
sinner, saved by the mercy and grace of God in Christ. And he
always put those two words on the end, in Christ. That's where
our righteousness comes from. Do you remember what Paul's claims
concerning himself were? He said, I'm less than the least.
He said, I am the chief of sinners. Oh, wretched man that I am. I'm
not fit, he said, to be called an apostle. The crown of righteousness
that is laid up, that's reserved, that is appointed, is that crown
of holiness and righteousness which Christ brought out for
His people. And it's mine. And Paul said in verse 8, The
Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me. Give me this crown of righteousness
at that day. Not going to have to work for
it. Why? Because I can do no work
that would be acceptable unto God. It's all filthy. This righteous judge, the Lord,
shall give me the crown of righteousness at
that day. So called preachers today preach as though one day
we're going to stand before some compromising, loving judge who's
going to try to find something good in sinners. But the righteous judge, the
true and living judge, is one who judges righteously. He's
one who judges according to His law. He's one who judges according
to holy justice. Cannot and will not be satisfied
with anything less. Now hear me on this. Anything less than perfect righteousness. That's the plumb line. The righteous
judge who sits on a righteous throne sits there with unbending,
inflexible, strict, and holy justice. And if he finds one
flaw, one, oh my, one stain, one mark on
you, he'll banish you forever from his presence. His righteousness,
his holiness, and strict justice demand it. And if you don't believe
that, then you've yet to understand anything concerning God's holy
justice. Inflexible, unbending, strict,
and holy. But Paul was confident and he
had great assurance that the Lord, the righteous judge, would
give to him, at that judgment, a crown of righteousness. Christ is that crown of righteousness. And notice that Paul was able
to preach with confidence and assurance to other believers,
for he added this, he said, not to me only, but unto all them
also that love his appearing. Oh, I am really thankful he added
that. I love the thought of Christ.
second appearing, not just because it's going to be glorious in
and of itself, but because when I see Him, I shall be like Him. I shall see Him as He is. I'll
have no more imperfections, no more sorrow, no more crying,
no more afflictions, no more pain. No more death, for the
former things are passed away. Paul said, I'll have a perfect
knowledge of divine things. Why and how? Because I have it
all in Christ. Even now, Larry has a perfect
knowledge of divine things. You know, occasionally, Over the years he would call
me and ask me a question out of the scriptures. And sometimes
I'd know the answer. And sometimes I'd have to say,
Larry, let me get back with you on that one. He asked some pretty
good questions. And sometimes I said, Larry,
I just don't know. And I didn't. But right now, Larry has a perfect
knowledge of divine things. I don't understand that, but
I'm telling you I know it so. Larry no longer sees with the
eyes of faith, he now sees by sight. He's got perfect vision. He now sees with the eyes of
perfect Understanding. Free from the darkness of sin.
Free from the darkness of error. Free from the interruption of
sin. Without sin. There is no sin. Sin has been put away. It's gone.
And now he resides in a glorified body that God promised him before
the foundation of the world. Isn't that what Job said? He
said, I've heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine
eye seeth thee. According to the Scriptures,
a believer can have great assurance. Do you have this assurance? Job said, For I know that my
Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day
upon the earth. And though after my skin worms
destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. That sounds
like assurance to me. Job said, I know. David said,
the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie
down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. Surely,
surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life, and I'll dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Not I might,
not I hope to, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
That sounds like assurance to me. Paul said, who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
that is risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Then he said, who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, distress,
persecution, famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword, nothing. Nothing shall be able to separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Is that not great assurance?
Is that not confidence in Christ? No, not in me. There's no confidence
in me. I have no confidence in my flesh,
none. But I have great confidence in
my Lord and Savior. John said, these things I've
written unto you, that you believe on the name of the Son of God,
that you may know that you have eternal life. Do you know that
you have eternal life? You can. And that you may believe
on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that
we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will,
He heareth us. And if we know that He hears
us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that
we desired of Him. And in another place, John said,
we know that we've passed from death unto life. We know that
we have. No doubt in my mind that my friend Larry knew as
he lay there struggling for every breath that he was fixing to
pass from death unto life. No doubt. To me, that sounds
a whole lot like great assurance. Sadly, all who believe do not
have this assurance. It's not the strength of my faith
that saves me, friends. It's the object of my faith that
does. Oh, I wish we could get a hold of that. We're not saved
by the quantity of our faith. Salvation is in the one who saves. You know, I heard Brother Mahan
say one time, a weak, sickly, diseased, trembling hand can
put food in its mouth. And a strong, able, healthy hand
can also put food in the mouth. But it's not the hand that satisfies
the need. It's not the hand that nourishes
the body. It's the food that does. The bottom line concerning assurance
and confidence is this. It's not in us. Our confidence
is not in ourselves. It's in Christ. And you know
when our assurance is always at its lowest? When we look within. When we look in here and say,
oh, I wish I loved God more. I wish I didn't do the things
that I did. I wish I didn't think the things
I thought. I wish I didn't say the things that I said. Get your
eyes on Christ. Stop looking within. Because
our assurance is in Him, not us. I love to think about when
our Lord walked on the water in that boisterous storm and
Peter, bless his heart, he desired to walk on the water with Him.
And the Lord granted him to come, and we all know the story. Peter was fine as long as he
kept his eyes on Christ. But the second he took his eyes
off Christ, and the Scriptures say, and saw the wind boisterous. You know, the winds of this life
are boisterous. And if you get your eyes on them,
you're going to sink. And it says that he was afraid
and began to sink, crying, Lord save me. And I love to picture
this in my mind's eye. I can see that strong hand of
the Lord reach down and lock his wrist and lock his hand on
Peter's. And pull him up out from beneath
that wave in which he was sinking. When the Scriptures say, immediately
Jesus stretched forth His hand and caught him. Caught by the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's got him. He's got him. He's saved from his present trouble. While in that water, now I can
assure you that Peter is troubled and he's got a lot of doubts
and a lot of fears. He's still in that water. When
will Peter have full assurance that he's saved? When the Lord
Jesus pulls him up out of that water and he's standing in that
ship. That's when he goes... My question to you is this. Was
Peter safer in the water or in the ship? The answer is he was just as
safe in the water as he was in the ship. Because Christ, the strong man,
had a hold of him in both places. And that's what I'm trying to
say. Our assurance is not in ourselves. It's in Christ. It's in Christ. Whether I'm in
the river of life or whether I'm standing in glory with my
Lord, it's Christ that saves me and keeps me in both places.
The more confidence you have in the one that saved you, I'm
telling you, the more confidence you're going to have, period.
Period. One day soon, soon, you and I are going to stand
on Jordan Shore. One day soon, our departure will
be at hand. I know we all say this, and it's
so true, isn't it? Seems like yesterday I was a
20-year-old man, then a 30-year-old father, and then now a 62-year-old
grandfather. Where does the time go? It's
fleeting at best, isn't it? Our hope, our confidence, and
our assurance, I'm telling you, it won't be in our fight of faith. There were some who stood before
the Lord on that day of judgment and they said, Lord, haven't
we? Haven't we done this? Haven't we done that? Haven't
we done many wonderful works in Thy name? And the Lord Jesus
said, I never knew you, nor who you are. Our hope, our confidence, and
our assurance won't be in the fact that we've finished our
course. We struggled all the way. But we'll see that the Lord never
left us nor forsook us. Our hope and our confidence and
our assurance will not be that we've kept the faith, for our
faith was God's gift to us. The saving faith that we possess
is the faith of Christ, as I said a moment ago. The faith of our
strong man. You know, He's the strong man
because He's the God-man. And friends, our hope and our
confidence and assurance will be in one thing only. In verse
8, Saul ably tells us, Henceforth there is laid up, reserved and
appointed for all who trust in Christ alone, a crown of righteousness,
which is the Lord, the Lord Jesus, the righteous Judge, the one
that he shall give me at that day. Salvation is the gift of God.
Don't ever forget that. So let's preach the gospel to
those that'll hear it. Let's declare the unsearchable
riches of Christ as long as God gives us breath. Let's declare
the love and the mercy and the grace of God in Christ to sinners,
knowing that He will make the gospel message effectual to His
elect. Why? Because God has a crown
of perfect righteousness, not only for you and me, but unto
all them that also love His appearing. And that's why we preach, isn't
it? Well, if you believe in election, why don't you just preach to
the elect? You put a sticker on them and that's who I'll preach
to. We don't know who they are until all them that love his
appearing. Yesterday is my friend and my
brother stood on this side of Canaan's happy shore. The Lord
Jesus Christ, Larry's substitute, Larry's sacrifice, Larry's surety
for sin. The man Christ Jesus. The Lord
came. The Lord Jesus who is the way,
the truth, and the life. The Lord Jesus who no man cometh
to the Father but by Him. He came and He took him by the
hand. And He's with him right now in
glory. And I'm happy about that.