There is a chapter division here
that I believe we can ignore. I'm going to start my message
this morning in chapter 3, verse 16. The Apostle Paul is writing to
young Timothy. whom he called his son in the
ministry. He says in verse 16, all scripture,
the whole of it, the Old Testament, the New Testament, all scripture.
All scripture is given, it's a gift of God, and it's given
by inspiration of God. All scripture is verbally inspired
of God. It's God breathed. Like God breathed
into Adam the breath of life, he breathed into these prophets
and apostles the word of life for them to record and preserve
it for us. It's God breathed. There's a
scripture that helps us over in 2 Peter, chapter 1. I'd like you to turn over there
to 2 Peter. Chapter 1, verse 20. See, this point has to be settled
first. The Bible is the word of God,
the verbally inspired, infallible, without contradiction, word of
the living God. And Peter says in 2 Peter 1.20,
knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private
interpretation. For the prophecy, the scripture,
came not in old time by the will of man. These are not the words
of man, the will of man, the thoughts of man, the philosophy
of man, the ideas. But holy men of God spake as
they were moved, as they were taught, as they were inspired
by the Holy Ghost. And this has to be settled first.
That's what Peter said, knowing this first. It has to be settled
first. This Bible is the Word of God.
God used men to write the Word, but any person who wishes to
profit at all by the scriptures must first establish this subtle,
sure point. This is God's Word. There's no need to even inquire
into the scriptures if it's the Word of men. It's the Word of God. And over
in 1 Thessalonians, Paul complimented the people at Thessalonica. In
1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13, for this cause, 1 Thessalonians
2, verse 13, also thank we God without ceasing, because when
you receive the word of God which you heard from us, you received
it not as the word of men. but as it is in truth, the word
of God, which worketh effectually in you. If this is the word of God, God
breathed, verbally inspired, without error, our only rule
of faith and practice, then let's listen to it, follow it. If it's
not, then everybody does what's right in his own eyes. People say, I'm entitled to my
opinion. You are if this is not the word of God. If this is not
the word of God, then everybody is entitled to their opinion.
This is the word of God. God breathed, God inspired. Therefore, verse 16, all scripture,
all of it, is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. It's
profitable for doctrine. You see, the heavens declare
the glory of God, I know that. The firmament showeth his handiwork. When I consider, David said,
the sun, the moon, the stars, the things which thou hast made,
I am aware of your greatness and power and majesty, and what
is man that art mindful of him. But you can't discover doctrine,
the doctrine of salvation and the truth of God's mercy on Christ
in nature. or creation, only in the Word. Nowhere is the mercy of God and
the grace of God in Christ revealed except in the Word. Nowhere. No way in this world
that you can be sure that God will forgive sin, except he said
it. Nowhere in this world that you
can even imagine a covenant of grace, a covenant of mercy, a salvation by representation,
federal headship by substitute, except from the Word. Who is
he? Only the Word tells you. Where
did he come from? Why did he come? The Word. What
did he do? Where is he now? We're totally
dependent on the Word. And when People in the pulpit,
in the classroom, put a question mark on the Word. They're taking
literally, removing your foundation, your hope, your confidence, your
faith. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. And it's profitable for doctrine,
and read on, it's profitable for reproof. Only the word of
God reveals false teaching. Error and heresy is revealed
in the scripture. When the gospel is compromised,
how do you know that men are compromising the gospel? By the
word, the only way. This is the problem with our
generation, is they're not familiar with the word. That's the reason
their ears are open to every voice and every wind that blows.
When you and I are acquainted with the scriptures, when we
study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, when the wind
of false doctrine and error comes our way, we say, hey, that's
not right, that's not what the word teaches, that's not what
God said. And correction, only in the word
are we corrected. How do you correct a man's attitude,
bad attitude? With the Word. If he won't listen
to the Word, his attitude may be as good as yours. A person
has a bad spirit. How is he corrected? By the Word.
How is a person corrected in bad practice? It's like today
with the sweep in this nation, homosexuality, and people say,
well, it's a lifestyle, don't judge. If you don't know the
scripture, you can take that attitude. But it's wrong according
to God's word. It's just as wrong as murder.
It's just as wrong as stealing. It's just as wrong as being a
thief. It's wrong. It's contrary to
God. How do I know that? The scriptures. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God, and it's profitable to learn the doctrine of grace,
the doctrine of substitution, the doctrine of redemption. by
reproof to correct error and heresy and false teachers. Peter
said, our Lord said, beware of false prophets who come to you
in sheep's clothing. Well, how am I going to recognize
them? I've got to know the Word. And the Word reveals error and
heresy, and the Word corrects us. When we're going the wrong
way, it corrects us whether we're going the wrong way in practice,
or in attitude, or in spirit, or motive. How can I make my
motives right? By finding out God's motive.
The motive that he teaches. The Word. And then it's profitable
for instruction in righteousness. What's that mean? Well, turn
to Colossians. Colossians chapter 3. instruction in righteousness
for the Church, for the body, for the people of God. Our instructions
are right here before us. Colossians 3 verse 12, look at
it. Put on therefore as the elect
of God, holy and beloved, put on vows of mercy. These are instructions. Put on kindness, humility, meekness,
patience. Forbear one another, forgive
one another. If any man has a quarrel against
any, as Christ forgave you, you do the same thing. These are
instructions in righteousness, aren't they? Read on. And above
all things, put on love, which is the bond of perfectness. Let
the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also you
are called in one body. Let the words of Christ dwell
in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one
another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your heart to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or
deed, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to
God and the Father by Him. Wives, submit yourselves to your
own husbands as is fit in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives. Be not bitter against them. Children,
obey your parents in all things. This is well-pleasing to the
Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they
be discouraged. Servants, obey your masters in
all things, your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service
just as men pleases, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. And whatever
you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord, and not unto men. Knowing
that of the Lord you shall receive the reward of the inheritance,
you serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall
receive for the wrong which he hath done. There's no respect
to persons. That's instruction. The Word. You see, all Scripture is God-breathed. It's profitable for me to learn
how God saves sinners. Doctrine. For reproof. to expose error and heresy and
false teachings, as there are many, for a correction to my
attitude and spirit, my way, my practice, correct me, and
the word is given of God to instruct me. And listen to verse 17, that
the man of God may be perfect, mature. The woman of God. This is written, the word is
given by inspiration of God and the word is to his sheep. The
word is written to believers. The word is given that the man
who saved might be mature. The woman who knows God. It's
written. It's written to people of God's
choice. It's written to people of God's calling. It's written
to people of God's grace. It's kingdom foods. It's instruction
for the children of the kingdom. First, that we might be saved.
Right across the page there in 2 Timothy 2, verse 10, Paul says,
I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain
salvation which is in Christ. This is written that you might
be saved. That you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, and
believing you, these are written, that you might believe that Jesus
is the Christ, and that believing you might have life. And this
is written that you may be mature. The word perfect there, we're
perfect in Christ, I know that. We're not perfect in this flesh.
We're not perfect in our attitude or spirit or conduct or practice
or beliefs or anything. but he is perfecting us. We're
being made mature, we're growing. Like Peter said, desire the sincere
milk of the word that you may grow thereby. And listen, this is written,
God breathed, that the man of God, the woman of God, may be
mature and thoroughly, thoroughly if you want to use that, thoroughly,
throughly, from head to toe, throughout, inwardly out, furnished. unto good works. You see, by
grace, or you say, through faith, is that not of yourselves? It's
the gift of God. It's not of works, lest any man
should boast. For we're His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works. Unto good works. God has created
us unto good works. Let your light so shine before
men that they may see your good works. and glorify your Father
which is in heaven. That's right. Unto good works,
works of faith and labor of love, that we might be truly furnished,
have the right reason, have the right motivation, have the right
constraint to good works. Good works are acceptable to
God in Christ. That's right. They're commanded
of God in Christ. And that's the reason the scripture
is given to believers, that we might be saved, that we might
be mature, that we might have the right spirit, that we might
be fully furnished. Just like your children raised
in your home. You want them to grow. You want
them to mature. You want them to gain wisdom.
You want them to gain experience. You want them to be people of
integrity, people of truthfulness, people of honesty. You want them
to be successful. What are you doing to do that?
You're equipping them. You're teaching them. You're
instructing them. You're showing them by example.
You're correcting them. You're doing all these things
that they might be mature, that they might be ready for adulthood. And the better you instruct them,
the better adults they're going to be, humanly speaking. God has to do the work of grace.
I know that. But that's why the Word's given
to us. and how foolish we are to neglect it. But I didn't know. You could have known. But I didn't know these things.
But you could have known. You had it in your hand. You had
it in your home. You had it everywhere but in
your heart. But I'm not held responsible for what I don't
know. Wait a minute now. Men will be judged for what they
know and what they could have known. So therefore, Peter, or Paul,
writing to this young minister, says in verse 1 of chapter 4,
I charge you. Therefore. This man is Paul's brother. This man is Paul's son in the
ministry. This man is Paul's friend who suffered many trials
and troubles and gone through valleys with him. It doesn't
change the seriousness of this subject. Paul says, I charge you, Timothy,
I charge you before God. Oh, the solemnity, the seriousness
of this business. I charge you before God who chose
us. I charge you before our Lord
Jesus Christ who redeemed us. I charge you before our Lord
Jesus Christ who will judge us. That's what I read a while ago.
God's going to judge this whole world by that one man. whom he
hath ordained, and he hath given us proof. He raised him from
the dead. I charge you before God. I charge
you before Jesus Christ. I charge you before him who shall
judge us at our coming. You better preach the word. See why I had to start in chapter
3, Ryan? All Scripture is given by inspiration God breathed.
This is no ordinary book. This is God's Word. This is no
textbook. This is no church creed. This
is God's Word breathed by God, and it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness that your congregation,
God's people, God's sheep, God's elect, might be mature. and through it furnished unto
all good works. So, young man, I charge you before
God Almighty. I charge you before the Lord
Jesus Christ who's going to judge His shepherds. You preach the
Word. These are my instructions. Preach
the Word. Preach the written Word and preach
the incarnate Word. They're inseparable. Isn't that
right, Bob? They're totally inseparable. If you preach this book, you
preach Christ. If you preach Christ, you've got to preach
this book. This is His Word. You see, He said to those Pharisees,
He said, you search the Scriptures. They were Bible scholars. I hear people say, I know my
Bible. They were Bible scholars too.
They knew their Bible. They didn't know His Word. They
didn't know Him. They didn't know the author.
They didn't know the principles of the word. They didn't know
the message of the word. It's like that little bird sitting
on that telephone wire out there. He's standing on the wire. He's
held up by the wire. He's supported by the wire. He's
got confidence in the wire, but he's totally ignorant of the
message going through the wire. He doesn't know what's going
through that one. And I hear people say, I'm standing in the
Word of God. You can stand on it and not know what it says.
Not know the message. I'm supported in my position
by the Scriptures. Maybe you are. But do you really
know what that message is? See what I'm saying? The written Word and the living
Word. Christ reveals the Scriptures. The Scriptures are revealed in
Christ. They're fulfilled in Christ. He said, you search the scriptures,
in them you think you have life, there they which testify of me.
To him give all the prophets witness. Preach the word. Like
we're doing this morning, just preach the word. Just preach
the word. When you sit in your study and
prepare a message, find out the part of the word that God would
have you preach, Just look at it and use whatever help you
can and pray, Lord, tell me what this says so I can tell them
what it says. Show me Christ so I can show them Christ. Give
me some hope so I can tell them about that hope. And he says,
preach the word, be instant, continually at it, always at
it, in season or out of season. What does that mean? Well, there's
a season to plow. and there's a season to plant,
and there's a season to root, and there's a season to repair
fences when the snow's on the ground. But this business of
preaching has no season. We're always preaching, plowing,
planting, reaping, sowing, always at it, always at it. Preach the
Word. What do you all do down at your church? Preach the Word.
What do you do for the young people? Teach them the Word. Always at it, in season, out
of season. Whether it's favorable or unfavorable.
Whether it's in taste or out of taste. Whether it's welcomed
or unwelcomed. God's preacher is to preach the
word, teach the word, patiently. Waiting on the Lord. Like a farmer plows his field
and plants his seed and waits on the Lord, waits for the early
and latter rain, waits for God to make it 20 fold, 30 fold,
60 fold, 100 fold, or no fold. But I plowed, Paul said, and
Apollos has watered, and somebody else sowed, but God gives the
increase. We're God's servants, and God's the farmer. He's the
owner. We're just the servants by whom
men hear the word. So we're patiently waiting on
God to reveal it. But I tell you, he said you exhort,
you reprove, rebuke, and exhort with patience and doctrine. You run from any preacher that
says, well, we're not too interested in doctrine, we preach Jesus.
You want to run just as far as you can away from him. That's
the problem with this day. Verse 3 says, For the time will
come. This is a sad commentary. The
time will come. The time is here. The time is
upon us. When they will not endure. The
word endure there is tolerate. They will not tolerate. Sound doctrine. The character of God. His holiness,
His sovereignty, His power, His majesty, His righteousness, justice. Who is God? God has attributes,
characteristics, which reveal His nature. God is holy. God
is righteous. God is true. Truth and verity
are His judgment, His throne. But my generation doesn't want
to hear the doctrine of God's sovereignty. They're not into
it. They're not tolerating it. God
is sovereign in all things, not some things. Brother Gary preached
here a couple of weeks ago, the Lord thy God reigneth. The Lord of the world reigns,
that's so, but you know He reigns. The Lord thy God reigns. He's
sovereign in creation. Anybody have anything to do with
the creation besides God? No. He's sovereign in providence. Otherwise, all things could not
work together for our good. He has control over all things.
By Him, all things consist. In Him, we live and move and
have our being. Remember, I read that a moment
ago. In Him, we live and move and have our being. God is sovereign
in everything. The heart of the king is in the
hands of the Lord. He turneth it whether so ever he will. One of the things that saved
England in World War II literally saved England. When Hitler with
his hordes and masses of planes and tanks and troops and well-equipped
army took France without a shot being fired almost, was poised
on the bank of the English Channel. And England didn't have anything.
They couldn't fight off Pharaoh's army, let alone Hitler's. But
what did Hitler do? He turned and went into Russia.
Isn't that right, John? He turned and went into Russia.
Of all the stupid, foolish things to do is to repeat Napoleon's
error and try to go into Russia. And they think God froze him
to death. If you crossed that channel, England would have fallen.
And anybody knows that. Isn't that right? Had to buy
50 planes from us on the Lend-Lease program or something like that. But God did that. The heart of
the king is in the hands of the Lord. If the king makes a foolish
error or a wise error, God did it. He's the first cause. I'm
telling you that now. God's sovereign. in creation,
in providence, in God's sovereignty and salvation. He saves whom
he will. He says, I'll be merciful to
whom I will. I'll be gracious to whom I will.
Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, why did you
make me like this? I made you that way for my glory.
I raised you up, Pharaoh, that I might show my power. I raised
up Moses for the same reason, to show my power. The power of
my grace, the power of my wrath. He's sovereign in salvation.
But they're not going to endure that. Write these five letters
down. T-U-L-I-P. A tulip, isn't it? I love tulips. I got me a tulip
bulb planter. I got a thing you just step on
it and pull the dirt out and put the bulb in and put the dirt
back. And in the spring, the prettiest tulips. I love tulips. I love tulip too, T-U-L-I-P. I love the truth of it, the power
of it, the greatness of it, the glory of it, the gospel of it.
T-U-L-I-P. Total depravity. Man's dead in
trespasses and sins. Born that way, likes it that
way, desires it that way, and won't change it if he's left
alone. Total depravity. dead, from the
sole of his foot to the top of his head, dead in sin. You, T-U-U,
unconditional election, out of that mass of fallen, wretched,
ruined mankind, God chose a people. Chose them in Christ, chose them
in grace, chose them in love, chose to save them, set them
apart, made them his own, because he would. Didn't see anything
in them, or from them, or of them. The sole cause of the election
is found in God, not in them. Unconditional election. El. Limited atonement. Christ
came down here to this earth, obeyed the law, went to the cross
of Calvary, suffered, bled and died, took upon him our sins,
all of them, all the sins of all of his people. That atonement
which he accomplished is not limited in his power, he's able
to say to the animals, them that come to God by him. He wouldn't
have had to die anymore if God had chosen 10,000 worlds to save. But that atonement is limited
in its application, in its efficacious grace. He died for his sheep.
He laid down his life for God's elect. His atonement atones,
his salvation serves. His mercy is effectual. No one
for whom Christ died will ever perish. Limited atonement. I don't limit
God. God's unlimited. He limits his
blood to his choice. Whom he foreknew, he predestinated. Whom he predestinated, he justified.
Whom he justified, he called. And whom he called, he will glorify.
T-U-L-I. Irresistible grace. Yeah, but
people do resist the Holy Spirit, not for long. Yeah, but they
do grieve the Spirit, not for long. Yeah, but they do buck. They'll quit bucking someday.
Our people shall be willing in the day of our power. The Spirit
of God sends the Word to us, and the Law to us, and Providence
to us, and calls us by a lot of things, conscience, and parents,
and other people, and preachers, and all these things. But one
day, he effectually, irresistibly, invincibly, that's a good word
for I, invincibly, Abraham come out. You've been
there 75 years, now get out. That's right. Time to go. I'm
calling you. And if you're his, he'll call
you. If you're not, he never will.
And he'll call you invincibly, irresistibly, and you'll come
running. Willingly, lovingly, obediently,
eternally, just come running. Peace. Perseverance. They will continue. Not one of
them will be lost. He'll preserve them, he, and
they'll persevere. He says, I won't leave them and
they won't leave me. I love them and they love me.
That's a tulip. Tulip. This generation won't
tolerate that. You're working with religious
people who won't tolerate that. You've got folks in your family
and probably in your house who won't tolerate that. They won't
do it. Time will come when they'll not
endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts, that's their
own desires. Oh, they may say, well, that's
in the Bible, but it doesn't mean that. A friend of mine read
Romans 9 to a fellow one time and said, don't you believe that?
He said, not like you read it. That's not my desire. You and I love that doctrine.
When I was talking about the tulip, you could just smell it,
couldn't you? You could see them. You could see fields of them,
like you was in the middle of Holland. But a lot of folks in this world,
when you talk about that tulip, I mean, they get red in the face.
It's serious with them. They can't tolerate it. because
they have another desire. So they'll go and find them somebody
that believes like they do. They'll heap to themselves teachers.
They have ears that itch that want somebody to scratch them
their way. And they'll find some scratchers.
The world's full of scratchers if you pay them enough. They'll find preachers to their
liking, someone said, to their own selves. They'll gather many
teachers who will preach what they want to hear. And God have
mercy on them and him, but he won't. Nothing worse under heaven
than a compromising preacher. I said one time, shocked some
dear people, I said, I'd rather my son Paul be a bartender. I'd heap rather him be a bartender
than a free will preacher. I'd rather him be out here in
Summit Penitentiary than in a pulpit denying the sovereignty of God.
And I mean that, God my witness. Because if he's a bartender,
he'd tear up people's lives. But as a preacher, he tears up
their souls and gives them a false hope and a false God. And I'd
rather meet God as a bartender than a lying preacher. Preach
the Word. I charge you before God and before
Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead. If you don't
preach the Word, you deal with Him. And I'd much rather face
a mad congregation than a mad God. I'd rather fall into the hands
of a mad church, an angry church, than to meet an angry God. Hadn't you? When you fear God,
you don't fear anybody else. He said over there, let the preacher,
false preacher, tell his dreams. My preachers preach my word.
You know what said Jeremiah? The false preacher said, I had
a dream, I had a vision. He said, let him tell his dream
and his vision. But my preachers preach my word.
My word is a hammer. My word is a fire. My word is
a light. All right. They'll turn away
their ears from the truth. Verse 4, be turned to fables.
But Timothy, Paul has four instructions for you and for me. Here they are. Four instructions
for the young preacher. W-A-T-C-H. Watch. Watch in all
things. Turn back to 1 Timothy, chapter
4, just a moment. 1 Timothy 4, verse 13. Watch. Be alert. 1 Timothy 4,
verse 13. Till I come, Timothy, give attendance
to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift
that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy with the laying
on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things. Give
yourself wholly to them that thy profiting may appear to all.
Take heed to yourself. Take heed to your doctrine. Continue
in them. In so doing, you'll save yourself
and them that hear you. Watch. Feed the flock. Watch for error. It's what I've
tried to do here through the years. Meditate on these things. study,
pray, take heed to myself, to my doctrine. I won't be saying
what you say. And I watch for the wolf in sheep's
clothing. The sheep doesn't recognize him,
but the shepherd does. The shepherd sees a wolf in sheep's
clothing, and the sheep are busy eating, and they're kind and
loving. And they just accept folks who come along, plenty
of food, come on, eat with us. The shepherd says, he's not going
to eat with you, because he's not a sheep. He's a divider. He's a wolf. And you watch for
him. You watch for him. Be alert.
Be alert to approaching dangers. After it's already in there and
torn the flock up, it's a little late to try to get them back
together. But you watch. Be alert. Watch in all things,
not just in doctrine. But in everything, watch for
the dangers, watch over the flock, like the shepherd watched their
flocks by night. Remember when our Lord sent the
angels and shepherds watched their flocks by night. And you don't know the many dangers
that have been averted because somebody's watching. And somebody
who had a discerning eye and had experience and knew the danger. You watch, Timothy. While you're
in charge, you watch. And you endure affliction. See
that next watch? And endure affliction. You'll
get affliction from without, but you'll get it from within,
too. People who don't understand your watch. And you can't explain it. You'll
get affliction from within and from without, from the unbeliever
and from the believer. You'll get reproach and you'll
get discouragement. All men do not have faith. But you endure it. Endure the
affliction. And thirdly, you do the work
of an evangelist. What is an evangelist? Look it
up in your Greek concordance. It's there for all to see. It's
a preacher of the gospel. That's an evangelist. Proclaimer. Preacher of the gospel. He knows
his business. He knows his work. He knows his
job. It's to preach the gospel. If he tries to be anything else,
he's an embarrassment to God, to himself, and to everybody
else. Our primary task is not to organize, not to socialize,
not to entertain, not to promote social change. Like one of our
preachers said this week, God didn't send us to change the
world. He sent us to preach the gospel that men's hearts may
be changed. Let others do what they do. You preach the gospel. Do the work. Watch. Endure whatever
comes your way. And do the work of an evangelist.
Preach the gospel. Barnard said one time, said every
pastor ought to preach every once in a while as if everybody's
going to hell and that right soon. Preach the gospel. And then the next instruction,
number four, is make full proof of your ministry. Fully perform
the duties God has assigned you. Preach the gospel, administer
the ordinances, true and clearly. Teach the church, go through
the scriptures. We've done that here, verse by
verse. Persevere in the doctrines of
God's grace 100%. Don't compromise on any quarter
where the glory of our Lord is at stake. There are some places
where we can be all things to all men, but not in the gospel.
It has to be proclaimed like it is. Don't give in, not a quarter. And then commit this word to
faithful men, which we've tried to do, that they may teach others. You remember him saying that
back here in chapter 2 to Timothy? He said in chapter 2, my son,
verse 1, therefore my son, be strong in the grace that is in
Christ Jesus, and the things which you have heard of me among
many witnesses, the same commit to faithful men who shall be
able to teach others also. That's been one of the ministries
of this church for years. And you had five of them here
last week. Five of the finest preachers
in the world. Every one of them. sat right
here, and we've got more sitting right here now. That's making
full proof of your ministry. Teach others that they may teach
others. Fulfill your ministry. All right. For he says in verse 6, here's
all the old preachers' farewell. He says, I'm now ready to be
offered. My life is about to be poured
out as a drink offering. You can read about that in Numbers
28 later. I don't have the time to go into
it. When lamb was slain, sacrificed, when the sacrifice, the sin offering
before the Lord, the lamb was sacrificed, that's the blood,
the atonement. Puts away sin. Nothing's added
to that sacrifice. But sometimes, oil or wine was
poured on the sacrifice. And they called it a drink offering
or a thank offering. Philippians 2 refers to it. Turn to Philippians 2, verse
17. Paul refers to it here in Philippians
2, 17. Yea, and if I be offered, poured
for it. See that? Poured out. If I be
offered, poured upon the sacrifice, poured upon the sacrifice and
service of your faith, I joy. And I rejoice with you all. So
this is what he said here in our text. I'm ready to be offered.
You see, the sacrifice is all that's necessary, the blood,
the lamb. But out of thanksgiving, Paul says, I'm willing to die
on the altar of Christ, preaching his gospel. I'm ready to commit
myself. I'm a thank offering. I'm a drink
offering. I'm ready to be offered myself in death. for the glory
of my Lord. And he says, the time of my departure
is at hand. The time, unknown to me or to
you, but it's known to God, and it's fixed by God. It's fixed
by God. It's fixed rightly, it's fixed
lovingly, it's fixed wisely, it's fixed unchangeably. My times
are in his hands, so are yours. It's fixed. My days are appointed,
the number of my months are with him. The time of my departure,
Paul says, is at hand. My departure? He didn't say my
death. He said my departure. To depart
and be with Christ. I'm not leaving. I'm leaving
to go to him. That's what he said. It's not just leaving. It's going
to be with Christ, which is far better. My departure. To depart
and be with him. And it's at hand. Did Paul think
he was going to die the next day? Well, it's about that soon. And that's true of all of us.
Suppose we die in ten years. What's ten years? Ten years is a short time. Five
years. And then he says this. I want
you to watch this and I'll close. I fought a good fight. He looked
back with satisfaction. I fought a good fight. I kept
back nothing profitable to you. I have not shunned to declare
unto you the whole counsel of God. I have courted no man's
praise and no man's possessions, no man's silver or gold." That's
what he said. I fought a good fight. And I finished my course. Paul looked at the past without
regret. He looked at the present with total peace. Total peace. I finished my course. What's
that course? It's the race, the course, the
racetrack. ran the whole course. And he
said, it's about to finish. My life's almost over. And my
ministry is almost over. It varies in length. These race
tracks, some are a mile, some are a mile and a quarter, some
a mile and a half. Some God's preachers preach 20 years, some
30, some 40, some 50. But each one has his course to
run, and he finishes the course, he's through. I kept the faith. Paul looked
at his message and his ministry. He said, I fought a good fight.
I finished my course. I kept the faith. He looked at
his message. It's the faith of Christ. I preached
nothing else. The gospel of God's sovereign
grace. I kept it. I kept it. I firmly held it.
I firmly preached it by his grace. Nothing in me. I know Paul never
intended for anybody to even think that he kept it by himself. We are kept by the power of God
through faith. I kept the faith because he kept
me. I hold him because he holds me.
And henceforth, now watch this, henceforth, he looked at the
past without regrets, he looked at the present in peace, he looked
at his ministry and his message with satisfaction, and he looked
at the future with joy and hope. Henceforth, there's laid up laid
up, as an inheritance laid up for you, reserved in heaven,
incorruptible, undefiled, as faith is not arrayed, laid up.
It's just like recently some of us went to a dinner at a big
restaurant, and one table over in the middle, and all that crowd,
there wasn't anybody sitting there, because it was signed
on it, reserved for the maids. Been there for an hour. Been
there since one o'clock that afternoon when we called and
made reservation. Been there a long time, reserved.
Can't sit there, that's reserved. And Paul says this, lay it up,
reserved for me. Reserved for me. Had my name
on it, clear back to the foundations of the world. You can't sit there,
that's Paul's place. Even somebody, one of the angels
came by and said, who's that? Whose place is that? Another
angel said, that's Paul. You mean Saul of Tarsus? Well,
he's a bum. He's down there persecuting the
church. He'll be here. When he hates the gospel, he'll
be here. When he don't love Christ, he
will. We reserve this for him. He's coming. And Paul says, I'm
coming. The time of my departure is at
hand, and they've laid up for me, they've reserved for me a
crown of righteousness. Now, why is that called a crown
of righteousness? Let me help you. The happiness
and future state of God's children is called a crown. Number one,
because of the glory of it. Carrie, you just saw the Queen's
crown, didn't you, in the Tower of London, the crown jewels?
had a lot of glory, the glory of England, the glory of that
nation. But this crown has the glory
of God. The person, you looked on that
crown and he didn't put your eyes out, did he? But when you
look in his glory, if you didn't have new eyes, he'd put your
eyes out. No man can look on me, and he said, and live. But
this is a crown of righteousness because of the unseen, indescribable
glory of it. And it's called a crown because
we're kings. A king ought to have a crown,
shouldn't he? He has made us kings and priests, our God. A
king ought to have a crown. What's a king without a crown?
Even these young girls that win beauty contests, I see them put
these little ten-cent store things on their heads, you know? Boy,
that ain't no ten-cent thing. And it's not just for the head.
It's a crown because We sit on a throne of glory, his throne,
seated with him. And it's called a crown because
we have a kingdom prepared for us. And it's called a crown because
we're going to reign with him. And listen to what he says in
the next line. They laid up for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord himself, the righteous judge, She'll give to me. A sinner like me, the righteous
God, yep, because I'm righteous too in Christ. God doesn't have
to turn His back on me because He turned His back on Christ
when He bore my sin. And now I can meet God in Christ
head-on, face-to-face, and not be annihilated
because the righteous judge says I'm righteous in Christ. And
He's going to give me that glory. The glory which God's given me,
I've given them. And listen, and not to me only. This crown of righteousness,
this glory, is not just for apostles, or prophets. This is not just
for a select few. This is not even for a majority.
This is for all who love His appearance. We're all kings and
priests. You see that? Henceforth, it's laid up for
me. I've kept the faith. I've finished my course. I've
fought a good fight. And it's laid up for me and for
every one of his elect, every child of God, even the thief
on the cross and Moses. Same crime. It's for all who
love his appearance. The same scripture that says,
all things work together for good to them who love the Lord,
who are called according to his purpose. Not to me only, all of them. Love his appearance. Sands of
Time, number 509. Let's sing that as our closing
hymn, number 509.