Father, we thank you for this
day, this day that you've made. We thank you, Lord, for all your
wonderful work. Lord, we thank you for our blessed
Savior, whose name and body it is that we assemble
together in this place this morning. Lord, thank you for life. Thank you for everlasting. Thank you, Lord, for your precious
blood that you shed over all our sins. that you came into this world
to redeem all that the Father gave. Lord, we rejoice in your
goodness, in your kindness, and in your mercies. Lord bless us. We read your word. Lord help us. Give you all the praise and all
the glory and all the honor. Lord have mercy. Amen. Amen. The title of this lesson is Paul's
departing words to Timothy. You know, if someone's going
to write you and it's the last time they will be communicating
with you, I would give special attention to that. You know,
they are going to give their best instructions. What's ever
on their heart is going to be. It's like David last words. You know, that's that's what
you really give attention to when someone knows this is the
last the last. And notice here that what Paul
does is that he charges Timothy. He gives him a solemn, serious
charge, and this charge is not to Timothy only, but it's to
everyone who stands in a pulpit to preach, who says they are
called of God to preach. We are to preach the Word, and
the Word only. And he gives this solemn charge
to Timothy, he says, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who
shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing. Paul does
not give this charge to Timothy before the apostles or the elders
of the church, but before God almighty and the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall judge the quick and the dead. Now this charge is
serious because it's God's word that I'm handling. I have no
right, I have no right and no one else has any right to alter
God's Word, to take the edge off of God's Word. We preach
God's Word as God's Word. We study His Word and we stand
in the pulpit and we preach His Word, not an opinion, this is
not what I think it says, it's what it says. It's God's Word. And we leave it as God's Word.
That's how serious this is. I'm handling the Word of God.
In your lap, this morning, you have the Word of God. This is
God speaking to us. It's serious, it's solemn. And
then it's a solemn charge because it has to do with the glory of
Jesus Christ. This is the gospel of God's glory. His redemptive glory is the gospel
of the glory of the Son of God. That's what makes it so solemn
and so serious. And then here's another reason
it's so serious. No one is saved apart from preaching
the Word. God does not save men and women
by lie. God does not save men and women
by another gospel. Now, I'm serious with this. God
does not save men and women by another gospel, and then they
come to learn the truth. A man or a woman, a sinner, is
saved when they hear the gospel, the truth of God, of Christ,
and of themselves. So no one is saved without the
word, the gospel, and there's only one gospel. Paul said that
in Galatians chapter one. They come preaching another gospel,
he said, which is not another gospel, but there's only one
gospel that's of God. And it's only by that one gospel
that sinners are saved. That's how serious it is. And
then here's another serious, and this is really serious for
me. I have to give an account of the ministry and the gifts
that God's given to me. I give an account. Not to you,
but to God. To God. I have to give an account
to God for the gifts, the ministry, the gifts, and the talents that
the Lord has given to me to glorify Him and edify His church. That's serious. And then here's
another serious and solemn reason for this charge is that the Lord
Jesus Christ, the one whom I preach, is the judge of the quick and
the dead. Everybody stands before him.
Everyone stands before the Lord Jesus Christ. All judgment, it
says in the scriptures, all judgment has been committed to the son. all of it, and they all stand
before him. And it says, by his coming and
his kingdom, our Lord is never separated from his kingdom. You
know, I believe it was in 1 Thessalonians 4, we looked at last here, I
think it was last Thursday. He says, when he comes, he'll
bring them with him. All the departed say, he's never
separated from them. they are his kingdom, they make
up his kingdom, and he is never separated from his kingdom, he's
never separated from his people, ever. And he says here, preach
the word that is herald, proclaim, proclaim the word, declare the
gospel of the grace of God, of the Lord Jesus Christ, preach
Christ, the living word. He says, preach the word, We
preach the Living Word from the Written Word. They cannot be
separated. We never separate the Lord Jesus
Christ where it says in John chapter 1 that He is the Word
of God. The Word was with God and the
Word was God. And we preach from this Word, from Genesis to Revelation. We preach from this Word, the
Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. We preach the Word, preach Christ,
the Living Word, preach Him from the written Word, and preach
Him in all that He's revealed in the Word, all the types, all
the pictures, preach Christ from them, preach
Christ, we have nothing else to preach, He, listen, Jesus
Christ is the subject of our messages, Jesus Christ is our
lesson, And gee, and this book right here is our textbook. Here's
our textbook. We have no other textbook. You
know, I don't stand, I use commentaries, but this is my textbook. This
is it. Now, what is it to preach the
word? And I'm going to deal a little more with this, a little bit
with this in the next message, but they kind of overlap each
other this morning. But what is it to preach the
Word? Well, it's to preach the God of this Bible. It's to preach
the God of this Bible. It's to preach that God is. And
it's to preach God as He has revealed Himself in this book. You know, we have a revelation
of God. We don't have to guess who He is. We don't have to guess
what He's like. We don't have to guess that at
all. We have a revelation given to us in the word of God, of
the being of God, and what he's like. God is holy. We don't have to
wonder what he's like, he's holy. God is just. God is merciful. God is omnipotent. God is omnipresent. God is sovereign. We have that
in the Word. We don't have to guess. God has
given us a revelation of who He is. We also have in this book
a revelation of the person of Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ walked
on this earth 2,000 years ago in the flesh. And we do not look
at history books to find out who he was and what he was like.
We have it in the Word of God. And we don't just go back 2,000
years. We go back to the beginning.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Who
is that God? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is
the God of creation. Jesus Christ is the God of salvation. Jesus Christ is the God of providence. That's who Jesus Christ is. But
Jesus Christ is also a very, very real man. He had a human
soul, a human body. He was a very real man in every
way, except for sin. He knew no sin. He hungered like
you and I hunger. He thirsted like you and I thirst.
He was weary. He got tired like we do. He was stressed at times. It
says in one place, it says he groaned in spirit. He groaned
in spirit. In the Garden of Gethsemane,
he said, he said, I'm exceeding, my soul is exceeding sorrowful
even unto death. If I don't get help, I'm going
to die right here. he felt he he felt I like what
Matthew Henry said whenever he was at the tomb of Lazarus and
it says Jesus wet Matthew Henry said he felt everything he took
away he was a real man you know he
trusted God as a man he he trusted God completely you know as a
man he he exercised perfect faith in God He trusted God daily for
his daily bread. He trusted his father to take
care of him while he walked on this earth. As a man, he did. As God, he's God. As God, he
knew all things. As God, he could do all things.
But yet as a man, like you and I, he did not turn those stones
into bread because I can't. He was hungry just like me, except
he knew no sin. And then in this book, when we
preach the word, we have to preach man as he is. There's none good. No, not one. Even me. I wrote that out beside
of that, even me, including me. The whole of humanity is no good. That is what makes this message
so hated. is when the Bible talks about
humanity. It doesn't dress it up. It doesn't
put a suit on humanity. It tells the truth. You see,
apart from a revelation, apart from a divine revelation, and
apart from this Word, we would think that humanity, for the
most part, is good, wouldn't we? And there's some bad people
in it. But the Word of God doesn't say
that. The Word of God says there's none good. The Word of God says
there's none that seeketh after God. God said there's none that
seek after me. You would think he would know
if somebody was seeking him. He says none seek after me. And
that is a very unpopular message to mankind. You just tell somebody
they're no good, they don't, see how quick it makes them mad.
Tell them what they really are to their face. That makes them
mad. It make you mad, make me mad.
Until God Almighty Himself reveals to you who He is, who Jesus Christ
is, and your need of Him. Your need of Him. That's what
it is to preach the word. It's to preach the truth. It's
to tell the truth on God. It's to tell the truth on Jesus
Christ. It's to tell the truth on us. Don't you want to know
the truth? You want to know the truth. I
want to know the truth. No matter how much it hurts, I want to
know the truth. I want to know the truth about
God, about Christ, and about myself. Now, there are three
things to be done in preaching that Paul gives to Timothy. First,
reprove. Whether it's error of doctrine
or error of spirit, we are to reprove using the Scriptures,
not without the Scriptures. We are to use the Word of God.
We're not to leave error unchecked because this reason, for this
reason, a little leaven leavens the whole up. You know, how much
leaven do you have to put in a bread to leaven it? I mean
a pinch. It's amazing how little leaven
that you can put into bread and leaven the whole lump. The whole
lump rises from that leaven. It just takes over. And then
secondly, rebuke. That is, rebuke sin and error.
Now, some is to be rebuked in private. Here's what Henry said
this once. If it's in private, rebuke in
private. If it's in public, then you have
to deal with it publicly. You have to deal with it openly.
If it's private, keep it private. If it's openly, then you have
to deal with it openly. And exhort. In preaching, we
reprove with the scripture, rebuke, and exhort. Encourage. Encourage men and women to faithfulness. I'm glad you're faithful. I am.
I wouldn't have anybody preach to this morning if you weren't.
You're faithful and I'm to be faithful. Faithful in the study.
Faithful to get into the Word of God and seek the Lord and
seek the message. And you to be faithful here to
hear the Word. To hear the Lord. You know, you
came here this morning. You didn't come here to just
hear me. If you did, well, that's what you're doing. You're hearing
me. You came to be instructed by your father, didn't you? You
came to be fed this morning by the shepherd. The Lord said,
where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am
I in the midst of them. This is serious. The Lord's with
us this morning in spirit. The Lord's with us. And I tell
you what, in spirit is just as real as if he walked in the flesh
in this building. It's just as real. That's how
serious this is. So we exhort, we reprove, rebuke,
exhort men to faithfulness, exhort one another to love one another,
to grow in love, and to hold fast, to hold fast the faith. to hold fast the confession of
faith and faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ. And all these
are to be done, Paul says to Timothy, with long-suffering,
patience, patience, and doctrine, teaching. You know, doctrine
is teaching. We take the teachings of our
Lord and we go over them week after week after week. And you
know, the Lord makes them fresh to us, doesn't he? I have read
this Bible for nearly 50 years now, and it's just as fresh as
ever. I get things out of this book,
and it's been nearly 50 years. I get things out of it just like
I read it for the first time. I'm blessed with it just like
it's the first time. And then he says here in verse 3, for
the time will come, and I believe that time has I believe that
time has come when men will not endure or they will not tolerate
sound doctrine. Let me ask you this. Is there
any doctrine more sound than the doctrine of election? You
can't read the Bible. Now, there is just no way you
can take this Bible and read it and say that it does not teach
that God chose a people. But yet, most of what's called
Christianity will not tolerate the doctrine of election, that
God chose a people, and Christ redeemed that people. And that
people are called by God's grace, they are regenerated by God's
Spirit, and they're going to be saved. But they won't tolerate
sound, that is, Biblical doctrine. I mean, when I first heard the
gospel in the place I was going to, I talked to the pastor about
it, and he said, no, it doesn't teach that. He said, Jesus Christ
died for Judas as well as Peter. That's what he told me. I said,
no, he didn't. No, he didn't. Now, you cannot
take the Bible and prove that, that he died for Judas. He didn't
die for Judas. Jews was called a son of perdition. But he did die for Peter. He
did do that. And because he chose Peter, he
said, you didn't choose me. He's speaking to his disciples
one day and he said, you didn't choose me. I chose you. I chose
you. They will not tolerate sound
doctrine, total depravity. They believe man has a free will,
that he can on his own, on his own come to Christ. When Christ
said, no man can come to me, except the Father which has sent
me draw him. He can't because he won't. But
he says, there'll come a time, and you and I are in that time,
when they will not endure or tolerate sound doctrine. They
will choose preachers who foster their errors and believe what
they want to believe. Not what the word of God says,
but what they want to believe. What grandma and grandpa used
to believe, what the family used to believe, and the traditions.
No, that's not so. But he said that's what they'll
go after. The gospel is not loved by men. They will not tolerate
the truth, but they'll seek preachers that'll tell them what they wanna
hear. Itching ears, that's what they call itching ears. Agree
with them. Agree with them. You know, I've
had people come to me. And I've had them come to me and ask me
for advice. Very few have ever taken. And
I know a situation when they came to Henry and they asked
him for advice. Very few ever took it. What they're really
looking for is somebody to agree with them. They're not looking
for advice. They're looking for somebody
to agree with them. And that's exactly what most
congregations are made up of. They want a preacher that will
agree with them, that will not upset the apple cart. Well, if my apple cart's rotten,
I want somebody to turn it over. And I don't want that. I want
the truth. It's not made up. Most of today's
preaching, and I know this from experience, is not made up of
doctrine from the scriptures. It's made up of emotions. It's more of an emotional. You
know, when they talk about having a great service, they're talking
about this emotional feeling that went on. It's not the truth that was preached. And he says in verse four, and
they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned
into fables, useless, empty stories. They'll be turned to fable. And
I know this, you cannot turn away from something without turning
to something. If you turn away from the truth,
you have to be turning to error. You turn to error. They will
not have the gospel of God preached to them. They don't want to hear
it. That faith that comes by hearing, hearing by the word
of God, that's not what they want. They don't want that. They
will turn to useless, unprofitable preaching. You know, before I
heard Henry, before I went down 13th Street and sat under Henry,
doctrinally, I could not talk to you. I couldn't talk to you
doctrinally. I never heard it. I never heard
it. But when I went down there, I
began to hear the gospel and the teachings and the doctrines
of the gospel. And that's what Paul's saying here. You, you,
you, you, uh, you preach the word and you preach sound doctrine
and you stay with it. And he says in verse five, but
watch thou in all things, Timothy, stay the course. And you watch
as a watchman. That's what I am here. I'm a
watchman. You watch in all things. You
stay the course and stay calm and unmoved by these false preachers.
Don't get sidetracked. Don't get sidetracked. Feed the
sheep. Feed the sheep and stay the course. Endure hardships because they
will come. They will come. We live in an
ungodly world, and those who preach the gospel, and those
who believe the gospel, those who are faithful to the gospel,
He said they'll suffer, suffer persecutions, it comes in different
forms, but you'll suffer for it, but you stay the course. And He says here in verse 6,
He said, Timothy in Verse 5, Watch thou in all things, you
stay the course, for I am now ready to be offered. I'm ready
to be off you know Paul was about ready he was ready to be executed you know what he's making reference
here when he says I'm now ready to be offered over numbers 15
there's a reference there to the drink offering and he's saying
here I'm ready to be poured out like a drink offering unto the
Lord I'm ready to be poured out and the time of my departure
is at hand My body is about to be dissolved and go back to the
dust and the spirit back to God who gave it. And if you'll notice here that
Paul does not speak of it as death. He doesn't say, I'm ready
to die. I'm ready to be executed. I'm
ready to be martyred. He said, I'm ready to depart.
Really, that's what it comes down to. When you and I come
to die, you and I who believe the gospel, it's departing. It's departing. Departing this
life and going to be with the Lord. What he's saying here,
when he says, I'm about to depart, he said, I'm about to go free.
Paul is shackled. He's chained to a guard. He's
in a dungeon. He's in prison. Timothy, I am
about to go free. This old body is going to go
back to the dust. But I'm about to go to be with the Lord. To
be absent from the body, he said, is to be present with the Lord.
He's saying, I am about to lift the anchor and set sail for that
better country where the King of Peace is. That's what it was
for Paul to depart. And notice his departing confidence. And I'll wind this down. I have
fought a good fight. I hope by God's grace that you
and I, when it comes time to depart, that we can look over
our life as a believer and say, I have fought a good fight. I
have fought a good fight. You know, there is such a thing
as a good fight. There is such a thing as a good fight. It's for the glory of God. It's
for the faith of God's elect. That's a good fight. We are in
a good fight. And it is a fight. It's a warfare.
It's a warfare. And Paul said, I have fought
a good fight. I have not quit. Paul did not
quit. He endured all hardships until
the end. In one place, I believe it's
in Corinthians, he gives these different hardships that he went
through. He endured each one as they came
to the end. He never quit. Paul never quit. He endured, and he's about now
to die in the faith. That's one of my desires. Well, it's to be saved. It's
to be saved from my sins. But I pray, I want to die in
the faith. I want to die believing God.
It's how I want to die. It doesn't matter if I die of
cancer, or a car wreck, or whatever I die of. I want to die believing
God. That's what I want to die. That's
how I want to die. Believing God. We all have to
die. Lord, let me die believing you.
He said, I finished my course. He was given a course to run,
and he ran it. You know, it says David served
his generation and then he fell asleep. We all have a course to run.
Every last one of us whom God has saved. We have a course to
run that God has, God has designated the course. We have a course
to run. And when we have finished that
course, it's not when we get older, it's when we have finished
the course, that God's given to us, that's when we will die. Some finished the course at 40.
Some finished the course at 60. Some have finished, was it, was
it McShane or Brainerd died at 29? Brainerd? Brainerd died at
29. He finished his course at 29.
I don't know what my course is and how long it is, but when
I have finished the course, That's when I'll die. And that's the
only time I wanna die. Somebody can ask me, what age
you wanna die at? It has nothing to do with an age. It has to
do with finishing the course that God's given me to run. I
have kept the faith. I have believed God. And now
listen, last of all, he says in verse eight, 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, not to me as an apostle, but unto all them also that love
his appearing. I'm going to read to you what
Henry wrote on this. He wrote, A crown of righteousness,
the happiness, the glory, and the future state of all believers
is signified by a crown. On account of the glory of it,
In agreement with the character of saints, kings, we are made
kings and priests unto God. And we have a crown of righteousness.
And because we are raised to sit among princes and to inherit
the throne of glory, it's a crown of righteousness. And this crown
is given by God, not to Paul only, but to all believers. It's a crown of righteousness.
And Paul said, it's laid up for me, and I'm going to get it,
and you are too. You ought to. All right.