We've already read the chapter,
but just as an introduction, remember that Paul is in prison
when he wrote these words. He's in a dungeon under the infamous
tyrant Nero. And these are his last words
before he was taken out and executed. Verse 6 and 7 would serve as
a summary of Paul's life and a writing of his own epitaph,
so to speak. Look at verse 6. Here's the summary
of Paul's life. For I am now ready to be offered,
and the time of my departure is at hand. Verse 7, his summary
and his epitaph. I have fought a good fight, I
have finished my course. I have kept the faith." My soul, what a testimony. What a testimony. Soon after
this, Paul was probably beheaded. He was definitely martyred, executed. He was ready to be offered, he
said. Not just to die, but to be offered. as a sacrifice to
the Lord Jesus Christ for his cause and his gospel. Paul in 2nd Corinthians chapter
5, you need not turn there, let me read these words to you. He said in verse 6, therefore
we are always confident knowing that, knowing this. This is not
one of the fables that Paul referred to in his writing to Timothy
that people would grasp. No, this is a reality. This is
true for all God's people. Therefore, we are always confident. God's people have reason to be
confident. Not in themselves, but in their
Redeemer. Can we be overly confident of
the Lord Jesus Christ? Is it possible to trust him too
much? No, no, not at all. Therefore,
we are always confident, knowing while we are at home in the body,
we are absent from the Lord. Paul also wrote in this same
place, we are confident, I say, and willing, willing, willing
to depart rather to be absent from the body and to be present
with the Lord. And that's what happened to the
apostle Paul. Looking at verse 17 and 18, this
is our text. The title of my message is Delivered
and Preserved. Paul speaks of both those things,
delivered and preserved. Notice, first of all, in verse
17, the very first word that meets our eyes. The apostle says, notwithstanding. That's the first note. Notwithstanding
the Lord stood with me. Notwithstanding what, Paul? Of course, what he speaks of
in verse 16. At my first answer, he writes,
no man stood with me. Not a single one. All men forsook
me. They did not want to be identified
with me. At my first answer, meaning,
The first time he was taken before Nero. Nero was a tyrant. Nero had his
own mother murdered. Nero took believers, dipped them
in tar, and used them as human torches to light his garden. Paul's many friends heard that
he was in prison under Nero. They thought, well, he's a dead
man. He's as good as gone. It was the custom in that day,
in a Roman tribunal, when a prisoner was brought before
them, that people would gather that were acquainted with the
accused. that would stand with him. Paul was brought before Nero
the first time and he comes out in his chains and he's been a
prisoner now for five years. Not under Nero, not at the first,
but he was first arrested in Jerusalem. That was five years
ago since he wrote to Timothy. But when he comes out before
Nero, there's nobody. There's not one
to stand and identify themselves as being acquainted with the
Apostle Paul. No man stood with me. Can you
visualize that? Can you picture that? Paul sitting
alone, cold in that dungeon in Rome, and this faithful man who whose
last words we just read, also said, just prior to his
arrest, let me read it to you in Acts chapter 20, or you can
turn there with me. Shortly after this, after these
words to the elders of the Church of Ephesus, Paul went to Jerusalem
where he was arrested, and then for five years under arrest one
form or another until what we read up in 2 Timothy chapter
4. But look what he says here at
verse 18 of Acts 20. When the elders had come to him
that he called for, as he's on his way to Jerusalem, and when
they were come to him, verse 18, he said unto them, Ye know
from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner
I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility
of mind and with many tears and temptations, which befell me
by the lying in wait of the Jews, and how I kept back nothing that
was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught
you publicly and from house to house, That would include quite
a few people that heard the apostle. Testifying verse 21, both to
the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now behold, I go bound in
the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall
befall me there. I testify to all men in public
privately in their homes, the Jews, the Gentiles, and now the
apostle says, at my first answer, no man stood with me. Where were
they? In verse 10 of chapter 2, here
in 2 Timothy, he says, therefore I endure all things for the elect's
sake, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ
Jesus with eternal glory. He said in another place, I become
all things to all men. All things to all men, that I
might by all means save some. Where are they? Not a one, Not
a one that would stand with the apostle against that background. Against that background. How
blessed to read this sweet contrast. This absolute opposite of those
who dare not identify themselves with Paul and the one who said,
I'll never leave you. Notwithstanding, in spite of
all those that would not stand with me, notwithstanding, the
Lord stood with me. The Lord stood with me. Isn't
that a blessing? Because the Lord has promised
Paul, and you and I, child of God, you and I, I'll never leave
you I'll never forsake you. I'll never be ashamed to call
you brethren. Never. Peter was ashamed to be
identified with him, but Christ says, I'm not ashamed to call
you my brethren. I'll stand with you. In John
13 we read, having loved his own, that were in the world,
he loved them unto the end. And then shortly after that,
he said to them, you shall all be offended because of me this
night for it is written I will smite the shepherd and the sheep
shall be scattered. And when they came to take him
in the garden, we also read this, they all forsook him and fled. He knew something about desertion,
did he not? That would fall into that category,
being one of those points by which he can be tempted like
his brethren, can sympathize with them. And Paul said, he
stood with me. Well, has there ever been a time
that he didn't stand with them? in eternity past, as we call
it, when the justice of God said to Saul that Senneth it must
die, nobody here this morning is exempt from that. You may
try to soothe your conscience, try to convince yourself that
it's not so, some way or other God's going to let you by. No,
no, no. God demands The soul that sinneth,
it must die, and that includes me, you, and everyone else. In light of that, when God's
divine justice makes such a statement as that, when God's law, when
God's own purpose, when God's own person, God's being, who
he is as God, demands satisfaction, demands justice, who then can
be saved? Then, then, the Lamb of God slain
from the foundation of the world says, when God's holy law says,
who shall go and who shall stand for us? He comes forward, the
Lamb of God, and says, here am I. Send me. Send me. And when the fullness of the
time was come, He came. God sent forth His Son. And the Son says to the Father
when He came into the world in offerings, in burnt offerings,
in animal sacrifices, you've had no pleasure, therefore, therefore,
I come to do thy will, O my God. He's always stood for us. Hear this, child of God, this
is to you too. He spoke that night just before
going to the garden where he was betrayed and left alone. He told them, I will not leave
you comfortless. I will come to you. There's not a believer here this
morning that has not experienced the truth of that promise over
and over and over again. I won't leave you comfortless.
I will come to you. When I feel like I can't handle
anymore, when I feel like I'm just ready to throw in the towel,
You mean, Larry, you felt like that? I'd be a liar if I told
you I hadn't. But I also tell you this. Then,
when I was at my lowest, Jesus fulfilled this promise, and he's
done it to me over and over and over. I will not leave you comfortless. I will come to you. prison bars,
earthly powers can't keep me away. Paul looked around and
said, no fellow believers stood with me, but the Lord stood with
me. It doesn't matter who else is
present or not, When I, like the apostle, was about to do,
depart this world as long as he is with me. Oh yes, there
was someone there standing beside Paul that couldn't be seen with
the natural eye. When Paul stood before Nero in
chains, brought out of that dungeon,
and looked around and there was nobody there to bear witness
for him or to stand with him or for him. There was one there
that couldn't be seen with the natural eye standing right there. And Paul knew it. Paul knew it. He said, the Lord stood with
me. Listen to what The psalmist said,
Psalm 73, Oh yes, the Lord will stand with me all the way my
Savior leads me. Psalm 73, verse 23. This sounds much like what Paul
wrote, notwithstanding. The psalmist said, in spite of
his foolishness, Nevertheless, I am continually with thee. Thou
is holding me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy
counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven
but thee? And there is none upon earth
that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. If thou my Jesus still art nigh,
cheerful I live and cheerful I die. Secure when mortal comforts
flee, I find ten thousand worlds in thee. Especially, especially
when that time comes like had come for the Apostle Paul, when
our departure is at hand. Because then, then, no man can
go with us. Not that companion, not that
husband or wife or child. No, none can go with us. No family member can accompany
me when this tabernacle is being dissolved, when I'm going back
to dust. Oh, how sweet are the words,
in light of that notwithstanding the Lord stood with me. As David said, yea, though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, that grim reaper,
the shadow of death, When I go the way from whence I shall not
return, I'll walk through that valley, I will fear no evil. Why? Why? For thou art with me. Thou art with me, my great shepherd. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. I often think, and I imagine
you do as well, I think of it more than I used to. simply because
I'm getting older. That has a way of changing your
perspective about things, doesn't it? But I wonder what will take
place between Jesus and my soul in the hour of my departure. when I'm just beginning to see,
not through a glass darkly, no, no, no, no, but face to face. Because as Paul said, the Lord
stood with him, and he's promised to do the same for me. What may take place in that hour? I'll tell you this. There's only
one that I'll be looking for. Only one. And that's Him. There's only one that'll be able
to comfort my soul and give me peace and remove my fear. There's only one And as the hymn writer said,
that's the one I'll be looking for because he'll, nobody else,
he'll hold to my hand. Nobody else can. He'll hold to
my hand and lead me as over Death's Valley I go. And safe I will be in beautiful
heaven I know. This past Thursday afternoon,
a good friend of mine, Tommy Wooten, lives in Lexington, Kentucky,
goes to Todd Nybert's church there in Lexington. He's a fellow
West Virginian. He lives in Kentucky. He lived
there longer than I did, but I met him when I first started
working at UK. But he called me The other day,
and he was telling me about another friend of ours, another brother
in Christ, Brother Gene Rutledge, also in Todd's church. Gene comes
about up to here on me. Short little fella. But every
time I ever saw him, no matter where it was, and he was in poor
health, he always had a smile on his face. Tommy said, He likes
to hear you preach. He listens to the messages you
preach there at Fairmont on Free Grace Radio. I would see him
and Tommy at conferences at various places, but he called Tommy Thursday
and was happy because he was scheduled to have a knee replacement. And he said, now I'll probably
be able to go to Crossville in June and be in that conference
and hear Larry and those other fellas preach. That's 5.30, Thursday. Two hours later, Jean's son called
Tommy and said, Dad is gone. Dad is gone. And Tommy, of course, called
me. And I said, well, he doesn't need that knee replacement anymore,
does he? And Tommy said, no. And he won't be in special services
in Crossville in June, but he's sure in a special service right
now. Paul said, he stood with me,
the Lord Jesus, and he strengthened me. In another place, Paul said,
I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me. Our Lord
said, Paul, my grace is sufficient for thee. Your weakness is not
a factor. My grace is perfected in weakness. My grace is sufficient for thee. Nothing else is. Child of God,
Remember that. Nothing else is. Any other explanation for a man
ready to face execution, being able to say truthfully, I'm ready
to be offered, I'm ready to depart this world, let them come. Let death come. Welcome! Welcome! Because that's the very
door that's going to take me into the presence of my beloved. I'm ready to be offered. That's
why men can speak of grace and glory. While they were being
burned at the stake, I read of one who, as they were being taken
to the place to be burned alive, believers in Christ, an older
martyr said to a younger one, as they're being taken there,
cheer up my brother, cheer up my brother, tonight we shall
suck with the king. And I was delivered, Paul says,
out of the mouth of the lion. Delivered from that murderous
Nero. Not delivered from prison. No,
he wasn't delivered from prison. But he was delivered from death
when he first stood before Nero, until all those God intended
to hear the message preached, heard it preached." Isn't that
something? Isn't that amazing? This man
who murdered God's people by the hundreds, why didn't he murder
Paul the first time? What restrained that lion? God. Because the king's heart
is in his hand, and mortals are immortal here till their work
is done. So it was with the apostle Paul. Remember when another believing child of God was cast into the
lion's den? And the king came to Daniel. who was in the lion's den. And
when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice to Daniel. And the king said, Daniel, O
Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God whom thou servest
continually able to deliver thee from the lions? Daniel, are you
there? I wouldn't be surprised if Daniel
didn't spend the night with his head laid back on that lion's
mane and just had a good night's sleep. Listen to his answer. Then said Daniel unto the king,
O king, live forever! My God hath sent his angel, and
hath shut the lion's mouth. And they have not hurt me, forasmuch
as before him I was innocent. And also before thee, O king,
have I done no hurt because he believed in his God just like
Paul. He delivered me from the mouth
of the lion. Oh, in light of that, child of
God, with such promises, such a redeemer, such a faithful God,
Such a great shepherd of the sheep, why art thou cast down,
O my soul? I shall yet praise thee, look
at verse 18, and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work
and shall preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom. Paul was preserved,
delivered by one of his most fierce enemies,
by that man's hand, Paul was delivered from every evil work
and brought into the very presence of God. Paul was delivered from
this life to glory and life everlasting. He went from the church below
to the church above. In 1 Corinthians or second Corinthians,
rather, chapter one, we read that God has delivered, will
deliver, and will yet deliver. Three tenses. And Paul says,
speaking of the last tense, He will yet deliver me. And He did. And will preserve me into His
heavenly kingdom preserved. Like that word, don't you? Kept
by the power of God. Just exactly like the great shepherd
said. Just exactly. My sheep hear my
voice and I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal
life and no man, Nero, Caesar, no man can pluck them out of
my hand. They shall never perish. notwithstanding trials, temptation,
our own weakness, enemies, desertion by friends, notwithstanding the
Lord shall yet deliver me and preserve me into his heavenly
kingdom." Old John Kent. A preacher of some years gone
by wrote, preserved by Jesus when my feet made haste to hell,
and there should I have gone, but thou dost all things well. Thy love was great, thy mercy
free from which from the pit delivered me. O blessed God,
how kind are all thy ways to me, whose dark benighted mind
was enmity with thee. Yet now, subdued by sovereign
grace, my spirit longs for thine embrace." Paul said, preserved
unto his heavenly kingdom. Look, if you will, in Revelation
chapter 7 and we'll come to a close. Revelation chapter 7. One of
my favorite portions of God's Word. See what grace will accomplish. Look what the Great Shepherd
has done. We have a picture of it right
here. Right here. Verse 9 of Revelation 7. After this I beheld in low a
great multitude, which no man can number, of all nations and
kindreds and people and tongues, stood before the throne and before
the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands,
and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God
which setteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb. And every
one of them can say, nevertheless, the Lord stood with me. That's
the reason. And now they stand before him
who stood for them. Look at verse 14. And he said
unto me, in answer to the question, who are these, John? These are
they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,
Therefore are they before the throne of God, and that's the
only reason, and serve him day and night in his temple, and
he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither
thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, nor any
heat." The next verse tells us why. How can they hunger with
the bread of life in their midst? How can they ever thirst again with Jesus Christ, the fountain
of living waters to drink from? They'll neither hunger nor thirst,
for the land which is in the midst of the throne shall feed
them and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters. And
listen to this, my weeping brother and sister, and God shall wipe
away all tears from their eyes. Moms, dads, remember when your
children were young, they would come to you crying. You'd pick
them up and say, oh, don't cry. Don't cry. It's alright. I'm here. I'm with you. Don't
cry. Our Heavenly Father is going to take His omnipotent hand and
He's going to wipe every tear, every reason, every cause that
we've ever had to cry, God's going to wipe it away forever. Forever. and he will preserve
me unto his heavenly kingdom to whom be glory forever and
forever. Amen. God bless you.