in 2 Timothy chapter four. Indeed we have witnessed this
week in the unfolding of events in the earth of the rebellion of men by nature
against God. And You know, it's easy to sit back
and judge men for their wickedness that's on display, and well,
we should. Nobody can approve of or minimize
in any way heinous acts that are done against mankind. But we must always be reminded
that it is, there's only one thing that makes us any different
from those who do such things, and that's the grace of God,
mercy of God. And apart from that, we don't
have any standing. And so we lament, you know, The
wickedness, we lament the destruction. You know, it's just like when
the death penalty is carried out for crimes that men have
done that demand such, according to the word of God. We can't
take any joy in that. I mean, we can't have any place
of rejoicing. You know, you often see these
protests arise whenever someone's about to be executed, and you'll
have those that are weeping and carrying on, you know, to show
mercy to the one who's about to be executed. And then on the
other side, you'll have people, you know, clamoring to see justice
done. Now the fact of the matter is
that both extremes show the rebellion of man against God because all
of us ought to be on our faces before God, magnifying him that
his justice is true, that he will judge sin, that he will
carry it out each time such things as that. And when we see a nation
who has been wronged rise up in what we might call righteous
anger against those who perpetrated such things. We can't take any
delight in that, but we do recognize that God has ordained such things
come to pass. There'll be wars and rumors of
wars till the time of the end, and all of this arises because
of the sin of men. I mean, it's our sin. as much as their sin. I mean,
we live in a sinful world. And so it is not unusual that
we see the hand of justice set forth. And I don't know what
the end of it will be. I don't know, you know, what
might happen in days to come. I take no delight in any of this
that might occur. I mean, we could easily be involved in a war ourself,
you know, easily through political ramifications and things such
as that. And it's just a testament to
the sinfulness of men. I mean, every time, every war
is such. I mean, there may be a right
side and there may be a wrong side, but it's always wrong altogether. You know, the whole thing is
a terrible situation. So all we can do is cry out to
the Lord for mercy that he might deliver us, help us, and help
us not to be righteous over much. and that we would excuse our
own shortcomings in looking at the sin of others. And on the
other hand, that we might not glory in anything that is done
in such a situation as this. So may the Lord give us a heart
and mind to be like the Lord Jesus, who prayed for those that
despitefully used him. And surely if anybody had reason
to render vengeance, he did. But he willingly died in the
behalf of the same ones who crucified him. We're looking in 2 Timothy
chapter four. And we've been here for a while.
Of course, some of us have been gone for various things that
the Lord has seen fit to bring upon us. And I want to begin
reading there in verse five. But watch thou in
all things, endure afflictions, 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 to all that love, all them also that love his appearing. Now, of course, Paul's been exhorting
Timothy to do, be faithful in the work that the Lord's called
him to do. Watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, don't
let things turn you aside. And of course we see, I believe,
as we read on in this chapter, and he speaks about Demas having
departed to having loved this present world. And I think that's
an example in contrast to what he's talking to Timothy about,
about enduring afflictions. I didn't read the verse concerning
Demas, but it says, For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved
this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica, Crescens to
Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Now we don't know a lot. The Lord has somewhat shrouded
Demas in mystery to us. He's not mentioned but twice
in the scripture. And so we don't really know a
lot about him. We don't really know. Some have
taken the tag that Demas completely forsook the faith. I'm not certain. I don't really think that's what
Paul's getting at here. Now, it could be. I'm not saying
that that is not. I know that in Bunyan's Pilgrim's
Progress, he uses Demas as one who was a total apostate. I'm not completely convinced
that Demas was an apostate, but I think that Demas was, at the
very least, one who did not endure affliction. and he fled from
it. He left Paul in Rome, and he
was not willing to stand with Paul in this situation, and I
think that's really what it is. I think it was very much a disappointment
to Paul. He didn't write words of condemnation
here, he just spoke the truth. He said, Demas hath forsaken
me. That is, he left. And you know how important it
is that we would encourage one another in the faith and that
we would not depart from one another in such things. So he tells Timothy to endure
afflictions, do the work of an evangelist. The Lord hasn't called
his people to lives of ease, most especially those who have
been called to declare the word of God in ministry, in the full
proof of ministry of this sort. Now, when we speak about ministry,
A lot of people have the wrong idea. They think that somebody
that's called to preach or somebody that stands up and preaches,
he's in the ministry. Well, that's not. That is a ministry. It is an important ministry.
But the ministry that all of God's people are called to a
ministry, and it is a ministry one to the other. We are to be
ministering to one another, helping one another, building one another
up in the most holy faith. And so all of us have a ministry. We're bought with a price. We're
all bought with the same price. And therefore, we are our brother's
keeper. And so we do have, in that way, a responsibility and
an accountability to one another for one another. and to render
aid where and however we can. That is a ministry. But of course
what he's speaking here to Timothy about is the full proof of thy
ministry which is the ministry of the word which he gave him
as an apostle. He said through the laying on
of my hands. He had that power as an apostle. I don't think that those apostolic
gifts continued on so that we cannot confer such things upon
others by laying all of hands in the same sense and to the
extent that Paul was able to as an apostle. So I believe that
he speaks to Timothy as his son in the faith in a very special
sense in which he taught him. Now we know that all men are
taught, if a man learns anything, he's got to be taught by God.
It's impossible for one man to impart to another any truth. God has to give them that truth.
But he does use the ministry of the word for our benefit.
And he helps us and he causes the word of God to be applied
to us. And so that we might receive
it and that we might be encouraged by it. Then he says, for I am
now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at
hand. Paul's right at the end of his life. And he knows he's
at the end of his life, because he's gone before the Roman councils. He's been accused of sedition. He's been accused of many things,
and they've made the case against him, and he is awaiting his execution. I mean, the sentence has been
passed. He knows the time of his departure is at hand. Now,
on the one hand, that's a fearful thing. On the other hand, it
is a comforting thing. If a man's in Christ and he knows
the time of his departure's at hand, he can say with Paul, I'm
ready to be offered. He said, because I know that
for me to live is Christ, to die is gain. You know, there's
nothing that we're going to give up in this world because that
which we shall gain in Christ is far greater than anything
that we have in this world. There is no joy that exceeds
that which is in Him. There's no love that exceeds
that which is in Him. And so it is, He says, I'm ready
to be offered. And the time of my departure's
at hand. You know, the older that we get,
when we're young, we don't think in terms like that. I mean, when
I was 15 years old, I never thought about that. But from time to
time, I saw around me others who were the same age as me,
and the time of their departure was at hand. So I was not completely
without any consideration of it, but with passing of time,
you know, we can clearly, more clearly see that that is true. Now, I've not shared this with
everyone, but you may know, I don't know, but I was recently diagnosed
with cancer. And of course, that's a shocking
thing to anyone. Fortunately, according to the
prognosis of the doctors and stuff like that, the type of
cancer that I have is treatable and I have been undergoing some
treatments for that. But it's all in the hands of
the Lord. You know, a doctor can tell you,
you got a clean bill of health and you can If the Lord's ready
for you, he'll take you tomorrow. So, you know, the time of our
departure is at hand. And I see that more clearly.
You know, and I might live to be 150 years old. I doubt it,
but you know, I might. But nonetheless, I know realistically,
You know, such things as this remind you what frail bodies
we have and though we might think ourselves to be strong, we're
really weak and really just awaiting our time when the Lord is seen
fit to call us home. May we be able to say with Paul,
for I am ready to be offered. He says, I have fought a good
fight. I have finished my course, I
have kept the faith. Now, I don't think Paul was boasting
here. He's just stating a matter of
fact. And when he says, I have kept the faith, I think what
he has reference to is the fact that he has faithfully declared
the truth as he knows it to be. That's what he means by I've
kept the faith. He doesn't mean I've been strong
in the midst of all things, because he said when I'm weak, that's
when I'm strong, because I know that Christ is my strength. So
he's not saying I have stood the test. Brother, you know,
I've met the enemy and I've stood against him. He's not saying
that at all. He's saying, I have struggled,
I have fought the fight. And it is a good fight. He said,
to declare the truth of Almighty God in the hearing of the ears
of the world who are set against this truth, he said, that's a
good fight. And he said, by the grace of
God, I've been able to fight that fight. and it's not been
easy. But it says, I have finished
my course. There's no great things out here
on the horizon that I'm waiting to do. That's another thing.
When a man is young, he's got all these things out here in
front of him that he figures he's gonna accomplish. He's got
the tiger by the tail and he's going. And well, it should be.
I mean, that's the way the Lord made us and we ought to be that
way. But the older that a man gets,
The more he's looking behind him and he realizes there's a
whole lot more back there than there is out there. You know,
and he sees these things in a realistic fashion. And that's not morbid. Some people think it's morbid.
The only reason that it would be morbid is if you're trying
to hold on to it. But if you know, if you're as
Paul says, the time that I'm ready to be offered, then it's
not a thing that you look on morbidly, but it's a thing you
look on with expectation. Because actually, the greater
joy is before us than anything that's behind us. There's a song
that we sing from time to time and there's a line in there mentioning
that whenever we're at the funeral of someone, we should give praise
to God that whoever it is that's passed on has been delivered
from the evil that's to come. Because this world is full of
it. And I know there's a lot of good things that take place
in the world and a lot of enjoyment that we have. You know, all of
our joys are often interrupted with evil things, are they not? I mean, you know, the greatest
joy you've ever known, you've had a sadness that has interrupted
that at some point in time. And such as is with the temporal
joys of this world. So we're not, you know, it was
not negative when we talk about sin, when we talk about the darkness
that's in this world, it's just a fact of the place that we are. And Paul understood that. He
said, I've finished my course. He says, I've done what God told
me to do. I couldn't do it. I wouldn't
have been able to do it without him. He says, I'm the chief of
sinners. And I'm sure that there wasn't a day that went by in
his life that he did not go back and think about that day. On the road to Damascus. And when God, who is rich in
mercy, reached down his hand, he put it upon one whom he loved
from before the foundation of the world, and he stopped him
in his tracks, he said, Saul, Saul, what are you doing? Why are you persecuting me? And he can never forget that,
any more than we can forget the fact that God, who's rich in
mercy, with great love wherewith he loved us, did in his time
call us out of darkness and into the light that we might behold
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. What a mercy
that is. Not something we did, not something
we allowed God to do, but something he did totally by His own power
and totally unknown to us at the time apart from that grace
that was bestowed on us. He says, I have kept the faith.
Now, again, I said, you know, when He talked about keeping
the faith, He's not talking about any faithfulness that he exhibited. He's not saying, you know, the
Lord's looking down. He said, man, there's somebody
that's really kept faith. I'm gonna bless him. No, he's
not saying it like that. He's saying, I have guarded the
faith. I've kept it. I've been faithful. He says, I determined to know
nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And
when he began his ministry, When he's speaking to the Corinthians,
right through all of his epistles to all of the different churches,
till the time he comes ready to breathe out his last breath,
he says, I have known nothing among you save Jesus Christ and
him crucified. Said that's the truth. He said
this is the faith. That's the faith of God's elect.
We have no other faith. That's what we cling to, is it
not? I mean, that's what's exhibited here before us in type and in
shadow, as the Lord would give us his body and his blood, this
bread and this wine to manifest that. And then he says, henceforth,
that is heretofore, this is the result. Henceforth there is laid up for
me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
God, shall give me at that day. It's laid up for me. Now, when
I was growing up in the church that I was a part of, they used
to teach us that we were the ones doing the laying up. You
know, we're laying up for our reward in heaven. If you do these
good deeds, you know the Lord's going to see all these things
and He's going to check off the boxes for you. And when you get
up there, you know you're going to have all of these things.
And then there's going to be a bunch of people over here that
wasn't as faithful as you, and they're going to look at you
and they're going to say, man, I wish I'd have been as faithful
as him. There's a song that they used
to sing. Will there be any stars, any
stars in my crown, when at evening the sun goeth down? When I stand
with the blessed in the mansions of rest, will there be any stars
in my crown? Well, I'm here to tell you, dear
brethren, that there won't be any stars in it that you put
there. but the stars in the crown that
you will be given will be those placed there by the hand of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And the amazing thing is, as
you read what the Word of God says, is that none of the saints
desired to wear those crowns at all. But they cast them down
at the feet of Christ. Because He's the one that gave
them. He's the one that laid them up. They're laid up for me. And you
know when When a man dies and he leaves behind an estate, that's
a measure in which we say that's laid up. He laid up an inheritance
for his children. And that's the same fashion in
which we, what has a child ever done to deserve an inheritance?
Nothing. It's just bestowed. Why? Because
they're sons. See, it's not because they did
more than somebody else or whatever. Now I know in the carnal sense,
usually a son or a daughter or whatever that's been more faithful
or whatever, they get more in the will than the other. But
the reality is that an inheritance is that which is laid up. for
us in our behalf. And that's what Paul said. He
said, henceforth, from this point forward, he said, there's laid
up for me a crown of righteousness. Fate is not a way. Now the crown
of righteousness here, has reference, it's really not a crown. I mean,
that's the sense, but Paul often used the illustrations of running
a race and getting a prize at the end of the race, and that's
more or less the sign, what he's saying here is having won this
race, this is the prize that is there. It's a crown of righteousness. that fadeth not away. And it's
laid up by the Lord. But he says here, now to put
away any notion that Paul's speaking about this crown being laid up
for him on the account of him having kept the faith and done
all these things, he's not saying I've kept the faith and therefore
the Lord's going to give me a crown of righteousness. He didn't say
that. He says, I have kept the faith. I have been faithful in
the declaration of the truth. But he said, the Lord has laid
up for me a crown of righteousness. He's made me righteous, and the
crown of righteousness is the righteousness. See, the saints
are clothed in linen, fine and white, clean and white. They
ride upon white horses in following the Lord. who is our leader. And so the army of God is clothed
by that, just like the song we sing sometimes, Dressed Uniform,
the soldiers are. And their uniforms, their garments
that they wear going into battle are not those that they spent
money on. I mean, if you go in the army,
they don't tell you, you don't go up to the quartermaster and
have to pay for your uniform. No, he gives it to you. Because
that's what the king does. And so the king gives to his
people a robe of righteousness. Our righteousness is Christ.
And he has laid that up for us, just like in the present time,
see. Before Paul ever knew about it, he had a robe of righteousness
laid up for him. See, the Lord didn't start making
him a robe of righteousness when he called him on the road to
Damascus. Now he had a robe of righteousness already made pure
and clean in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Before Paul
ever knew anything, before he ever drew the first breath, he
said, there's laid up for me a crown of righteousness which
the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. And
then listen to what he says, so that we might know so that
he's certain that we might know that he's going to get this crown
of righteousness not on the basis of anything that he's done but
he said and not to me only but unto all them also that love
is appearing and so it's not anything that Paul has done that
gives him this this robe of this crown of righteousness but it's
at which the Lord has made for him and given to him and will
give to all. The same thing. Now that's disconcerting
to somebody who's expecting that by their faithfulness and their
obedience and all this thing that they're gaining favor with
God and he's gonna give them all these rewards differing one
from the other. But just like those workers in
the vineyard, some came in the morning and some came in the
evening. But when time to pay up came,
they all got the same thing. Because it's all by grace. Now
see, if it was of works, then a man'd have reason to grow more,
wouldn't he? If it was of works, that the
crown of righteousness, you see, we would have, well, Lord, I
done more than they did. I was more faithful than they
were. I mean, I did all these things. Look, Lord, what we did.
But you remember when the Lord question, or when he brought
these things, those who were his children, they said, well,
Lord, when did we ever do anything like that? See, I mean, the children
of God are going to be amazed that they ever received such
a crown of righteousness. Wouldn't they know? If they are
judged rightly on the basis of their sin, they would perish. But that's not the basis that
we upon which we stand. That's not our hope. Our hope
is Christ and we believe that Christ's righteousness is ours
and therefore we do love His appearing because He comes to
judge the quick and the dead, the living and the dead. Not
only to me but to all that love His appearing. What does that
mean? Well, it means two things. Number
one, We love his appearing that he came into the world to save
sinners. He appeared. He appeared in Bethlehem
2,000 years ago. He came forth from a virgin's
womb. Grandest mystery that's ever
been visited upon the human race, that the almighty God, the everlasting
Father, the creator of all things, condescended to men of low estate,
and came and dwelt among us, being made in the likeness of
sinful flesh." What a glorious thing. We love His appearance. I mean, that's a grand thing,
is it not? That Christ came to save sinners. I mean, I can't
think of anything that is a greater message we could declare to men,
that Christ Jesus, the Lord of glory, came to save sinners. And then we love his appearing
because he said to his disciples, he says, if I go away, he says,
I will come again. And take you to be with me, that
where I am, there ye may be also. Now this is a glorious thing,
brethren. And we love his appearing. We love the fact that he is coming
back for his people. He said, if it were not so, I
would have told you. And that's our hope, our expectation. I was reading something this
week, and this person was writing about the, I forget what they
even called it, the 10 things that Christians can't answer
or whatever. some ridiculous stuff. And I
usually read such things as that because I want to see what somebody's,
what people, what's somebody thinking. And I, you know, when
I got through I realized, you know, what a stark difference
there is between a natural man who has no understanding of spiritual
things and those who've been given eyes to see. and ears to
hear the truth of God. Because all of those things that
the objections were totally foolish concepts, you know, that may
exist in the minds of men. You know, a lot of times men
think that they have to prove to other men that God exists,
or the Bible's true, or this, that, or the other. But unless
the Lord shows a man, you can't, you can tell him all day long,
and it's not gonna be having any effect on him. is truth, and only the Lord can
give a man a love for his appearing. But all those who love his appearing,
they have a crown of righteousness laid up for them. What a glorious
blessing he is to his people.