In 1783, the Peace of Paris had been signed. The American Revolution was officially at an end. And George Washington, General George Washington, penned a very moving valedictory address, a very fitting farewell to his troops. And then in 1796, after serving two terms as president, President Washington penned a very moving farewell to the American people. By the way, I knew my friend Steve Park was going to be here today, so I triple-checked the dates. Just wanted to say, I triple-checked my historical dates. It's my conclusion that Washington's farewell became kind of a precedent for all presidents since then to, on their departure, to give a farewell address, a valedictory speech, valedictory meaning literally farewell word or goodbye word. As a younger man, I can remember watching Lyndon Johnson's farewell. on television, caught up in the whole Vietnam thing, and I can remember Ronald Reagan's farewell. And it's common in many phases of leadership for the leaders to offer a kind of valedictory, kind of a farewell speech. Well, our text this morning, in my opinion, puts all of those moving farewells in the shadows. It's the most moving valedictory speech I think ever penned, and the most moving valedictory speech in the Bible. In 2 Timothy chapter four, Paul thus far has been exhorting, encouraging, sometimes frightening, but then comforting young Timothy as he passes the torch to him to serve in a new generation. Then, having done that, in verse six, Paul switches to the first person. He begins to speak what is really a personal testimony about how this grace of God that he's been unfolding to Timothy has worked out in his life. And so we read then, 2 Timothy chapter four, verses six through eight. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight. I 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 also to all who have loved his appearing. Let's pray. We thank you for these blessed and inspired words. May we reflect on them carefully with our present life and eternity in view. May they encourage, equip, convict us as needed, and may they move us to praise and to grow in our devotion to you. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. If I were to summarize what Paul has said to Timothy so far in 2 Timothy. I would probably pick verse 1 of chapter 2 when he says to him, you then, my child, be strong in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. All things are summarized by that. Everything that Paul says to Timothy leads through that. All roads lead to that and through it. Be strong in the grace that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And there are plenty of synonyms for grace in the Bible. It's not always that word, grace. Synonyms are gospel, word of God, scripture, and even the name of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, we could almost say is synonymous with grace. Well, in the verses that I've just read, Paul summarizes, I think we could say, what grace, what this grace means to him, and how it has sustained him. As one writer put it, he can't read these words without almost getting misty-eyed, and I think that's true. And this may sound strange to say this, but it almost seems like a text you shouldn't preach on. Because it's so personal, it's so intimate, it's so full of meaning and pathos, it almost seems like you shouldn't preach on it, but I am going to. I do think God intended that, but I suppose I say that just to show that I feel somewhat inadequate even in bringing out the glory of this moment and the glory of these words that Paul has spoken to Timothy. But he gives a testimony here of grace in his life, not a testimony now of conversion. We've heard that in the book of Acts, we've seen it repeated several times by Paul, how the Lord Jesus Christ came to grip him and save him and bring him into his service. This is not a salvation testimony, this is what we might call a whole life testimony. And I want you to see that Paul offers this testimony to God's grace reflecting on the present, then on the past, and finally on the future. Verse six, the present, verse seven, the past, verse eight, the future. Let's begin with verse six. Four, and that little word four explains why he's saying this. He's been saying all of this to Timothy to exhort and encourage him, and one might say, well, Paul, why are you saying this? For, he says, the time of my departure has come, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and it's time to pass the torch. So, first in the present tense then, Paul says that being strong in grace means that even my death will be an act, a sacrifice of praise to God. Paul says the time of my departure has come in the first century literature. For example, that word departure is used to describe the sailing times of ships. Such and such a ship will depart and such and such a date from such and such a port. Paul uses that word to describe his departure. The time for my departure has come. And he's certainly talking about his passing into the next life. He is in prison, remember, and he's awaiting the proverbial midnight knock on the door. to finally come to be summoned to his perhaps a final hearing, but then as history has it, to his execution. Paul doesn't know exactly when it will be. Later on we'll see that he still hopes to have another visit with Timothy. He's not necessarily saying it's going to be in the next day, but he says the time for my departure has come. And that's the setting for what he says. And what a fitting word it is to describe the passing of a Christian. For the passing of a believer is not a termination. You don't cease to exist, it's a departure to somewhere else. You're going, as Paul would put it elsewhere, to be with the Lord Jesus Christ. And he describes the time of his departure and says that I am already being poured out as a drink offering. What can he mean by that? What is he saying? I'm being poured out as a drink offering. He's referring to the Old Testament system of offerings. And you may recall in your reading of the Old Testament that one could offer a grain offering. a thank offering, an offering of the first fruits of the harvest. And with that grain offering, the worshiper could offer a libation offering. It was kind of a secondary offering. It was an offering poured out upon that Thanksgiving offering. Paul uses the same imagery in Philippians chapter 2. where he says, even if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the service of your faith. Now he's saying, I'm being poured out in death, in my service to Christ, and may even this be an act of worship and praise and thanksgiving to God. Pastor, have you lost your mind? How is that possible? Death is the great enemy. Death is our final enemy. So how could dying even itself be an act of praise or gratitude to God? I think it's so because of what Isaiah says in Isaiah chapter 53 about the great suffering servant. That he has been vindicated because he poured out his own life unto death and was numbered with the transgressors. It's precisely because our Lord Jesus Christ has poured out his life unto death and then been raised triumphant that the believer can follow his Lord, her Lord into death and beyond it. Now we need not fear the grave. Jesus Christ was born to save. And that's what Paul picks up on in chapter one of the letter. Perhaps you remember this. He's talking about the grace that God gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began and which now has been manifested through the appearance of our savior Jesus Christ who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. That's the reason death holds no terror for the one who knows the Lord Jesus Christ. And yes, even in our death, part of dying well is to offer up your life even as praise and gratitude to God with our final breath. Grace strengthens the believer both for life and death. Then Paul turns his attention to the past in verse 7. He says, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I've kept the faith. You might recall what Paul had to say, and he's building on the words that he spoke to Timothy earlier in the letter. And remember that he said, share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. And then he refers to the athlete. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. And then the hardworking farmer ought to have his first share of the crops. Soldier, athlete, farmer. Paul varies it a little bit here, but he's talking about being the soldier, the athlete, and the steward. I've fought the good fight, he says, as I look back over my life at this point of departure. I've fought the good fight. I've run the good race. I've kept the faith. Perhaps, as you read that, and perhaps if we took it out of context, someone might say, well, that doesn't sound fitting. That sounds like Paul's boasting. Look what I have done. Actually, the grammar won't allow us to have that conclusion. The grammar is sort of Yoda-like. If you know Yoda, that character from Star Wars with his amusing grammar? Well, the Greek translates that way, almost as Yoda would have said it. Fought the good fight I have. Run the good race I have. Kept the faith I have. That's how Yoda would have said it. That's how the Greek reads. And my simple point is this. The emphasis is not on the I. The emphasis is on the fight. and on the race, and on the faith. That's what Paul is emphasizing. What fight is he talking about? We could summarize that in many different ways, but to put it in 2 Timothy chapter terms, Paul has said earlier, encouraging Timothy, everyone who desires to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. There, that's the fight. That's the race. That's the stewardship. It's the fight to live a godly life in Christ Jesus. To live a life that is increasingly conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, but not by self-effort, not by self-righteousness, but precisely by being in Christ by faith. Paul's not boasting. He's not claiming sinless perfection. He's not saying, oh, look what I've done, a sinlessly perfect fight, a sinlessly perfect race. Of course not. This is the man who wrote Romans 7 as well. Don't forget. Where he says, sin still dwells in me. And sometimes the good that I want to do, I don't do. And the evil that I don't want to do, I do. I have to think at times it would run through Paul's mind, the big blow up that he'd had earlier with Barnabas, that as far as we know was never reconciled. So Paul certainly speaks as a sinner. But what he's saying is I put my heart into this. I wasn't playing a game. I wasn't putting on a show. I was fighting a good fight. In fact, the word for fight, interestingly enough, in the Greek is agon. Sound familiar? Agon, agony. This is my agony, he said. I put myself into this to fight this good fight, to fight this race. Paul shows his integrity. He, as it were, strips his sleeve and shows his scars. I think that's the only way you can lead. It's not that you teach your children to be truthful by saying that I in my life have always been absolutely perfectly truthful. It's not that you teach them to be pure by saying I have always absolutely without question been absolutely 100% pure. No, but you say to them, it's a battle and I know it and I've been in the fight and I want you to be in the fight. That's what you say. And anyone in any kind of Christian leadership who wants to have integrity has to be able to say that. Not sinless perfection. But I've been in this fight. I know this fight. You're in a fight. And I want you to join me in it. the end of the movie, Hoosiers, where the team is this, you know, David and Goliath story, you know, the little David team is about to, on the verge of winning a state championship based on a true story. And before they go into the game for the final play that wins the game for them, they're standing on the sideline, coach calls them over, and what's the coach say? He said, get out there and don't stand around and watch the paint dry. In other words, get into this game. Get into this fight. I fear that sometimes Christians almost want to sit on the sidelines. Maybe and watch other people and don't really want to get into the fight. That's such a loss. If I'm reading the book of Revelation correctly, part of the glory of heaven to the glory of God will be when we swap war stories. This is how God was faithful to me in my fight, in my race, in my attempts to keep the faith. I think that's part of what's going to glorify God in heaven. Make sure you have some stories to tell. Don't sit on the sidelines. Don't stand around and watch the paint dry. Get into the war. Fight the good fight. Seek to live a godly life in Christ Jesus. Because that's what grace looks like. You see that? Grace doesn't call us to the sidelines. Grace puts us into the battle. Jesus says, follow me. Paul says, follow me. There we have it. The present. Grace enables him to see even his death as a sacrifice. The past, as he looks at that, he's enabled to say, by grace, I've fought the good fight. I finished the race, I've kept the faith. And by the faith there, he's not talking there about the subjective act of believing, he's talking about keeping intact the content of the faith. I believe in God the Father Almighty. I believe in His only Son, Jesus Christ. I believe in the Holy Spirit, Holy Catholic Church. I still believe all of that, 38 years later, haven't changed a bit. In that sense, hopefully hold it more wisely, I hope more lovingly, I hope more graciously, I hope more deeply, but no, haven't changed. And I hope you will say the same of yourselves, that you keep the faith, because it's the faith that keeps you. Finally then, Paul turns to the future. in his testimony, in his valedictory. And he says in verse eight, 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 also to all who have loved his appearing. How is it possible to look forward to the day of judgment with joy? How's it possible to look forward to the coming of the righteous judge and to say, I love that. I can't wait. I look forward to it. I get the impression for some people that there's no problem there, no problem whatsoever. Oh sure, I'll be fine standing before the righteous judge of the universe who looks at me with all knowing eye and who is perfectly pure in holiness. Let me tell you, that's a problem that has to be solved. Because as we are in our natural condition, we are not fit and we should look forward to the coming of the judge with dread, with fear, not with anticipation. So I ask again, how can Paul say this then? I look forward to standing before the righteous judge. I love the idea of his appearing. His epiphany is the word. When he will come again in his glory, I love that. And I think it centers on what this crown of righteousness is that he's talking about. Henceforth, he says, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness. On the one hand, it's possible, I suppose, Paul could be saying this crown of righteousness will be a reward for his good behavior. Some, I think, read that word henceforth as a therefore, but it's not the word therefore. Paul has a perfectly serviceable Greek word that means therefore, and he doesn't use that. He just says henceforth. In other words, follow me here, he's not saying my fighting the good fight is the basis by which I'll be judged. It's the basis by which God will give me the crown of righteousness. That's not what he's saying. He's simply saying henceforth, this is what's going to happen in the future. He's not saying the crown is based on his faithfulness. Let me put it to you this way. If Paul is saying that, that the crown of righteousness is based on how well he does in this life, then we have to conclude that Paul has gone insane in prison and has just totally contradicted everything he's taught for the rest of his life since he was converted. We have to conclude that. It would just be such a glaring contradiction. Paul says, we insist that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not giving us here a new basis for salvation, a new basis for standing before the judge. In fact, even in this very letter, Paul has already said that same thing. In verse nine of chapter one, God saved us and called us to a holy calling. Listen, not because of our works. not because of our works, but because of his own purpose and grace. So if the crown of righteousness is not the reward Paul will get for his good behavior, then what is it? The crown of righteousness is surely God's crowning gift to him of righteousness. Let me say it this way, this crown of righteousness is earned. It is earned by good behavior. but not by Paul. It's earned by Christ. It's earned by the life of Christ in his perfect obedience in our behalf. That's why believers may anticipate a crown of righteousness. You see, in one very important sense, if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are already crowned with righteousness, already. You've already received the gift of righteousness that comes through faith alone in which God says through Christ there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. For those to whom the righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed by grace through faith, you have been crowned. You possess that. We stand justified. The crown of righteousness that Paul speaks of in the future is surely God's ultimate public declaration that these people have been acquitted for all the universe to see, including Satan to see. These people have been acquitted. There is no condemnation. They stand righteous before me because of the work of my son. That's what Paul is anticipating. the crowning public declaration gift of righteousness. And that is not only for Paul, it's for all who love his appearing. You see, we can and should love the day of judgment. We can and should love his appearing through the gospel, through the gift of righteousness that God gives us. Of course, people will say that if you set your mind and your anticipation and your life upon heaven and a judgment day and the appearing of Christ, if you do that, then you'll be no earthly good. That's the old slander of Christian faith. If you're heavenly minded like this, you'll be no earthly good, you'll never help anyone, and that's completely bogus. That's what Satan would have us believe. C.S. Lewis had the right and the brilliant answer to that criticism. Lewis said this, quote, if you read history, you will find the Christians who did the most for the present world were those who thought most about the next world. That's exactly right. He gives, in that writing, he gives the example, for example, of those in Britain who worked against the slave trade, like William Wilberforce. They were very heavenly-minded people. and they did a whole lot of earthly good. Lewis doesn't use the example of Paul, but we could use his example as well, could we not? How much in calc, what kind of a debt do we owe Paul when we get to heaven? I mean, I don't know exactly how that's gonna work out in heaven, but I can't imagine not saying thank you, Paul. Thank you very much for how God used you. Lewis also says this, going on a little further in his quote. He says, if you aim at heaven, you'll get earth thrown in. But if you aim at earth instead of heaven, you'll get neither. Just so. I hope you will take this very moving, inspired valedictory address, and run your own life through the grid of these three tenses. And may God enable you to see them all and celebrate them all through the gospel, present, past, and future. Amen.