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Second Timothy 4.
Second Timothy, chapter 4.
I charge thee therefore before good. Sorry, I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead. It is appearing in His Kingdom. Preach the word, be instant in season out of season, improve rebuke, exhort all along, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own loss they shall heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
The watch style in all things. Endure afflictions. Do the work of an evangelist, Make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which lowered the righteous judge shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but also, but unto them also that love his appearing. Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me. For Demas have forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed into Thessalonica Crescent to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only. Luke is with me. Take Mark and bring him with thee, for he is profitable to me for the ministry.
Antiochus have I sent to Ephesus the cloak that I left at Chouas with carpets when thou comest bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil. The Lord reward him according to his works, of whom thee thou where also, for he hath greatly withstood our words.
And my first answer, No man stood with me, but all men forsake forsook me. I pray God, that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out, out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly Kingdom, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Salute uh Prisca and Aquila and the household of Nassiforis.
Erastus abode at Corinth, but Trophimus have I left and my litm sick. Do thy diligence to come before winter You will let us greet at thee and Putin's and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren. Lord Jesus Christ, be with thy spirit, grace be with you. Amen.
Umm, we mentioned that the ending of the last meeting, that in this chapter we have the resources and the encouragement to go on in a day of ruin in service for Christ. Because for every one of us here who know the Lord Jesus this morning, there is a path of service for us. He has something for each one of us to do for His glory, connection with the truth.
The Gospel and in blessing to his people. Wonderful to be at these meetings and enjoy this little Oasis this weekend.
But as we leave these meetings, let's be exercised that even though we find ourselves in the last days, yet there is a way to go on and serve the Lord faithfully, not with compromise. We've talked a great deal about the basis being a doctrine and truth and so on. And so we don't have to compromise to serve the Lord in a day of ruin. But there is a way that we can go on in spite of the ruin that has come in.
And there are perhaps a number of reasons in this chapter that Timothy is exhorted to faithful service in the last days. And one is that there is judgment coming and judgment on the on professing Christianity. And as we think of the judgment that's coming, oughtn't that to quicken our hearts to serve the Lord and get the gospel out? There are many raised writing in a Christian country, so-called Christian country, even in Christian homes.
And they're still lost. They might make a profession, but they're lost and in their sins. And so we need to be faithful in getting the gospel out, realizing that the time is short. He goes on to tell Timothy the time was coming when they wouldn't endure sound doctrine. And so we need to be faithful in speaking the truth and getting sound doctrine out and communicating the truth to others. And he brings before Timothy, too. There's a day of reward coming.
You and I seek to be faithful in a day of ruin. It's going to be worth it in the end.
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I think our brother Eric, in his prayer this morning, quoted that verse from Proverbs 29, where there is no vision, the people perish. And so we need to have vision if we're going to be encouraged to go on in the last days. And we're going to notice it's not so much the rapture he takes up, but it's the appearing, because the appearing is always in connection with the day of commendation and reward. Maybe one other reason is that there were few who were going on faithfully.
Few who were taking up Paul's doctrine and seeking to go on, and many have been turned aside. He says, Timothy, don't be like that. You go on and be faithful and be a blessing to the people of God. Exercise your gift for profit and edification, even though there's opposition. So we're going to notice these things and it's real encouragement. Rather, we've taken up some very solemn things in these meetings, but we want to go home from these meetings encouraged to press on in the little assembly in which we come from.
To be faithful to the truth of God, to be faithful in our service, to get off the gospel, and to be looking onward to that day of glory.
Just like to under score what's just been said.
I think it's really important to get the the sense of it in soles this morning. This is the last words of the apostle Paul is.
Not an epistle. Rent into an assembly.
Even to the individual, he talks about the state of things and so on, but it is a final word of encouragement to a brother that he had a very close relationship with, more close perhaps than anyone else. And he realized that he himself wasn't going to be with Timothy much longer and have much opportunity, but he wants to encourage him to serve the Lord. It isn't just saying to Timothy, you just go on and.
In spite of all the failure and everything else, Timothy.
Get somehow to the end of the journey faithfully with the Lord and others, but he's particularly encouraging Timothy to a path of continued good works. And so it says. In fact, the very context of the end of the previous chapter when it talks about the inspiration of Scripture and so on. And we applied it in a very fundamental, I think an important way to ourselves, but.
In the very context here, what he's saying to Timothy is Timothy.
You need to be completely the last phrase of the last chapter. A man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. And then this chapter elaborates on the work of good work. He's saying the Scriptures, Timothy will give you everything you need to do good work If you need a word of correction to somebody.
Scripture is going to provide it to you. If someone needs a word of right righteous living, Scripture is going to provide that word to you, Timothy to give. Is it a matter of teaching? Scripture is going to provide that word of teaching to you so that you may go on and serve the Lord with good works. And we need to be sure because our idea of service and that word service gets sometimes pretty constrained.
And so we think of service as preaching or always speaking to somebody about the Lord and so on.
That's too constraining, that's too narrow, and it isn't really necessarily the work that all of us are called to do in the same way. And so I want to try to help us to see it. Brethren, young people, each one of us, when we leave this building, we need to have that encouragement in our hearts to continue in a path of good works. I noticed as we read the chapter this morning some of the good works that Paul wanted from Timothy, as he said, Timothy.
I left my coat in this place. Please, when you come, bring me my coat, bring me my books, and bring me my writing paper, my parchments.
And that's good work. Some of the brethren who came into this building before most of us came into this building, we're doing a good work in bringing chairs into this building and setting them up so that we could have this conference. And when we all get ready to go, those same brethren will be doing the same good work this morning or this afternoon of picking up those chairs and the sound system and everything else.
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Umm, permit me to take it even one step farther. This morning, when or when we prayed, we prayed for Lemoyne Smith.
And part of our prayer for Lemoyne Smith was that he would be raised up.
He would be healed so he could continue with his service.
Not so. Not completely so it's OK, but I was very struck. Marvin Miller, the brother whom we prayed for the first day of the conference, whose wife died and was buried on Thursday.
Said very recently to me when I was visiting them in the hospital, he said. I don't mind coming to the hospital at all, He said I believe that and he's been in and out of hospitals many times over the years, he said whenever.
Something happens and we end up in the hospital. I always think the Lord has something for me to do there.
The Lord has something for me to do there. So it is with Lemoyne. The Lord has put Lemoyne in the hospital, but has given him his mind, his mouth, his heart. And the Lord will use Lemoyne in good works where he is right now, as well as other services that he may do at the healthy body that he doesn't presently have. So may the Lord encourage us to.
As we go over this chapter today to not just say Paul was writing something to Timothy, but God intends to speak to every one of us this morning and he has some words for each one of us.
To encourage us.
To good works.
I'd like to make a comment on the beginning of that verse 17 before we get too far that the man of God may be perfect or if you notice the margin it says complete.
That's so important, isn't it? We notice in this book, particularly as our brother Don mentioned, it's the last words of the Apostle Paul and he and what's happening in this epistle very evidently is that the popular current of Christendom was against the apostles. We see that in the in our chapter. We also see it in the first chapter. He says in verse 15 of chapter one, this thou knowest.
That all they which are in Asia.
Be turned away from me of who our flagellas and our homogeneous and then later on in our chapter, of course, it says, uh, verse 16 at my first answer, no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. And then we noticed, as opposed to the popular current of Christendom, we have individuals that were a health and a blessing to the apostle Paul. And he mentioned these individuals by name in many cases.
Well, when the popular current of Christendom is against us as we expect, there's still a place for the man of God and the man of God to com be complete. When the enemy comes in like the flood, like a flood, the Spirit of God raises up a standard against it. And so it's so important, isn't it, that we be men of God. That speaks to spiritual maturity. We have spiritual maturity and joined over and over in Scripture.
The first epistle of John, we have babes and young men or young people, we might say, and then fathers are mature adults. And I would suggest that's really what the man of God is, is someone who's mature. I think, uh, one of the veins of Christendom today is that so many Christians are, are, uh, stunted in their growth and, uh, they believe that getting to heaven is the end of Christendom. It's just the beginning of Christianity, isn't it?
And so.
Uh, we're called to be a man of God. Even in a day when the popular current of Christendom may be against us and the demand of God may be perfect or complete is the better translation. That is that we have the understanding of the whole councils of God, as our brother Jim mentioned and reminded us, uh, where there is no vision, the people perish. We need to understand the position that we occupy today. When I say we, I'm not talking about brethren as such.
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I'm talking about that which is the proper position for God's people in such a day. It's important to understand that that part of that sound doctrine, isn't it? So sound, uh, practice is required, a right condition of soul and sound position is required in such a day.
I could just add a little work of what you just said. You don't want to give the impression that, umm, those.
That umm may have a certain amount of light and truth. Uh, umm are necessarily always perfect and mature.
Say that we're experiencing difficulties in some of our assemblies in a lack of health.
A lack of help within the flock.
And the reason that we find ourselves in tho those states, is the very same reason that we see a decline of Christendom, that there that the man of God hasn't been been perfected by the Scriptures, by the truth of the Word of God. And when we find difficulties amongst the brethren.
It's because the Word of God hasn't had its effect in the soul, and something has crept in to undermine the truth and the the the liberty and the grace that the truth brings. So let us not think that.
Just because we have a certain amount of light that we don't have.
A need to be exercised, but the man of God may be perfected by the word of God, and that we might be thoroughly punished into every word.
It's individual here, isn't it? The man of God, because as you say, collectively things are in the state in which we've been speaking this weekend. But I think you have it illustrated very beautifully in the the writing, the prophet writing in Mount Prophet Malachi writing, because there we find that generally speaking, they were in the right position, but they were in a wrong condition.
And he brings before them very clearly to exercise them as to the condition, not the position, but the condition that they were, they were in. But it is nice that there were those individuals amidst that condition who were seeking to go on faithfully as individuals and then as a result, being able to encourage one another and to speak often one with another and so on. And that's really what the, what our exercise ought to be in the days in which we live, there is a right position.
And but as Brother Eric said, things are not going to return to the Pauline days of the church. They're not going to return to the days of great revival like what's experienced 175 years ago or so. No, but there, what Paul is telling Timothy is there's a way for individual exercise to go on as a man of God and to effectively serve the Lord and his people.
Even amidst the condition of things, that was generally.
The state in Timothy's day and very parallel to the day in which we live. And that's why we sometimes say that the last days are characterized by individual faithfulness. But lest we be, uh, confused, let's always be clear that collectively there is a path of faith too, to the end. It's interesting that in the second chapter, he takes that up.
He exhorts Timothy to go on with those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. There is a collective path to the end. And then he is in the 3rd and 4th chapters. He takes up the individual aspect and the collective side of things can be no more than the individual. You know, our local assemblies can be no more than the individuals that make them up, and that's why we need to be exercised as individuals.
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That these things might characterize us, that we would take up the Word of God, that we would read it, that we would have, that those willing hearts to walk in obedience to it, that we might be useful servants, that we might reach in our souls maturity and full growth. And if we do that as individuals, then there will be a state of things collectively that will be a blessing as well. Would you say, Eric, that?
That's good, Jim. Thank you. Yeah.
Nice to see how the hall brings Timothy into the consciousness of the presence of the Lord in his addressing him. You know Paul was called up to the 3rd heaven and he got things directly from the Lord himself. When God begins the work, he often does it with great signs and wonders to give witness to the truthfulness of it and so on.
But we're not told that Timothy ever got a vision or caught up to the 3rd heaven, or I'm not sure if he even performed miracles or not.
Umm. But it's wonderful to to know that, uh.
In a time like ours that though we don't see these evidences of things of miraculous power or even like they were abundant tokens of blessing like they were 100 years ago or so.
Our God is still the same, and that God does not.
Read UMM institute his truth give granting 1 revival after another.
Uh, just so the truth of God can be maintained once he communicates something to his people, it's their responsible to carry it and continue it. And so we, we have received a heritage of, of blessing from God in the time that we live in. And God having raised up a testimony to the truth of the one body and recovered many wonderful fundamental truths that we.
Enjoy. It's, it's so needful for us in order to carry these things on and keep them as Paul was concerned here as usual, about to leave and he charges Timothy with this. It's a little bit like Moses and Joshua, uh, and uh, he laid his hands on, at his Moses laid his hands on Joshua and commended him.
I believe it says he put some glory on him in one place.
So that the people of God would recognize.
Uh, that he had been raised up for his time. It's wonderful for us to, even though we don't have these outward signs rather than evidence of the power of God.
To live consciously in the presence of God. And don't forget that when your ministry is not well received by in a general way around you, because the testimony is so weak and poor and so much departure and you will not get patted on your back every other day or what you do for the Lord. That's the time you need to have the Lord before you and serve.
Steadfastly.
We can see from what's called previously fed to Timothy that he was a timid person.
And Paul said to him, as the God have not given us the spirit fear.
For the power of love and a sound mind. And Paul recognized the individual character of Timothy. Not everyone is a Timothy in that regard. Some people need to have to grab on to their shirt tail and hold them back a little bit, and others need you to sort of give them a push in the back to keep going forward.
And so it is with us in service to the Lord, we can easily come up with something we think.
While I'm not ready yet.
Partly why Paulus brings out the scripture here, that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished for everything. There isn't anything.
00:25:03
That God will give you to do that. He won't provide for you to do it.
I well remember and appreciated a brother, his wife, saying to me one time concerning something that was before them to do for the Lord. She said, my husband said the question is not whether we have the resources in ourselves to do it. The question is whether the Lord wants us to do it. And if he says do it, he will provide everything that's necessary for the doing of it. And Paul is encouraging Timothy here, not for being fitted. He's already finished all that and what he said to him, but.
This last chapter is the doing.
We're doing. It's not the preparation for the doing, but it's the doing. And so he begins the chapter by saying.
To Timothy, said, Timothy, what I'm saying to you, I say before God in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, what God is saying to us this morning is in that same power and spirit he speaks to us and he says.
I charge you.
You who sit in this room before my eye.
That you.
Do in Timothy's case, that was preached, he said. Be urgent about it, what you're doing. Why? Because the day is close at hand.
When everything is gonna be brought out, the appearing is a time when everything is gonna be manifested as it is before the eye of God, not as it is before man and man's eye and man's view and man's opinion. But the day is shortly to come when everything will be out as God sees it among men.
And established according to God's order instead of man's order. And so he says, Timothy, you do what you're doing now.
In view of that.
And Paul himself, when speaking to the Ephesians in Acts, he said, I am free of the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God.
Let's not hold back. Let's not have, if you will, I could speak this way, Regret.
That we didn't.
When it's all manifested and and we won't be able to say, well, I was timid or I was afraid or I didn't have time or I didn't this or I didn't that. No, brethren, the Lord, as it were, says brethren to us this morning before my eye. Please, if I can add that word, please. He's he's urgent with him. It's an exhortation. Preach, teach.
Guide the home, take care of the chairs, Do whatever the Lords called you to do, do it.
Do it before the eye of God, not before your fellow man, not before the concern of the opposition of men to it. But it's before God. Do it for him, but do it.
It's been said that a a good politician finds the parade and gets in front of it.
But that's not what we have here, is it? It's a call to faithfulness, uh, when the, uh, the parade is going the opposite direction. And that's a challenge. And so I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead. Now, the translation here needs a little correcting, doesn't it? I think we all know that the quick and the dead aren't judged at the same time. They're not judged, it is appearing, but rather the quicker judged.
That is appearing.
And then during the Millennium, and then the debtor judged at the end of the Millennium. So a better translation, of course, is who shall judge the quick and the dead? And by his appearing and his Kingdom, the point is he judges quick and dead. And also it is appearing, as has been said before, there's the question of faithfulness and rewards because of course it is appearing.
Will already have been in heaven for seven years.
And as it is appearing that the measure of our faithfulness is displayed, isn't it?
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I was looking a few moments ago at.
That furnished. Thoroughly furnished.
And we've moved beyond that now, just momentarily going back to it. Turn with me to Luke chapter 22 and verse 12, Luke 22 and 12.
And he shall show you a large upper room furnished.
Luke 22 and 12 And he shall show you a large upper room furnished now. Psalm 78, verse 19. Psalm 7819.
The questions can God furnish?
A table, Psalms 23 and verse 5. Psalms 23 and verse 5. Thou prepare us to table before me. When we came to the meeting yesterday, everything was prepared thoroughly, completely and thoroughly. There was not one thing lacking. And that's that same thought that carries with it here that we've been hearing. And so we see that we have all the word of God right here. We're completely Thorne Eastern.
Furnished, uh, sometimes we look at Ephesians 6 and with that whole armor and we see all those body parts that put on it. But it's a spiritual thing. We have a spiritual warfare and we come to the shoes and it says they're shot, but on the way down we don't see anything on the knees. And that's because we have to be on our knees in prayer. So we are completely thoroughly taking care of there. Also here we're completely and thoroughly taken care of. And so when we move on, there must be one other thing our brother just got done saying, a faithful servant.
To be a faithful servant.
Not only do we have to be completely, thoroughly furnished, we have to have one thing else. If we're gonna go into this service and I'm completely furnished, furnished, I have to have a faithful Lord. Look at verse 17. Notwithstanding, the Lord stood by me and strengthened me. Deuteronomy 31 has a verse. We get to a hairdo around me, 31.
It's verse 6, Deuteronomy 31, verse six. Be strong and of good courage. Fear not, nor be afraid of them, for the Lord thy God, it is he who doth go with thee. He will not fail thee nor forsake thee. In order for me to be a faithful servant, I not only need to be thoroughly furnished, but I need to have a faithful Lord. And my Lord, it says it's going to go with me. He's going to strengthen me. He's going to be with me.
And that is the thought that we have here, that this not only is completely, thoroughly furnished with the word of God, we also have a faithful Lord that is with us. Notwithstanding, the Lord stood by me and strengthened me.
Well, Timothy was going to find opposition if he was faithful in presenting the truth and walking in the path of faithful service. Paul, as we would say today, didn't pull any punches with Timothy. Timothy, you said, Timothy, I'm not promising you that it's going to be easy. You're going to have to endure afflictions. They're turning away. They're not going to want to hear what you have to say. All day in Asia have turned away from me, said in the earlier in the epistle.
In Paul's day, that was true. In fact, they had turned from Paul literally. We apply it in a spiritual sense, in the sense that they have the giving up of Paul's ministry. But Paul felt it in his day. And so he said, Timothy, if you present the truth as I presented it to you, you're going to expect that there be opposition. But he said, don't let that dissuade you. You go on and be faithful. Learn to endure afflictions and.
Fulfill your ministry.
Paul had fulfilled his ministry. He was about to finish his race. And the race that Paul speaks of here is really the relay race, isn't it? That's the aspect of the race. He was passing the torch. He was passing the baton on to Timothy. The relay runner goes out and he only runs a lap or so, and then he passes it on and someone else takes up the responsibility for the next lap and then they pass the torture, the baton.
And somebody else takes it up that everyone has a little part in the running of that race. And so this is what Paul was saying to Timothy. But we don't want to, again, give the impression that if we're going to be faithful in the days in which we live, that it's going to be easy. But, you know, Paul spoke of not only finishing his course, but finishing it with joy. You know, all Christians don't. All Christians don't. And I suggest that all Christians don't fulfill their. Excuse me.
00:35:10
Our Christians don't fulfill their ministry.
All Christians, uh, some Christians miss the path. He's going to give us a list of some that didn't carry out until the end, like Dimas and others. And so it's a very searching and a very solemn thing. But when he says to, to do the work of an evangelist, I think with Dawn made a comment that Timothy was probably a shy person and we get little hints of that. I suggest that he was not an evangelist as such.
Timothy had a particular gift and ministry and, uh, to the people of God. He was to give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine, get that in the first epistle and that public reading and ministry of the Word of God and so on. But I suggest he was not an evangelist as such. An evangelist usually isn't a shy person. God puts gift and ability together. If he raises up an evangelist, he's going to.
Raise up one that perhaps has a good voice, perhaps is like the cork, willing to have Bob back to the top no matter how far down they're pushed or whatever the opposition, perhaps a lot of adrenaline and push and so on to get into situations where he can give the gospel and so on. But we can all do the work of an evangelist. Timothy is told here in our chapter, do the work of an evangelist. I want to say that because.
We're not all preachers. We're not all. We're not all given a public place in the body of Christ, in the assembly. We're not all evangelists. But we can all in our measure and in the sphere in which we're placed, whether it's Doug was bringing before us its mothers in the home, or whether it's just going back to work or to school or to our neighborhood, we can all do the work of an evangelist. We can all present the truth.
In the sphere and to those that we come in contact with.
Yes, Timothy had a very public place, but that's not given to us all. But don't be discouraged. Whatever little sphere and ministry the Lord has given you, seek to fulfill it. That's where your joy is going to come. And so it says in Galatians. Let every man prove his own work, not another's, but his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another.
There were slaves in Ephesus and Colossians. They might have thought, well, what good are we doing? We slaves are employees to ungodly masters. And I think in both of those epistles he says something similar. And one of the epistles he says, not to do I service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart as unto the Lord, knowing that of the Lord he shall receive the reward of the inheritance. For ye serve the Lord Christ. He said, You go on faithfully, even as a slave or an employer to.
An employee to an ungodly master.
And that service for Christ, you'll be faithful, and God can use that in blessing, and he counts that as service for himself. And he'll reward you in a coming day. And so we all have a ministry. We all have a gift. We all have ability. It's not all the same, and that's not the point. The joy and the reward is connected with fulfilling the ministry that God has given each one of us.
Just want to emphasize what Jim has just said.
Again, it's so easy when that word thankfulness is used to talk about the dispensation and to talk about a lot of things, to talk about it in the collective sense of the word. All those things have their place, but not in this chapter. The point is, only Timothy could be faithful to what God had given Timothy to do. You and I couldn't substitute for Timothy.
No one can substitute for you being faithful to what the Lord gives you to do.
And he wants Timothy to be faithful. He's not talking about going on in sound doctrine and so on. He's already said that to Timothy. The point gets missed if you go back that way. The point here is you be faithful to the service to which you individually have been called to do for you, Timothy. Preach the gospel for you, Timothy.
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In as he says rebuke. And I like the fact that Mister Darby's translation after says rebuke says encourage.
Encourage, you know, as someone says, oh, everybody's giving it all up. And then I say, Oh well, but I'll have to be faithful. I'll walk in it. That's not the point. That's not the point here. It's Timothy. Even though it won't have reception, continue to encourage. Even though people don't want the gospel, continue to give it out. That's the only possible way for you in view of the appearing.
To do full proof to your ministry. And so brethren, don't give up. Maybe things aren't appreciated, but the Lord gave it to you to do. Keep on doing it. Maybe more tracks get dropped on the sidewalk than they used to. Don't stop putting them out. Continue to give them out if that's what the Lord has given you to do. Perhaps your neighbor says I'm not interested.
And what you have to say.
Well, if the Lord put it on your heart to say a word to them, say it anyway, even though there may not be. Or a fellow believer at work says, well, I'm not interested in that. Or well, if necessary, continue to encourage or review or exhort or whatever it is. Don't let the difficulty keep you from the doing as the Lord gives it to you to be.
Just to move along in our chapter because this is our last reading. No, just notice three things in verse seven. He says I have fought a good fight. One, I have finished my course 2 and I have kept the faith. And what a wonderful thing for the apostle Paul to be able to say at his life, at the end of his life. And brethren, wouldn't we like to be able to honestly before God at the end of our lives be able to.
Say these three things.
And so, first of all, he had fought a good fight, because as we've been saying, it is a fight, there is a battle. When the children of Israel went in to possess the land, it wasn't easy. And the measure in which they sought to take their inheritance, there was conflict. And you and I are in a war zone. And if you and I seek to be faithful in our ministry and carrying out the path of service that the Lord has given us, there's going to be opposition to that as well.
As we've already said then, he says, I finished my course. We've spoken of that.
And then he says, I have kept the faith. Now faith is used as in a couple of different contexts in the Word of God.
Sometimes faith is looked at as confidence in God, but I believe often, and especially in the epistles to Timothy, it's looked at more in connection with the Word of God, the truth that has been committed to us. We sometimes refer to it as the deposit of truth. And we find that earlier Paul speaks of those who had made shipwreck of the faith. They hadn't kept the faith, but Paul had. He'd gone on and kept the faith. And Jude when he speaks of appalling days of apostasy.
He begins his exhortation by saying, Brethren, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation.
It was needful for me that I write unto you and exhort you that ye earnestly contend for the faith that was once delivered to the Saints. You notice it's the faith once delivered to the Saints. We said earlier in these meetings, we're not looking for some new revelation today. No, it's all been given to us. In fact, it's important to understand that there's no revelation beyond what Paul has given us. It was given to Paul to fulfill or to complete the Word of God.
And there's no revelation beyond that. And so we're to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the Saints.
And when it says contend, it's not to be contentious, but again, it's that good fight, isn't it? It's standing firm in the evil day for the truth that has been committed to us. And so I think it's beautiful that Paul, honestly, before God could say that he had fought a good fight, he had finished his course and he had kept the faith. Brethren, we ought to covet that in our own souls.
And then the reward, and so he says in the next verse, henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. Now it's often been pointed out that there are crowns given in different contexts and aspects in the New Testament in connection with faithfulness. Rewards for faithfulness at the judgment seat of Christ, because any little faithfulness he so values that he jocks it in his book of remembrance. If you're faithful in your service for Christ.
00:45:34
It's jotted down. Maybe, as someone said, nobody sees what you do. Nobody gives you a pat on the back. Maybe someone criticizes you. You know, all the disciples criticized Mary when she poured out her ointment at the feet of the Lord. Not just Judas, but all the disciples criticized her. But the Lord gave a proper sense of what had been done. He gave his commendation as to what Mary had done. And isn't that what we really want? But the crowns are taken up in contrast.
In Corinthians, you have a incorruptible crown in contrast to a corruptible crown. You have a crown of life for one who lays down their life, and here you have a crown of righteousness. It's a crown of righteousness because we're going to have a part in the righteous reign of Christ. Our faithfulness now is going to determine our place in the Kingdom. It's not our entrance to heaven, but it's the Kingdom that he's taking up, an abundant entrance into the everlasting Kingdom, not into heaven.
But the Kingdom, and so it's a right, there's going to be a righteous reign. A king shall reign in righteousness and Princess shall rule in judgment. But I just want to suggest this too, that in contrast, it's a, it's a reward for living righteously in an unrighteous world. If you and I, there's a lot of unrighteousness, but we can again live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world or this present age. And if you and I seek to do that.
He says at the end there's a crown of righteousness given.
End of verse eight, he speaks to him about those that love his appearing.
When I was a boy.
Sometimes in the summer when my father went off to work, he gave my brothers and I jobs to do for the day.
Some days I was glad when he got home and some days I wasn't.
Some days I look forward to my father coming home to supper.
Because I had the sense in myself that I had done what I was told to do and I had finished it, and it had been done perhaps with the diligence and desire that it should be pleasing in my father's sight. Other days the lure of baseball or something else was too great, and I went off and I made sure I got my pleasure out of it. And then I didn't have an adequate amount of time necessarily to finish what my father had given me to do, or else it wasn't done in a very thorough or accurate way.
And so I really didn't look forward to my dad looking it over.
Brethren, it's maybe a little illustration to us of the appearing is going to manifest our work.
That the Lord is charging us to do. The things that Timothy had before him in this chapter were going to be seen in the light of the day which was coming, and they were going to be reviewed by the Lord in the light of that day.
So the manner of life, uh.
Could be said to us in this way. I know this has to do more with the earth and the appearance side of it, but even for us whose destiny is with the Lord in heaven, if the Lord Jesus.
Comes before 12:00 this morning. Are we going to have to have any change of lifestyle?
Our circumstances will change, but will the things that are governing our hearts?
Will what motivates us in the activities of our lives? Will those things have to change?
When the Lord Jesus left earth and went to heaven, his motives, his life in that sense did not change. And the sense of what's important to us should be in living in light of God's day. I don't mean that in the second Peter sense, but in the day when things the Lord appears and everything is displayed, we are to live now.
00:50:24
Morally in the Kingdom that will be in manifested publicly in that day and so it's important he was saying to Timothy you do what you do Timothy do it in keeping with and in consistency with what is it should be when everything is displayed before the eye of God and the Lord appears.
And there's an important difference.
An implication between the Rapture and the appearing isn't there, and I appreciate what you brought out about that. Just to emphasize that a little bit more, I have a note here. I don't know where I got it, but I think it's helpful. It says the Rapture is the expression of sovereign grace where every believer, no matter what state of soul we're in, we're going to rise up with the Rapture, aren't we? So long as we're on this earth or even in the grave. And sometimes we get the wrong thought that, well, it really doesn't make too much difference how I live because we're all going to go to cabinet at the call.
But when he speaks about loving his appearing, uh, the statement goes on to say his appearing is the display of his righteous remembrance of faithfulness. So it does matter how we go on in this world. That's the appearing side, just as our brother Don mentioned. I appreciate that illustration done. So there's a distinct difference in the Scripture always keeps the distinction between the rapture.
Is coming for us.
And the appearing is coming with us. They have different implications. One is sovereign grace. The other is his, uh, display of his righteous remembrance of faithfulness in this world.
These brought before us as a judge in two different ways. In this chapter. We've spoken of it at the beginning, but he's a judge in this verse as well. He's the righteous judge. But here it's a little different, isn't it? Because you and I are not going to be judged for our sins. And we've often used the illustration of the difference between the judge on the bench at the court of law and the judge at the County Fair.
The judge at the on the bench, at the court, at the court of law, he's judging people. It's because of their work, because they went against society, but he's judging people and the person has to bear their penalty for their crime against society, be it a jail sentence or a fine or community service or whatever it is. And that's what will happen at the Great White Throne judgment. It's the people. They're again, they're judged for their works and because they rejected.
God's offer of salvation through the Lord Jesus. But it's the person that will bear their penalty. They'll be bound hand and foot and cast into outer darkness. But at the County Fair, there are judges, but they're not judging people, they're judging their works. Now it's the person that ultimately gets the reward. The lady gets the blue ribbon for the best jam or whatever it is. The man gets the blue ribbon for the best woodworking project or.
Whatever it is, it's the person that gets the reward. But it wasn't the person that was on trial. It was their work. And so our works are going to be tried. And this crown of righteousness, this reward was not only for the apostle Paul who had kept the faith, but it was going to be available to others too, to all those that love his appearing. Now, we often say that the rapture, the Lord's coming for his Saints.
Is the proper hope of the believer. And I understand that that's true. We're looking for that to take place before this meeting ends. We're looking for the Lord to come and call us home. But in Titus, actually, the two things are connected. Let me just read it in Titus chapter 2.
And verse 13, looking for that blessed hope, that's the hope of the Lord's coming at any moment.
But he doesn't stop there, he says, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. And really the both things are part of our hope. We're looking for the Lord to come at any moment.
00:55:07
But we ought to love is appearing the day when he's going to appear back in this world and have his rightful place, when he's going to be vindicated, When he's going to set things right, not by man's standards, but regarding what he sees as right. When he's going to reign in righteousness, When he's no longer going to be the on the lips of the cursor and the song of the drunkard that ought to throw our souls. And we ought to live in view of that day.
And the realization that we're going to be associated with them, it tells us in Thessalonians he's coming to be glorified in his Saints and admired and admired in all them that are about him In that day. What day? It's the same day Paul is speaking up here, the day of his appearing, the day of his manifestation, when we're going to reflect the glories of Christ and have a part in what is about to unfold in this world.
At his appearing. And so we ought to live in view of that. But let me just say one more comment about rewards. They're not the motivation. Christ is to be our motivation. But brethren, aren't they given us a nice little incentive?
I think it's important to notice, I think we should call attention to what the hospital says about demons because I believe this is the environment that we live in. In Christianity Today. That is in verse 10, Demethat forsaken me having loved this present world and would be departed under Thessalonica. Dimas did not give up Christianity.
He forsook all. Paul was the man who brought us heavenly ministry.
And uh, he was the one who was caught up to heaven and it really only through him. We have a large part of our Christian teaching today.
This is the thing that.
Christians around us and a large part have given up and we are in danger of falling into too. That is making Christianity palatable to an earthly worldly type living not worldly in the bad sense of vulgar and and bad in that sense, but in the sense of making it the earthly mindedness.
This is what I believe Demon did. He left Paul.
Identification with the man who was a prisoner, that's hard to take, you know, to to be rejected and cast into prison there has.
Less several 100 years, Christianity has been made palatable to this world and to live good.
Earthly Christian lives here on earth make the earth a better place to live, and a lot of good earthly causes.
As to this world, uh, they're done in the name of Christianity. Not totally wrong in themselves, but they missed the mark of what they're really calling it. We're not called in here at the earth at this time. We're called to heaven. And this is the danger that I believe that we face. And it's a constant battle with the enemy to, to not give this up.
For a convenient lifestyle here on earth.
Now I know they have good moral lives here on earth, uh, and enjoy the things of this world.
That is what Dimas gave out.
We see a mark, we're seeing demis, a person going one way and in.
Mark here in a little detail we see another going the opposite direction. Uh, in Dimas case he loved the present age.
As Doug said, it isn't the evil. It's not doesn't use the word as it does elsewhere in a different connection. It's present evil world. No, it isn't the evil side of the world that attracted Dimas's heart. He was the present age until he he wanted to go on with her. And so he leaves Paul and all that Paul stood for and preached.
In order to enjoy the present age and not the age of disappearing because it's put in contrast to the appearing. It's lovely appearing and loving the present age. So which do I love? Do I love is appearing when the Lord will have His rightful place and what truth will be on display as it should be? Or do I love the present age and all that it offers to me? Well, our hearts are attracted to one or the other.
01:00:28
But then to go on to Mark in verse 11, he brings another example to us because when Paul first went out to preach, he went with Barnabas and Mark was Barnabas nephew. And they go out, but Mark wasn't up for it. He wasn't ready for it. And so they're out on their service to the Lord and Mark returns home.
And, uh, they come back. That is Paul and Barnabas. And now the time has come for Paul to go out again and they have a disagreement over March and uh, Barnabas says let's take him with us. Paul says no, you can't go.
Uh, he's as if we're not suited to it.
And the consequences? Paul and Barnabas separate their service to the Lord, and we never hear Barnabas work again. Paul takes Silas and off they go.
But we can see in Paul's epistles, his heart for Mark never was lost. And there came a day when perhaps the brethren said, Oh, that's Mark now. He, he's failed. He, he, he's not worth it. He, he can't serve the Lord. He's, he's, he's failed.
And it was known, but it Paul has to say in one case, except him, brethren, accept him. He doesn't say accept him in service exactly, but it says accept him, brethren. We can see that Mark was making some progress in his own soul and in his own life. And now here at the end of Paul's life, he says, what does he say of Mark? He says.
Bring Him, He's profitable for the ministry. Perhaps we failed the Lord in some way in our service to Him, and maybe others know about it too. Uh, this is a word of encouragement to us. If the Lord's given us, as it says, the gifts and calling of God are about repentance. If the Lord gives us something to do, He never repents of it. We may fail in it, but He doesn't repent of it, and so it's without repentance if He gives us a gift.
He doesn't take the gift away. It's without repentance on his part, but we can't use it profitably or serviceably if we're not walking with him. But if we have failed, the Lord has gracious and He works with us because He still intends with that gift and that work be able to be accomplished. He may use somebody else if we aren't submissive, but His heart toward us is a mark, the heart for mark.
He's profitable now.
Bring it, let's use it. So even in a day of ruin, there's restoration for individuals, isn't there? And that's beautiful and encouraging to see. Someone has said falling down doesn't make us a failure, but staying down does. If I could just sum up three men here that are brought before us. We have Dimas, who began well and ended poorly. Then we have Mark or John. Mark as he's referred to in other places, and we find he, uh, began poorly, but he ended well.
And then we have Luke, and he began well and ended well. He's like Caleb. He wholly followed the Lord. And so I think it's beautiful that these three men are brought before us in this way. But you know, there's a very human side to these last few words of Paul, isn't there? You know, Paul never lost that. The great apostle Paul never lost that human touch. And I think it's very beautiful in these last few words of the apostle Paul to see them.
Just back up one verse. Why did he want Timothy to come? He wanted his fellowship. He wasn't satisfied with just writing to Timothy. He longed to have Timothy fellowship here where he was a man who had served with the apostle Paul and traveled with Paul and been a blessing to Paul and Paul to him. He desired his fellowship. Do we desire the fellowship of one another and those who have liked precious faith and who have the similar desires?
And motives to go on in the truth. Paul did that. Then he felt it when Dimas had gone up. Dimas on two other occasions is listed with fellow laborers of the Apostle Paul in Colossians and in Philemon. Then there's Luke. Now I know this isn't the most profound thought, brethren, but I've often wondered why it says only Lucas with me. I think there's something very precious here in the care.
01:05:18
Of the Lord for his servant at the very end.
Who better to be with the Apostle Paul in very difficult circumstances as an aged man about to lay down his life than the beloved physician?
God made sure that his servant was cared for to the very end. Here was a man who could not only minister to Paul spiritually, but here was a man who could help him with his infirmities and in the very difficult situation that he found himself. And as as I say, as he realized he was going to lay down his life and that beautiful to see only Lucas with me. The beloved position was there.
Ministering in a number of ways to the Apostle Paul. Did Paul feel the cold of winter coming on? Yes, he did.
He needed his coat. You know, we never, brethren want to become callous or indifferent to the circumstances of life and the natural thing. If we become callouser and different to them in our own situation, we're going to become callous and indifferent to them in regards to our brethren. But we need to be sensitive to those things. He wanted his books, as Don mentioned, his writing paper and so on. So I just say that that yes, there are spiritual applications we can make here and rightly so. But to see.
The very human side of the apostle Paul and how Paul, on the one hand, he felt it that there were those who weren't going on with him.
Those who wouldn't suffer reproach and be those who were associated with them as Paul the missionary but wouldn't associate with them as Paul the prisoner. It was one thing to be associated with Paul the preacher. Paul the prisoner was quite another thing. He felt that keenly and then he appreciated those that were faithful and those that were with him, like Luke and wanted Timothy's men fellowship. He needed those things that were very practical.
And so I think it's very beautiful to see this. And brethren, let's remain sensitive to the practical needs of life too.
In our own situations that we might minister to others in that way as well. That's all part of the good work too.
Well, above all, he had the Lord, didn't he? The Lord stood with them and the Lord delivered him. And brethren, sometimes perhaps we get feeling down. We feel perhaps we're the only ones that are seeking to go on and faithfully and so on. We think we're the only ones that ever face these kinds of situations. And we say, you know, we used to have help from this brother and that or that sister, but they just don't seem to care anymore.
But you know, Paul wasn't wallowing in self pity at the end of his pathway. No, he was trusting in the Lord. He looked back and many had forsaken Paul. Many had even opposed Paul. But he said that's OK, the Lord stood with me. And you know, it's interesting that when he wrote to the Corinthians, he said we labor that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. That was Paul's comfort and consolation at the end of his pathway.
There were those who didn't hadn't received his ministry, hadn't gone on in it were speaking I'll against him as a say, even opposing him. But he said if I have the Lord's acceptance and I've experienced his hand in my pathway, then I'm content at the end of my ministry.
Well, there are a few at the end too, aren't there? I'd like to just say this, that as this little addendum begins in verse, and I know we're skipping over, but if you notice, he says Amen at the end of verse 18. And then he gives a little addendum here with a few names. But I believe the order of the list is very significant. It begins, first of all, with Priscilla and Aquila. You know, we've spoken of individual faithfulness.
But you know, there's, it's possible to go on as couples too, husband and wife. And isn't it interesting that the first people he lists here is a husband and wife. We know that this, I think this is the 6th mention of Priscilla and Aquila in Pauls writing and from Acts and then in Paul's writings and here they were going on to the very end. We might say, can we really go on as husband and wife? Can we go on as couples in the day in which we live?
01:10:14
Here's a beautiful example. You know, God teaches us by example as well as precept. What's the next, the household of Anessa Forest Brethren? Can we go on as households? There was a household going on that could be commended in the last days. In a day of ruin. Are there households? I'm thankful for households, not just individuals, not just couples, but there's households, families, we can go on.
As families, there's provision as families.
In A Day of ruin and then he gives these individuals as well, but I think it's remarkable that he starts with a couple and a household before he mentions a few individuals.
And it's Priscilla first, isn't it? Sometimes it's Aquila first. When it's a matter matter of public testimony, it's Aquila first, isn't it? The Osman? But it appears when it's a matter of devotedness. It's been suggested, like our brother Doug was speaking about yesterday. It seems like perhaps Priscilla was actually the leader in devotedness, and so she's mentioned first.
Entropy Mist. It's interesting again. It shows the time in which, uh, this epistle was written.
Tropomas if I left it my lead them sick. That's a remarkable statement, isn't it? Didn't the apostle Paul have the gift of healing? Why didn't he heal tropamine? Well, it was the day in which they were living. It seems like they were coming to the end of the first phase of Christendom and uh, uh, the gifts of miracles were were not needed so much or not used so much. The scriptures were being written and completed.
They gave the testimony now that was superior to that testimony that was given by miracles. So trophy myths have I left at my litm sick.
So he ends by saying, the Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Again, it's very individual, isn't it? And perhaps what one thing at least we can learn from this, brethren, is that in a day of weakness and ruin, in the last days and perilous times, yes, on the one hand we need to be faithful. We need to stand for the truth and go on in the truth, but we need to do it in the proper spirit. You know, we can do the right thing in the wrong spirit.
And it's sometimes been pointed out that when Joshua and Caleb came back from spying the land with the other 10.
Spies. They were the only two that brought up a faithful report, if I can put it this way, for our purposes, They stood for the truth as they saw it and knew it in their day. But it's interesting that there's a special commendation given to Caleb, and he's the only one that we read of that later on received a personal inheritance. But it was because of my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with them. Not remarkable. Caleb was not only faithful.
In his presentation of the truth to the people of God amidst opposition.
But He did it in the proper spirit. And brethren, we don't want to leave this room with our heads in the air and act like we're going to be the ones that are faithful and go on to no brethren, we want to leave our this room, I trust, humbled with a sense of grace in our souls and go on. Yes, but we need to do it in the proper spirit. And I believe there has been more damage done amongst the people of God by standing for the truth with a wrong spirit.
And so Paul says to Timothy, I want you to continue, but if you're going to be effective in your service and your ministry, you're going to have to do it in the proper spirit. And then he gives him one more resource. Grace be with you, brethren. We need to leave here with a sense of that in our souls. Grace is meets our present needs. Grace is for our service and ministry. Now the Lord will give grace and glory. Glory is what comes at the end.
But grace is to meet our present needs, and may we go forth from these meetings with a sense of grace in our souls, that we might effectively finish our course, fulfill our ministry in the proper spirit for the Lord's glory until He comes.
01:15:07
We sink 288.
288.
The bright sky and.
Lightning falls.
I don't dream.
On.
And I thank God.
And increase.
On high.
I.
19 and so and.
Hiding. Praying.