Good afternoon. Open your Bibles to 2 Timothy 4. We're going to read from verse 6 to the end of that chapter. Now, it wasn't too long ago, maybe three weeks, I think, that we were in Timothy, 2 Timothy. We've been going through this actually over about three years, I think it is, and we've not had an exhaustive study by any means, but looked more at Christian leaders in the last day and Paul's directives to Timothy as his sub-apostle, as he has to step into Timothy's place, take care of the Asian churches and his work in Ephesus, and a great responsibility on Timothy in this book as Paul comes to the end of his life. And we come now to Really sad and wonderful passage of scripture, though, which I've called the last chapter in Paul's life, that last passage in chapter four of 2 Timothy. But just by way of reminder, last time we were together in 1 Timothy three and up to verse five of chapter four, we had the Christian leaders clear commission, Paul's clear commission to Timothy First of all, we looked at the example of Paul, and how we are to be examples to others also. And we looked at the fact that the true gospel attracts opposition in the last days, and we will face opposition and persecution if we're true to the gospel. And then the church's safeguard in a hostile and truth-hating world. May you remember four points, don't be distracted, but hold to the truth, Timothy. Recall God's grace from your spiritual infancy, as Timothy was taught as a young boy by his mother and his grandmother, the scriptures. Use God's word in all matters of faith and practice, that famous old scripture is God breathed out and is profitable for teaching, for reproof. for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Number four, gird yourselves like men. Gird yourself like a man, Timothy, as you go to battle against the forces of the world, the truth-hating forces, the demonic forces, the world, the flesh, and the devil, all of these. And then the clear commission for Timothy, In these last days as Paul hands over to him and the verse there, you may remember the first two verses of chapter four, I urge you, the presence of God and of Christ Jesus is to judge the living and dead by his appearing in his kingdom. Preach the word in season and out of season. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and teaching and we looked at Number one, preach the gospel on every occasion. Use the word as a sword and not as a popularity tool. Preach the truth and then be sober and diligent just by way of reminder. So let's come down and read our passage for today and we're really only gonna focus on a couple verses here but we'll skim over the rest as we come to the end of this book. 2 Timothy chapter four, picking up at verse six. for I am already being poured out as a drink offering. The time for my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have loved his appearing. Then he has some remarks, some personal remarks, that he's in prison and restricted by movement and so on, and clearly his concern is for the church and the people of God. Do your best, verse nine, to come to me soon, for Demas In love with this present world has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescent has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you for he's very useful to me for ministry. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left at Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all, the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he has strongly opposed our message. At my first defense, no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles may hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely To his heavenly kingdom, to him be glory forever and ever. Greet Prisca and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill at Miletus. Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends his greetings to you, as do Pudence and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Let's bow before the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the glories of your word. How we thank you that we can handle and see your word before us because you have revealed yourself. Our prayer this afternoon is that you would speak to us from your word, that you would imprint this word on our hearts, that we, like those before us, like the Apostle Paul and others, may run with perseverance the race set before us. Be with us, we pray. Speak to our hearts by the power of your spirit, for Christ's sake and for his glory, amen. When the Apostle Paul was awaiting trial the first time in the book of Philippians, he was imprisoned also by the Romans, and he wrote that letter to the Philippians, another little favorite book of mine, and he wasn't sure what the outcome of that trial was going to be. Were they going to be with you? Were they going to depart and be put to death? In Philippians 121, he says, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. Yet he goes on there to tell the Philippians that he's sure he will live and he will in fact be released from that imprisonment because his life's work was not finished yet. And you can read that in Philippians chapter 1. But the pictures change now. Here, Paul in prison in Rome again. Paul has served the Lord faithfully for 30 years. He's been preparing Timothy to carry on the good work of preaching the gospel among the Asian churches. As we saw last time, we just referred to preach the word, be prepared in season, out of season. And verse four, five of chapter four, do the work of an evangelist. Discharge all the duties of your ministry. Paul has written 13 letters of which this is the last. And you come towards the end of this letter, these three beautiful verses, verse six to eight. The last thoughts of Paul to Timothy, by a man who was sure that the Lord was calling him home after his long and successful and hard ministry. Paul has already given Timothy in this letter all the important warnings, the encouragements, the commissions for his work ahead, and now he speaks of his own life in the present and in the past and in the future. In one of the most moving passages, Paul gives us a summary here of his life. Let's read those again, verse 6 to 8 of chapter 4, 2 Timothy. For I am being poured out like a drink offering The time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. Paul talks about the present, first of all. In verse six he says, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering. The time of my departure has come. And here, Paul, not like other times where he often mentions his chains, he doesn't even mention his chains or his imprisonment and the possibility of his coming trial. It's as if Paul has accepted what God's will is here. He speaks of his death now as a drink offering being poured out and offered to God. And in Numbers 15 verse 7, after the sacrifices were made, verse 7 of Numbers 15 says, and the drink offering you shall offer a third of a hen of wine a pleasing aroma to the Lord and pour it around the altar after the offering. This was the last part of an offering to God that was done after the sacrifice. Wine was poured out next to the altar as an aroma pleasing to God. And we know Paul often referred and always referred to his ministry as a sacrifice to God. This was the last part of his sacrifice. After the sacrifice was over, He was to be poured out like a drink offering, a pleasing aroma to God. Romans 12, one and two, you know it so well. Paul wrote to the Romans and offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy, pleasing to God. This is your spiritual worship. Now Paul says, I'm done with that. My life is being poured out like a drink offering. The time of my departure has come. Departure there in the Greek means loosening. The time of my loosening like a ship in harbor about to set sail and loosened its ropes from anchor ready to set sail. Paul is about to set sail for the shores of eternity. Paul speaks very clearly about the present. Timothy must know all that Paul has been instructing him. It's serious business to be tended to for God's kingdom. Timothy, it's just a matter of time and I'm leaving. Paul talks about the present and he's being poured out. Secondly, Paul gives a summary of his past. Look at verse seven. He says, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith." The closeness of the end for Paul enables him to look back at the long contest in which he has been engaged, and even before it's ended, here he is sure of the victory. 1 Timothy 6 verse 12, Paul says to Timothy, fight the good fight of faith. And now he can say to Timothy, by God's grace, he has fought the good fight. Paul's lifelong ambition is at last fulfilled now that he has completed his course of Christian ministry. And Paul mentioned his ambition. In Acts 20 verse 24, when he said, however, I consider my life worth nothing to me. If only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus Christ has given me, the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace. That was his ambition and he had fulfilled it. My friends, we must stop here and ask ourselves today, where are we in our Christian race? I so appreciated Pastor Sam preaching, I think over the last year, on two occasions in preparing ourselves for death. And I think it's Martin Lloyd-Jones I heard that on his deathbed said, I have failed, I have not prepared my people for death. Is it our ambition at all, this ambition that was Paul's before he departs? Or have we given up on the race, become discouraged at the opposition, the hard-heartedness of the people? Perhaps our pastors becoming discouraged at the hard-heartedness of people to whom the gospel is preached. Have we given up as a church because we feel the struggle is too hard? Duty of pastors to preach the gospel, to do the work of an evangelist to discharge all the duties of ministry. Here's an example of a great man of God who poured out his life for his savior in thankfulness to God's grace, in obedience to Christ's command. We must ask ourselves, where are we in our race? Where are our ambitions in our race as we run the Christian race in our lives? in a fight, in a race we have seen here in Second Timothy, Paul uses the illustration of a farmer and an athlete and a soldier, these people who need to be single-minded in action. A soldier, an athlete and a farmer cannot afford to abandon their work if they wish to succeed. The crops need to be, the ground needs to be tilled and cared for and watered and the crops need to be planted and then cared for and harvested at the right time and protected from the frost. And a soldier needs to be single-minded, Paul told us, when he goes into battle in his fight, otherwise he will not succeed immediately and unquestionably obeying his commanding officer. Because we fight against the world of flesh and the devil, against unbelief, against our own sinful nature. Paul has finally accomplished that ministry to which the Lord had called him. He was indeed a man with one holy passion, with this one objective in mind. This is clear when you read things like 1 Corinthians 9 22. I've become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 1 Corinthians 10 31 whether you eat or drink whatever you do do all to God's glory. 1 Corinthians 10 33. even as I tried to please everybody in every way, for I'm not seeking my own good, but the good of many, that they may be saved." This was his passion, and this was his goal. Make that your passion today, the glory of God, the true doctrine, the apostolic faith once handed down to the saints, the salvation of the souls of men, of your neighbors, of friends for the kingdom of God. Then with Paul, we can speak of the future with confidence. The third thing, Paul looks at the future, verse eight. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, not only to me, but to all who have loved his appearing. Having discussed the present and the past, Paul turns his eye to the future now. Notice Paul says here, It is laid up for me. This treasure, this crown of righteousness is in store for me. The Greek word here literally means to be safely stored away so that no one else can get to it. This crown of righteousness that has been stored away has been kept for me that no one can take away. And it reminds us, of course, of Matthew 6, 19, 21, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy, where thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So Paul, in his ministry, in seeking to please God, in seeking by all means to preach the gospel, was laying up treasures in heaven. the crown of righteousness. This is a reward that Paul is entitled to for having lived his life in principle in conformity to God's law. 1 Timothy 6.11, but you, O man of God, flee all this, pursue righteousness. 2 Timothy 2.22, flee the desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace together with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 2 Timothy 3.16, the use of all scripture that is useful for training in righteousness. And yet Titus 3.5 reminds us He saved us not because of the works, righteous things we have done, but because of His mercy. Because of His mercy. It's no two important things here. about this crown of righteousness which is Paul's by right, a right founded on grace, a right founded on grace. First of all, to those who fight the fight, run the race, and keep the faith, God has promised to give this crown. To those who have fought the fight, fight the fight, run the race, and keep the faith, God has promised this crown. 1 Peter 5 and verse 4 says, when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory which will never fade away. Revelation 2.10, be faithful even to the point of death and I will give you the crown of life. This is waiting for the faithful servants of God, and you may look at this and say, I'm not gonna get this one. Look at Paul's life, look at his dedication, look at his self-sacrifice, his beatings, and he flogged it. I'm living in luxury, I give little time to prayer and study, and my efforts are so bare, my friends. If we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, if we are running the race, however poorly, if we set our eyes upon Christ, If we are those who have loved his appearing, it's stored away for you and for me. The trials, the difficult times, the temptations, the sin in my life that I failed and I had to overcome and confess and repent and be ashamed, it's all taken care of. There is for you. crown of righteousness from the Lord, the righteous judge. You may feel that is the most unrighteous thing, the unjust thing to happen for me to receive a crown. And even Paul, he was just a man. He looks really great in the pages of scripture and compared to our lives. The good that I want to do, I can't do. And the bad that I don't want to do, I find myself doing. He was just a man. He sinned like you and me. And he must have felt, I don't deserve it. But he looked to the future, and he looked to Christ, who stored it away for him. His right to that crown was based on grace and God's grace in Christ Jesus. That's the first thing. The second thing about the crown is that Christ has earned the crown for us. What I've just been saying, Christ has earned the crown for us. Titus 3, listen to this, Titus 3 verse 5 to 7. He saved us, not because of works done by righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Lord, so that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. That's heirs with Christ, that crown of life, that crown of righteousness. My friends, this is the Christian's glory. This is the glory which we will have with our Lord Jesus Christ. And so great is this crown of righteousness that Jesus on this earth endured all He did, the suffering, the pain, the wrath of God for our sin. Why? For the joy set before Him. And the faithful will be heirs with Jesus Christ and will reign with Him on His Father's throne. Paul was about to depart for that crown. Where, O death, is your sting? Where, oh grave, is your victory? Just stop again for a moment here and apply these truths to our own life. How will you finish? How will you finish in this race? Where are you? Where am I today? If we had to take a long, hard, honest look at our lives, examine our present, look to our past, and take a glimpse of the future for us. Now, as an unbeliever, and I'm certain there must be some here today who are not sure that you're saved. You like what you hear, and that's why you keep coming back. And perhaps you can't say that I'm a child of God today. If you look at your present, you can only say that I'm without God. I'm here, but I'm without God. My sin is with me, past and present. If I had to face God today, I'm without an advocate. I have, you may say, good deeds. I have many good things. A lot of things in my life, and I've given money, and I've been kind to many people, that I've done many good things, but I have failed to love the Lord, my God, with all my heart and with all my soul, with all my mind, with all my strength. And I've failed to love my neighbors. I love myself. I've really lived just for myself. I've broken God's law in thought and word and deed. No amount of good things that I've done can take care of my sin. In fact, the Bible reminds us that my very best deeds are but filthy rags in his sight, for the wages of sin is death. What about the future? Well, that certainly in your present state will be one without God, without hope. Gospel of John tells us of that wonderful verse in John 3, 16. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. But we forget the very next verse, don't we? Verse 18, two verses later. He who does not believe is condemned already, he's judged already because he's not believed in the only begotten Son of God. The future is undeniably sealed for those who will not believe he is condemned already. And so I urge you today, if you're in that state, to come to the Savior, to come to Christ, the one on whom your sins were laid, the Lamb of God was slain. Listen to the gospel call, the free offer of the gospel, and with its New Testament and old Isaiah 55, come, everyone who's thirsty, come to the waters. He has no money, come, buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money, without price. And down to verse six, seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord that he will have compassion on him and to our God who will abundantly pardon. So if you look at your life and you say, I'm without God, if you glance back, you just see your sin and even your good works, they clearly not gonna help you when you face God today. You look at the Savior and come to Him and believe on Him, He will abundantly pardon you. New Testament tells us in Ephesians 2, that it's by grace that we've been saved, through faith, that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not a result of work, so that no one should boast. I would urge you then, unbelievers, God commands all men everywhere to repent and to believe. on His Son to turn from self, to turn from your sin, to repent of those and to come and cast yourself on Christ. Romans 10, nine says, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, if you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Let us believe as in the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to reflect on the present and the past and the future Where would we be right now? Certainly as I believe in Christ, as those who have repented of our sin, have called upon the name of the Lord, have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, we'll be able to say, as in Titus 3 that we read, he saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to his mercy, by the washing and regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. My friends, if like our dear brother Roger who was sitting here just a few weeks ago and he got called home to be with God, if we get called by God, if we knew that we only had a few days left in our lives, would we be able to say with Paul, I fought the fight, I finished the course, I have kept the faith. There's a A little verse written above my study desk at home. It says, if God were to surprise you in the act of death, death may come knocking at any time, and will we be able to say, I have finished the course, I fought the fight, I have kept the faith. In the 21st century, our lives are so preoccupied on Earth being organized and planned ahead, planning careers, planning retirement, that those things, all those things that's so easily entangled are preventing us from running the race with perseverance and our eyes fixed upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Have we grown slack in our spiritual disciplines? When it's time to preach, boy, do I start praying. Boy, do you start studying. You're not going to preach for a while. Kind of get a little slack in these things and prayer becomes a few quick thoughts to God and study is quick and Where should we go? We don't even know where to go in the Bible because we haven't been regularly studying His word. Is that the case? Have we grown slack in our spiritual disciplines? Have we neglected prayer and the word? Have we become lax in the assembling of ourselves together on the Lord's day? Have we become tired of doing the good works? Those good works that God prepared in advance for us to do. If we neglected as men to lead our wives and our children, provided the spiritual direction in their lives. To a certain extent, I'm sure that describes each one of us, doesn't it? But let's resolve this day to run with perseverance the clear course set out for us. Your work may not be to preach the gospel. Your work may not be that of an evangelist, but it certainly is to be one of willing obedience to the commands of Christ in his word, of a life of faith with the appropriate works, of a life of service and of using our gifts in the church for the mutual benefit of the body. My friends, and may this great future be our motivation. As with our Savior, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, it is now seated at God's right hand. Believers, to the future, to the future. In the future there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, As unjudicial as you think that may be, as unrighteous as that act may seem to you, it's been secured by the Savior for us. Let that be our motivation to run with perseverance, with single-mindedness, the race set before us. because there is for us a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day and to all who love his appearing. Friends, so many uncertainties in life, but here's the one great, great certainty, death. Death is the only thing in this life that you could be sure of. It's coming. Daniel chapter 12 verse two, and many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. May the words in this farewell of Paul to Timothy pierce our hearts today as we see before us the righteous example first of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the example of men like Paul who have run the race, have kept the faith, and have received, will receive on that day the crown of righteousness promised to them. We're nearly done. Let's just finish and quickly look at how Paul ends this letter with some personal remarks. We've read them together, we won't read them again. And just to note three brief things here in Paul's conclusion and his closing remarks. First of all, be on your guard. And one of the last things he says to Timothy is warning himself of someone. Verse 14, Alexander the Coppice did me great harm, the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed the message. And this is a warning that has come up in this epistle again and again, a warning against those who would Do harm to God's people and to the gospel. This certainly has been one of the watchwords of this epistle. Christian church leaders ought to be on your guard. Take the God-breathed word and use it in every area of your life. Be on your guard against false teachers and false teaching, against false gospels, against the show of religion but denying its power. Be on your guard against godlessness, in the lost days. And secondly, Paul says, remember God is on your side. Timothy, remember God is on your side. Verse 17 and 18, the Lord stood by me and strengthened me so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. If God is for us, who can be against us? And as we leave this place today again, let's hold on to the truth. Let's live a life that is godly. Let's correctly handle the word of truth and then we'll be assured of the power of God in our lives and in the church. Preach the word in season and out of season, Timothy. Do the work of an evangelist. Discharge all the duties of your ministry and remember that God is on your side. And finally, in that last part of verse 18, to Him be glory forever and ever. The last words of Paul, to Him be glory forever and ever, amen. Now trust, when we are all old and gray, and my wife reminds me every day there's a lot of gray hairs here, but when we're all old and gray and ready to pass on that flaming torch to our children, to a wife, to a neighbor, to a friend, to someone we have helped in the gospel, pastors to the next pastor, to take over, young men who have been trained, that we will be able to say with Paul, to finish well, to finish well. I have fought the good fight, finished the race. I've kept the faith. He waits for me, that crown of righteousness. To him be glory forever and ever. And then the very last words, the Lord be with your spirit, grace be with you. Let's pray together.