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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to 2nd Timothy, chapter 4. 2nd Timothy, chapter 4. We will 
return to our exposition of Colossians next Sunday morning. Thought 
for a good first message of 2010, it'd be good to consider the 
death of the Apostle Paul. I know that may seem a bit odd, 
a bit awkward. But I'm convinced in order to 
live to die like Paul, we need to live like Paul. And I want 
to read Second Timothy, chapter four, and then our focus this 
morning will be on verses six to eight. I charge you, therefore, 
before God and the Lord Jesus Christ will judge the living 
and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of 
season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and teaching. 
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, 
but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, 
they will heap up for themselves teachers and they will turn their 
ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. But 
you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work 
of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being 
poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure 
is at hand. I have fought the good fight. 
I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Finally, 
there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, 
the righteous judge, will give to me on that day and not to 
me only, but also to all who have loved his appearing. Be 
diligent to come to me quickly, for Demas has forsaken me, having 
loved this present world and has departed for Thessalonica. 
Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, 
for he is useful to me for ministry. And Titicus I have sent to Ephesus. Bring the cloak that I left with 
Carpus at Troas when you come and the books, especially the 
parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did 
me much harm. May the Lord repay him according 
to his words. You also must beware of him, 
for he is greatly resisted our words that my first offense. No one stood with me, but all 
forsook me. May it not be charged against 
them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me so that 
the message might be preached fully through me and that all 
the Gentiles might hear. Also, I was delivered out of 
the mouth of the lion and the Lord will deliver me from every 
evil work and preserve me for his heavenly kingdom. To him 
be glory forever and ever. Amen. Great Prisca and Aquila 
and the household of Vanessa for us. Erastus stayed in Corinth, 
but Trophimus I have left in my lead is sick. Do your utmost 
to come before winter. Ubulus greets you as well as 
Putin's Linus, Claudia and all the brethren. The Lord Jesus 
Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen. Well, 
let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we come 
to consider the scriptures now, and we need the ministry of your 
Holy Spirit. God, we know that He is our guide, 
our instructor, our teacher. He is the one that reveals truth 
to us, and we pray that He would be at work in our hearts and 
in our minds now. We thank you that through regeneration, 
we have the mind of Christ. We pray that you would instruct 
us and that you would cause these things to find their their application 
in our daily lives. We ask that you would forgive 
us now for all of our sins and cleanse us afresh in the blood 
of Jesus Christ, your son. God, we never would imagine to 
stand before you in our own garments, in our own righteousness. We 
stand before you clothed in a righteousness, not our own. And we praise you 
for that. We thank you for Jesus Christ. 
We thank you for his perfect work. We thank you for his death 
at Calvary and for his resurrection and his current session on high. 
God, truly, I pray that all of us would imitate the Apostle 
Paul in the passage before us. that all of us would die well, 
because by your grace we have lived well. We ask in Jesus name. Amen. And as I said, it might 
seem a bit odd to consider the death of a very eminent man in 
the Christian church at the very beginning of the new year. But 
I think what we have here is great instruction for us and 
hopefully things that we will take and apply in our daily lives. We often talk about or we refer 
to that time before a man's death as the 11th hour. And I'm convinced 
that in order to have this kind of testimony in the 11th hour, 
we must live like Paul in hours 1 to 10. We must depend upon 
Christ. We must be about Christ. We must 
look to Christ constantly. Our confession must be Paul's 
in Galatians 2.20. And the life that I now live 
in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me 
and who gave himself for me. Also, we need to remember Solomon's 
words in the book of Ecclesiastes. He says, better to go to the 
house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting. For 
that is the end of all men, and the living will take it to heart. 
My hope and prayer is that we'll take to heart this message concerning 
Paul in his final hours, and that it will affect us in 2010. 
Now, before we actually focus on verses six to eight, I just 
want to remind you of the context. This is the last letter that 
Paul wrote. Very often when a man has come 
to the end of his life, he calls for his family, he calls for 
his loved ones, he calls for his friends, and they surround 
his bed. It is very important that you 
listen to those words, the words of a dying man. I mean, this 
is the reflections of many years and many thoughts and many things. This is probably the most important 
time for you to give attention to this particular person. And 
that's precisely what we have in Second Timothy. It is the 
last letter, having been written around A.D. 64. Paul is in a 
Roman prison, as he indicates in this epistle. It's the second 
Roman imprisonment. Remember, the book of Acts ends 
with a Roman imprisonment. That was the first one. It ends 
in A.D. 62. Paul then went out and engaged 
in more gospel ministry, but he was rearrested, thrown back 
into the prison, and Paul did not hold out any hope whatsoever 
of being released, as we find in verses 6 to 8. It's very instructive 
for our purposes, the last charge that he lays upon Timothy. Turn 
to 2 Timothy chapter 4 at verse 1. These are the dying words 
of the Apostle Paul. I charge you, therefore, before 
God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and 
the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word. 
That's what Paul wanted Timothy to do. Preach the word. Be ready 
in season and out of season. The manner in which you are to 
preach this word is to convince, reprove, exhort with all longsuffering 
and teaching. And then Paul gives two reasons 
why Timothy is to preach the word. And the first is found 
in verse three. He says, for the time will come 
when they will not endure sound doctrine. Timothy, you need to 
be committed to sound doctrine, you need to be committed to preaching 
the word, because there is a time coming when people won't want 
it. You don't cater your message to fit their needs, rather you 
preach the truth. Men always stand in need of God's 
truth, whether they acknowledge it or not, whether they realize 
it or not. This is what is most essential 
for them. So Paul's charge to Timothy to 
preach the Word has as its first reason, because men don't want 
the Word. The second reason is verse 6. 
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering. Paul 
is going to die. Therefore, he wants Timothy and 
men like Timothy to be faithful in gospel ministry. Paul knows 
the emphasis of the Lord Jesus. Paul knows the emphasis of the 
entirety of God's word. The Lord has spoken. Men need 
to hear that word. So Timothy, you preach it because 
men don't want it and because I'm about to die. So he is charging 
his young ministerial companion to be faithful in gospel ministry. And that brings us to consider 
verses six to eight under three observations. First, his present 
situation. Secondly, his past perseverance. And thirdly, his future. orientation. So, as Paul is sitting in this 
jail cell, penning this letter to Timothy, he thinks about the 
present, he thinks about the past, and he thinks about his 
future. Again, good things for the people 
of God to consider as we walk with the Lord. Notice, first 
of all, his present situation. He uses two pictures, two word 
pictures, to highlight the imminence of his death. He says, first, 
for I am already being poured, poured out as a drink offering 
to go back to it for a moment to Philippians to Philippians 
chapter two in verse seventeen. He uses the similar language 
here. Philippians two seventeen, which 
letter was written incidentally in that first Roman imprisonment 
from sixty to sixty two. He wrote what we call the prison 
epistles. Philippians, Colossians, Ephesians 
and Philemon. And here in 217, he says, Yes, 
and if I am being poured out as a drink offering on the sacrifice 
and service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. 
But as you go down to verse 24, you see, but I trust in the Lord 
that I myself shall also come shortly. He didn't expect to 
die in this first imprisonment. He didn't see his time as at 
hand. He didn't see it as imminent 
like he does here in Second Timothy, chapter four. What was once a 
possibility is now a certainty. You need to know something about 
the man who ruled at the time that the apostle was in prison. 
His name was Nero, and he was a very wicked and ungodly ruler. He would take Christians and 
he would light them on fire, and he would plant them in his 
garden so that they would be burning torches. He would engage 
in all manner of sexual debauchery. He reveled in ungodliness. So Paul's hope of escaping prison 
or being let out favorably was gone. Nero reigned for several 
years, but in the first part of his reign, he was hedged in 
by some decent advisors. So he wasn't as bad as he was 
in the mid 60s. In fact, the the martyrologist, 
the one who wrote Fox's Book of Martyrs, says that the first 
of the 10 persecutions of Christians was stirred up by Nero about 
AD 64. His rage against Christians was 
so fierce that Eusebius records. A man might then see cities full 
of men's bodies, the old lying together with the young, and 
the dead bodies of women cast out naked, without reverence 
of that sex in the open streets. Many Christians in those days 
thought that Nero was the Antichrist because of his cruelty and abominations. So Paul did not have a confidence 
that he was going to get out soon. In fact, it is just the 
opposite. He says, I am already being poured 
out as a drink offering. And he is using Old Testament 
ceremonial language and is alluding to the pouring out of his blood 
in martyrdom. So that's the setting. That's 
the context. That's the stage upon which he 
is addressing Timothy. He doesn't think he's going to 
die right then, because he says for Timothy to come and visit 
him. Notice that he wants his cloak. 
It would be cold in a prison cell. It wouldn't be like the 
status-supplied prisons of today, where there's pipe-thin heat 
and three square meals a day. No, it was a cold, dank prison 
cell, where if you didn't have friends bringing you food, you 
starved to death. If you didn't have a good cloak, 
you would freeze to death. So he is not an ascetic. He's 
not saying, well, I'm just going to, you know, march out of here. 
No, bring my cloak. If I'm going to carry on in the 
flesh for some time, I want to be warm. He's not a foolish man. Notice what else he wants and 
bring the books, especially the parchments. I love that an old 
proven man of God still wants to study an old proven man of 
God still wants his books, especially the parchments. And then it's 
very interesting, as we read through here, Paul is not inactively 
waiting to die. Paul is moving the troops from 
this prison cell. Bring Mark to me, because he's 
useful for ministry. I sent Tychicus over to Ephesus. 
He is moving the troops in strategy to further the cause of Jesus 
Christ. So while he knows his death is 
imminent, he doesn't think it's overnight. But that's the context. Notice the second term that he 
uses. The time of my departure is at 
hand. MacArthur says the Greek word 
essentially refers to the loosening of something such as the mooring 
ropes of a ship or the ropes of a tent. Dawson eventually 
acquired the secondary meaning of departure. He's taking his 
tent down. He's letting the boat go. He 
is ready to depart now and to be with his Lord who saved him 
so many years ago. Notice, secondly, his past perseverance. He refers to this in verse seven. This is kind of where I want 
to focus our attention. I have fought the good fight. 
I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Isn't 
that what you want to be able to say in that eleventh hour? Isn't that the testimony that 
you would like written on your tombstone? Isn't that how you 
want your friends and your loved ones and your family members 
to remember you? Not, well, I don't know if he 
was converted or not. I don't know if he fell into 
heaven or not. I'm not sure if he crawled in. 
No, you want people, because of your desire to be with the 
Lord and to set a good example, to be able to say this. He fought 
the good fight. He finished the race and he kept 
the faith. Paul's not engaged in boastful triumphalism here. 
The whole idea is more of struggling and persevering and fighting 
and being diligent. He doesn't speak as one is patting 
himself on the back saying, OK, I've made it. Though he doesn't 
acknowledge the grace of God in this particular verse, you 
are foolish to think he doesn't acknowledge the grace of God. 
Throughout his ministry, he celebrates the grace of God. Throughout 
his ministry, he extols the glories of Christ. Throughout his ministry, 
he gives all praise and honor to God Most High. So he's not 
engaged in boastful, triumphalistic terms. He is speaking in terms 
of perseverance. He is confident by God's grace. He is confident that he is at 
the end of his life. And he is confident that the 
Lord has indeed preserved him. Notice, he says, I have fought 
the good fight again. We don't think of our Christian 
life like this, do we? We really don't. We want to sail 
without any problems right into heaven. We don't want anybody 
to mess with us. We don't want there to be any 
trials. We don't want there to be any tribulations. We don't 
want there to be any difficulties. At the first whiff of such things, 
our immediate response is to blame God and to call him to 
account for any difficulties that we're facing. Well, that's 
simply not biblical. That's simply not accurate. It's 
funny that in the first letter that Paul writes to Timothy, 
1 Timothy 1.18 and 1 Timothy 6.12, you know what his message 
is to Timothy? Wage the good warfare and fight. That's what a gospel minister 
is called to. Not a life of ease and comfort, 
not a life of golf games, not a life of just whatever it is 
that pleases him, but wage the good warfare and fight the good 
fight. Why is that? Because that's God's 
means, that's God's way. It's not just external enemies, 
at times it'll be internal enemies. It's not just internal enemies, 
it's external enemies. The idea is that a man of God 
must be fighting, not just ministers, but each and every one of you. 
You cannot give up. You cannot give in. You cannot 
look for the easy route. You've got to fight manfully 
onward. There's no quarter in the Christian 
life. There's no time to play games 
in the Christian life. We need to be like this brother. 
He could say, I have fought the good fight, because he had. Because 
he did. Because he didn't shrink back. He didn't play games. He didn't 
waste time. He wasn't about Paul. He was 
about Christ and others. That's the Christian life, brethren. God has saved you and I, not 
first and foremost, just so we can go to heaven. He has saved 
us to go to heaven and we ought to bless Him and praise Him. 
But He has saved us so that in this lower world we'll fight 
for Him. Notice that Paul calls it the 
good fight. It's not called upon. You're 
not called upon just to slug it out in this horrific, amoral 
fight. No, it's a good fight. It's Christ's 
fight. You're carrying the banner of 
the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. You're marching into 
a battle with Christ on your side. Paul uses this language 
elsewhere. He uses in First Corinthians 
chapter nine when he exhorts Christians on how they are to 
live the Christian life. And we truly need this sort of 
an exhortation and are far too often on militant Christianity. First Corinthians nine twenty 
four. Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but 
one receives the prize run in such a way that you may obtain 
it? You don't run the race just to get a participation medal. You don't run in a race just 
so you can please those who watch. You run in a race to win. Don't 
you? We used to when I was a kid. 
We used to keep score in our sports games. We used to want 
to be victorious. We used to be exhorted to work 
hard and to discipline ourselves so that we might gain victory. 
Now, I know there's a big play today. As long as you show up 
and you breathe, you should get a medal and an award. That's 
not the emphasis of the text. Paul appeals to something people 
know. You don't throw your hat into 
the fight to lose. You don't throw your body into 
a race to lose. No. Run in such a way that you 
may obtain it. And everyone who competes for 
the prize is temperate in all things. Now, they do it to obtain 
a perishable crown. But we run for an imperishable 
crown. This does not negate grace. faith 
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not saying you can earn 
your salvation. He's not saying you can buy your 
own merits, buy your own racing, buy your own victory, secure 
your place in heaven. No, that's not what he's saying. 
He's saying those who have been saved by grace, those who have 
looked to the Lord Jesus Christ, those who are walking in him, 
this is the way they'll run. They won't play games. They won't 
take prisoners. He says the pagan, the heathen. 
He could have been writing at a time similar to our own. We're 
waiting for the arrival of the Winter Olympics here in 2010. Paul lived and moved and breathed 
and had his being in a time when athletic competitions were very 
popular. As a tent maker, perhaps, he 
sold some of his wares at such events so that he could make 
some money to promote the gospel. He would go to those places because 
they'd need tents. He's appealing to something that 
people know of. He says, those guys, they change 
their diets. They change their sleeping habits. 
They get up early. They go to bed early. They don't 
go out all night. They regiment. They dictate, 
or they discipline their lives. And he says, and you know what? 
They do it for a perishable crown. You know what they get? They 
get a little wreath of leaves on their head, and maybe front 
row tickets to the theater. What's the implication? They're 
willing to radically alter their lives so that they can wear a 
temporary wreath around their heads and sit in the front row 
at the theater? And you have been saved by grace? 
Jesus has lived and died and risen again for you? You have 
been bought with a blood price and you don't want to do anything? 
You want to just wander through the Christian life? You want 
to just meander through? No, he says, therefore I run 
thus, verse 26, not with uncertainty, thus I fight, not as one who 
beats the air. He's not a shadow boxer. He's 
going after the big guy. He's going after the main man. 
He's not just going to play games here. He is decisive. He is going 
for it all. I discipline my body and I bring 
it into subjection. Last, when I have preached to 
others, I myself should become disqualified. Paul fought in 
the Christian life. He said, secondly, that he has 
finished the race. And isn't that beautiful? It 
should be our goal, finish the race. Christians don't just start 
well and well. Christians don't just start well, 
they persevere so that they can end well. I have finished the 
race. Language again that he has used 
on several occasions in his gospel ministry, turn to Acts 20 for 
a very penetrating example of this Acts chapter 20 is addressed 
to the Ephesian elders. Acts 20, beginning in verse 21. He specifies his doctrine, there's 
many things we could observe with reference to Acts 20, but 
he alludes to his doctrine in verse 21, testifying to Jews 
and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our 
Lord Jesus Christ. What did Paul preach? This. What 
was Paul's emphasis? This, the gospel. What do men 
desperately need? The gospel. What do men need 
most of all is to look to Christ. Because when you try to live 
in your own strength, when you try to merit your righteousness 
with God, when you try to avail favor with God in your own in 
your own attempts, you will always fail miserably. So Paul's constant 
theme in preaching was believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and 
you shall be saved. If we'd stick a knife in him, 
he'd bleed gospel blood. As Spurgeon said about Bunyan, 
if you poked him, he bled Bibline, he bled Bible. You poke Paul, 
he's going to bleed gospel for you. That's what moved him. That's 
what drove him. That was the constant emphasis 
in his life. Notice in verse twenty two and 
see now I go down in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the 
things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit 
testifies in every city saying that change and tribulations 
await me. Not great. The Holy Spirit was his tour 
guide. The Holy Spirit was announcing 
what he would face in various places. Imagine your tour guide, 
you're going to book a vacation. Well, you're going to go here 
and see this, and you're going to go there and see that. And 
you're going to go here and you're going to find this great restaurant. 
And you're getting all fired up and you're getting all puffed 
up with how good it's going to be. Well, the Holy Spirit told 
Paul, you know what's waiting for you in each of these cities? 
Chains and tribulations. You know what's going to face 
you, Paul, when you go into these certain places? You're going 
to be bound. You'll be taken away. You're going to go through 
public embarrassment. You're gonna be humiliated. The 
great and mighty Apostle Paul is gonna have to be let out of 
a city by a basket. Why? So that the excellence of 
the power may be of God and not of Paul. What he says here? I gotta tell you, man, this is 
my hero, this man. Oh wow, how many Baptist pastors 
say Paul is their hero, right? That's like taking one of these 
young kids that plays hockey somewhere and, who's your hero? 
Oh, whoever's good on the Canucks right now. It's a no-brainer, 
right? That kid can someday identify 
with that Canuck. I don't feel like I'll ever identify 
with my hero here. I just don't understand. I mean, 
I understand it's grace. It's a great, great apprehension 
of who Christ is and what the glory of the gospel is. Notice 
what he says in verse 24. None of these things move me, 
nor do I count my life dear to myself so that I may finish my 
race with joy. See, he's not just talking about 
slugging it out. He's talking about slugging it 
out with a smile on his face. He's talking about doing this 
with joy in his heart. Why? Because Christ is that good. Christ is that glorious. Christ 
is that wonderful and that blessed. He says that I may finish my 
race with joy and the ministry which I received from the Lord 
Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. So as we 
read that next 20, then we move on to Second Timothy chapter 
four. We know that several years had taken place, several years 
had passed by, perhaps 20, 25 years. And we see that God is 
faithful. We see that God sustained him. 
And that's the emphasis I want to bring to you this morning. 
Paul doesn't make this statement because Paul is great. He makes 
this statement because Jesus is great. The same Jesus of Paul 
is our Jesus. The same power of God is available 
to us. So that we on our dying death 
or on our dying death can say, by the grace of God, I have fought 
the good fight. I have finished the race. And 
then thirdly, he says, I have kept the faith. Brethren, by 
this, I don't think he means his subjective hold on Christ, 
though I think that's implied. A man doesn't get to his eleventh 
hour without believing the gospel, without believing on the Lord 
Jesus. But when he says, I have kept the faith, he means the 
Christian doctrine of truth, the Christian system of truth. I have kept the faith. I have 
kept the emphasis upon a living, dying, rising savior. I have 
kept the emphasis upon a triune God. I have kept the emphasis 
upon blood atonement. I have kept the emphasis upon 
substitution and on wrath bearing. I have kept the emphasis where 
it belongs. And don't think for a moment, 
brethren, that there weren't temptations to Paul to abandon 
the faith. It's not just our time when there's 
all kinds of competing theories of truth out there. It's not 
just our time that we're beset with varied philosophies. You 
don't think Paul faced that? He faced the Epicureans and the 
Stoics in Acts 17. What does he do? He goes up to 
Mars Hill and he brings it. He preaches the truth. People 
mocked him. Sometimes we're afraid to speak 
up for Jesus because people might mock us. They mocked Paul. They mocked Jesus. They mocked 
Peter. They mocked Calvin. They mocked 
Luther. They mocked Spurgeon. We often 
think of Spurgeon, this prince of creatures, like he never had 
a difficulty in his life. The man was beset with difficulty. physical ailments and many, many 
detractors. People making fun of him. People 
lambasting him in the public newspapers. Brethren, it has 
never been the thing to do to testify for Jesus. It's never 
been the end thing. In fact, I have a nice, beautiful 
picture on my wall with a clip from Spurgeon. He says Paul did 
not preach or Paul rather did not shrink back. He uses older 
English word called Blanche. But the idea is he didn't shrink 
back. Paul did not shrink back before 
the sharp and practical reply of the conquerors of the world. 
He trembled not before Nero in his palace, whether the Greek 
or Jew, Roman or barbarian, bond or free. He was not ashamed of 
the gospel of Christ, but gloried in the cross through the or the 
testimony that the one all sufficient atonement was provided on the 
cross. stirs the enmity of man and provokes 
opposition. Yet Paul was so far from attempting 
to mitigate that opposition that he determined to know nothing, 
save Jesus Christ and crucified. He was being opposed throughout 
the Roman Empire. If ever there was a temptation, 
well, I won't press this. You know, these Epicureans and 
these Stoics, they're not really favorable to the doctrine of 
God's creation. They're not really down with 
sovereignty. I mean, they're scratching their beard saying, 
how in the world could this Paul preach that someone rose from 
the dead? What's Paul preach? That the Areopagus. God the creator, 
God the sovereign, God the redeemer, through the power of the resurrected 
Christ. He didn't shrink back. When they 
mocked him, he didn't cry. He didn't go hide himself. He didn't lick his wounds. He 
didn't have to go sit on a beach. He realized the opposition to 
the gospel is due to man's sin. And our emphasis must be continually 
to preach the gospel. Spurgeon goes on to say, his 
motto was, we preach Christ crucified. He had the cross for his philosophy, 
the cross for his tradition, the cross for his gospel, the 
cross for his glory and nothing else. That's how come Paul could 
say, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have 
kept the faith. When men are seeking to destroy 
supernaturalism in the Christian message, the answer is not the 
response of liberalism. OK, we don't believe there was 
a resurrection. We don't believe in a virgin birth. We don't believe 
in those things which are difficult for you to understand. The answer 
must always be Christ. The power, the wisdom of God. Brethren, there is a lot of attacks 
on our gospel today. There are a lot of attacks within 
the church. I sometimes think early 20th 
century liberals look conservative to some of the professing conservatives 
of our day. We have men who have failed. We have men who have not lived 
like Paul. We have men who have not been 
able to say things like this. Let us not be like that. Let 
us take our place with Paul. Let us pound our pulpits, let 
us recite our creeds, let us stand fast in that doctrine that 
the Lord God has given to us, and let us not shrink back from 
it. Because that's, brethren, how we ought to want to die. 
Not having shrunk back. Not from having been a coward. 
Not from being a wimp. Not from just falling prey to 
every wind of doctrine. The battle is too big, the stakes 
are too high. It's your soul, it's your body, 
it's your life, it's your resurrected body. You need to stand fast 
in these things. Make Paul your hero. I don't 
care how good these Canucks are. You should look at Paul. And 
there's biblical warrant for this. Paul said, imitate me as 
I imitate Christ. For Philippians chapter three, 
verse 17, he says, we are actively to scope out examples in the 
Christian faith. It's not all about examples, 
it's not all about moralism, it's not all that, but there 
is certainly an element of that. We should follow Paul. We shouldn't 
be like those guys who just want to give up. No, I have fought 
the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 
Now notice thirdly and finally, his future orientation. He doesn't 
do these things because he's an ascetic. He doesn't do these 
things because there's some reward in doing them. He does these 
things because his Jesus is waiting to receive him. Isn't that what 
he says here? Finally, there is laid up for 
me the crown of righteousness. This is the last finally of the 
Apostle Paul. You ever hear about the boy who 
was in the church with his father, and the preacher said, finally, 
and the boy says to his father, what does finally mean? And the 
father says, nothing, son. The idea being that when a preacher 
says finally, he keeps going. All right, everybody's with me. 
Hey, great. This is Paul's last finally. And where is it focused. Rather, he says in Philippians 
one. That he is willing to go. He 
is willing. He says, I'm hard-pressed between 
the two. I stay with the Philippians and I know there'll be fruit 
from my ministry and you'll be blessed and you'll grow. Or to 
depart and be with Christ, he says, which is far much more 
better. Greek was a bit elastic. He could 
just throw in a bunch of prepositions and make it that much more. But I'll remain on in the vine. This, finally, isn't that way. 
He says, finally. The bride eyes not her garment, 
but her dear bridegroom's face. I will not gaze at glory, but 
on my king of grace. Not at the crown he gifteth, 
but on his pierced hand. The lamb is all the glory of 
Emmanuel's land. That's Paul's finally. I have 
fought, I have kept, I have finished, or I have finished and I have 
kept. And there is a crown of righteousness waiting for me. 
This is not justification righteousness. It's not as if Paul is somehow 
adding to the work of Jesus. And when he meets Jesus, Jesus 
will then reward him with his final justification. No, I don't 
take that at all. Paul is as righteous in the garments 
of Jesus as he's sitting in this Roman prison cell as he is today 
in terms of his position before God. What I think he is alluding 
to, this crown of righteousness, means heaven itself. It means 
that place where there's no more sin, where there's no more unrighteousness, 
where there's no more ungodliness. And notice the great gifter is 
Christ himself. Finally, he says, there is laid 
up for me the crown of righteousness in keeping with the imagery of 
the games. Having finished the race, I am 
not going to receive laurel wreath laid upon my head and front row 
tickets to the theater, but I'm going to receive the crown of 
righteousness given me by the Lord of righteousness so that 
I may enter into His presence and dwell with Him forever and 
ever and ever and ever. That's the apostles emphasis 
here. Philippians 3, 13 to 14, he says, Brethren, I do not count 
myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do for getting those 
things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which 
are ahead. I press toward the goal for the 
prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. That is being 
realized in the life of the apostle Paul. He has come to the end. He realizes that Jesus is going 
to be standing there waiting to receive him, waiting to usher 
him in to his presence, to bestow on him all of those goodness, 
all the goodness and the kindness of his kingdom. You see, Paul 
doesn't do what he does in verse seven in just some stoic way. It's good to fight. It's good 
to keep. It's good to finish. We just do that for the goodness 
of itself. No, he doesn't like Jesus. Remember Hebrews 12, what does 
it say concerning Jesus and his ministry on the cross? I think 
we often forget this is Christians. You know, God holds out to you 
something very wonderful. And you should think about that. Oh, no, I can't be reward driven. 
Why not? Jesus was. Paul was. Hebrews 12. Therefore, we also, 
since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let 
us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares 
us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who 
for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising 
the shame and is sat down at the right hand of the throne 
of God. This is the point, brethren. Do not take this sermon home. 
Do not get into your prayer closet and say, I need to fight. I need 
to finish. I need to keep because that's 
what I'm supposed to do. You are supposed to do it, but 
it's for joy. It's for happiness. It's for 
eternal blessedness. It's for righteousness. It's 
for all the blessings that Christ has secured for you at Calvary 
to give to you. That's not bad. It's not wicked. When Jesus starts with the Sermon 
on the Mount, what does he say to his people? Blessed are the 
poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed 
are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are 
the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. We're not Roman Catholics 
just having problems and difficulties and somehow there's joy in that. No, the joy comes at the end 
when Christ hands us that crown of righteousness. Christ, our 
Lord, blesses us. And then notice, Paul does not 
exclude Timothy. Even in this, Paul's not a selfish 
man. Look what he says. Verse eight. 
Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, 
which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that 
day and not to me only, but also to all who have loved as a period. 
He's sitting in his prison cell, and he's thinking about the extent 
of the gospel. He's thinking about the application of the 
gospel. He's thinking about Timothy, who's reading this. He's thinking 
about the audience to whom Timothy reads this. He's thinking about 
gospel missions. He's thinking about all those 
in every part of the world, from every tribe, tongue, people, 
and nation that will hear the gospel, that will believe on 
Jesus, that will love His appearing. Paul is saying that they will 
be blessed. Immeasurably, Calvin said that 
all the rest of the believers might fight courageously along 
with him. He invites them to a participation 
in the crown for his unshaken steadfastness could not have 
served for an example to us if the same hope of obtaining the 
crown had not been held out to us. Now the idea I derive from 
this is as much a hero Paul was for the Christian faith, as eminent 
the saint of Christ Paul the apostle was, as accomplished, 
as much a preacher, as much a man, as much a prayer, as much an 
evangelist, as much a martyr, we in Christ receive the same. We in Christ receive the same. You may never make a mark on 
the world like Paul. I've heard it said, and I don't 
think it's any exaggeration whatsoever, Western civilization owes its 
very life to the Apostle Paul and to John Calvin. We may not make that impact. 
No one may ever see the labor you do in your home. No one may 
ever see you in small victories fighting the good fight. Finishing 
the race, keeping the faith. You may die and there might be 
a handful of people at your at your funeral or not at all. If 
you are looking to Jesus Christ in faith, you receive the crown 
of righteousness that Paul receives as well. It's the gospel, the 
great leveler of all mankind. We are called to watchfulness 
and hope in light of the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
we are to love the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Before 
we draw out just a final thought or two concerning the example 
of Paul, I want to read a portion out of Paul, Missionary Theologian 
by Dr. Robert Raymond. He highlights 
some thoughts about the martyrdom of the apostle. Very good book. 
I do recommend it. A survey of his missionary labors 
and theology. He says, Paul's martyrdom was 
accomplished by decapitation. Kids, that's a big word for getting 
your head chopped off. That's what happened to Paul. That's what happened to Paul. 
You say, what kind of a religion is that, man? You serve and you 
labor and you fight and you finish and you get your head chopped 
off. Yes. Welcome to the cross. Paul's 
martyrdom was accomplished by decapitation. Like his savior, 
he was executed outside the city walls at Tre Fontaine near the 
third milestone on the Ostian Way. There the executioner's 
sword ended his long course of sufferings and released his heroic 
spirit from his tired and feeble body and into the heavenly presence 
of the Savior whom he had served so faithfully and for so long 
a time. Some friends took his scarred 
and decapitated corpse and head and buried them. Raymond says, 
having traced Paul's life and travels for several chapters 
now, I hope that the reader feels with me that the church lost 
that day its greatest apostolic advocate for the uniqueness of 
the Christian faith with its liberating law free gospel. What he means by that? Law-free 
gospel. Raymond is reformed. He believes 
the law has a place in the life of the Christian, but not in 
terms of justification. Paul was the champion of a law-free 
gospel. You are not saved by your merits. 
You're not saved by your works. You're not saved by your doing. 
You're saved by Christ alone through faith alone. By grace 
alone. That's what Raymond means by 
law-free gospel. He says that the church or the 
church lost that day its greatest apostolic advocate for the uniqueness 
of the Christian faith with its liberating law free gospel and 
that we lost a genuine personal friend that day on the Austrian 
way. I suspect that we feel a real 
sense of sadness that it had to end this way. But we could 
have almost predicted Paul's end, given the conditions of 
the empire and the growing hatred of Christians generally in Rome 
and of Paul personally. Nor must we second-guess divine 
providence, which is always good and wise. Paul, of course, would 
remind us that that day was his coronation day, for that day 
he entered into a state which was better by far than his present 
one, one that was only positive gain, where he was made perfect 
in holiness and where he responded for the very first time to his 
Savior's sinless love for him with a sinless love of his own. 
Before the end of the 2nd century, a monument was erected where 
he was said to have been buried, about a mile nearer the city 
on the same route. About A.D. 324, Emperor Constantine 
built a small basilica there, which was replaced by a larger 
one near the end of the 4th century. That one burned in 1823, but 
was rebuilt and consecrated by Pope Pius IX in 1854 as the Basilica 
of St. Paul without the walls. During 
the excavations necessary for the erection of the present basilica, 
two slabs were discovered bearing together the inscription to Paul, 
Apostle and Martyr. And dating to the fourth century 
AD, Paul would probably have proved that simple epitaph if 
he would have been permitted to add, but to Christ alone be 
the glory forever and ever. Amen. Yeah, we did lose a hero that 
day. But his gospel lives on, his Christ lives on, and all 
who look to that Christ will receive the crown of righteousness, 
which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to us on that 
day. So we must end asking the question, 
do you love his appearing? Because that's who he says, but 
also to all who have loved his appearing, his first appearing, 
the virgin birth. His first appearing as a babe 
in a manger. His first appearing as a young 
man. His first appearing in doing 
perfectly the will of his father for 33 years. His first appearing 
when he died at Calvary on the cross. Do you love that appearing? Do you think about that appearing? 
Do you think about the gospel? Is it Christ that you're looking 
to? Or is it your own works? Is it your own satisfaction for 
sin? Is it your own law keeping? Your 
own merit? Your own, I'm not as bad as other 
men? Your own public confession and 
admission that, thank you God, I'm not like unjust men. I'm 
not like extortionists. I'm not like adulterers. I'm 
not like this man who's a tax collector. Is that what you're 
banking your eternal soul on? Are you looking to Christ in 
his first appearing? Do you look forward to the second 
coming of our Lord Jesus? Brethren, we need to think like 
this. We need to think about the fact that our Lord Jesus 
is coming again for his bride. He's coming again to judge the 
living and the dead. He's coming again to vindicate 
his own. He's coming again to judge and 
punish ungodliness and unrighteousness. Do you look forward to that? 
Does that make you happy? Does your heart beat in anticipation? The idea is what we call eschatology. We often associate eschatology 
or the study of last things with all these sort of events that 
in the long run we may not figure out here and now. We need to 
know that Jesus is coming again and that eschatology promotes 
in us hopefulness. Hopefulness. No matter how bad 
it may get here, Jesus is coming. We may be sitting in a prison 
cell like Paul the Apostle with a madman at the helm. I'm sorry, 
brethren. I wouldn't want to be sitting 
in a prison cell in the mid 60s in the Roman Empire if my life, 
humanly speaking, depended on Nero. Thank you very much, but I have 
other plans for my future. And yet, look at him. He's not 
freaked. He's not panicking. In fact, 
there is a steady composure in the remainder of the letter. 
Get him to this, go here, go there, bring this, bring that, 
bring this, bring that. Why? Because he's got some time. What's 
he going to do? He's going to traffic in gospel. He's going 
to seek the advancement of Christ's kingdom. He's going to do for 
the Lord Jesus, who has done so much for him. Eschatology 
promotes hopefulness. Eschatology as well promotes 
holiness. First John three. Everyone who 
has this hope in him, the fact that he is coming again, purifies 
himself even as he is pure. That's precisely the effect that 
it had on the Apostle Paul. Whether he's in a prison cell, 
whether he's on the road, whatever it is he's doing, he's got an 
eye on the men he's preaching to, he's got an eye heavenward, 
and he knows that his Lord Jesus is for him constantly. Brethren, 
in order to die like Paul, we have to live like Paul. There 
must be a clear understanding of Christ's gospel. There must 
be a constant emphasis upon Christ's gospel. There must be a constant 
dependence upon Christ. Go home today. Think about Galatians 
2.20. Look it up in your Bible. Memorize it. Think this is the 
battle cry of the Apostle Paul. The life that I now live in the 
flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and 
who gave himself for me. That is a gospel saturated declaration, 
and it is because of that gospel saturated declaration that the 
reality of Philippians 121 was demonstrated in Paul. For to 
me to live is Christ, to die is gain. For you to die and gain, 
you've got to live in Christ. Well, let's take these thoughts 
and ask the Lord to make us more like this champion of the Christian 
faith. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for your word, and we thank you for the men that 
you raised up. And they weren't perfect men. Paul had his issues. 
Paul said, the good that I wish to do, I don't do, and the evil 
I don't want to do, I find myself doing. And yet he knew his boast 
and his hope was in Jesus Christ alone. God, this gives us great 
encouragement. And I pray for all of us here 
that we would look unto the Lord, that we would fight the good 
fight, that we would finish the race and that we would keep the 
faith. that we would not succumb to 
pressure, whether it be external or whether it be in our own hearts, 
God. Help us to press onward by your grace and for your glory. 
I pray for those who do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, 
that you would direct them to the cross, that you would cause 
them to look and live, to believe the truth that Christ came into 
this world, sinners to save. And I pray that you would just 
bless your people with a resolution to live in 2010 in a manner that 
is consistent with your word. And we ask in Jesus name. Amen.