The wise man, Solomon, that wrote
the book of Ecclesiastes, he concluded the book, rather, in
this way, with these words, the last two verses. Let us hear
the conclusion of the whole matter. What's it all about? What does this life mean? Fear
God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of
man. For God shall bring every work into judgment with every
secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. The Apostle
Paul, as we mentioned in the reading here in 2 Timothy, is
on the verge of concluding his earthly journey. He's about to
leave this world and everything in it. He said to Timothy, it's
certain that we brought nothing into this world and we're not
going to carry nothing out, Lester. How much did he leave behind?
He left it all behind, of course, everything, no matter how much
that might have been. Paul's ready to leave this world
and everything in it, but that's not all. He's going to stand
before God Almighty. In chapter 4, he said this at
verse 6, for I'm now ready to be offered and the time of my
departure is at hand." Brothers and sisters in Christ, our departure's
at hand too. I mean, it's just a matter of
a few more days, this vapor of a life is going to be gone, and
just like the apostle, we're going to be ushered into the
presence of God. And yet, yet, he isn't the least
bit alarmed by that. Did you detect any sense of fear
in these verses that we read? Not at all. You don't in any
of Paul's writings. And remember, Paul was just an
instrument. His writing is dictated by God's
Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is really the
one that wrote these words. Paul's not alarmed. Words like
this, Prepare to meet thy God. were not a cause of fear for
the Apostle Paul, but rather he rejoiced in it. He looked
forward to it. Now how can that be? How can
that be? And here's Paul's answer, our
text. This is the answer of every true
believer. This is their answer. If you
ask them the reason of the hope that's in you, here it is. Verse 12, for the witchcalls
also suffer these things, nevertheless, nevertheless, I'm not ashamed. I'm not ashamed. And the reason
is this, I know whom, for, because, I know whom I have believed and
I'm persuaded Now, this is the persuasion that's grounded on
genuine faith, the result, the fruit of genuine faith. Here's
the cause. I know whom I have believed,
and here's the fruit. He's able. He's able to keep
that which I've committed unto him against that day. This, as
we said, this epistle, 2 Timothy, is the conclusion of Paul's letters,
the many that he wrote his epistles. And this, more than that, is
the conclusion of Paul's life. And the title of my message is
this, A Comfortable Conclusion. A Comfortable Conclusion. Oh,
how comfortable. How comfortable it is for a child
of God if he is able to know the moment when the doctor comes
in and you're in the bed and he tells your family, your loved
ones, it's just a matter of time. He's not going to be here in
the morning. And the child of God, by the grace of God says,
oh boy, I've been looking forward to this all my life, all my life,
shortly, shortly, in just a moment I'm going to step out of this
life and all its sin, and all its heartache, and all its trials,
and all the temptation, and this body of flesh, and I'm going
to step in the glory and be beholding the king in his beauty. I'm going
to see him, as Job said, with my own eyes, not by proxy, but
with my own eyes, I shall see the king in his beauty. Is that not a comfortable conclusion
to a believer's life? Child of God, in the world, as
our master promised us. We'll have tribulation. But this
is the worst we're ever going to have. Our trials are now. Our sorrow is now. And it's the
worst that it will ever be. The best is yet to come. The
best is yet to come. Oh, it will be a comfortable
conclusion. I don't know how many of you
have Don Fortner's latest book, Going Home, is the title of it.
It's only a couple hundred pages. It may be the smallest book that
he's written. Oh, but it's good. It's good. I urge you to get
it. If you want a copy, you let me know, and I'll tell him to
bring some when he comes down next week. But I want to just,
in light of the message, with the thought, a comfortable conclusion,
I looked in Don's book, and in chapter 12, He has this subject,
the believer's easy passage through death to glory. And he begins
the chapter with these verses from Exodus chapter 15. You know,
that's where the children of Israel, after they crossed the
Red Sea, after they had passed over, they sing a song of praise
to God. That's where these verses are
taken from. Fear and dread shall fall upon them. By the greatness
of thine arm they shall be as still as a stone. That is all
the enemies of the children of Israel. Typical of the church. Till thy people pass over, O
Lord, till the people pass over which thou hast purchased. You
mean none got purchased? None he redeemed are going to
perish? That's right. That's exactly right. Thou shall
bring them in and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance,
in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in. In my Father's house are many
mansions. I go to prepare a place for you to dwell in the sanctuary,
O Lord, which thy hands have established." And Don wrote this,
God does not give thine grace until it is needed. Well, that
kind of makes sense. However, when it is needed, he
does not fail to give it. In that hour, when your enemy
shall be as still as a stone. When Israel went out of Egypt,
not a dog was allowed to move his tongue against them. I think
that's in Exodus 12, not a dog moved his tongue. No enemy molested
them. No foe gave them any disturbance. They left Egypt with a high hand
triumphantly. When they passed over Jordan
into the land of Canaan, though they had many enemies, not one
was to be seen or heard. They were, as Moses said, as
still as a stone until God's people had passed over. So it
is with God's saints in the hour of death. As a general rule,
those spiritual enemies which have given you so much uneasiness
in life will not be allowed to distress you in your last moments
on this earth. Your inward sins and corruptions
of nature will not be able to rob you of peace when certain
deliverance is at hand. John Gill wrote this, the believer
perceiving his end drawing nigh, spies deliverance from it through
Jesus Christ our Lord. This confidence of his sins through
the blood of Christ and of his justification before God, his
sins being forgiven and put away, and acceptance with God through
Christ gives him pure and perfect joy. Thomas Watson wrote, he
may look upon death with joy who can look upon forgiveness
with faith. Oh, child of God, it is well
with the righteous. It shall always be well with
the righteous. Another quote from the Puritan
Thomas Goodwin. While he was on his deathbed,
he said this, thank God, in a short time I will hear no more those
croaking toads. He referred to his inward sins
as croaking toads. And he said, shortly, thank God,
I will hear no more their language. They'll be gone. As David said,
I'll be satisfied when I awake, when I awaken his likeness. An
evil heart of unbelief, Don wrote, shall not likely distress the
soul that is about to leave the realm of unbelief forever. All doubts, all fears gone. Nothing makes God's children
more uneasy in life than an evil heart of unbelief. But in the
hour of death, God graciously drives this monster from the
hearts of his children, even as he did with David. David on
his deathbed said, yet God had made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and sure, this is all my salvation and
all my hope. Just as Paul said, practically
on his deathbed, I know whom I have believed. Your adversary
the devil will find it hard to overwhelm you when you are about
to tread him beneath your feet. This time last year, I was already hurting, you might
remember, during our conference. I was in a lot of pain. I tried
to hide it. I don't know how good I did at
that. And it was just shortly after that that I ended up in
the hospital. And just shortly after the first
day or two in the hospital, I couldn't even walk anymore. Couldn't walk.
I couldn't get out of bed. I couldn't get my legs over the
side of the bed to get the walker to go to the bathroom. And after
a few weeks of that, I thought to myself, hmm, am I ever going
to preach again? And I'm going to be able to be
your pastor anymore? And most of the time that I was
in there, the most certain thing I heard from the doctors, and
Bobby, they bring in a slew of them, don't they? At UAB, I mean,
six or so, an entourage would come in three or four times a
day. And the most certain thing I heard from them was, we're
just not certain. We just don't know. Test after
test after test, we just don't know. until just a few days before
I was released. And I'm still, I have to ask
Robin, what did they say I had? But this was my comfort. This was my sweet, sweet hope. By the grace of God, I said with
Paul, I know John, I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded
He's never gave me reason not to be persuaded. He's never gave
me a reason or a cause not to be confident in His providence,
in His grace, in His love, in His care. I believe He's able
to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day. I didn't know what, I didn't
know why, I didn't know when, but I knew better than that,
I knew whom. I knew the Lord Jesus Christ
and there's nothing better to know. While I was studying and
preparing this message, Brother David Edmondson's bulletin came
across my desk, an email, and I read it and I thought, well,
this will fit right in. He wrote a brief article from
the text in Hebrews 6 and 19, which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which enters into that which
is within the veil. Speaking of Christ, of course,
Christ, the anchor of the soul. And David wrote on a recent trip
to the U.S. Virgin Islands to visit our friends
Daniel, Moose, and Sandy Parks, a Coast Guard ship was anchored
offshore right in front of where my wife, Theresa, and I were
staying. And as we observed the ship several
times during the day, the front of the ship would be pointing
in different directions depending on how the wind was blowing,
and yet the ship was never moved from its anchored position. Child
of God, it is the same with our souls that are anchored to Christ.
What great hope we have of never being moved from faith in our
Redeemer. The Holy Spirit, the wind and
breath of God, moves us in different directions by His sovereign power,
purpose, and providence to accomplish His will. But we are never moved
from Christ to anchor of our souls." I underlined that one.
We are never moved from Christ, the anchor of our souls. I find
great comfort and assurance in the idea of my soul being anchored
to Christ, sure and steadfast. Don't you, David asked? And my
response is, I sure do. I sure do. What a comfort. Remember,
turn back if you will to Acts chapter 20. Paul is here, he
speaks of the beginning of this journey that he ended up in a
prison in Rome. He speaks of where it took, or
where it began, rather, this does, in Acts chapter 20. He's on his way to Jerusalem.
He wants to speak to the elders of the churches of Ephesus, so
he calls them to Miletus to meet with him, and in verse 22 through
24 he says this, and now behold, Acts 20, verse 22. And now behold,
I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things
that shall befall me there, save or except, that the Holy Ghost
witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide
me. But none of these things move
me, neither count my life, I my life dear unto myself, so that
I might finish my course, and he had that I have finished my
course, he wrote to Timothy, so that I might finish my course
with joy in the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus
to testify of the gospel of the grace of God. I go to Jerusalem
not knowing the things that shall abide me there except bonds and
afflictions await. And that's exactly what happened.
I think the second day, as nearly as I can tell, the day after
Paul got into Jerusalem, he was arrested. He was arrested and
put in prison. Just a few days after he got
there, are you still in Acts? Look at chapter 23. Paul is now
in prison. Shortly after arriving in Jerusalem
and preaching the gospel, he's arrested right in the midst of
doing so. In verse 11 of chapter 23, And the night following,
the night following his arrest, the Lord stood by him and said,
Be of good cheer, Paul, for as thou hast testified of me in
Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. Now, child of God, you can study
between that and the close of the Book of Acts and see that
there's a lot of things happened between Paul's arrest, he laid
in prison for two years, Then he was put on a ship as a prisoner.
He suffered shipwreck. And then a good time after that,
he finally lands in Rome as a prisoner and in Nero's dungeon. A lot transpired. And yet, God
said, you must. You must bear witness before
me, or rather for me, at Rome. Paul knew nothing, did he? Oh,
this must be, must have been a comfort to Paul. This was the
will of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is Jesus Christ speaking,
saying, Paul, you must bear witness. Lots going to happen. Paul didn't
know about that. Christ didn't mention it. There's going to
be a lot transpiring. But you're going to bear witness
to Caesar's household. You're going to bear witness
of me in Rome. You must do it, Paul. Therefore,
it is certain. I thought as I read this. Paul
would know nothing about today's concept among most religious
people, and I didn't misstate that, against most religious
people today, Paul would know nothing about their concept of
a God who wants to, but they can't. Paul would be utterly
bewildered by such talk. Or of a Jesus Christ who only
offers to save, but that's the most he can do. Oh no. Christ
says, must be. must be things. Paul would be
completely bewildered. Now you think about this. Can
you imagine the Apostle Paul going into, where is it at, down
in Houston and sitting down among that multitude of people and
listening to Joel Osteen? Can you imagine how Paul would
feel? What is the man talking about? What's he talking? Are you telling
me that's a preacher? That cheerleader? He's leading
a pimp rowdy. He's getting everybody worked
up. He's telling folks that are sitting there, multitudes are
going to hell, and he's telling them, God wants you healthy and
wealthy. Won't you give him a chance?
Paul would think, my soul, what's happened? Mr. Spurgeon said in
his day, and I thought, what? What would he say of our day?
I copied this quote. Spurgeon said, everywhere there's
apathy. Nobody cares whether that which
is preached is true or false. It don't matter, just as long
as you go to church somewhere. It doesn't matter whether it's
true or false. A sermon is a sermon, whatever the subject is, only
the shorter it is, the better it is. Oh no, Paul preached nothing
but Jesus Christ. The Christ that Paul believed
in, he also knew was able to keep everything he had committed
unto him against that day. We'll not turn there, you're
familiar with it. But go back in even further, in the book
of Acts, when God Almighty, when the Lord Jesus Christ, he who's
able to save to the uttermost, confronted Saul of Tarsus head-on
onto Damascus Road. I mean head-on. When in sovereign
majesty he met Paul on the Damascus road, he didn't say, Paul, will
you pretty please give me a chance? He said, come down sinner. And that proud, self-righteous
Pharisee that at that very moment was on his way to Damascus to
arrest God's people and do everything in his power to stamp out the
name of that deceiver Jesus Christ from the memory of the earth,
he met him face to face. And he came down. And Paul from
that moment on said, I'm determined to know nothing save Jesus Christ
and him crucified. I'm now preaching that glorious
gospel that I once labored to destroy. When it pleased God
who called me by his grace, he called me by his grace and revealed
his son in me. Remember the story? God speaks
to Ananias, his servant. He says, go down to a certain
house, Simon's house. Behold, there's one there praying,
Saul of Parsis. You remember what Ann and I have
said? He sounds like me. God, are you
sure about this? We're not mixed up here, are
we? I've heard of this man. I've heard of this man. He hates
you. He hates Christ. He hates his
people. He came here to arrest God's people. Are you sure we've
got the right one? You remember what the Lord said
to him? You go in and ask. He's a chosen vessel unto me. I've chosen him to bear my name
among the kings of the earth and the Gentiles to preach the
glorious gospel of God. He's a chosen vessel. For real? A chosen vessel? You mean God
chooses those he intends to save? That sounds like he does it deliberately. Sounds like he does it on purpose.
That's exactly right. Oh, I thought he waited for sinners
to choose him. Oh, no, no, no. I was talking
to Billy several months ago. He spoke about his former pastor,
asked him about election, and the man told him, well, yeah,
I believe election, but I can't preach it. I can't preach it
here. Well, shame on him. Can't preach
it? Oh, to bear my name. The Lord
told Ananias concerning Saul, that is to preach Christ, not
to go out and try to correct all the social injustices, and
there were many, not to be a champion for equal rights, not to campaign
for his favorite politician, but to bear the name of Jesus
Christ, to go everywhere, to everyone, preaching the gospel
that concerned God's Son. That's exactly why Paul was in
prison, waiting to be executed. 1 Corinthians 1 and 23, he summed
it up very well with these words, Paul again writing, he says,
but we preach Christ crucified. We preach Christ crucified. I know, I'm sure, you've encountered
this from time to time when you invite someone here to hear the
gospel and they ask you, what do y'all do there? What do you
have for the children? What do you have for the teenagers?
What do you have for the young adults? What do you have for
the old folks? What do you do there? We preach the gospel. Oh, well, that's nice, that's
nice, but what else, what else? What other activity do you have?
What kind of entertainment do you have? I mean, if you want
me to come to that place, what do you got for me? The gospel,
just the gospel. And they respond, is that all? Is that all? That's the day we're
living in, brothers and sisters in Christ, and in light of that,
how thankful we should be. that that's so, that that's so. Old John was on the Isle of Patmos
and he saw that picture of Babylon, that representation of free will
works religion and she's all decked out on that horse and
man, she just got diamonds running from her head to her feet and
John just stood and marveled, marveled. And the whole world
was taken in, and the elder said, John, why do you marvel? Why
do you marvel? She's going to be destroyed.
Come out of her, my people, and don't be a partaker of her and
her sins. Don't perish with her. Thank
God Almighty, children of God, don't cease to do so, that he
was pleased to call you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Paul says, I know whom, briefly. Those three words will be brief.
The first one, the most important one, whom. Whom. I know whom. That is Christ. Paul, when he was Saul of Tarsus,
that self-righteous Pharisee, at that time he could boast of
I know my forefather's religion. I can talk to you all day long
about the sacrifices, about the law, about all the pieces of
furniture in the temple, about the priest, and the high priest,
and the holy place, and the most holy place. I know all about
it." And he didn't know God. At one time he would tell you,
I know all about the traditions of my fathers. I know a lot of
things as Saul of Tarsus, but he was lost as he could be. George Whitefield, this man practically
killed himself trying to make himself acceptable to God. He
fasted and prayed to the point where he almost died until God
Almighty called him by His grace. This is what he said. He said,
I know by sad experience what it is to be lulled to sleep with
a false peace. Long was I asleep, long did I
think myself a Christian, when I knew nothing of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I know, most of the folks I know
are that way. They think themselves a Christian
and they don't know nothing about the Lord Jesus Christ. They don't
know Him. How can you be a Christian and
not know Christ? It's not possible. Whitfield
went on to say, there are many likewise who go in a round of
duties, a model of performances, and think they shall go to heaven. But if you examine them, though
they have a Christ in their head, they have no Christ in their
heart. And the scripture says, it's
Christ in you, the hope of glory. It's not dead doctrine that Paul
was looking forward to, was it? It's not dead doctrine or dry
dogma that nourished his soul in the hour of death, but he
rejoices, his dying testimony is right here. I know whom. Whom. The Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, when that hour comes, when
that hour comes, what else will matter? What else will matter? All the hope of being enabled
by the faith and grace of God to embrace my Redeemer and to
lead this world as we sang a moment ago, shouting gloriously, triumphantly,
salvation to our God. It's all about Him. I know whom. That's the most important. Our
Lord himself, in his high priestly prayer, said, Father, this is
life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, which thou didst send. Remember that rich
fool that our Lord talked about? He laid down in his bed one night
and said, I've got much goods. I've got a lot of stuff. Man,
I've accumulated a lot of stuff. As a matter of fact, I've got
so much stuff, my barn's gonna hold it, so I'm gonna have to
tear them down and build better barns, bigger barns rather, and
then I'm gonna say to myself, sit back, take your ease, eat,
drink, and be merry. Then God said, you're a fool. I'm gonna require your soul tonight. You're gonna stand before me
tonight. What does it matter? I remember
hearing Brother Henry Mayhem preach years ago. He talked about
reading the obituary. And they talk about, well, Mr.
So-and-so, he was a third-degree mason. He was a good man. He donated to this. Henry thought
he's gone to meet God. What does that matter? What does
that matter now? I've been a good person. I was
watching on the Golf Channel the other evening. There was
this fellow on there. that I've admired for years,
and they've always referred to him as being religious, and I
took that for a grain of salt, but they gave him an award. The
reason he's one of my favorite Terrys, he's still playing golf
and still winning on the senior tour, and he's about my age.
So I root for him. There's not too many of them
out there still winning, but they granted him this award.
And in his acceptance speech, he said, I learned, this is a
verbatim quote, he said, I learned if I wanted to earn my way to
heaven, I thought, oh, no, no, no, no. If I wanted to earn my
way to heaven, I had to live a good life. And I thought, that's
so sad. That's so sad. Oh, no. I must
have Christ, period. Period. Nothing else. Nothing else. Christ is all and
I'm completing Him. Having Christ alone can enable
me and you with old Simeon. When the time of our departure
comes, say, now Lord, let me depart in peace. How? For the
same reason Paul had. I've seen thy salvation. I've seen thy salvation. It's in Jesus Christ and no one
else. The second word there, know. K-N-O-W. Paul had an experimental
knowledge. I know in our day we seem to
shy away from that word. But Paul was telling us what
he experienced. Now, men go to two extremes in
this matter of faith in Christ. They make a mere head knowledge
to be faith. It all comes down to five points. I mean, I've heard folks say,
well, now, he's almost there. Oh, yeah, he believes. He believes
Tula. He's arrived. He's saved. No,
no, no. Salvation's not in Tula. Tulip
didn't die on the cross. Tulip didn't raise from the dead.
Doctrine doesn't stand at the right hand of God making intercession
for us. No, no, no. The devil believes
Tulip, I'm sure. He believes five points. The
other extreme is this. They run to this extreme and
say there's no such thing as a confident assurance of salvation
in this life. We can't know until we stand
before God. I would be miserable if I was
in that bond. I don't know. Paul said, I know
whom I have believed. Christ said, I know my sheep
and my sheep know me. In John chapter 14, I know them
and I'm known of them. When Lazarus was raised from
the dead, he knew it. He knew it. That same one, that
same one that changes not, that same one who said to Martha,
I'm the resurrection and the life, when he came to the tomb
of this dead sinner and said, Larry, Chris, live, I raise from
the dead in glory to His name, I knew it, I knew it. Thank God,
His mighty saving grace is always effectual, is it not? Paul, by
these words, says his assurance of salvation is not in his faith,
but in the only true object of faith, Jesus Christ himself. Is that not what we sang a moment
ago, verse 3 of Don's hymn in our bullet? Robed in my Savior's
righteousness, my soul cannot be in distress, for with his
spotless garments on, I am holy as God's Son. Last of all, he
says, I know. Circle I now. Here is where I
want to be, don't you? And to stay until Christ calls
me home. I know for myself. I know that my Redeemer liveth. I know whom I have believed. To die in Christ is to die with
a good hope. It's to die with peace with God,
to leave this world in the comfortable conclusion, I belong to Christ. Let me close with reading a few
verses from Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 35. Listen to these words. And the ransomed of the Lord
shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy
upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness,
These are must-be things, Isaiah 35 and 10. They shall obtain
joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. One old writer put it this way,
faith is a pilgrim grace. It travels with us to heaven,
and when it sees us safe within the Father's house, it takes
leave of us. McShane, Bobby sometimes sings
this, I am deader. When this passing world is done,
when it's sunk yon glaring sun, when we stand with Christ in
glory, looking o'er life's finished story, then, Lord, shall I fully
know, not till then, how much I owe. When I stand before the
throne, dressed in beauty not my own, when I see thee as thou
art, and love thee with unsinning heart, Then, Lord, shall I fully
know, not till then, how much I owe. God bless you. God bless
you.