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you you you welcome to everyone good to be back in the house of our god you can turn with me in your bibles to psalm 124 psalm 124 for our call to worship and i'll begin reading in verse one a song of ascents of david if it had not been the lord who was on our side let israel now say if it had not been the lord who was on our side when men rose up against us then they would have swallowed us alive when their wrath was kindled against us then the waters would have overwhelmed us the stream would have gone over our soul then the swollen waters would have gone over our soul blessed be the lord who has not given us as prey to their teeth our soul has escaped as a bird from the snare of the fowlers the snare is broken and we have escaped our help is in the name of the lord who made heaven and earth amen will please turn in your hymn books to psalm 150 psalm 150 c as in charlie we'll stand as we sing together do [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] ah [Music] so [Music] see [Music] yes [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] uh [Music] well let us pray our blessed god and holy father it's a joy for us to be in the house of god again on this lord's day we acknowledge that you are from everlasting to everlasting that you are the god of absolute sovereignty and power and glory the god who is worthy to be praised and lifted high and we ask tonight that as we sing as we pray as we turn our attention to holy scripture you would be glorified in the worship of the saints at this church we ask that you would rent the heavens and come down be found among us may we know the nearness of christ in the midst of his lampstands and may you encourage and strengthen each one of our hearts and may we sing your praises and glorify your great and awesome name for god you are worthy you have been so merciful and gracious to us you not only made us you watch over us and as well you have redeemed us by your grace and for your glory we are so thankful for the gospel of our salvation we needed a righteousness and christ comes into this world and lives in perfect obedience to the law we needed the forgiveness of sin so christ suffered and died in our place we needed justification christ is raised from the dead and now he has ascended on high he's led captivity captive and he gives gifts to men and we give praise to you for this work of the redeemer on behalf of your elect we give praise to you for your sovereign choice your election and predestination that we read of in ephesians 1 this morning we know lord god it's according to your good pleasure and not for anything good in us so we rejoice in your loving kindness and in your mercy our hearts desire and earnest please that others would come to know christ as lord and savior we pray god that where this gospel is preached tonight all throughout this earth it would go forth conquering and to conquer that it would accomplish the purpose for which you sent it and that you would be glorified in the salvation of sinners and in the strengthening of your people all over this world we ask tonight that you would be pleased to look with favor upon this local church do forgive us now for all of our sin all of our transgression against your majesty wash us in that precious blood of the lord jesus christ and cause us lord god to be more and more conformed unto his image may we pursue holiness and those things that you call us unto may you supply the spirit of the living god that he may dwell richly in our hearts through faith so that we may pursue and pursue those areas that are well pleasing in your sight we ask as well lord god that you would be merciful to those who have not believed the gospel that you'd open their hearts that you would cause them to receive that wonderful message of salvation that they would see their sin in light of the holy god that they would see the savior in light of their own sin and they would flee to him for salvation full and free we ask god in heaven that this would be for for your glory but as well for the good of the people that we know and that we love as we saw this morning may you increase in our hearts a burden for the lost may you increase in our hearts that that that sympathy of the savior when he when he said to his disciples lift up your eyes the fields are white unto harvest when he looked upon the multitudes and he felt compassion for them because they were like sheep having no shepherd certainly as your church we should imitate the savior in this regard so god increase our love for men increase our desire to see more sinners come to a knowledge of the lord jesus christ and give us boldness we confess at times lord god that we are very cowardice when it comes to these things so grant us boldness of speech grant us the grace to point sinners to our beloved savior and may you use this for your glory father we pray for the for the the brethren in in honduras we were reminded this morning concerning the work there we are thankful for what is happening in terms of the construction of a building but even more importantly we're we're so thrilled at the prospect of a continual witness to our lord jesus christ in that part of the world we pray that you'd bless the pastors there give these men grace to labor diligently in the word and in doctrine we pray that you'd bless john and margarita and continue to sustain them and may they be of great benefit to that local church and may it be the case that that church would reach out to that community with the truth of christ and him crucified and may you be pleased to save sinners there and sanctify the saints of god bless the persecuted church as well god as we read these various letters as we hear the various concerns our hearts go out to the brethren and we know there is great suffering for those who identify publicly with our lord jesus and we just pray god in heaven that you would remember them that you would bless them that you would grant the grace necessary for that to persevere in the midst of such trial and difficulty and in this land lord god revive your church cause us to think your thoughts after you cause us to be faithful at the throne of grace cause us to be bold with that word of truth for we know this generation stands in need of the message of christ and him crucified and resurrected we know lord god that this is what is ultimately beneficial for a people and we pray that you'd open the mouths of preachers that you would continue to establish churches that you would raise up more men and that you would indeed cause there to be a turning unto you the various sins in this land grieve us the sin of abortion the sin of euthanasia the various ways that life is disregarded the various forms of sexual perversion and ungodliness all around us it is similar to the days of israel when isaiah prophesied and said that woe to those who call good evil and evil good god we pray for an outpouring of your holy spirit and we pray that you would do great and glorious things in this generation for your name's sake and again help us to shine as lights and help us to be bold with that word and we ask these things through jesus christ our lord amen well you can turn with me again in your hymn books to 5 38 5 3 8 we'll stand as we sing together [Music] is [Music] trees always [Music] uh oh is [Music] is [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] well you can turn in your bibles to exodus chapter 38 for our scripture reading this evening exodus chapter 38 the larger context is on god's dwelling with his people he first gives instructions for the construction of the tabernacle and now we see israel putting those instructions into practice or putting them into execution and constructing the tabernacle for the glory of god as ralph davis says the god of the bush exodus 3 is the god of the mountain exodus 19 he is also the god of the tent and that is the emphasis in this latter section of the book of exodus so beginning in chapter 38 at verse 1. he made the altar of burnt offering of acacia wood five cubits was its length and five cubits its width it was square and its height was three cubits he made its horns on its four corners the horns were of one piece with it and he overlaid it with bronze he made all the utensils for the altar the pans the shovels the basins the forks and the fire pants all its utensils he made of bronze and he made a great a bronze bronze network for the altar under its rim midway from the bottom he cast four rings for the four corners of the bronze grating as holders for the poles and he made the poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with bronze then he put the poles into the rings on the sides of the altar with which to bear it he made the altar hollow with boards he made the laver of bronze and its base of bronze from the bronze mirrors of the serving women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting then he made the court of the south side the hangings of the court were a fine woven linen 100 cubits long there were 20 pillars for them with 20 bronze sockets the hooks of the pillars and their bands were silver on the north side the hangings were 100 cubits long with 20 pillars and their 20 bronze sockets the hooks of the pillars and their brown brands were bands were silver and on the west side there was hanging were hangings of 50 cubits with 10 pillars and their 10 sockets the hooks of the pillars and their bands were silver for the east side the hangings were 50 cubits the hangings of one side of the gate were 15 cubits long with their three pillars in their three sockets and the same for the other side of the court gate on this side and that were hangings of 15 cubits with their three pillars and their three sockets all the hangings of the court all around were a fine woven linen the sockets for the pillars were bronze the hooks of the pillars and their bands were silver and the overlay of their capitals was silver and all the pillars of the court had bands of silver the screen for the gate of the court was woven of blue purple and scarlet thread and a fine woven linen the length was 20 cubits and the height along its width was five cubits corresponding to the hangings of the court and there were four pillars with their four sockets of bronze their hooks were silver and the overlay of their capitals and their bands was silver all the pegs of the tabernacle and of the court all around were bronze this is the inventory of the tabernacle the tabernacle of the testimony which was counted according to the commandment of moses for the service of the levites by the hand of ithamar sanovaran the priest batsalel the son of uri the son of her of the tribe of judah made all that the lord had commanded moses and with him was a holiev the son of a hissamak of the tribe of dan an engraver and designer a weaver of blue purple and scarlet thread and of fine linen all the gold that was used in all the work of the holy place that is the gold of the offering was 29 talents and 730 shekels according to the shackle of the sanctuary and the silver from those who were numbered of the congregation was 100 talents and 1775 shekels according to the shackle of the sanctuary a becca for each man that is half a shekel according to the shekel of the sanctuary for everyone included in the numbering from 20 years old and above for six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty men and from the hundred talents of silver were cast the sockets of the sanctuary and the bases of the veil 100 sockets from the hundred talents one talent for each socket then from the 1775 shekels he made hooks for the pillars overlaid their capitals and made bands for them the offering of bronze was 70 talents and 2 400 shekels and with it he made the sockets for the door of the tabernacle of meeting the bronze altar the bronze grading for it and all the utensils for the altar the sockets for the court all around the bases for the court gate all the pegs for the tabernacle and all the pegs for the court all around amen well when we consider the construction of the tabernacle i think it does at least image or set forth to us what will eventually happen in terms of the temple so the tabernacle was that mobile dwelling place of god when the children of israel were wanderers in the wilderness they had that tabernacle they had that place they could put up wherever they found themselves and then god would come and be in their midst remember god is not localized it's not as if he's somehow contained in that particular place but it was the visible representation it was that place that god met with his people well then the temple comes after david had secured the kingdom remember david was forbidden from building the temple not because he was a bad man but because he had been a man of war and that's not a condemnation on the fact that david had been a man of war it isn't a condemnation when god says that he's a man of bloodshed that was his business was killing enemies securing the kingdom and ushering in a season of peace such that his son solomon knowing that peace would be able to engage in the temple construction well ralph davis i think makes a good observation concerning the costs associated with the temple and if we go back in the tabernacle we'll see that it wasn't cheap either he says i suggest that the splendor of the temple is meant to reflect the splendor of israel's god that the temple's gold points to yahweh's glory it was a world in which kings built or refurbished lavish temples as appropriate tributes to their gods and goddesses in such a world why should yahweh look like a discount store deity with a government loan house if there is an indulgence that is sinful and there is there is an extravagance that is godly and perhaps the message of temple gold is that nothing cheap should be offered to yahweh but only what is a tribute commensurate with his splendor whether for example in formal worship biblical scholarship or quality of daily work in other words god is worth it and that is what the tabernacle and the temple tell us and so when it comes to the new covenant expression of our worship god is worth it we come to his house with gladness of heart we lift up our voices in praise and adoration and we turn our attention to his most holy word well let us pray our god in heaven we thank you and we know that the prophet jeremiah and the apostle john asked the same question who would not fear thee o king of the nations for indeed it is thy do and we confess lord god that our thoughts are not always taken up with how glorious you are so as we survey the old testament as we see these commitments on the part of your people as we see the the great lengths the apostles went to in terms of service to the lord jesus christ and the early roman empire help us lord god to see that you are in fact worth it that our minds our hearts our service everything should be given over into the service of our great god bless us and help us lord god not to cheap out whether it be monetarily whether it be with our time whether it be with our energy our resources but help us lord god to see you as altogether lovely and chief among ten thousand and help us to serve according to our capacity in a manner that is consistent with your glory and we ask this through jesus christ our lord amen we can turn with me again in your hymn books to 400 471 471 will stand as we sing together in praise to god almighty oh [Music] is [Music] glory be [Music] is [Music] is [Music] glory glory [Music] is [Music] yes glory glory [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Music] well you could turn with me in your bibles to second timothy chapter four second timothy chapter four i'll read the chapter and then our focus will be on verses 6 to 8. but ii timothy chapter 4 beginning in verse 1 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 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 questions 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 titucus i have sent to ephesus bring the cloak that i left with corpus 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 be where beware of him for he has greatly resisted our words at 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 for ever and ever amen great prisca and aquila and the household of vanessa forest erastus stayed in corinth but trophies i have left in my leaders 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 thank you for this last letter of the apostle paul thank you for the wonderful doctrine that it contains thank you for the great encouragement as well and the setting forth of a good example a solid and faithful example of a christian man god help us to persevere in like manner help us lord god to be faithful to the very end and give us the grace and the presence and the power of the spirit necessary for that great endeavor and even now god guide us as we consider this passage of scripture minister to us illuminate our hearts and minds by the spirit and again forgive us for all of our sin and unrighteousness and we pray through jesus christ our lord amen well a couple of weeks ago we looked at a sermon on the ministry of the word and we used uh one of the texts was for a second timothy chapter four notice in verse two preach the word be ready in season and out of season convince rebuke exhort with all long suffering and teaching so the apostle in his last corporate command to the church lays emphasis on the proclamation of the truth in other words timothy it's not about entertainment it's not about meeting felt needs it is rather about the declaration of the truth concerning christ and him crucified in that particular exposition i gave the two reasons for the command so not only does paul give the command preach the word he designates the manner the word is supposed to be preached convince rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and teaching and then he offers up two reasons as to why timothy should preach the word the first reason is the departure of the church notice in verse 3 4 the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine paul's logic is impeccable preach the word because the time is coming when they won't want the word that doesn't mean you kowtow it doesn't mean you capitulate it doesn't mean you do exactly what they say but rather you continue to maintain faithfulness by preaching the word so 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 so the first reason why timothy is to preach the word is because of the departure of the church the second reason is verses six to eight it is the departure of the apostle paul and i thought this would be a helpful encouragement for all of us in terms of perseverance you'll hear me refer tonight to what people call the 11th hour that means the final hour remember this morning in john 1 39 they had remained with jesus all day it was the 10th hour so the 10th hour would have been 4 p.m the 11th hour would have been 5 p.m it is the hour before the end of the day and often times you'll hear people refer to the 11th hour it is that time when the end is on the horizon and the book of 2nd timothy is an 11th hour epistle it is the last book that the apostle paul wrote and here in verses six to eight he indicates that the time of his departure is at hand in the book of philippians which is another prison epistle written between a.d 60 and 62 he envisages the possibility that he will die but in philippians it's more of the mindset or he's more of the mindset that he's going to continue to live on he knows that's not the case here in ii timothy he knows that he's come to the end of the road he knows that the time of his departure is at hand and so when he says i have done this i have done this and i have done that he had done that or he's able to say that in the 11th hour because he did it in the hours prior to that in other words if we're going to make a good confession when we come to the end of our day in terms of personal testimony it must be backed up by lives of faithfulness lives of perseverance not sinlessness not perfection but consistency and faithfulness along the way no man will ever be able to say i've fought the good fight i have finished the race i have kept the faith unless daily he's engaging in fighting the good fight finishing the race keeping the faith in other words there is a close association between hours 1 to 10 and the 11th hour and when it comes for paul to die we see that his faithful life is a great encouragement to him here at the end of his life so i want to look first at the apostles present situation in verse six secondly the apostles past perseverance in verse 7 and then finally the apostles future hope in verse 8. but notice he uses two metaphors to indicate that he's going to die verse 6 for i am already being poured out as a drink offering turn back to philippians chapter 2. philippians chapter 2. i've referenced that you want to see what he is doing in comparison philippians chapter 1 actually to begin with philippians 1 19 for i know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the spirit of jesus christ according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing i shall be ashamed but with all boldness as always so now also christ will be magnified in my body whether by life or by death so the idea of death is certainly in his mind the concept or possibility or potentiality rather of dying is there he makes this grand statement in verse 21 for to me to live is christ and to die is gain hard to punish a man hard to hurt a man who has that particular mindset for me to live is christ but to die is gain how do you hurt him if you let him live he has christ if you kill him he has more christ he's a tough guy to deal with verse 22 but if i live on in the flesh this will mean fruit from my labor yet what i shall choose i cannot tell for i am hard-pressed between the two having a desire to depart and be with christ which is far better nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you and being confident of this i know that i shall remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith that you're rejoicing for me may be more abundant in jesus christ by my coming to you again so he has this idea that he could potentially be executed it wasn't the rage that we'll find in ii timothy in terms of the historical situation but nero was on the throne at the time of the writing of philippians nero gets really bad by the time of the writing of second timothy but already in 8060 to 62 nero's starting to lose it a little bit prior to ad60 in the in the late 50s nero was hedged in by a couple of decent advisors he didn't become the wretch or he wasn't the wretch that he would ultimately become so paul doesn't really know exactly what's going to happen in terms of his imprisonment in the empire in the in 80 60 to 62. but then notice at 217 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 for the same reason you also be glad and rejoice with me so back to second timothy chapter four verse six he's using ceremonial language he's using the language of a drink offering comes from exodus 29 leviticus 23 numbers 15 numbers 28 he is alluding to his blood poured out in martyrdom now it wouldn't be sacrificial it wouldn't be atoning it wouldn't be those sorts of things that would be true of the blood of jesus christ but nevertheless he's using that language to reminisce about the reality that he is coming to die the language of offering or sacrifice should not be seen the way christ's sacrifice or offering was made for atonement paul's offering in the language of guilt was in the cause of christ and for the confirmation of the gospel and the faith of the saints in it now imminency the fact that it's going to happen does not mean immediacy because notice in verse 9 be diligent to come to me quickly for dennis has forsaken me having loved this present world has departed for thessalonica crescens for galatia titus for dalmatia notice dropping down into verse 13. bring the cloak that i left with corpus at troas when you come and the books especially the parchments so while his death is imminent as far as he's concerned in second timothy 4 it's not immediate there's still time for this command given to timothy to collect these items a cloak because it would be cold in the prison and as well the books especially the parchments he's not lazy he's not going to just take his ease but rather he's going to be diligent and as we move through the rest of second timothy chapter four that is essentially what he does he is moving troops around while he's in a prison cell in rome he is nevertheless active in terms of church planting disciple making and christ glorifying the apostle paul didn't just kind of slither his way into heaven but he was useful to the very end and then notice the next lan a bit of language that he uses he talks about being poured out as a drink offering and then he says the time of my departure is at hand it's the word used in philippians 1 23. it's a euphemism for death one man says it essentially refers to loosening of something such as the mooring ropes of a ship or the ropes of a tent the time of my departure is at hand now again just to give you a bit of the historical context relative to nero john fox in the famous book of martyrs writes this he says the first of the ten persecutions was stirred up by nero about ad64 so paul is writing just about this time frame as well so he understands that he's going to die now if you haven't read any history or you don't know who nero was or you haven't availed yourself of john fox do that it is most important brethren to understand what our brethren faced in terms of threat from the civil government he goes on to say his rage against christians was so fierce that eusebius eusebius was an early church historian records quote 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 reference of that reverence of that sex in the open streets end quote and then fox continues many christians in those days thought that nero was the antichrist because of his cruelty and abominations paul also suffered under this persecution when nero sent two of his esquires ferega and parthemius to bring him to his execution they found paul instructing the people and asked him to pray for them so that they might believe how would you imagine that nero sends a couple of his henchmen and they come to arrest you to take you off to kill you but first they ask you to pray for them so that they might believe it says receiving paul's assurance that they would soon be baptized the two men let him out of the city to the place of execution where paul was beheaded this persecution ended under vespasian's reign giving the christians a little peace so it was a very tumultuous time in the early church and so in philippians a couple of years prior the possibility was that he could be that he could be killed but by the time we get to the the writing of 2nd timothy he knows it he knows that he's not going to escape this time it is in fact his 11th hour and then notice the close connection between verses 5 and 6. so after giving timothy the charge after giving the first reason for the charge he has this parenthetical almost statement in verse five but you be watchful in all things endure afflictions do the work of an evangelist fulfill your ministry there is a contrast and a comparison between verse 5 but you and verse 6 for i because what paul is saying is in light of the fact that i am being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure is at hand you need to be faithful timothy in preaching the word you need to be faithful timothy in continuing the ministry of the gospel you need to be faithful timothy in doing what it is i've shown you by example and given to you by way of instruction timothy hold the line hold fast and be faithful now notice secondly the apostles past perseverance we need to appreciate in the first place that he's not boasting this isn't the language of triumphalism but rather it is the language of perseverance he's not patting himself on the back he's not trying to gain glory he's not trying to say to everybody hey look at what a great guy i have been it is a matter of fact it is a statement of reality it is the truth and to back that truth up all one needs to do is read the book of acts to read the epistles of the apostle paul to know something of the historical situation that our brother faced and to see how he in fact persevered through every jot and tittle of it so when readers of the new testament get to verse 7 if they for a moment start to think wow this is a proud fellow wow this is a boastful man they haven't read accurately everything that has uh preceded this this isn't triumphalism but rather it is perseverance notice as well though he doesn't mention god's grace he doesn't say by the grace of god i have fought the good fight by the grace of god i have finished the race by the grace of god i have kept the faith now those of us who know paul know that he was always dependent upon the grace of god it would be simply unimaginable that he would come to the 11th hour he would come to that point of death and he would not have any acknowledgement of god's grace it's assumed we know that it's by god's grace we know that because of paul's emphasis in other places look at first timothy chapter one first timothy chapter one specifically at verse 12. first timothy chapter 1 verse 12 and i thank christ jesus our lord who has enabled me because he counted me faithful putting me into the ministry although i was formerly a blasphemer a persecutor and an insolent man but i obtain mercy because i did it ignorantly and unbelief and the grace of our lord jesus uh the grace of our lord was exceedingly abundant with faith and love which are in christ jesus this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance that christ jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom i am chief see he's not a man that is negligent in terms of acknowledgement of the grace of god look at one uh uh i'm sorry look at chapter 2 timothy chapter 2 verse 1 when he comes to exhort timothy you therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in christ jesus how could paul exhort him that unless it was from experience and then again in our own chapter at verse 17. back to verse 16 notice that my first offense well back up to verse 14. look at what paul does in verse 14. it's not just david it's not just uh jeremiah that engaged in imprecatory psalms or prayers look at paul in second timothy 4 14. alexander the coppersmith did me much harm may the lord repay him according to his works what is he saying he is saying that he's an unsaved man he's a reprobate he is a wretch he is a vile uh enemy of god and of his church and so he says may the lord repay him verse 15. you also must be aware of him for he has greatly resisted our words but then notice in verse verse 16 at my first defense no one stood with me but all forsook me may it not be charged against them so on the one hand an imprecation for alexander the coppersmith because he did a much arm on the other hand these friends and acquaintances of paul didn't stand with him but they forsook him but he says may the lord not charge them with that in other words they're not reprobate they're not god-hating rebels they perhaps had a moment of weakness they perhaps had a period of weakness but hopefully god will spare them in his great mercy and kindness you see brethren at times the christian life is complex there are times when the saint of christ imitates christ by giving place to god's wrath and praying the imprecatory psalms there are other instances and seasons where the saint imitates christ by praying for god's mercy upon people again there's no straight answer in terms of who do we pray the imprecatory psalms for i would suggest as a beginning point those enemies of christ and those enemies of christ church those who are avowed but then notice what he says there's a contrast verse 16 at my first offense no one stood with me but all forsook me but notice in verse 17 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 brethren be encouraged your friends may engage in a moment of weakness your friends may in the last hour abandon you but the lord doesn't the lord is with his saints the lord is with his church the lord is with his people no matter what the situation is and so while his earthly companions abandoned him nevertheless the lord stands with him so going back to verse seven when he mentions what he has done it is faithful perseverance and that dependent upon god's good grace notice the first thing he says i have fought the good fight he uses a similar metaphor in 1st corinthians 9 6. therefore i run thus not with uncertainty thus i fight not as one who beats the air so he likens the christian life to a fight he says i have fought the good fight turn back to first timothy chapter one he exhorts timothy to this mindset as well first timothy chapter 1 at verse 18. this charge i commit to you son timothy according to the prophecies previously made concerning you that by them you may wage the good warfare first timothy chapter 6 verse 12 fight the good fight of faith lay hold on eternal life to which you were also called and have confessed a good confession in the presence of many witnesses and then notice in second timothy chapter two i'm sorry ii timothy chapter two at verse three you therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of jesus christ so going back to second timothy going second timothy four seven when he says he has fought the good fight we need to understand that it's the good fight because it's god's fight paul is not talking about his own sort of reputation he's not talking about his own aggrandizement he's not talking about his own pride or his arrogance the fight is good because it's god's the fight is good because it's christ's it is a fight for the glory of god it is a fight for the proclamation of the truth it is a fight for the establishment of faithful churches that's why it's a good fight but why is it a fight because there's this unholy trinity that aligns itself against the church we call it the world the flesh and the devil the world hates the church the true church the church that actually preaches the offense of the cross the flesh hates it because honestly brethren we would much rather have entertainment or we much rather have anything that catered to our felt needs and as world as well the devil remember that parable of the soils jesus says that the that the devil is like those birds of the air who come and eat eat up the seed lest people hear the word believe the word and are saved as a result but then think about this one it's not only the world the flesh and the devil very often it's the church itself that has to be fought with not in the sense of carnality not in the sense of actually going to blows but there's opposition there's resistance there's a hesitancy i think it is so well uh uh described in the book of judges at judges chapter 15. the nation of israel is under a a philistine occupation they're they're enslaved to the philistines and the philistines come to get samson because samson has done some some some some ruination he's engaged in his ministry of destruction relative to the philistines so the philistines come to get samson but what is unconscionable absolutely positively unconscionable is that judah helps the philistines judah comes to the rock etam where samson is and they say turn yourself in to the philistines don't you know the problems you're creating for us don't you know how difficult you're making it for us the very savior of israel they come and tell to go ahead and subject himself to the enemies it is absolutely incomprehensible that the people of god judah no less the the royal tribe the first tribe in the book of judges that is tasked with going into the land and taking possession or or dividing up the land and retaining it because of god's good grace but they turn over samson into the hands of the philistines which unbeknownst to them that was the best and blessed thing or most best and blessed thing that they could do because samson finds the jawbone of an ass and kills a thousand philistines so much to their chagrin they actually did destruction upon their captors so it is the case at times i believe this alexander the coppersmith perhaps at one time was an associate or a professing believer we don't know the state of the case of demas having loved this present world we don't know if he came back we don't know what his situation was but that internal threat that faced the nation of israel in the old covenant and that internal threat that faces the church today is oftentimes the reason why it's a good fight we have to fight with reference to advancement of the cause of christ notice secondly he speaks of having finished the race the similarity again with first corinthians 9 24 to 26 but also in acts 20. remember that pastors conference on his way to ephesus or on his way to jerusalem he's in my elitist he calls for the elders at ephesus and he gives them a charge and then he says in chapter 2 acts chapter 20 at verse 24 when he's rehearsing that he doesn't know what's going to happen except that the holy spirit testifies that in every city there will be chains and afflictions imagine that we don't want to go anywhere where it's a little bit uncomfortable we don't have the holy spirit telling us to go into these cities where there's going to be afflictions and chains paul does that and he says this to those elders he says 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 the apostle is able to say at the 11th hour i have finished the race because he effectively ran the race from hours 1 to 10. brethren that's the point of this sermon you're not going to say in the 11th hour i've fought the good fight if you're not fighting it now you're not going to be able to say on that 11th hour i have finished the race if you're not running it now if you're lazy if you're inactive if you're not giving service to the lord jesus you're not going to have this conscience when you come to die you're going to be wracked with unbelief you may be wracked with doubt and sorrow the apostle paul is not because he was faithful throughout his life and then notice thirdly what he says he had kept the faith i have fought the good fight i have finished the race i have kept the faith there's two ways we can understand paul's keeping of the faith there is the subjective paul's belief in the gospel and then there is the objective paul's protection of the gospel in other words the subjective belief of the apostle paul in christ jesus our lord or the objective content of the truth of the gospel either way and in both instances paul can say i have kept the faith i have kept my personal faith with all of the trials with all of the difficulties with all of the hardships and the afflictions paul never recanted in fact go back for just a moment to second timothy chapter one second timothy chapter one where the emphasis is on his subjective faith his hold of the gospel verse 12 for this reason i also suffer these things nevertheless i am not ashamed for i know whom i have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep what i have committed to him until that day and now drop down to verse 15 after giving good exhortation well we should never skip 13 and 14. hold fast the pattern of sound words here's the objective hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me in faith and love which are in christ jesus that good thing which was committed to you keep by the holy spirit who dwells in us that's objective hold fast the truth don't let it go don't relinquish it when everybody in the church says we don't want to hear about predestination preach predestination when everybody in the church says i don't want to hear about submission of the lord jesus preach submission to the lord jesus when everybody in the church wants to hear joel osteen on how to get rich don't do that timothy hold fast the pattern of sound words it's about jesus christ life death and resurrection now he's going back to the subjective the fact that he's held fast with reference to gospel truth verse 15 this you know that all those in asia have turned away from me among whom are fighters and hermogenes the lord grant mercy to the household of vanessa forest for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain but when he arrived in rome he sought me out very zealously and found me the lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the lord in that day and you know very well how many ways he ministered to me at ephesus the point is simply this all those in asia have turned away from me what does that mean it means all those in asia had a big problem but it means that paul didn't paul didn't turn away paul didn't relinquish paul didn't let go paul didn't compromise paul didn't want his joy and comfort and ease paul didn't ever to say say to the to the roman empire oh yeah i'm going to renounce the lord jesus christ so i can go be a free man whatever the consequences whatever the hardships whatever the difficulties associated with it the apostle paul accepted it that is a great encouragement and a great example for the likes of you and i so it's not only though the subjective hold paul's belief in the truth but also objectively clark says the faith is the doctrinal content of christianity the deposit which god deposited with paul and timothy i'm going to come back to this point when we close the sermon but before we go from this point isn't this what you want to say in your 11th hour isn't this the kind of stuff you're hoping to be able to pass on to your children and your grandchildren is it going to be i built a great company no that's not a not a bad thing to build a great company it's not a bad thing to amass wealth it's not a bad thing to get you know graduate degrees but when it comes to the 11th hour i would suggest brethren that those things probably aren't going to matter what is going to matter is that i have fought the good fight i have finished the race i have kept the faith if that is what we want to pass on in the 11th hour then we need to be faithful in hours 1 to 10. if we're not we won't be again i'm not suggesting we're not going to be saved because we didn't try harder or whatever but to have this kind of a clear conscience to have this kind of comfort one man in the history of the church said concerning christians our people die well our people do die well why because they have confidence in the savior who has sustained them in hours 1 to 10 bring some of this home with power in hour 11 and then receives them unto himself when they depart from this world and that brings us finally to the apostles future hope notice having said what he said in verse 7 he says in verse 8 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 the imagery of the games continues he uses that imagery again in first corinthians chapter nine he likens the discipline of the christian life to the discipline of the athlete the apostle says look at the athlete they get up early they buffet their bodies they don't go party on friday friday night they don't indulge their flash but excuse me rather they discipline their body they bring it into subjection such that they can be faithful they are temperate in all things and he says why they do it for a perishable crown do you know what you got when you won the olympics and this time and you know i don't know if they actually called it the olympics but it was the games paul was a tent maker no doubt he was very familiar with athletic event they'd get a a garland wreath for their head and front row tickets to the theater that was it i read somewhere one of the countries i think it was singapore gives their gold medal winner 750 thousand dollars that's pretty good incentive you didn't get that in the empire you got a guard you know a reef the wreath for your head and you got front row tickets but his point is they do it they buff at the body they get up early they don't go out on friday night they do that for a perishable crown we have an imperishable crown we have everything we have christ we have glory we have emmanuel's land we have all that god has held out for his people and this is his emphasis here paul is not in this because he just likes to suffer paul is not in this because he's got some sadistic or masochistic bent he doesn't just like affliction he doesn't just like hardship he's not a spartan he's not a stoic he's not the sort of guy that has no joy in his life and the more misery and pain the better it is now he's future oriented he is like moses turn over to hebrews chapter 11. hebrews chapter 11 and see what motivated moses there'd be a sermon for the hucksters the motivation of moses gold and money and no notice in verse uh verse 23 in hebrews 11 by faith moses when he was born was hidden three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child and that uh they were not afraid of the king's command by faith moses when he became of age refused to be called the son of pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of god than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin beautiful statement isn't it he'd rather suffer with the people of god than to engage in the passing pleasures of sin notice that sin offers pleasure people don't go out and sin because it hurts but well i mean we do know it hurts but because they hate it there's a certain form of pleasure attached to sin that's why people sin but it's a passing pleasure notice however with the passing pleasures of sin why does moses do this why does he do verse 25 i'd rather suffer affliction with the people of god than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin notice in verse 26 esteeming the reproach of christ what greater riches than the treasures in egypt for he looked to the reward same idea in the apostle paul we go back to second timothy chapter four now i'm not suggesting this is the only motivation it's what god is going to give you no we do what god calls us to do because we're faithful we're obedient we're compliant we do what we're supposed to do but we're never to diminish the reality that god holds forth a crown we're never to diminish the reality that we go to emmanuel's land we're not to diminish the reality that we get to engage in glory that far exceeds this momentary light affliction that we face in this world verse 8 finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness same emphasis in philippians chapter 3 verses 13 and 14 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 that reflects what he says in philippians 1 21 for to me to live is christ and to die is what it's gain why is it gain because it's more christ see that's what we have in our future and that's what encourages the apostle paul finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness let me give you two authors on what this crown of righteousness is john gill he says and this is called a 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 and then augustine this is one of those places where augustine glows he says 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 do had not all that we have been given when it was not due in other words the crown of righteousness is inextricably tied to the graciousness of god it's not the reward for payment it is the crown upon god's work in our lives and hearts it's not oh good for you paul you fought the good fight you finished the race you have kept the faith now i'm going to give you your reward no it's all of grace the entirety of it what god gives is given by god not because we deserve it but because god is gracious notice who the judge is on that day which the lord the righteous judge will give to me on that day you see that in second timothy 4 verse 1 why does paul tell timothy that the church and ministers must preach the word verse 1 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 christ is the righteous judge who will give that crown now the apostle is most likely contrasting what he's going to face when he meets jesus and what he's going to face when he meets nero because nero's not a righteous judge nero's not going to give him a crown but rather nero is going to behead him nero is going to have his head taken clean off of his shoulders because he's been been branded as an enemy of the state a traitor but notice that paul doesn't stop there he's not just it's all about me it's all me me me me me he's thinking about the church he's encouraging the people of god he's riding under the inspiration of the holy spirit look at the end verse 22 the grace of the lord jesus christ be with your plural spirit grace be with you plural in other words he's writing to timothy but timothy is a foil for the entirety of the church he's writing to timothy to encourage timothy but he's writing to us to encourage us so 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 in other words this is god's dealings with his people when you buy grace fight the good fight when you buy grace finish the race when you buy grace uh keep the faith you will receive this crown of life again keep it out of your head that it's payment for services rendered you do it all by god's grace the gift the the sustaining the seeing you through all of that is glory given to god most high but there is a crown at the end for all of god's people towner says the closing encouragement reminds all readers that while responsibilities in god's service may differ all including the apostle are called to participate in the same contest at the same level of faithful performance with a view to receiving the same reward and i love the way that paul describes that at the end excuse me in verse verse 8 and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing or longs for his appearing brethren does that describe you do you long for the appearing of our lord jesus christ is it one of those things you say or you echo with john the apostle at the end of the book of revelation even so lord jesus come come quickly is there that yearning in our hearts now it's not wrong to want to see our grandbabies grow up it's not wrong to want to see people get married it's not wrong to want to see you know further education and the building of good companies and all that sort of thing but brethren are we so tied and fixed to this world that we're not longing for the coming of our lord jesus christ there ought to be that yearning on the part of god's people where we say with john even so lord even so come lord jesus this is a most earnest expectation that the people of god have and it is a legitimate desire for us to express in fact jesus taught us to pray hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come there are two ways that interpreters understand that phrase thy kingdom come there is the kingdom of grace now we pray on saturday night we pray at the prayer meeting on sunday morning god may your kingdom of grace come through the preaching of your word but there's that eschatological kingdom of glory thy kingdom come may it come in power may it come in the manifestation of glory may you consummate the age and may you enter us into that blessed state there is that yearning and that longing in the people of god look just over to titus chapter 2. titus 2 at verse 11 for the grace of god that brings salvation has appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly righteously and godly in the present age notice looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great god and savior jesus christ for the most part here in the west we've got it pretty good perhaps we're not yearning as we ought for the coming of the lord jesus christ again not to minimize the temporal blessings and benefits that our god gives us the psalmist extols him uh the psalmist extols god in psalm 68 because he uh loads us daily with benefits jesus speaks concerning that particular petition give us this day our daily bread we have been begraced by god in the temporal sphere with a whole lot of good things but let us never get to the point where that whole lot of good temporal thing makes us forget the glory that awaits us in the coming of our blessed lord jesus christ i want to end with two thoughts first the examination of believers you need to ask yourself as i need to ask myself first what do we want to be able to say in the 11th hour what do we want to be able to say in the 11th hour it's funny this is a sermon that i preached several years ago and i just kind of tease out a few things in the notes to stir up my my memory and and i just will read you what i have i made a little bit of a change but you know what what what is better i built a great company or i achieved my education or i i got the high score on candy crush i don't know why candy crush was in my head at that particular time so this was a several several years ago or or even worse you know imagine coming to your 11th hour you know the the report of your heart is my my hockey team finally won the stanley cup who cares who cares about any of that stuff what do you want to be able to say in the 11th hour when you come to die second do you strive to live in such a way now that you will be able to say what paul said in the 11th hour again brethren i hope you all know me enough to know i am not preaching justification by words i am not teaching salvation by words i am not teaching you that you need to live in such a way in hours one to ten so that you get to go to heaven no we're justified freely by his grace justification is by faith alone but that faith is always accompanied by all other saving graces such that there will be sanctification in the life of the believer such that there will be fighting the good fight running the race keeping the faith all those things are indicative of the change of heart that god has wrought through his blessed gospel so do we strive to live in such a way that we will be able to say what paul says in the 11th hour in other words are we now fighting persevering and keeping or are we content with laziness are we content with apathy are we content with that soul crushing and that soul-killing sort of inactivity that oftentimes attaches itself to the people of god do you know that when paul writes philippians and he says for to me to live is christ and to die is gain he had been a christian for about 30 years that wasn't the honeymoon phase for paul you'll hear people speak like that oh he's newly converted so he has all this zeal and he always shows up at church that'll wear off what a wretched mindset we've adopted if we begin to entertain for a moment that that's somehow legit going back to the temple and back to the tabernacle god is worth it 30 years in god is worth your attendance at the prayer meeting god is worth your attendance at both morning and evening worship god is worth your everything in terms of service to him the last several months has affected some people some people are more in earnest in terms of corporate worship some people are less earnest about corporate worship some people didn't seem to affect at all what are we going to do in terms of going forward are we going to half-heartedly fight are we going to half-heartedly run are we going to half-heartily try to try to keep the faith or is it by god's grace going to be the case that we persevere and third do we love long for the appearing of christ do we look forward to the crown of righteousness it's a bit of a background to this particular message i wasn't going to preach this message i was going to preach something else but just to go a little bit beyond that i wrote to the brothers in my absence here's what's going to happen brother mike is going to preach brother ryan's going to preach i just gave sort of the to the deacons and and i said you know at the bottom i said if i die in a car crash on the way there or back i'll see on the other side in in emmanuel's land so i had planned to preach something i asked a brother what he thought and he said you know something that would encourage the saints and so i mentioned this text tonight he says is this your swan song i said i hope not that wasn't my intention at all not not even a little tiny bit there's nothing of me here it was simply an attempt to encourage all of us to faithful perseverance if we want to be able in the 11th hour then in hours 1 to 10 we serve christ and there's nothing better there's nothing more glorious nobody's the loser because he served jesus nobody's the loser because he attended church nobody's the loser because they went to the lord's supper these are all the benefits and the privileges associated with our religion but for some believers it's almost like the drudgery it's the heartache it's the pain and the suffering no that's not the pain and the suffering so let us by grace go forward in the fear of god and in the comfort of the holy spirit and in terms of the unbeliever consider the infinite worth and glory of jesus christ why would a first century most likely prestigious rabbi go through what he went through to identify with jesus when you read paul's sort of autobiography his religious resume in philippians chapter 3. he was a pretty polished fellow he was a pretty good guy he was considered a pharisee or he was a pharisee he was looked at as a religious leader in israel so why would he give all that up why would he sacrifice that well he tells us in philippians chapter 3 what things were gained became done to me became what's the the greek word is scuba on is it dung or is it something that is thrown to dogs either way all those religious accomplishments meant nothing to him anymore why for the excellence of the knowledge of christ jesus my lord someone well said is what you're living for worth dying for brethren christ is if you're not a brethren believe the gospel secondly consider the certainty of the day of judgment you've no doubt heard that maxim two things are certain in this world death and taxes i tell you you can evade paying taxes if you don't mind a life in prison if you don't mind a life in court if you don't mind a life of revenue canada breathing down your neck you can evade paying your taxes but there are two things you cannot escape death and judgment hebrews 9 27 and as it is appointed for men to die once but after this the judgment so consider the infinite worth and glory of jesus christ but as well consider the certainty of the day of judgment if there's something absent in this modern world it is that it is the thought of an afterlife this isn't medieval england this isn't superstitious africa this isn't the place where people actually look beyond their own notes we live in a materialistic age we live in a very uh sort of uh affluent age we live in a in a day and age where we're all very self-sufficient we don't think even to the grave let alone beyond the grave and yet the bible everywhere sets that forth we're going to stand in judgment before our lord jesus and then finally for the unbeliever consider the righteousness of the judge notice finally there is a crown laid up for uh there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the lord the righteous judge we should understand that in one of two ways first the righteous judge isn't going to wink and let us into heaven if we have not believed on him in other words there's no going to not going to be any finagling there's not going to be wiggling out of the the clear implications of having rejected the savior but this righteous judge here and now offers his righteousness in the gospel this righteous judge here and now through the proclamation of the gospel on the written page of the word of god offers a righteousness that avails with god he says to you to come to believe on him and you will receive both the forgiveness of sins and the righteousness that he'll clothe you in so that you'll be able to stand before god most high so unbeliever consider those things the glory the worth of our blessed savior the reality of judgment to come and the reality that christ gives a righteousness that will avail on that day of judgment well let us pray our father in heaven we thank you for this section of holy scripture we thank you for our lord jesus and for the grace that he has brought to us and the mercy of god displayed so vividly in the gospel we thank you as well for this example of the apostle paul a man of steadfastness a man of perseverance a man who is able in the 11th hour to say what he says because he had been faithful in the previous hours give us grace to ponder these things and god if we've become lazy if we've become apathetic or indifferent in some way god help us to repent help us to forsake these things and help us to see that jesus christ is altogether lovely that he is chief among ten thousand and that he is worthy of the best service that we can muster and we ask now that you would go with us that you would watch over us i pray for your blessing upon the church be with pastor mike as he preaches here next sunday be with our dear brother ryan as he preaches the following sunday and may you be glorified may you be honored and may you be pleased to dwell in the midst of the people here and we ask through jesus christ our lord amen close with a brief time of meditation you