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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter 4. We're actually 
moving through 2 Timothy in our evening service or services, 
but this particular passage I thought was fitting for this particular 
morning. 2 Timothy chapter 4, our focus 
will be on verses 6 to 8. But I'll begin reading in verse 
1 to set it in its larger context. Hear now the word of the living 
and the true God. I charge you, therefore, before 
God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and 
the dead at His appearing in His kingdom, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of 
season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with 
all longsuffering 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 Tychicus 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 works. You also must beware of Him, 
for He has greatly resisted our words. At my first defense, 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. Greet Prisca and Aquila in the 
household of Anesiphorus. Erastus stayed in Corinth, but 
Trophimus I have left, and Miletus sick. Do your utmost to come 
before winter. Ubulus greets you, as well as 
Putins, 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 thank You for the Word of God. We thank You that 
You've not left us in this world without this sure guide, without 
this holy revelation of the mind and the will of God for us. We 
thank You as well for the Spirit, and we pray that even now He 
would be active in this place, that You would guide us in our 
thoughts and our studies, that You would help us to receive 
with thanksgiving Your Word. She would encourage us as believers 
and challenge unbelievers and cause them to reflect upon their 
state before the judge, the righteous judge, who will come on that 
day to usher in the eternal state. We pray, Father, that Your Spirit 
would indeed bring conviction for sin and the realization that 
Christ alone is able to save to the uttermost. We pray now 
that You would forgive us for all of our transgressions and 
all of our iniquities, all of our sinful rebellion against 
that holy law that our blessed Savior upholds in the Sermon 
on the Mount. We transgress God and we do not 
conform to what it says. So we confess that now and pray 
for cleansing in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, that You 
would wash us and purify us and give us a love to do those things 
You call us to. And we pray these things through 
Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. Well, thus ends the reading 
of the last words of the Apostle Paul. 2 Timothy is the last epistle 
written by Paul. We see in this passage, specifically, 
as we'll notice in a few moments, his consciousness and the reality 
that he's going to die. He is about to meet his Maker. 
He is about to go the way of all flesh. Now, if you're like 
me, Paul is one of your heroes. In fact, I think it would be 
hard to find somebody in the churches of Christ, especially 
in the Reformed churches that didn't see Paul as a heroic figure, 
this brother who did tirelessly serve the glory of God and the 
concerns of God. We truly ought to acquaint ourselves 
with what he says in this passage, and it's sort of his dying words. Remember the context. It's the 
last formal, official command that Paul gives to Timothy, and 
thus to the church. It is found in verse 2. Preach 
the Word. Timothy, I don't want you to 
be the most handsome fellow in Ephesus, the most kind fellow 
in Ephesus, the most gregarious fellow in Ephesus. All those 
things have their place, but Timothy, your particular bent, 
the very purpose for which you stand, is to preach the Word, 
to be ready in season and out of season, and do it with a specific 
manner. Convince people, rebuke people, 
exhort, and be a patient man, and do it with doctrine. And 
then Paul gives three reasons why Timothy and the Church are 
to engage in faithful proclamation. The first is that men will not 
endure sound doctrine. There will come times in the 
seasons or in the history of the Church where the Church itself 
will not endure sound doctrine. So what is Paul's remedy? Preach 
sound doctrine. It's not up to the church to 
write their own prescriptions any more than it's up to the 
patient to write his own prescription. You do what is most needful and 
most necessary for the church. You preach to them. As well, 
Timothy, this is your ministry. Timothy, this is what you have 
been called to. This is what God made you for. 
Verse 5, you be watchful in all things. Endure affliction. Do the work of an evangelist. 
Fulfill your ministry. So there will be defection from 
the truth, therefore preach it. Timothy, this is the very nature 
of your ministry, so preach it. And in the third place, verses 
6-8, Paul is about to die. Therefore, preach it. The Apostle 
wants that in every generation there would be a faithful proclamation 
of the truth of God's Holy Word. And that's the context of verses 
6 and 8. I want to look at this under 
three considerations, as I believe the Apostle is doing. He reflects 
upon his present situation in verse 6. and then his past perseverance 
in verse 7, and then on his future hope in verse 8. And that future 
hope is the hope of the resurrection. We see how it functions here, 
the doctrine of the resurrection, the reality that one day we will 
be in the presence of God Almighty and the Lord Jesus Christ. That 
ought to affect us in the here and the now. So let's look first 
at the Apostle's present situation in verse 6. He says, I am already 
being poured out as a drink offering. Now the language that he uses 
is right from the Old Testament. It is Old Testament ceremonial 
language. Remember that when sacrifices 
or offerings were presented, there would oftentimes be a drink 
offering. There would be a libation poured 
out to accompany that. More than likely, the apostle 
is referring to his own blood spilled in martyrdom. As I mentioned 
in the last hour, brethren, we oftentimes get very offended 
when we are not fawned over by society. When we suffer the least 
amount of resistance to our profession and to our lifestyles as Christians, 
we just go blogging about it, or Facebooking about it, or tweeting 
about it, or telling everybody about it. The sorts of persecutions 
and afflictions that we have are certainly real. But brethren, 
we're not dying for the cause of Jesus Christ. We're not having 
our throats cut. We're not having our heads chopped 
off. We are not, at this present moment, being poured out as a 
drink offering. Paul uses the same convention 
in Philippians 2.17. He uses the same imagery and 
the same language there. But in Philippians, in his first 
imprisonment, it was a possibility, but it wasn't a certainty. Here 
in 2 Timothy, in his second imprisonment, it has now become a certainty. 
Paul knows that he's going to die. Paul knows that he's going 
to be poured out as a drink offering. And the fact is, it's not an 
offering or a sacrifice, if your translation translates it that 
way, that is redemptive, it's not atoning, it's not anything 
like that. It's his service to Christ. It 
is to confirm the faith of the church. It is to advance the 
cause of God and truth in this lower world. The fact that it 
is imminent or certain doesn't mean it is immediate, because 
in verses 9 and following, he tells Timothy to come and visit 
him. Bring my cloak. It gets cold in a prison that's 
not heated by B.C. Hydro. And also bring the books, 
especially the parchments. Paul, in the eleventh hour, wants 
to study theology. Isn't that beautiful? When we 
get there, I have a quote from Spurgeon that I think is most 
appropriate and most fitting. You know, he knows it's certain. 
He's going to die, but it's not immediate in the sense that it's 
going to happen that afternoon. It may happen that afternoon, 
but more than likely, it will not. And then he uses another 
verb or another statement at the end of verse 6, "...and the 
time of my departure is at hand." The word departure is a metaphor. 
It's an image for death. Specifically, it essentially 
refers to loosening of something, such as the mooring ropes of 
a ship or the ropes of a tent. So it's that use in language, 
but it takes on the metaphorical meaning of dying. So the boat 
is now loosed by the ropes and it's going to drift out to sea. 
The tent that has stood the test of time is now going to be taken 
down. Paul knows that his time for 
departure is at hand. John Fox records concerning the 
man who was the Caesar over Rome at this particular time when 
Paul wrote. It was Nero. John Fox in his 
famous book, Fox's Book of Martyrs, writes, the first of ten persecutions 
was stirred up by Nero about AD 64. This is about the time 
that Paul is writing. 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. John Fox goes on to say, Paul 
also suffered under this persecution when Nero sent two of his esquires, 
Pharaoh and Parthenius, to bring him to his execution. They found 
Paul instructing the people and asked him to pray for them so 
they might believe. Receiving Paul's assurance that 
they would soon be baptized, the two men led him out of the 
city to the place of execution where Paul was beheaded. So when 
he says, I am already being poured out as a drink offering and the 
time of my departure is at hand, history tells us that the way 
of his departure was not in his sleep. It wasn't under the watchful 
care of the local nurse. It was through the beheading 
sword of Nero, that beast, that was ferocious against the very 
people of God Most High. For I am already being poured 
out as a drink offering. The time of my departure is at 
hand. Do not forget the context. Preach the Word, Timothy. Be 
ready in season and out of season. Because the church will defect. 
Because it's the nature of your ministry. And because I am going 
to die. In the eleventh hour, what mattered 
for Paul was not his personal effects. In the eleventh hour, 
what mattered for Paul was not his personal peace or his personal 
comfort. What mattered for the apostle 
was the peace of Zion, the glory of Christ in his church. Timothy 
preached the word because I'm going to die and I don't want 
to leave the reins to men who are more about tickling ears. 
I don't want to leave the reins to men who are more about being 
fawned over by the masses. I want you to be a faithful preacher 
of the truth, Timothy. I want you to convince, I want 
you to rebuke, I want you to exhort, and I want you to do 
it with all longsuffering and teaching, Timothy. Because I'm 
about to die. That's the context. Now note, 
this causes him to reflect upon his past perseverance in one 
of the most sublime and most excellent statements in all of 
the Bible. I mean, as we read verse 7, and 
then we read verse 9, who do you want to be? Who do you want 
to be? I remember preaching concerning 
David and Goliath, and noting that Saul and the armies of Israel 
are hiding, and they're cowering, and they're quivering, and they're 
frightful, and they're fearful because they see this Philistine 
giant. And David walks up and he says, 
who is this uncircumcised wretch who taunts the armies of the 
living God? And I pressed upon us all to 
consider, who would you rather be, a David or a Saul? The man 
who mans up and fights Goliath, or the man who's found behind 
the bush with his knees shaking. If you're a woman, what kind 
of a man do you want to marry? Do you want to marry David, the 
hero of Israel, who cuts the head off of Goliath? Or do you 
want to marry Saul, this quivering coward that's hiding behind a 
bush? The same thing here, brethren. Verse 7, when Paul says, I have 
fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have 
kept the faith. Do you want to identify with 
that or Demas in verse 9? Demas having loved this present 
world. Demas who at one time made the 
good confession. Demas who at one time confessed 
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. He turned his back upon Jesus 
and he sought out this world. What kind of a man or a woman 
do you want to be? Well, I submit to you that Paul could only say 
what he says in the eleventh hour here, because he was consistent 
from the first hour to the tenth hour. You will never say, I have 
fought the good fight, if you're not presently fighting the good 
fight. You will never say, I have finished 
the race, if you are not presently running the race. You will never 
say, I have kept the faith, if you are not presently keeping 
the faith. You see the direct correlation 
here. Paul is saved by God's grace 
through faith in Jesus Christ and that alone. That grace, however, 
enables him to run. It enables him to fight. It enables 
him to keep. It enables him, through those 
hours 1 to 10, to get to the 11, to be able to reflect upon 
his past. Notice he doesn't say, I've been 
perfect. Notice there's not a hint of 
triumphalism here. He owes it all to the glory and 
the grace of God. He's not boasting. He's not an 
arrogant man at this particular point. It would be very hard 
to reconcile the champion of free grace with a boasting attitude 
in the eleventh hour. Paul knew by grace he stood. Paul knew by grace he fought. 
Paul knew by grace he ran. Paul knew by grace he kept. But 
in a very succinct statement, in verse 7, he's able to reflect 
upon his past history in this most sublime and most excellent 
way. He says, I have fought the good 
fight. Isn't that beautiful? Don't you 
want to say that when you're done? Don't you want to say that 
in your eleventh hour? Don't you want to be able to 
look at your wife or your husband or your children and say, I have 
fought the good fight. And them say, wait, I never saw 
you do that when you were alive. I saw you give in to sexual sin. 
I saw you give in to lies. I saw you give in to abuse. I 
saw you negligent. I saw you lazy. How in the world 
can you ever tell me that you have fought the good fight? You 
see, none of us ever asks the question of Paul, what do you 
mean? We know what he means, don't we? We know what he means 
when he says, I have fought the good fight. Imagery that he uses 
in 1 Corinthians 9. He says, I run with certainty, 
and I don't fight as a shadow boxer. I fight definitively, 
and I do so. I run and I fight, not so I can 
get a participation trophy, not so I can be acknowledged as egalitarian 
with everybody else, but that I may win. When I run races, 
I don't run just to participate. I run to win. When I get in the 
ring with another man, I don't get in that ring simply to say, 
I did it. I do it to beat him. That's Paul's 
attitude. I have fought the good fight. Again, brethren, will you say 
that in your eleventh hour? Not if you're not fighting it 
now. Not if you're giving in to temptation. Not if you're 
giving in to Satan. Not if you're not, you know, 
doing the very things we were just exhorted from Matthew 5. 
Paul's able to say at the eleventh hour because in hours one to 
ten he plucked out right eyes. He cut off right hands. He reconciled 
with brethren. He did what was stipulated concerning 
Christ's people. What's going to be your legacy? 
What will you be able to say? Will you be able to have it written 
on your tombstone? This one, fought the good fight. 
Why is it a good fight? Because it's God's fight. It's 
for the cause of God and truth. And Paul has admonished Timothy 
to function as a good soldier of Jesus Christ several times 
in his epistles to Timothy. Paul says, I have fought the 
good fight. Notice, he says, I have finished 
the race. That's going to be a great time, 
isn't it? When he can say, I finished the race. I'm done. I'm done. Again, he's not boastful, 
he's not arrogant, he's not saying, aren't I a great guy? He is indebted 
to sovereign grace consistently. He fought because of God's grace. 
He ran because of God's grace. I have finished the race. Again, 
1 Corinthians 9 is parallel, but there's a statement that 
is strictly parallel in the book of Acts. In chapter 20, I mentioned 
this morning, it's the first pastor's conference when Paul 
is on his way to Jerusalem. And from Ephesus, he calls to 
Miletus and he tells the elders to come. And he preaches to those 
elders. And one of the things that Paul 
says to those elders, specifically in verse 24, he says, but none 
of these things move me. You know what the none of these 
things move me in the context are? Its chains and tribulations 
and punishment and pain and affliction and suffering await you in every 
city, Paul. Remember, Agabus took Paul's 
belt and bound his own hands and says to the apostle, the 
Holy Spirit has testified, the owner of this belt will be bound. 
People are weeping and crying, and Paul says, why do you weep 
and cry and break my heart? I've got ministry to engage in. Well, here in that first pastor's 
conference, he says, none of these things move me, nor do 
I count my life dear to myself. Brethren, that is contra, oftentimes, 
the report of God's people. We oftentimes value our lives 
much higher than the kingdom of God. We oftentimes crave our 
comfort and our ease, the least amount of discomfort, and we're 
willing to forsake God. I was musing on this recently, 
that time when Jesus heals that woman in the synagogue, and everybody 
starts to get all up in her grill, and they start to complain, and 
they start to whine, and they start to grumble, and Jesus silences 
the multitude, and He says to them, this daughter of Abraham 
has been bent over bleeding for 18 years. Y'all would fish your 
ox out of a trench on the Sabbath day. Is it not right to heal 
this daughter of Abraham, who for 18 years, and he even says, 
think of it, has been bound day and night? Do you know what's 
really intriguing? Guess where she is? She's in 
the synagogue on the Sabbath. Bent over with internal bleeding, 
and she's in the synagogue on the Sabbath. That's an ethic, 
brethren, that shouldn't just be confined to the New Testament. Our Christ is most glorious. Our Christ has infinite worth. Our Christ is most excellent. And when our Christ bids us to 
come, to worship, to sup at the supper, Shall we say, oh, but 
I've got this malady, I've got this pain, and again, I don't 
want to denigrate anybody's maladies or pains, but we all ought to 
look inside ourselves and say, is there something like that 
woman in me? Or is there something like this 
apostle in me? Back to the text, none of these 
things move me, nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that 
I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I receive 
from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of 
God." Again, he's able to say at the eleventh hour, I have 
finished the race, because he's ran successfully hours one to 
ten. Those who have been here for 
a long time will know what I'm about to say. Many, many years 
ago, I read a meditation or a devotional called The Middle Mile. And the 
author of that particular devotional said, when you look at a running 
race, for instance, there's pomp and there's splendor and there's 
show at the beginning and at the end, isn't there? I mean, 
everybody wants to see how the race starts, right? They want 
to see who's involved in the race. They want to cheer their 
guy or girl on. And, of course, the finish line. 
Everybody wants to be there to see who comes in first. It's 
that middle mile that nobody pays attention to. You don't 
see persons, you know, halfway through saying, OK, go, Billy 
or Johnny. No, that's just not the case. 
It is the middle mile which breaks or makes the man. Right? And Paul could come in 
victoriously because he was faithful in the middle mile. He got up 
every day, he sought the Lord God, he was faithful in his ministry, 
he went to bed at night. He did that for the 40 or the 
50 years that he was a believer in Jesus Christ. He didn't whine, 
he didn't grumble, he didn't complain, he did what he was 
supposed to do. The first mile, anybody can look 
good. The last mile, anybody can look 
good. It is the middle mile which breaks 
or makes the man. He said, I have finished the 
race. Are you going to be able to say 
that? I was talking to Micah, my son, recently. He said, we 
have this shin dig for one of the commanding officers on the 
base. And when we have such shin digs, we have to stand at parade 
rest. Parade rest simply means your 
legs are about shoulder width apart and you stand. Well, they 
give you some encouragement on how to stand there for an hour 
and a half. If you lock your legs, you may cut off circulation 
and fall over. I mean, this was a rookie mistake 
in basic training. You'd see guys, you know, just 
drop like flies. Because they locked their legs, 
they didn't wiggle their toes, they didn't try to keep from 
having things seize up on them. Micah said, of course, at this 
parade rest, there were a couple of guys who fell down. And then 
Micah shared with me something interesting. He said, Dad, I 
think that a record of that should be placed in their personal information 
file. And that when the military comes 
to cut persons, they cut them first. Because if you can't stand 
for an hour and a half, you're not going to march into battle 
against vicious enemies and cut off heads and break things and 
do what you're supposed to do. You see, brethren, everybody 
wants to be the victor. But don't nobody want to get 
up early, deny their flesh, and do what God says? Everybody wants 
to be a hero in Christ's church, but gouging out eyes and cutting 
off hands so I can maintain sexual fidelity, that just seems to 
be a bit of a stretch. Brethren, that's what faithful 
fighters and faithful runners do. And then notice he says thirdly, 
I've kept the faith. This could go two ways. Subjectively, 
I have continued to believe the truth. Or objectively, I as an 
apostle have fought for and kept and defended the apostolic deposit 
of faith or truth. I think it's both. Paul personally 
always believed by the grace of God the great realities concerning 
Christ's life and death and resurrection. Paul understood the continuity 
between both Old and New Testaments. Paul saw Jesus as the hope of 
Israel. Paul saw Jesus as the answer 
to the Abrahamic Covenant, as the Davidic Covenant. Paul saw 
Jesus as the fulfillment and the realization of that skull-crushing 
seed of the woman from Genesis 3.15. He believed that day in 
and day out. And he fought for it. He went 
into synagogues and he fought for it. He stood up against unbelieving 
Jews and he fought for it. He stood up against unbelieving 
pagans and what did he do? He fought for it. So he personally 
believed it and he kept it. He kept it pure. He kept it intact. He garnered that good deposit 
that God had given to him. The very same sorts of things 
that Paul urges upon Timothy. Keep that which has been entrusted 
to you. Guard that pattern of sound words. Retain the standard, Paul says 
to Timothy. Why, Paul? Why keep the faith? Because if sinners don't hear 
the truth of the gospel, they'll perish under the wrath and fury 
of God. That's what moved him. None of these things move me. 
My personal comfort, my personal leisure, my time on the tee. No, that's not what moves me. 
What moves me is the reality that I must testify concerning 
the grace of God, repentance toward God, and faith in our 
Lord Jesus Christ. Because if sinners continue to 
live the way they live, they will perish under the wrath and 
fury of God. You see, Paul is the real deal. 
And before we move on, I'll ask you again, isn't this what you 
want? Isn't this what you want? Isn't this what you crave? Do 
you want it to be said of you? Yeah, at one point, he professed 
the good faith, but like Demas, he has loved this present world. 
Now, we don't know what happened to Demas, but as Tozer says, 
the last recorded statement we have is that he loved this present 
world. Did he repent? Did he forsake? Did he come back? 
We don't know, but the last recorded statement under the inspiration 
of the Holy Spirit ought to produce fear and terror in all of our 
hearts. He loved this present world. What will be written of 
you? What will be celebrated of you? 
Will it be the case that at your funeral the minister or the family 
will be able to stand up and say, you know, he was imperfect, 
he was a wretch, he had his issues, he had his challenges, but the 
general tenor of his life was that he fought, was that he finished, 
and that he kept. And he was able to do that in 
the eleventh hour because he had done it faithfully from the 
time he confessed saving faith in the Lord Jesus to the time 
he laid his head down in death. Brethren, that's what's missing 
today. We all want notoriety. We all 
want popularity. We all want the easy way. Nathaniel 
Hawthorne wrote the little book called The Celestial Railroad. Remember Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress? How did pilgrims get to the Celestial 
City? They persevered. They went through 
the slough of Despond. They went into Doubting Castle. 
They met Giant Despair. They fought. They ran. They had to keep. Hawthorne writes 
the Celestial Railroad. Oh, in these days, we take the 
train to the Celestial City. These days, we can't be bothered 
with the slew of despond. These days, we don't have time 
for, you know, giant despair. These days, it's all about comfort 
and leisure and ease, so we get on the Amtrak, and it takes us 
right off in to the celestial city. Now, that was when Nathaniel 
Hawthorne wrote, we've far surpassed trains. We take jets now, first-class 
jets. We like our champagne cool, and 
we like our roast hot, and we like our feet rubbed, and we 
like everything all tending to us and our comfort and our ease. 
That's not the tenor of the apostle. I have fought, I have finished, 
I have kept. If our Christianity isn't of 
the militant sort that we find in the New Testament, it may 
not be the real deal. Notice the Apostle's future hope. He speaks of the crown. Notice 
in verse 8, Finally, finally, there is laid up for me the crown 
of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give 
to me on that day. The imagery of the games continues. The runner in the race received 
a crown. In Paul's time, that crown would 
be a wreath of laurel leaves. That prize would involve tickets 
to the theater. That prize would be some fleeting 
moment in the limelight. Paul uses the imagery both of 
the games and of the crown, or the reward that comes after having 
successfully run in the games, and here he refers to this crown 
of righteousness. He does something similar in 
Philippians 3, 13 and 14. He says, brethren, I do not count 
myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting 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. I love that picture. I cannot 
but help when I am given that image in Philippians 3, 13 and 
14, the runner who is just reaching. The veins are popping out, the 
heart is pounding, the sweat is dripping. He says, I'm not 
thinking about what's in the past. I'm not thinking about 
that, this or the other. He says, I don't count myself 
to have apprehended, but one thing I do. Lloyd-Jones on this 
is beautiful. One thing I do. What's the one 
thing you do? Comfort? Ease? Pleasure? What's 
the one thing you do? Whine? Rumble? Complain? The 
one thing Paul does is he sees that there is this prize and 
he runs by the grace of God. He is not going to stop. He is 
not going to be deterred. He is not going to be stayed. 
He is not going to be resisted. There is a prize, and it is the 
Lord Jesus Christ. And He has saved me to receive 
this prize, so I am going to run. I am going to run like grease 
lightning, He says, forgetting 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. Here in our text, he refers to 
this laid up for me, this crown of righteousness. Some see here 
something that we've done. You know, we've been righteous 
based on the light of knowledge that we've had, based on God's 
work in us, but that righteousness now entitles us to receive this 
crown. If we divorce this righteousness 
from the righteousness of Jesus Christ, we are fools. The only 
reason this crown of righteousness is handed to us on that day is 
because of the righteous work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Gil says, and this is called 
the crown of righteousness because it comes through the righteousness 
of Christ. It is that which gives a right 
unto it and without which it cannot be enjoyed. Calvin deals 
with those who see that it's not only our faith in Christ, 
but to some degree, our works. He sees those who sort of mingle 
the two. Yes, you've had faith. Yes, you've 
done well. Therefore, here's your crown. 
That's not how it works. He cites Augustine, that early 
church father, and I love what Augustine says, commenting on 
this text. How would God render the crown 
as a righteous judge if He had not first given grace as a merciful 
Father? And how would there have been 
righteousness in us had it not been preceded by the grace which 
justifies us? And how would that crown have 
been rendered as due had not all that we have been given when 
it was not due? It's because of the righteousness 
of our Lord Jesus Christ that when we, by grace, say, I have 
fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept 
the faith, we lay our heads down in death, and we awaken the presence 
of the Lord, and He gives us this crown of righteousness. 
It's a beautiful image, isn't it? It's the hope of the resurrection. You see, Paul didn't fight, Paul 
didn't run, and Paul didn't keep because he was a monk. Paul didn't 
fight, Paul didn't run, and Paul didn't keep because he was an 
ascetic. Because he thought somehow that 
there was good in pain. No, Paul fought, Paul ran, and 
Paul kept because of the surpassing glory of Jesus Christ. because of the excellence of 
our beloved Savior, because of the presence that we will have 
with Him when He welcomes us into that blessed place. And 
notice that He ascribes judgment to our Lord Jesus, which the 
Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me. You see, Christ is 
going to be the one. He tells us in John 5. We see 
it in Acts 17. We see it scattered throughout 
the New Testament. The Lord God Almighty, the Father, 
has stationed the Son as the judge of the living and the dead. 
It is Christ you will gaze your eyes upon. And it's Christ that 
will be able to say, not at the crown He gifted, but on His pierced 
hand, the Lamb is all the glory of Emmanuel's land. But notice, 
Paul doesn't stop. This is where it comes to us. 
Very practical. He says, not to me only, but 
to other fighters, to other runners, to other keepers. It's not just 
unique to the Apostle Paul. He's not the only one that receives 
this crown of righteousness. Paul holds out encouragement 
both to Timothy and to the church as a whole. Paul holds out at 
the end of verse 8 encouragement to each and every one of us. 
Do we think like this, brethren? Do we fight? Do we run? Do we 
keep with a view to this crown? Do we fight? Do we run? And do 
we keep with the knowledge that there was the upward call of 
God in Christ Jesus, that there are prizes and blessings and 
rewards and benefits and good things we haven't even begun 
to consider? Paul was right. We have a momentary 
light affliction in comparison with the exceeding weight of 
glory that we will receive. You see, the Christian life isn't 
just about suffering. It isn't just about affliction. 
It isn't just about trial. It isn't just gouging out the 
eyes and chopping off the hands. It isn't just about reconciling 
with brethren. It isn't just about attending 
to the means of grace. It is, at the very end, ultimately, 
to hear our beloved Savior say to us, well done, good and faithful 
servant. And that's not because we're 
good and faithful, but because He's good and faithful, and we 
have union and communion with Him. And when the Father sees 
us in Christ, we are pleasing in His sight. It's truly amazing 
what lay in our future. So you see there's nothing noble 
about get up at 5 and read 15 chapters of the Bible and then 
go sit on a pole all day and suffer and sweat. No, that's 
not what Paul did. You see what he says in Acts 
20? When he runs this race, he does it with what? He does it 
with joy. See, we have this idea that fighting 
the good fight and running the race and keeping the faith, we've 
got this scowl on our face and this grimace on our face and 
we look like the most miserable specimens that ever graced God's 
green earth. No, we do it with joy. We run 
the race with happiness that we're even in the race by God's 
grace. We fight the good fight with 
joy because it's a good fight. We keep the faith because it 
is the cause of God and truth. And it's everything. There's 
a joy involved. There's a happiness involved. 
You know, when Samson is battling Philistines, I doubt he's got 
a big smile on his face, but he is killing these Philistines 
for the glory of the God of Israel. There's a peace and a joy that 
comes from that. Brethren, that's what Paul communicates 
here. It's not only to me, but Also, 
to all who have loved his appearing. The Apostle encourages Timothy 
and all believers with this statement. There is a crown in our future. 
So get up tomorrow. Be faithful today. Fight onward. Fight manfully. I don't care 
what your status, station or vocation is. You say, but I'm 
a housewife. Then fight the good fight. Run 
the race. Keep the faith. So those little 
children have a model of that. They see it. You commend it in 
your life. You do it with happiness. You 
do it with joy. You say, well, I'm a man and 
my job is pretty menial, and I'm not a pastor, I'm not a priest. 
This text has nothing to do with that. Wherever we find ourselves, 
in whatever vocation, there is plenty of fighting to do. There 
is plenty of running to do, and there is plenty of keeping to 
do. Think concerning this crown of righteousness, which is laid 
up for you. I love the language. He personalizes. He says, which the Lord, the 
righteous judge, will give to me. And on that day, not only 
to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. Believers! 
The appearing here isn't the incarnation. The appearing here 
is the second coming of our beloved Lord Jesus. And the loving His 
appearing could also be rendered longed for His appearing. Do 
you long for the appearing of Jesus? Do you love the thought 
that Jesus is going to come again in glory? I know on a pretty 
bad day we all have that thought, don't we? We get out of bed and 
we're miserable, and everything we do just seems to go wrong, 
and by 10 o'clock we're saying, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Deliver 
me from this day. It's probably the worst I've 
had, and I'd love nothing more than for You to come on this 
day. I'm sure we all have that, don't we? Oh, no, not us, brother. OK, I've had that. You know, 
9.30, I'm saying, OK, Jesus, you come at 9.31, I'd be ready 
to go. I just want this day to end. Well, Jesus isn't our cosmic 
day-ending genie that does whatever we want. But is there in our 
hearts, is there in our Constitution, is there in us as believers this 
longing, this loving, This desire for the Lord of glory to come 
again in glory to judge the living and the dead, to deal with His 
enemies, to bless His church, to vindicate His name and bring 
honor to Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Is that what makes you 
tick? Is that what motivates? Is that 
what fires you up? Or is it the latest release of 
the iPhone 6? Is it the high score on Candy 
Crush? Is it the Canucks? What is it that drives us? What 
is that one thing? What is it that moves us to fight, 
to run, and to keep? It ought to be a view of the 
glory of our Lord Jesus. It ought to be a view of the 
fact that He is going to gift us this crown of righteousness 
on that day. We are identified in the text 
as those who have loved His appearing, those who long for His appearing. 
We don't say, Lord Jesus, you can come in 23 years, because 
by then I will have built a great company, believe me. You won't 
come in 23 years because I'll have satisfied all of my educational 
goals. Come in 23 years because I'll... 
No! He comes right now, we'd be thrilled! We would be joyous, we would 
be ecstatic because that's what we've been created for. We've 
not been created for the new iPhone. We've not been created 
for the Candy Crush saga. We have not been created for 
the Canucks. We have been created to worship 
our God. We departed in Adam. We died 
in Adam. Christ comes and saves us. He 
redeems us. What's the grand purpose of our 
redemption? It's that we may honor and glorify 
and praise Him. That we may worship Him. That 
we may desire Him. That's how Paul describes us 
in this passage. And not to me only, but also 
to all who have loved His appearing. It may not be the sense that 
every single moment, every single day, I mean, some of us fall 
downstairs and we get coffee, but as the tenor of our life, 
what is our focus? What is our motivation? What 
drives us? Why do we chop off hands and 
why do we gouge out eyes, assuming we do so? And if we don't, why? Why aren't we dealing with our 
sin the way our Jesus commands us? We have been saved to testify 
what a great and glorious God He is. We need to be about that. Fight. Run. Keep. Say it in the eleventh hour because 
you said it every single day up to that hour. That's the grand 
design, brethren, in our Christian lives. Well, in conclusion, we 
learn. I hope we learn something of 
the example of the Apostle Paul. I maintain, I submit, and I'll 
say it until I'm dead, that the only reason that Paul could say 
what he says here in 2 Timothy 4, 7, is because every single 
day he was faithful. Notice I'm not saying he was 
perfect. Notice I'm not saying that he 
floated on clouds and strummed a harp. Notice I'm not saying 
that. He persevered. He got up, he 
did what he was supposed to do, he went back to bed, he got up 
the next morning and did what he was supposed to do. See, in 
my mind, brethren, the key, the trick, the help in the Christian 
life is to get it in your head that you've got to do what you're 
doing now, if you're doing it right, for the next 40 or 50 
years. Because probably Jesus isn't 
coming back at 1231. I mean, if he does, that would 
be fantastic. But more than likely, you're going to go home, you're 
going to burn food, your kids are going to scream tomorrow, 
they're going to barf on you, they're going to say things to 
you. If you're a man, you're going to get passed over for 
a promotion that you deserve. You've just got to be faithful. 
Anybody ever say, what's the key to the Christian life? I 
don't think there's a key. There's a ring with a bunch of 
keys, as Albert M. Martin says. Certainly one of 
those keys is faithfulness. Certainly one of those keys is 
doing what you say you're going to do. Human earthly commitments 
somehow get lost in the church. I think at times we deal with 
the church the way we wouldn't deal with our employers, we wouldn't 
deal with family. It's hard to believe that we're 
going to fight the good fight and battle ISIS if necessary, 
at least spiritually speaking, if we can't stand at parade rest 
for an hour. If we can't do the bare minimums 
that God asks us in the Christian life consistently and faithfully, 
why in the world do we think we're going to be Samson going 
toe-to-toe with a thousand Philistines? We're not. Didn't Jesus give 
us the rule that those who are faithful in little are faithful 
in much? If you're not faithful in little, you're probably never 
going to be used for much. You say, well, that offends me, 
Pastor. I'm sorry. Seek by the grace of God to be 
faithful. Fight, run, keep. Paul could say this in the 11th 
because he said it in hours 1 to 10. Terms of believers. Don't you want to be able to 
say this? Really, take this home with you. I sometimes think, 
right after we say Amen, boy, all I hear is running and playing 
and yelling and I'm not saying kids just sit there like bumps 
on logs. Do we remember sermons? Do we 
ponder the sermon? Do we think through things that 
we've heard? It's good exercise over lunch while you're enjoying 
your wife's cooking. Not choking it down, but you're 
enjoying your wife's cooking. Hey, how does that sermon speak 
to you? You know, I haven't been fighting 
the good fight like I ought, man. I haven't been reading my 
Bible. I haven't been praying. I miss Churchill. For no good 
reason. By the grace of God, I'm going 
to fight. Are you running the race? Are you keeping the faith? Are you striving to be what Paul 
was by the grace of God? Or have you embraced this laziness, 
this North Americanism, this sort of, I can say Jesus, so 
all is well with my soul? That's not what we find in the 
Scriptures. We find fighting men, we find 
running men, we find keeping men. Do you strive to live in 
such a way now that you will be able to say what the Apostle 
Paul said in the eleventh hour? Is this true of you? Again, I'm 
not trying to be mean. I'm not trying to be an enemy. 
I had to preach this sermon to me. I got a lot of repenting to do 
myself. I don't think any of us read a text, wow, that describes 
me. Boy, aren't I happy. That's not it. I am your friend 
this morning as a fellow runner, fighter and keeper to encourage 
us all to press on. As well, do you love long for 
the appearing of Christ. You look forward to receiving 
this crown of righteousness. That's something you ponder on 
occasion. Again, I doubt any of us ever, 
all day long, think about the crown of righteousness. You know, 
we've got things to do and we've got to do the things that our 
employers pay us to do. You're paid to make widgets. 
You don't stand there pondering the crown of righteousness. You 
make widgets. That's what you're paid for. 
But at some point, in some context, in some relation, in some place, 
you're thinking about heaven, you're thinking about your Savior, 
you're thinking about the Lord Jesus Christ. As well, in this 
passage, and I sought to keep it in the context, we ought to 
be encouraged as a church, or exhorted as a church. The church 
is the pillar and ground of the truth, 1 Timothy 3.15. The church 
is sustained as the pillar and ground of the truth by the Spirit 
and the truth. The church has been tasked with 
some simple things. Not changing the world, not being 
political revolutionaries, but being faithful to the calling 
that God has given to us. You ever just look out at the 
religious landscape, and I do with the political landscape 
as well, and you think, how could people be so foolish? I mean, 
it's crazy, isn't it? You see news article after news 
article, you see people that just do foolish things. You know 
what? I can't worry about that. I have 
to keep this heart with all diligence or whatever side it's on. Knowing 
that from it spring the issues of life. We can't fix the entirety 
of Zion, but by God's grace we can seek to be faithful here 
in Chilliwack. We can preach the Word. We can 
be ready in season and out of season. We can convince, rebuke, 
exhort with all long-suffering and teaching. We can know that 
there will be seasons and times of defection and apostasy from 
the truth. And that does not change our 
marching orders. We still preach the truth. Gospel 
ministers need to embrace what they were made to do, according 
to verse 5. They need to be watchful in all 
things. They need to endure afflictions. They need to do the work of evangelists, 
and they need to fulfill their ministry. They need to understand 
that Paul is gone. Timothy is gone. Spurgeon is 
gone. Gil is gone. We can't say, well, 
only if Spurgeon... We've got to take up the baton 
and be faithful. We'll never be a Spurgeon, we'll 
never be a Gil, we'll certainly never be a Paul, but we can be 
faithful in what God has called us to do. And for any and all 
who are here this morning that are not believers in Jesus Christ, 
before you say, okay, there he goes again, picking on me, just 
listen to what I have to say. I want you to first consider 
the infinite worth, glory, and excellence of Jesus Christ. Why 
would a first century rabbi go what he went through? I mean, 
when we read 2 Timothy 4.6, and Paul says, you know, I'm being 
poured out as a drink offering, the time of my departure is at 
hand. If we read 2 Corinthians 11, we're not surprised. We're 
not going, wow, how did these terrible things happen to this 
person? He's had a life of misery. He's had a life of affliction. 
He's had a life of pain. He's had a life where he was 
stoned, where he was shipwrecked, where he was in trouble by his 
countrymen and by, you know, troubles in the church. He had 
a lot of challenges and issues. Why does he do this? For the 
excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. You've 
got to consider that. Look at Philippians 3 for just 
a moment, where Paul gives us a bit more concerning his own 
autobiography, his own life story. Paul, let us know what you're 
about. He says, if ever there was a Jew who could have earned 
his way into heaven, I was that Jew. Basically, that's what he 
says in Philippians 3. Why? Because he wants to destroy 
the notion that people can think they can earn their way into 
heaven. There's these people called Judaizers, 
and they're going to come to the church, and they'll tell 
you it's good to believe in Jesus, but you must also work your way 
to heaven. You must get circumcised, you 
must obey those ceremonies. You've got to mix faith plus 
words in order to be saved. Paul said, if that was the case, 
I could have done it. I was a good Jew. I was born 
in the stock of Israel, tribe of Benjamin. Concerning the law, 
I was a Pharisee. Concerning zeal, I persecuted 
the church, I had everything going on. If you looked at Paul 
before Christ in the first century, you would say, this is an accomplished 
man. This is a man with a religious 
resume that ought to be imitated. This is a man who is a sterling 
specimen of a human being. So why would he give that up? 
Why would he go to being public enemy number one? Why would he 
go to being hunted and chased? Why would he go to being imprisoned 
and stoned and shipwrecked? Why would he do that? Well, he 
says in verse 7, Philippians 3, But what things were gained 
to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also 
count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of 
Christ Jesus my Lord. For whom I have suffered the 
loss of all things and count them as rubbish, that I may gain 
Christ. You see, if you're an unbeliever 
here this morning, you're living for something. There is something 
that captivates your heart. There is something that holds 
on to you. There is something. It may not be as mundane as an 
iPhone or Candy Crush or the Canucks. It may be a guy. It may be a girl. It may be a 
drug. It may be a drink. It may be 
pride. It may be arrogance. It may be 
self-righteousness. There may be something that's 
got a hold of your heart, that has you enslaved. that has its 
foot on your neck, you need to consider the infinite worth, 
the glory, and the excellence of Jesus Christ. He's much better 
than an iPhone. He's much better than any guy 
or girl. He's certainly better than Candy Crush. The Lord Jesus 
Christ is the Lord and the Giver of life. That's why Paul did 
what he did. That's why Paul fought and ran 
and kept, because he tells us that I may gain Christ and be 
found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is from the 
law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness 
which is from God by faith, that I may know Him. There's something more excellent 
to know than the things you presently know, and that is Him. So consider 
that. As well, consider the certainty 
of the Day of Judgment. 2 Timothy chapter 4 not only 
holds out blessings to believers on that day, but conversely holds 
out terror to unbelievers on that day. Now, pop culture has 
taught us that the apocalypse will somehow involve zombies. 
Or the apocalypse will somehow involve the rise of the machines. 
or the apocalypse, which simply means revelation, will involve 
some sort of dystopian nightmare. No, it's a nightmare far greater 
than zombies, far greater than Skynet, far greater than any 
dystopia that they can weave in a book. It is the righteous 
judge that Paul describes. He will face you on that day. And if you have not by His grace 
believed, He will cast you off. There will be no crown of righteousness 
given to you. There will be no eternal blessing. There will be no eternal joy. There will be banishment from 
the presence of the Almighty God. That's terrifying. I dare say, machines, zombies, 
or dystopia would be far more preferable than the one who is 
able to not only kill body, but to kill the soul in hell. Fear 
him, Jesus says in Matthew 10. And finally, consider the way 
he's described in our text. He is the righteous judge. If you continue in unbelief, 
if you continue in your own path, if you continue as an idolater 
to any of the things that I have specifically mentioned or things 
that have gone unmentioned, if you continue attached to those 
things, you will meet the judge in his righteousness who will 
cast you off. But that righteous judge presently 
sits at the right hand of God the Father. And that righteous 
judge presently saves sinners. It's good news, isn't it? That's 
a blessed reality, isn't it? You mean there's a way I can 
escape meeting the righteous judge and have him cast me off 
forever? Yes. And that way is to believe on 
the Lord Jesus now. And you will receive by His grace 
and for His glory, both the forgiveness of sins, which you most desperately 
need, but you'll also receive His righteousness, because He 
always obeyed the law of His Father. When Jesus discourses 
on the Sermon on the Mount, He Himself had never murdered. He 
Himself had never lusted. He Himself had never engaged 
in the sorts of things the Law of Moses condemns. Jesus Christ 
Himself fulfilled it. And that's the good news of the 
Christian gospel. The reality is, is he lived in 
obedience to his father. He died as a sacrifice at the 
cross. He rose again on the third day. And he now sits in throne, such 
that any and all who believe in him will be both forgiven 
and given a righteousness that avails with God. That's why it's 
good news. That's why it's gospel. And that's why Paul says to the 
church, preach the word. Preach it, because that's what 
sinners need today. They don't need to feel religious 
twice a year. They need to come to the cross 
of our Lord Jesus Christ for cleansing and for righteousness. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for the Word of Truth, and we pray that you'd 
help us as individuals to fight, to run, to keep, and help us 
as a church to fulfill those things that are specified here, 
to preach the Word. We pray also, God, for any and 
all here that are unconverted, those outside of Christ. In our 
own experience, God, we didn't seek You, we weren't good, we 
weren't law keepers. You saved us. You had mercy upon 
us. So we know if there is mercy 
to cover sinners like us, there is mercy to cover others as well. 
So we pray that You would wash and justify and do all those 
things that You have purposed in our Lord Jesus Christ. And 
we pray in His most blessed name. Amen.