Brown's Daily Word 10-29-07

Good morning,
What a beautiful morning! The Lord blessed us with a bountiful and beautiful weekend of fellowship, worship, and service. Saturday began with a gathering of men, for a hearty and all homemade breakfast followed by worship and service. Praise the Lord for the way the Lord of the Church shows up when His people gather with a desire to honor Him.
We were asked to offer a memorial service for a young toddler who died last week. He was just under 3 years old. His is mother is in jail. His father is in prison. The church provided a place for mourning and grieving, and a place to seek the Lord in the midst intense grief and pain. The church provided a meal after the service. We sensed the Lord's very presence in the midst of brokenness and death.
It was a very special day yesterday. It was Pastor's appreciation day in our Church. Alice preached at Wesley. I preached at Union Center. Our church spoils its pastor and the parsonage family. It was great day of worship, and feasting and giving thanks to the Lord for great faithfulness and mercy. The students from the Binghamton University that meet at Wesley joined us for sharing in the sumptuous meal and a very sweet fellowship in Jesus our Lord.
The epistle reading for yesterday was taken from 2 Timothy 4. Writing from a Roman jail, with the certain knowledge that he would soon be dead, Paul looked back at his journey with Christ, and then he looked forward to what would happen after he died. Then he wrote his own epitaph: “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (II Timothy 4:6-8).
After an exhaustive study of the men and women of the Bible, Howard Hendricks of Dallas Theological Seminary concluded that there are approximately 100 detailed biographies in the Bible. He notes that approximately two-thirds of those men and women ended poorly. Either they turned to immorality or they drifted away from the faith or they ended their life in a backslidden condition. The Apostle Paul was not among them. He finished well. Once when John Wesley was asked to explain the spiritual strength of the early Methodists, he replied, “Our people die well.” But in order to die well, you have to finish well. Our text tells us how that happens.
Finishing well doesn't happen by accident. My wife reminded me that Mother Teresa finished the race well. Princes Diana finished her race in disgrace. Jim Elliott , Nate Saint, and Graham stains and many others finished the race well.
As Paul approached his own death, he drew some conclusions about his own life and what would happen next. Based on his words let us think about three questions together.
When Paul says he is being poured out like a drink offering, he is referring to an Old Testament ritual that accompanied certain sacrifices. The Law mandated that when a worshiper brought an offering, part of it was consumed upon the altar and part was given to the priest for his own use. When the offering was consumed by fire, the worshiper would sometimes pour a “drink offering” of wine upon the burning sacrifice. All the wine was to be poured out. None was to be given to the priest. As the wine hit the burning coals, it evaporated and a sweet smell rose from the altar. Keep in mind that wine was a symbol of joy in the Old Testament. The drink offering was a symbolic way of saying, “I gladly give all that I have to the Lord. This sacrifice that I offer is given as a symbol of my wholehearted commitment to God. Nothing is held back. All that I have, I gladly give to my God.”
Paul knew that his death was close at hand. He was on death row in Rome and he would never be set free. By speaking of his death as a “drink offering,” he was saying to Timothy, “When you hear of my death, don’t think that Nero has executed me against my will. I gladly lay down my life for my Lord. Nero cannot take my life; I gladly offer it to Christ. My own blood will be like the wine of the drink offering, gladly given to the One who loved me and gave himself for me.” It was Paul’s way of saying, “Don’t weep for me, Timothy. Know this: When I die, I will die smiling.” Paul had already given everything to Jesus. The only thing left to give was his life—and that he gladly gave.
The word “departure” in verse 6 has three word pictures behind it. It refers to a ship hoisting the anchor, raising the sails, leaving the harbor, and setting sail for a distant port. It also refers to an army that has made camp near a battlefield. To “depart” means to break camp, leave the battlefield, and head for home. It also pictures a man who has been carrying a staggering burden. Now the call comes, “My friend, lay your burden down. It’s time to come home.” For Paul, death was like setting sail, breaking camp, laying down his heavy burden, and finally going home to be with the Lord.
Was Paul afraid to die? Not at all. Write over his whole life these two words: NO REGRETS. Since he had no regrets, he viewed his death as simply going home to be with the Lord. What kind of departure will you have? Do you have that same confidence about your own death? You can face death with that buoyant faith if you will do what Paul did—offer your life as a “living sacrifice” to the Lord with nothing held back.
First, he lived a disciplined life. “I fought the good fight.” This speaks to the continual struggle that he faced. Think of the words Paul used to describe his own life: trouble, distress, tribulation, trials, hardships. In II Corinthians 6:4-5, he described the normal Christian life as including these elements: “But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings.” In other passages he spoke of the spiritual opposition he faced—Satan, the forces of darkness, the indwelling power of the flesh, and the spiritual darkness of paganism. Whatever else you can say about Paul, you can’t say he had an easy life. He never stopped fighting for Jesus until the day he died. Now at last the struggle is almost over. Soon his Commander-in-Chief will grant an Honorable Discharge from the battles of life. He will be promoted from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant. By God’s grace, he had fought well and for him, the battle would soon be over.
Second, he lived a directional life. “I have finished my course.” We must not read that and think that Paul means, “I did what I wanted to do.” This is not like Frank Sinatra singing, “I did it my way.” Paul means that he followed the course the Lord Jesus set out for him the day he saved him on the road to Damascus. Ever since that day, he had been following the Lord, doing whatever the Lord had for him to do. Whether in good times or bad times, whether in happy circumstances or in the midst of pain and suffering, Paul had walked in the way of the Lord. Now the journey was almost over. He could look back and say, “It wasn’t easy, it was often hard, and sometimes I wondered if I would make it, but now I can see that Jesus led me all the way.” He had reached the finish line at last.
This was Paul’s approach to the Christian life. No matter what happened to him, he just kept moving forward by the grace of God. One foot in front of the other, one step at a time, one day at a time. He wasn’t deterred by opposition because he knew it was coming eventually. Our problem is that we’re surprised by trouble. We think the Christian life ought to be easy. It’s not easy, and it’s not supposed to be easy. Today is the day of struggle, combat, warfare. Today we march to battle in the name of the Lord. The day of rest comes later.
Third, he lived a doctrinal life. “I have kept the faith.” This simply means he refused to compromise the truth. When other people fell away, Paul preached the Word. When the world was against him, Paul paid no attention. When it would have been easy to trim his message to save his own life, Paul proclaimed the whole counsel of God. He did not back down, he did not compromise, and he would not preach what people wanted to hear. He kept the faith.
Because Paul knew that nothing could touch him that did not come from the hand of God, he never gave in to discouragement. He truly believed that everything that happened to him was for his good and for God’s glory. Therefore, he kept on going for God to the very end. Even the chains of a Roman jail could not destroy his faith or shatter his confidence in God.
He never stopped fighting!
He never stopped running!
He never stopped believing!

“Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing” (II Timothy 4:8).
Here we see Paul’s faith shining so brightly that the darkness of the Roman prison cell seems to disappear. By faith he sees beyond his own beheading. The pain of that moment is now past and the suffering of this life is left far behind. By faith he sees a day (“that day”) when he will receive his reward from the Lord. What will that reward be like?
It will be a guaranteed reward. It is “laid up” or “stored” in heaven for Paul.
It will be a glorious reward. It is the crown of righteousness. It will be a personal reward. Paul will receive his reward from the Lord himself. Note how specific he is about this. It is the Lord, the righteous Judge, who will reward him. In just a few days Nero, the unrighteous earthly ruler, will have him beheaded. But in “that day” the Lord himself will reverse Nero’s earthly judgment. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Universe will weigh in on Paul’s case—and his judgment will be final.
It will be personal. Paul won’t be awarded his crown by mail and he won’t receive it from a committee. He will receive it directly from Jesus Christ.
It will be a future reward. Paul will receive his reward on “that day,” the day Jesus Christ returns from heaven.
It will be a shared reward. It is not just for Paul but also for everyone who loves the Lord and longs for his appearing.
This is what is ahead for you and for me if we will faithfully serve Jesus Christ in this life. Be encouraged . The Lord is not so unjust as to forget your suffering for him. He sees all that you go through. He knows all about your struggles. He sees how hard the fight is, how you are sometimes tempted to quit, and how you keep on going when others around you throw in the towel. He sees and he knows and in “that day,” the Lord himself will reward us if we are faithful to him now.
So the word of Lord is this: Keep on fighting. Keep on running. Keep on believing. And the best of all is yet to come. This hot battle won’t last forever, this long road will soon come to an end, and this old world full of “dangers, toils and snares” won’t last much longer. Let us Hold on to our faith. Let us Keep believing. Let us Stay strong. Let us Put on the whole armor of God. Let us Hold on to our faith and never give up. There’s a finish line out there somewhere, and it’s closer than any of us realize.
By the grace of God, let’s finish strong for Jesus.
In Him alone,
Brown



The Lord afflicts us at times; but it is always a thousand times less than we deserve, and much less than many of our fellow-creatures are suffering around us. Let us therefore pray for grace to be humble, thankful, and patient.
... John Newton