Good morning everybody. Let's
be opening our Bible to 2nd Timothy chapter 4 2nd Timothy chapter 4 Now the message this morning
before we begin reading is as I have titled it, The Death of
the Believer. But before we read this, I want
to make a few comments. We are going to be trying to
bring a message from the death of the Apostle Paul. But before
I do, I want to make a few comments on false religion and about death. Not only does false religion
give men a false hope, but they also give men false fears. And I can think of very few other
passages, scriptures that they can use more than Hebrews 9.27. It is appointed unto men once
to die, but after this, the judgment. Now, that passage is a dear passage,
but religion will take that passage and use it. They will use it
to draw in men, and then they will use it to try to keep those
that they have drawn in. They will cause men to think
of their failures and of all their sins. And they will teach
their disciples and their followers that when they stand before God,
that if they have not done that which they should have done,
that they will stand before the Lord and be embarrassed and be
humiliated and be downcast. They will stand there in humiliation
even to their own disciples. Religion is so cruel. And religion has had its effect
on me. Religion has had its effect on
me. Even after a profession of their
faith, I dreaded the thoughts of death. And when I read these
words, and when I did read these words of Paul, I read them with
great mystery, great mystery. How could Paul write such things? Let's read 2 Timothy chapter
four, beginning in verse six. For I am now ready to be offered. Paul is ready to die. And the time of my departure
is at hand. The time of Paul's death is at
hand. And Paul says, verse seven, I
have fought a good fight. Paul says, 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. Our setting
is the Apostle Paul sitting in a Roman prison cell and he's
about to die. We read there, William read there
for this morning where Paul having left Jerusalem, he is on his
way to his death. And now we find Paul here having
left Jerusalem and had gone through the court systems and had gone
to Rome, and now he's finally, after setting in that prison
cell and writing all those letters out to all the churches, and
now his time of departure is at hand. And he sits down and
he writes this letter to young Timothy. And Paul testifies of those three
things. He tells Timothy, I have fought
a good fight. And he tells Timothy, I have
finished my course. And he tells Timothy, I have
kept the faith. How in the world Will I ever
be able to say such things? When it comes to the time of
your death, and it comes the time of my death, will I be able
to say, I fought a good fight? Will I be able to say, I finished
my course? Will I be able to say, I have
kept the faith? And I want us this morning to
look at those three statements. Now the first statement, verse
seven, I have fought a good fight. What was this good fight that
Paul is speaking of? Before we say what that fight
is, let me tell you what that fight was not. That fight was not a fight against
sin. Did you know that that fight
against sin was his Lord Jesus fight? The Lord shall put away
your sin. That's what Nathan the prophet
told David. The Lord shall put away your
sin. You see, the believer's fight
is not a fight against sin. Ask Paul himself. Look at the
words of Paul himself and see what Paul says. In 1 Timothy
1.15 he says, I am the chief of sinners. Does that sound like
a man who has won the fight against sin? No. And if we were to go to Romans
chapter 7, we would hear the apostle himself speak of sin. And he would say, I am a carnal
man. I am sold. I'm a slave. I am a slave under sin. What I hate or what I know is
wrong is what I do. That's what I do. And what I
should do or what I know is right, I don't do that. I don't do that. Does this sound like a man who
has won the fight against sin? If you were to go to Paul in
this prison cell, years after he wrote this book of Romans,
you'd say, Paul, how are you doing now with sin? But he'd
drop his head. And he'd say, oh, wretched man
that I am. Oh, wretched man. So, what is this fight that Paul
fought? It was a fight not against sin,
but it was a fight against self-righteousness. Paul and his whole ministry His
whole ministry, he fought against those who come preaching righteousness,
self-righteousness for salvation. Paul wrote to the Philippians
and he said, beware of evil workers. He wasn't talking about the profane
and he wasn't talking about adulterers. He wasn't talking about publicans
and sinners. He was talking about evil religious
workers. He was talking about self-righteousness. He was talking about this same
bunch. He fought against this same bunch
who persecuted our Lord Jesus Christ. The religious of the
Lord's day were also those that the apostle Paul himself fought
against. The religious Pharisees and the
lawyers and the scribes. Paul fought against this same
bunch who our Lord in Matthew 7 said, those who stood in judgment
in Matthew 7, who stood and said, we preached in Christ's name,
we cast out devils in your name, and we've done many wonderful
works in your name. Ye that work iniquity, evildoers,
depart from me. So then Paul fought against concision. Concision is circumcision. It is a righteousness that is
obtained by obeying the law. It's the do's and the don'ts.
Paul fought against that. Salvation was not by what you
do. Salvation is not by what you
don't do. Paul fought against it tooth
and nail. The whole book of Galatians The
whole book of Galatians was wrote, Paul the apostle wrote,
oh foolish Galatians, who have bewitched you? A man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Paul wrote to the Galatians,
if righteousness came by the works of the law, then Christ
died in vain. And as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse. You see, Paul's fight was not
against sin. Paul's fight was against self-righteousness. And then secondly, Paul says
in verse seven, I have finished my course. What was this course? Well, a course is a race. And we have read where Paul has
described this life as a race. It is a career, a ministry, or
a calling. What was Paul's calling? Well,
I'll tell you what it wasn't. His calling wasn't to baptize. He said that. Christ sent me
not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. That was Paul's calling. Turn with me to Acts 22, or Acts
20. And let's read verses 22 through
24. And now behold, and this is the
passage that William just read. And now behold, I'll go bound
in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall
befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every
city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But look what he says
in verse 24, but none of these things move me. He's on a course. Neither can I my life dear unto
me. so that I might finish my course
with joy. And the ministry, what is that
ministry? The ministry which I have received
of Jesus Christ, and that ministry to preach the gospel of the grace
of God. That was Paul's ministry. And that was the course that
Paul was on. To testify of the gospel of the
grace of God. Paul's calling was to preach
the gospel, to preach Christ's righteousness, to preach substitution,
to preach our depravity and our need and our inability, and to
preach the unconditional election, the loving, merciful God of election,
and that of His irresistible grace, how He draws sinners unto
Himself, and how our Lord, when He died, He died for His people,
and He gave His life for His people, and how He, our Lord,
would keep His people until the very end. That was Paul's ministry. Salvation is of the Lord, is
what Paul preached. Well, I'm not an apostle. I'm not a pastor. No. And I don't think anybody
in this room is an apostle or a pastor. But I'll tell you what
we all are. We're all Gadareans. We're all
Gadareans. Go tell what great things the
Lord has done for thee. And that is what the Lord has
commissioned his people to do. That is our gospel. Is it not what the Lord has done
for us? And then thirdly, verse seven,
back in our text, 2 Timothy 4, Paul says, I have kept the faith. And again, let's notice what
he did not say. Paul did not say, I've been baptized. That's not what he said. Paul
didn't say, I made a profession when I was nine years old. That's
not what he said. That wasn't his hope. Paul didn't
say, I got saved. That's not what he said. Paul
didn't talk about all of his persecutions that he had suffered. The man sat there in that prison
cell and his whole body was scarred from the beatings that he had
received all his life in the ministry. He didn't talk about
those. He didn't talk about his chains.
in his chains as he was bound and wrung, getting ready to be
purged. There was no confidence in those
things for Paul. He suffered. Paul suffered for
the sake of the gospel, but Paul did not look to those circumstances
as his assurance, as his hope. No, Paul says, I have kept the
faith. What is keeping the faith? Paul
kept the faith by looking to Christ for all His righteousness. Turn with me over to Romans chapter
one. And this here in Romans one is
Paul writing. Verse 16 and 17, two verses. Paul says, I am not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. Verse 17, for therein is the
righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith. Paul says, I have kept the faith,
therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith. The just shall live by faith. You see, Paul kept the faith
by looking to Christ for all his righteousness. Paul's fight
was against self-righteousness. Paul's faith was Christ's righteousness. And then, in conclusion, turn
back to 2 Timothy chapter 4, and look at verse 8. Now after
he says, I have finished my fight, I have fought a good fight, I
have finished my course, and I have kept the faith. Verse
8, he says, henceforth, this is what follows my fight, this
is what follows my faith, this is what follows my course. He
says, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. a crown of righteousness. What is this crown of righteousness
that Paul is going to receive? That crown of righteousness is,
I'm going to be just like him. I'm going to be just like him. I'm going to die The time of
my departure is at hand, and I'm going to die. But when I
wake, I'm going to awake in His likeness. That is Paul's crown
of righteousness. And notice that this crown of
righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give
to me at that day. The righteous judge shall give
Paul this crown. The righteous judge, the judge
of the earth, he who is holy and just and good, who can in
no wise clear the guilty. It is he that is gonna give Paul
this crown of righteousness at that day, the day of judgment. But notice that he also says
that not me only. He shall give me at that day
and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. Do you know what this tells me?
You see, this crown, this judgment, this good judgment, and this
wonderful thing that Paul says is not only meant for apostles. This isn't just for apostles.
And this just isn't for the great men of Spurgeon and all the men
through history and Moses and Abraham. It's not just for them. This is not a special group inside a group, no. No,
this is for all of them that love His appearing. This is for
all of God's elect. They all love His appearing. It is all of them for whom Christ
died. And so, turn with me one last
place, Hebrews chapter 9. So as I said at the start, looking at Hebrews chapter 9, and remember
I was talking about how religion takes verses? Well, Hebrews 9,
27 is the word. It is true. Everything about
it is true. But there's something else written
with Hebrews chapter 9, 27. That's what I want us to read.
When we think about judgment and we think about fear, believer,
read with me Hebrews 9, 27 and 28. And as it is appointed, and
a man wants to die, but after this, the judgment verse 28,
so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. and unto
them that look for him shall he appear the second time without
sin unto salvation. Brethren, precious in the sight
of the Lord is the death of his saints. Amen.