Okay, let's read those verses.
We realize we're jumping in the middle of the epistle, and Paul
has obviously other great things to say. But we're interested
this evening in Paul as he faces death, the expectation of death,
and his readiness for the death of the flesh. 2 Timothy 4, 1-8. He's writing to Timothy, of course,
one of his minister associates, and he said, I charge thee therefore
before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick
and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word,
be instant in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort,
with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall
they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. And they
shall turn away their ears from the truth, shall be turned unto
fables. But watch thou in all things,
endure affliction, do the work of an evangelist, Make full proof
of thy ministry, 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." Now,
we look at verse 6 again to get us started. I'm now ready to
be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. Paul is facing death now and
speaking about his own death. You know, it is written from
this same apostle, 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 22, in Adam,
all die. Death reigns, and it reigns over
all men. And it reigns unto death, sin
does, in Romans chapter 5. The sting of death is sin, 1
Corinthians 15 and verse 56. You know, reading in Genesis
chapter 5, I like to call it a virtual obituary column of
the generation of Adam. Time and time again in Genesis
chapter 5 do we read, so and so died. Men such as Adam and
Seth and Enos and even Methuselah who hath a distinction of living
longer than any other man in history. And a quick check of
Genesis chapter 5, and I counted there no less than eight times
those three words, and he died, connected to whoever the name
might have been. Now Paul speaks very candidly
to Timothy about his, that is, about Paul's impending death. He does so again to the Philippian
church as he writes to them in chapter 1, verse 20-24, For me
to die is gain, but to live is Christ. So whether living or
dying, it is Christ in me. The apostle Peter in writing
also makes mention of his death in 2 Peter chapter 1, 13-15.
There in that place, He calls his body a tabernacle
and was persuaded by what our Lord had told him that shortly
he must put off that tabernacle. And he speaks of my decease,
or literally, the word is my exodus. We go all the way back
to the Old Testament. Some of the great saints of God,
such as Moses. Moses spoke of his death. in
Deuteronomy 31 and verse 29. Joseph gathered his brothers
around, said unto them in Genesis chapter 50 and verse 24 that
he was about to die and be gathered unto the Father, and made that
strange request of his brothers that they might carry his carcass
and bury it in the land of Canaan, which of course they did. Then
there is that common thread that runs through all of these, in
that in each of these, the servants of the Lord were concerned about
the people whom they served in their ministry, and what would
become of them upon their demise or their departure. As for example,
Paul was fearful, and he warned Timothy, his young protege, of
a coming time when the people would not endure sound doctrine. The time would come, and come
soon, in Paul's mind, sound doctrine would be cast away. 2 Timothy
chapter 4, verses 3 and 4. Remember what Moses said to the
people ere he went out of this world? Deuteronomy 31 and verse
29, quote, For I know that after my death You will utterly corrupt
yourself, turn aside from that which I have commanded you, and
evil will befall you in the latter days because you will do evil
in the sight of the Lord to provoke Him to anger through the works
of your hands." Paul had that feeling. Moses knew the people. He had dealt with them for years
and years and knew that they had a strong bent to disobedience
and gainsaying. How did Moses know this except
that he had witnessed and been present to see their behavior? Joseph about to die. nearing
the end of his life, promised the people in Genesis chapter
20 and verse 24 that the Lord would visit them, that He would
take them out of the land of Egypt where they were slaves,
and put them yonder in the land that had been promised unto their
father Abraham. One more example from the Old
Testament. That would be that of Jacob in
Genesis chapter 49 and verse 29. As he was nearing the end
of his life, he said unto his sons, I am to be gathered unto
my people. Of course, he means by that that
he is about to die. Then he requests, bury me with
my people. He wanted to be buried yonder
in that burial place that Abraham had purchased. Now, another thing
about it that all these have in common, and that is the expectation
of death, that they would die. Whether Moses or Noah or even
Paul, all of them expected that they would die. They knew that
their lives were ebbing away. They knew that their time upon
the earth was temporary and that it was short. They would not
live forever in their flesh, and therefore both expected and
made preparation for the hour of their death. And they hoped
that their influence would survive their passing, that they would
have an influence upon the people, and that they would walk in the
way that they had taught them. Now it is probably true that
those that are now young dismiss any thoughts of death out of
their mind and have no serious consideration about the time
or the hour of death. After all, they are young, they
are healthy, and they shy away from any discussion on the subject
of death as being morbid and depressing unto them. Yet remember
that some of every age die every day that the sun comes up. But as the years advance, the
inevitability of death must be faced. Sooner or later, the issue
must come before all of us, even the Apostle Paul. Mortality is
becoming more evident as we press on in our years. We are moving
in the direction of all flesh has gone one day. another will
own, and another will occupy our houses and possess our land. Thus, as our lesson is entitled,
the expectation and the preparation of death, and particularly from
the standpoint of Paul. And how many are there who will
tell us quickly, I am ready to die. They will tell you, I have
no fear of death. And they will say, I have my
insurance on my life. I have a prepaid funeral plan
that is all paid off. I have reserved my burial plot. I have a current will to take
care of my earthly affairs. I've shown my children where
all of the important papers are that they might be able to find
them. In other words, I have put all things in order. And then tell them, well, listen,
friend, these things only pertain to the things of this life and
of this world. What about spiritual things?
What about the spiritual life? What about the life to come?
And some, even many, will, as John Gill wrote in his treatise
just a little while before he also died, tell you of their
well-spent life." Talk to men about debt. Talk to people about
debt. They will tell you, as Gil said,
about their well-spent life. Others will say they have been
honest in their dealing. They have cheated no man. Others
will say they have paid their bills. They owe no man. They
have supported their family. They have wronged no man in the
affairs of life. They have helped their neighbors.
They fed the homeless. They volunteer down at the soup
kitchen. They've given to charity. These
and such like things they plead as their preparation for the
hour of death, which implies that God will be pleased with
them, that God will accept the things that they have done that
they consider good. For after all, let's face it,
most people believe that they will and can be saved by doing
something which they consider to be good for others, or refraining
from that which they would consider to be evil. Paul, however, is
of another mind. When he contemplates, when he
is faced, when his thoughts dwell upon his own impending death,
probably at the hands of Nero, then he stays himself upon Christ
and upon the Christian faith. And his hope was only in the
cross and only in the blood of the Lamb. For Paul believed and
he preached that nothing else, no external works of goodness
or righteousness, whatever they may be, can make a person prepared
for death and eternity. Not the works, not good works,
not all kinds of works. Now in the passage that is our
text here, 2 Timothy chapter 4, the apostle gives Timothy,
whom he calls his son in the faith, 2 Timothy chapter 1 and
verse 2, correction, 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 2. He gives
that one that he considers his spiritual son a solemn charge. He gives to young Timothy a witness. And he invokes the name of God
and of Christ. I solemnly charge you in the
face of God and of Christ, who judges all the living and the
dead. This one by whom Paul lays the
charge is the judge of the living and of the dead. Now the charge,
or the exhortation, or the witness left unto Timothy is summed up
in the second verse. I'll read it again. Preach the
Word. Be instant, in season, out of
season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with
all longsuffering and doctrine. And in the end of verse 5 of
this same chapter, do the work, he says, of an evangelist. Make full proof of your ministry. That is, fulfill the ministry. of the Lord, as Patrick Fairbairn
wrote in his commentary on this epistle. This is, so to speak,
the Apostle's last charge unto his son Timothy. The last in
this epistle, probably or possibly the last, absolutely. The last
charge that Timothy might have received from his father in the
faith, the Apostle Paul. Now, as the charge to Timothy,
is made upon two considerations laid out in our text. Two things
there are that bear weight upon the mind of the apostle. Two things there are, and he
uses them, laying them before Timothy, to motivate his young
protege in the gospel ministry of the gospel of Christ. And
by the way, to see the absolute confidence Yes, full confidence
that Paul had in Timothy, there is a statement that I would like
to read to you. It is found in the letter to
the Philippian church, if you want to turn there, in the second
chapter, in verse 19 through verse 22. Here he is speaking
about this same young Timothy. In Philippians 2, 19 through
22, But I trust in the Lord Jesus, to send Timotheus
shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort when I
know your state." Listen to this, "'For I have no man like-minded
who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own,
not the things which are Jesus Christ. But ye know the proof
of him, that as a son with his Father, he has served with me
in the gospel." Paul said, I don't have anybody else that I have
as much confidence in as I do Timothy to be of my mind and
of my persuasion. But now let's look. The two considerations
that power the charge to Timothy are as follows. Number one, in
verse 3 through verse 5, of 2 Timothy chapter 4. The foreseeing apostasy
from the gospel. When they would not bear sound,
or the word literally is the word healthy. When they would
not bear healthy doctrine. Having itching ears, they did. They would heap unto themselves
a pile of teachers and ministries who would tickle their ears and
they would be turned aside to miss and to fable away from the
Gospel. Paul said that time will come. The second thing about it is
in verse 6 through verse 8, and that is that Paul's death seemed
at hand. And he gives Timothy this charge
because he felt, Paul did, that death was even at his door. In verse 6, in much more expressive
in the Greek than it can be brought out and over in our English,
especially as we catch the tenses that are there. First we see
the word for, F-O-R, in the beginning of verse 6. For I. And the contrast is with thou
or you. For I own my part. As one wrote, all that is being
urged here upon Timothy from Paul is said in the light of
what is happening to the apostle and what he knows will happen
unto him. What is the state of Paul this
time as he writes this epistle? Already been poured out, he said,
verse 6, like a drink offering. And the time of my release or
my departure is present, and the tense is having arrived."
It has arrived. The time of departure has arrived. He uses the word offered here
in this passage of the Scripture, and he couches his coming death
using a figure of speech. Offered. The time has come when
I will be offered. Most sound expositors that I
have confidence in and that I read agree. that the figure or the
metaphor here is poured out, like was done in some of the
Old Testament offerings. They were poured out before the
Lord. Water and such like poured out
before the Lord. But lest we err and think Paul
makes too much of himself and of his death, he is in no way,
absolutely in no way, is Paul equating his death with any Old
Testament ordinance, nor is he attributing any kind of efficacy
under the death of his body or any kind of merit in his passing. As in the end of verse 6, he
expresses it without any figure or without any metaphor saying,
the time of my departure is at hand. And again, let's collect
some euphemisms for death. Paul calls it, my departure. Over there in that passage in
Peter, he calls it, putting off my tabernacle. And he speaks
of my deceased. Jesus called Lazarus' death,
sleep. It is said of Abraham in Genesis
25 and verse 8, he gave up the ghost and was gathered unto his
people. Of David it is written, in Acts
chapter 13 and verse 36, that he served his generation well,
that he fell on sleep, and that he was laid unto his fathers. All of these are euphemisms for
the death of these servants of the Lord. Thus we consider the
death Paul expected, which was not a peaceful one, not at all,
not a peaceful one from ripe old age in his own bed, comfortably
surrounded by loving friends and loving family, nor from a
bodily sickness that might take away his life as it did Lazarus. Paul would die a death which
John Gill called martyrdom. I am about to be offered the
time of my departure. It is generally agreed that Timothy
was in Ephesus at this time, and that Paul was imprisoned
in Rome when he wrote this epistle. For Paul, you remember, had been
arrested and accused by the Jews. He had appealed his case under
the court of Caesar, and because of that, he had been brought
to the city of Rome. And though he was under house
arrest all the time that he was there, he was allowed to receive
callers and to preach the gospel to them, And you can see this
in Acts chapter 28, 16 and also verse 30 and 31. He dwelt in
his own hired house and received callers and still was able to
minister the gospel even in Rome under arrest. That Paul was a
prisoner when he wrote this epistle is further shown by the expressions
that he uses here in the epistle itself. 2 Timothy 1 and verse
8, where he calls himself a prisoner of Christ. A euphemism there
that he is in chain. 2 Timothy 2 and 9, he likens
himself to being treated as an evildoer unto bonds, as if he
were a criminal in bonds. John Gill contends that those
from whom Paul sent greetings in this epistle from Timothy
chapter 4 and verse 21, Paul said, these were men of Rome. These were Roman, the men that
are named there. And another thing, in the first
epistle unto Timothy, the apostle had said in chapter 3 and verse
14, these things write I unto you, hoping to come unto you
shortly. literally sooner before long. The idea there seems to be in
1 Timothy 3 and 14, although I am hoping to come in person,
and although I am hoping to come sooner than I thought, but if
I am delayed, that you may know how you ought to behave yourself
in the house of God, I am writing this unto you. I hope to come,
but if not, I am giving you how it behooves you to behave in
the church of God. But by this second epistle that
we read, he has resigned, it seems to the fact. There will
be no liberty for him to travel and to preach the gospel, or
that he might have opportunity to go and to see Timothy. In fact, in verse 9 he exhorts
Timothy, to come unto Him very quickly, before the winter, He
said. And by the way, bring the cloak
that I left at Troas, and the books and the parchment, bring
them with thee." This indicates that the apostle was now resigned
to the fact that he would not leave Rome alive, that he would
die there, whether it be by the ravages of old age or the many
punishments his body and his flesh had endured for the sake
of the gospel." As we have already seen, he uses two figures here
that he might express his death. That of a drink offering being
poured out, as it were, upon the ground, and a departure. He speaks of it as a departure.
While it is true that this word departure was a common euphemism
for death, Yet Paul uses a very picturesque word to describe
what he is saying. And it is the only place, I believe,
in all of the New Testament where this particular or this exact
word is used throughout all of the New Testament. Though there
is a like word, a word like it, in Philippians 1 and 23. And
it is that word departure. Now, the word departure, this
word here, in secular Greek, where it was used, was used in
two senses. The Greeks used this word departure,
one from the military standpoint, when a military tent was to be
taken down, the ropes were loosed off of the tent. It is used again
in the sailing of ships, and it referred to the loosing of
the ship from the mooring that held it at the dock or at the
shore, in order that it might be loosed, that it might go on
its way and sail to another port. And then the resolving himself
to the notion that his own death was hastening upon him. He then
turns his eyes and his mind to the hereafter in verse 7. Death is approaching, it would
seem, He will lose his life for the sake of the gospel. But he
turns his mind in verse 7 upon the hereafter. And again, he
uses metaphors. Metaphors taken from the Grecian
games in order that they might symbolize the Christian life
and all of the struggles that Paul had endured. He says this,
I have fought a good fight. I have fought the good and the
noble struggle. I have struggled nobly." And
his course had been finished. His race was run. And the tense
here of these words is so expressive. He had strained, as it were,
to finish his course, which was both his ministry and his Christian
life. And though he was not yet at
the actual end of his earthly life, he considered it so near
that he called it finished and said that it had come. And the
last clause of verse 7, look at it, I have kept the faith. He, for a time here, drops the
metaphor and speaks plainly. The faith I have kept. And methinks that they are right
who think that Paul, in these words, is not speaking of personal
faith or of the grace of faith, but that he is speaking of the
gospel. He is speaking of that body of
revealed Christian doctrine. The faith of God once delivered
unto the saints, as we read in Jude. The faith and the sense
of Acts 6-7 and Galatians 1-23. Paul in 1 Timothy 1 and 11 speaks
of the glorious gospel of the blessed God which
was committed to my trust, or which I have been entrusted. He had been true to the Christian
faith. He had defended the purity of the gospel against all enemies,
domestic and foreign. He had been a good steward of
the truth invested in Him as it was in Christ Jesus. He had suffered much for the
sake of the gospel most of it from his own countrymen for the
sake of his Lord. He could honestly say, the faith
I have been guarding, the faith I have been keeping, let us stop
and realize how much the church and the Christian people are
indebted to God for Paul and for his ministry to the churches,
both for his preaching and for his writings. some 13 books attributed
to him in the New Testament. He could say he had so exercised
himself so as to have a conscience void of offense against God and
against man. Acts 24 and verse 16. Thomas Goodwin, it was, made
a couple of points concerning Paul along this line. I thought they were interesting.
I thought they were true also. Number one, that he was more
quickly delivered from Judaism than most or any of the other
apostles. No one else so quickly and so
fully was delivered from the chains of Judaism. Some of the
other apostles, Peter for example, held on to some for a long time. Paul was quickly delivered from
the Old Testament Judaism. Secondly, that after his Amazing
conversion, said Thomas Goodwin. He never fell into some inconsistency
as did the other apostles, such again as Peter, for example,
down at Antioch. Paul stayed steadfast to the
gospel and it cost him. Cost him among his friends. Cost
him among his countrymen. At last costing him his freedom. But now we come to verse 8. where
Paul speaks of what awaits him after death. He's seeing himself
so near the end, and now he contemplates the happiness of the afterlife,
the life to come. Notice the word, henceforth.
And this word in the Greek is not the same word as in Romans
6.6, that henceforth we should not serve sin. or Romans, Ephesians
4, 16 and 17, meaning from now on, or from this time after,
after this. Rather, the word that Paul uses
refers to what remains, something beside. The word translated henceforth
in 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 8 is a dozen or more times used
throughout the New Testament. And strangely, translated by
these words, now, then, besides, finally, and furthermore. All
of those are a translation of this same word. Thus Paul declares,
in the future there is laid up for me. And again he uses the
metaphor from the games, the crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at His appearing. for running the Christian race,
for running the race that was set before Him, for keeping the
faith and ministering the gospel. And he says, notice this crown
is laid up. It is reserved. It is held in
waiting. It is ready. And throughout,
Paul uses figures of speech taken from the games, yet he draws
some implied contrast by using them as, for example, he calls
it a crown of righteousness. Now you can see the contrast
in 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 25. He talks about the games,
about running, about gaining a reward and such like, and he
says this, they do it to obtain a corruptible crown. Those who
run in the games, those who train for months and deny themselves
and train their bodies, they are doing it to attain, Paul
said, a corruptible crown. But we, an incorruptible, we
are not striving to gain a corruptible earthly crown, but an incorruptible. Notice, the awarder of the crown
is the righteous judge, the Lord who is righteous, as opposed
to the unjust, unholy, worldly judges who might be partial and
who might be bribed. and who might favor one over
another and bestow the crown unrighteously." Thus we see that
Paul believed strongly in an after coming life. Not that death
was the end of a person, not at all. He held that he would
experience a condition of blessedness beyond death. He did not preach
annihilation or soul sleep. He believed that I was laid up
for him a crown, but not based upon his works or his worth or
his personal merit. Also notice something else here,
that he was no elitist glory hog, not our apostle, for he
says concerning this crown, not for me only, but also for all
of them that love his appearing or his epiphany. or his parousia,
all of them also that love His appearing. To them that love
His coming, to them that look for Him, Hebrews 9.28. Paul teaches
us that we have been predestinated to an inheritance, and he does
not relegate the saints to a low tier or low class. For every
believer, Paul says, there is laid up a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me and to
all that love his appearing. Let's make some applications
in our closing. Paul, as it were, at this point,
is letting the mantle fall upon Timothy as Elijah did upon Elisha. Continue the ministry. Preach
the gospel. Stand for the faith once delivered
unto the saints of God as he is, so to speak, passing the
torch or allowing the mantle to drop upon the shoulders of
Timothy. And from such texts as this,
we see that Paul was not an unemotional robot. You know, sometimes we
might think of Paul as all business and serious all of that, Paul
was not an unemotional robot. He was not just a purveyor of
dry, dead doctrine without feeling. But he had a living faith, a
joyful faith in Christ, in the hope of coming glory. Paul had
that hope. Finally, we see that the greatest
apostle, the greatest pastor, the greatest preacher, the greatest
individual Christian will at time come to the end of their
days. And some see Paul larger than
life. Paul is thought of by many not
from the standpoint of death, but as the ever-abiding apostle. Some hardly can think of Paul
succumbing to death. And this text corrects them,
for we see a great preacher, a great Christian preacher, even
as Paul, facing the end of his mortal life, of his ministry
as well. But a hope which Nero's sword
could not smother, a hope of a crown, joy being like unto
him. I am ready to be offered, the
apostle said. The time of my departure is at
hand. Every Christian must face this
and every Christian will face it in due time. May Paul be a
shining example for us and an encouragement in that. All right,
let's bow for a word of prayer, please.