Transcript

As an eight-year-old boy growing up in Hawaii, Brian Clay dreamed of winning one of the most prized gold medals in the Olympic games: the decathlon. He accomplished that goal in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

In the decathlon, athletes earn points for their marks in ten events over two days. With a commanding lead going into the last event, the 1,500-meter run, Clay could have just coasted to the finish line and still earned the gold medal.

But when Clay was asked by Dennis Rainey when he knew he had the decathlon wrapped up, Clay surprised Dennis with his reply:

“In the last race when I was about 10 feet away from the finish line, that’s when I knew I’d won. I’d worked, trained, and competed for eight years to be able to have the gold [medal] hanging around my neck.

“And if there was anything those eight years of competition had taught me it was that in competing against the best in the world in ten grueling events, anything can go wrong before you cross the finish line.”

Dennis Rainey commented on this, “I’ve never competed in the Olympics, but I have competed in life. Like Brian Clay, I’ve learned that the race isn’t over until you cross the finish line. Even in the very last years of life—just short of the finish line—you can continue to be used by God. People still need you. You can still have an impact.”

The Apostle Paul finished his course; he saw it through and made an impact to the very end. As a result of finishing the race, Paul wrote that he knew he would be rewarded for it at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

2 Timothy 4:6: “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.”

“For I am now ready to be offered” means “I am being poured out as a drink offering.” This is a figure taken from the Old Testament sacrificial system.

The drink offering was the final stage of an offering to the Lord as described in Numbers 15:1-10. In that chapter we learn how the Israelites were commanded to first give a burnt offering of one of the prescribed animals, then a supplementary grain offering, and finally a drink offering to the Lord.

After placing a sacrificial animal on the altar, the priests would take the drink offering of wine and pour it either on the burning sacrifice or on the ground in front of the altar. All the wine was to be poured out.

When the wine was poured on the burning sacrifice and it also hit the burning coals, it would smoke, and a sweet smell arose from the altar. And the drink offering was called “a sweet savour unto the Lord” (Num. 15:10).

Since his conversion, Paul viewed his life as a continual offering to the Lord (Phil. 2:17). For Paul, his death was the last stage of a life of sacrifice for the Lord and others. He desired that his life and death be a sweet aroma and pleasing to God.

The drink offering was wine, and wine is a symbol of joy in the Scriptures. With joy, Paul had given his life to the Lord and with joy he would die for the Lord.

As Paul said he was BEING poured out as a drink offering, it noted how his life was nearing the end just as the wine from the bottle was being poured out until it was empty.

And the pouring out of ALL the liquid as an offering to the Lord is a picture of the total giving and sacrifice of one’s life to the will of God, with no reservation.

And by Paul relating his death to the drink offering, it reminds us how the Apostle Paul had given everything in his service for Christ.

And Paul declared that “the time of my departure is at hand.” This is the final time period of Paul’s life. Like the sands in an hourglass, the last sands were dropping in his life.

Paul was in a race, and he was saying this was the last lap and he was approaching the finish. Paul was giving his last measure of strength in the battle, and the end was near. He knew that the time of his departure was near, this being the departure from the world, “to be with Christ; which is far better” (Phil. 1:23).

Paul’s words make me think of sitting in an airport, that his flight was ready to depart. And he was just waiting for the boarding call.

The word “departure” carries word pictures with it. “Departure” is a traveler’s word used for loosening the ropes of a tent. For Paul it was time to strike camp again. He had made many journeys across the roads of Asia Minor and Europe as he took the gospel of grace to the nations. Now he was setting out, and departing on his last and his greatest journey.

“Departure” is a sailor’s word used for loosening the mooring ropes of a ship. Paul had sailed the Mediterranean Sea many times in his apostolic journeys. He’d often experienced the ropes being cast off and the ship leaving the harbor for the deep waters. Now he was to launch out and set sail to cross the waters of death to arrive in the haven of eternity.

“Departure” is a prisoner’s word used for the loosening of bonds or fetters. Numerous times and for long periods of time, Paul had sat in prison cells in bonds.

Now, the time had come for him to exchange the confines of his Roman dungeon for the liberty and glories of heaven. Death meant freedom. Thus, Paul was ultimately facing release, not execution! He was being set free to go home.

2 Timothy 4:7: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”

In verse 6, Paul looked at what’s “at hand,” or at his present situation. Then in verse 7 he looks back at his past. Finally, in verse 8, he looks ahead to his future.

As Paul looks over his shoulder at his past, he stated that “I have fought a good fight.”

The word “fought” is the Greek word “agonizomai.” It’s a word used in Scripture in reference to both athletic competition or military combat.

The Lord alluded to the military meaning when He spoke to Pilate on the day of His crucifixion, telling him, “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants FIGHT, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.”

The words “I have fought” speak of Paul’s real, personal strain and struggle within the arena of the spiritual battle.

Paul had previously encouraged Timothy to do the same in his first letter to him, telling him in 1 Timothy 6:12 to “Fight the good fight of faith…”

The Christian life is a relentless struggle “against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12).

The life and ministry of a believer is a fight against evil and error, a spiritual battle against Satan and his host. This battle is a fight for lost souls and a battle for the truth. And the devil fights to keep people blind to the gospel and he wars to deceive and keep people from seeing the truth.

The Apostle Paul was a great warrior in this battle. He never quit and his zeal for the Lord, to reach the unbelieving, and to stand for the truth never waned.

His campaign to spread the gospel of the grace of God took him all over the ancient world in his apostolic journeys.

And the devil fought him at every turn, and hindered him, blocking him here and checking him there, stirring up mob violence against him, influencing the slander and hatred of Paul, but Paul pressed on.

And he advanced the cause of Christ and witnessed to pagans and the religious elite, to kings and Roman governors, and to slaves and Roman soldiers, the rich and the poor, Jew and Gentile, male and female.

He wielded the Sword of the Spirit against the devil’s lies and doctrines of demons. He faced antagonists and false teachers head-on who opposed the truth of his gospel. And he grounded the saints in the truth of God’s Word.

Paul’s fight included an astonishing series of dangers, persecutions, and indignities, including being beaten with rods, stoned, suffering shipwreck, imprisonments, weariness, pain, hunger, and thirst.

But he never stopped fighting until the day he died. Paul had lived his life to the fullest, and he carried out all commands, and accomplished all that the Lord had charged and called him to do.

The fight he fought was “the good fight,” it was for a good, worthy, noble cause, for the cause of Christ and making Him and His truth known. And in this fight Paul had not deserted, he had stood boldly and bravely for the truth. By God’s grace, he fought well.

Now the fight and struggle was almost over for this good soldier. And his Commander-in-Chief was about to grant him an Honorable Discharge.

In Acts 13:25, Paul spoke of John the Baptist and said, “And as John fulfilled his COURSE, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not He.” John fulfilling his course speaks of him completing the course of his life’s purpose and ministry.

In Acts 20:24, Paul referred to his course, “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my COURSE with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.”

Paul’s determined resolve in Acts 20:24 to finish his course with joy was now a reality.

Paul had followed and run the course the Lord Jesus set out for him the day he was saved. And he had completed the course of his life, purpose, and calling.

Paul’s course had been tough. It was no level, straight, easy course he ran. His course had some sharp twists and turns, very high peaks, extremely low valleys, numerous obstacles to get around, difficult terrain, and treacherous sinkholes along the way.

And this was foretold by the Lord who told Ananias about the course Paul would run after his conversion, “for he is a chosen vessel unto Me, to bear My name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:15-16).

This race for Paul hadn’t been a sprint but a marathon. It took Paul over thirty years to run it, from the time of his conversion at Damascus to his death in Rome.

But now Paul felt the joy of faithfulness and long obedience to Christ. He had not cut corners or taken shortcuts in the race. He had pressed toward the goal and the finish all the way. He had completed the course set before him, leaving nothing undone, finishing it without stopping, quitting, and dropping out.

Now, the finish line has been crossed by Paul and the results would last forever.

Paul also says that “I have kept the faith.” The word “kept” describes the action of keeping one’s eye upon something and conveys the idea of protecting and guarding it.

It makes me think of keeping an eye on your children or grandchildren when they are younger. You have to watch them closely in order to protect them. And as soon as they are out of sight, you panic until you find them and make sure they are okay.

Like our children and grandchildren are a priceless treasure to our lives and thus we watch and protect them, Paul kept a close eye on the priceless treasure of “the faith,” to keep and protect it.

“The faith” refers not to the ACT of believing but rather to WHAT is believed. And the faith that is to be believed and followed today is the body of grace truth that Christ revealed to Paul for the Church, the Body of Christ within the dispensation of grace.

The faith includes the gospel of the grace of God, and “the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery.” It is the truth that you find within the epistles of Paul in your Bible.

With vigilance, Paul had kept and guarded this truth to the very end, faithfully keeping it free from error, carefully watching for those who would add to or subtract from it, keeping it from being lost by taking a strong stand and passing it on to others.

You see that Paul kept the faith by how, even in his final days, he challenges Timothy to keep the faith as well. Earlier in 2 Timothy, he wrote: “That good thing which was committed unto thee KEEP by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.”

The good thing that was committed to Timothy was God’s revealed truth for this current dispensation, and like Paul, Timothy needed to keep the faith.

The Bohemian reformer John Hus was a man who believed the Scriptures to be the infallible and supreme authority in all matters. He died at the stake for that belief in Constance, Germany, on his forty-second birthday.

As he refused a final plea to renounce his faith, Hus’s last words were, “What I taught with my lips, I seal with my blood.” The Apostle Paul could say this as well, as he kept the faith to the end and died for the gospel he preached.

When other people fell away, Paul kept the faith. When the world was against him, Paul kept the faith. When the devil fought him, Paul kept the faith. When it would have been easier to compromise to keep himself from persecution, Paul kept the faith. He would not back down, he never compromised it; He kept the faith.

What you find with this threefold statement is that it refers back to 2 Timothy chapter 2 and Paul’s analogy of three vocations of a good soldier, an athlete, and a farmer.

Because like a good soldier of Jesus Christ, Paul fought the good fight in the spiritual battle. Like an athlete who gave a full effort and did so according to the rules and God’s instruction for this current age, Paul finished his course.

And like a faithful farmer who diligently labored, Paul worked and kept the faith as a faithful steward of God’s truth for today.

2 Timothy 4:8: “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

Paul’s faith shone brightly in that dark Roman prison cell, so much so that its darkness seemingly disappeared. By faith, Paul saw beyond the day of his execution to the future day of the Judgment Seat of Christ.

Paul saw beyond the visible, temporal, current state of suffering in that Roman prison under the sentence of death to the invisible, eternal, future of glory and reward, and by faith he drew comfort from it.

This passage mirrors what Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18: “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.”

The conflict had been waged, the race had been run, the faith had been guarded, and Paul knew that an exceeding and eternal weight of glory awaited him.

Paul knew that a crown was waiting for him in heaven, and he knew he would receive that crown that has been safely laid aside at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

In 2 Timothy 2:5, Paul had written, “And if a man also strive for masteries [or competes in athletics], yet is he not CROWNED, except he strive lawfully.”

Paul knew that he had strove lawfully, according to the rules and instructions for this current dispensation of grace. And thus he would be crowned.

Paul looked forward to receiving an eternal, unfading “crown of righteousness.”

The righteousness which Paul had manifested in his service to Christ would be rewarded with a crown of righteousness at the Judgment Seat.

A righteous crown will be given by the righteous Judge to one who did what is right, namely: one who fought the good fight, finished one’s course, and kept the faith.

The word “crown” refers to the laurel wreath that the victors at Greek athletic games received. Paul pictures himself here as a victorious athlete, who, having run his course, is now looking up to the raised judge’s stand, awaiting to be called forward to receive the honor of his crown of victory that awaits him.

Paul points out that his crown will come from “the Lord, the righteous Judge.”

This is the second mention of the Judge in this chapter. Paul had spoken of the righteous Judge in verse 1, it is “the Lord Jesus Christ, Who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom.”

This verse refers to the Judgment Seat of Christ. The “quick and the dead” refer to all the members of the Church, the Body of Christ at the time of His appearing at the Rapture.

The “quick,” or living, are those who are alive at the time when Christ returns. The “dead” are the dead in Christ, who are with the Lord in heaven. At the Judgment Seat, Christ will judge the entire Body of Christ.

You see in this verse also that the judgment of the Body of Christ and Christ’s appearing are connected and associated together. This is because the Judgment Seat of Christ takes place right on the heels of Christ’s appearing at the Rapture.

All members of the Body of Christ are accountable to the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the Head of the Church and He will be our Judge.

Service to God in this dispensation is rendered under His watchful eye and He will one day review and evaluate the works and faithfulness of every member of His Church.

Paul faced judges throughout his ministry who were far from righteous and he took great comfort knowing that he would be judged by the “righteous Judge” at the Judgment Seat.

Unlike earthly judges, Christ has infinite and complete knowledge, and He will justly evaluate the deeds of our service as well as the motives that led to them and by which they were carried out.

And then He will reward or withhold reward us according to His perfect, impartial, and righteous judgment.

The crown of righteousness that Paul wrote he would receive will be a personal reward. Paul will receive his reward from the Lord himself. He wrote, “which THE LORD…shall give ME at that day.”

Paul won’t be awarded his crown from Christ long distance, and he won’t receive it from a committee of angels or a high ranking one, He will receive it directly from the Lord, from His nail-scarred hands to his hands.

And Paul’s expectation of reward at that day is also available to others, as he wrote, “and not to me only.” We can gain the same crown of righteousness that Paul will receive.

A future crown and rewards are not just for Paul but for everyone who faithfully serves the Lord and “all them also that love His appearing.”

Christ’s appearing refers to both the Rapture AND the Judgment Seat of Christ which closely follows it. Because as verse 1 says, Christ will “judge the quick and the dead AT HIS APPEARING.”

Paul’s life and ministry in fighting a good fight, finishing his course, and keeping the faith are the clear indication of his love for Christ’s appearing. He was not dreading the day of standing before the Lord.

Because he had lived a fervent, faithful, righteous life in His service, Paul longed for, loved, and looked forward to Christ’s appearing and was more than willing to have his life judged by the righteous Judge.

And Paul is saying that all who love His appearing, are those like him who have lived fervently, faithfully, righteously, in obedience to God’s will, carrying out and finishing the work Christ has called them to do, and they, like he, will be crowned with a crown of righteousness.

In 1904 William Borden graduated from a Chicago high school. As heir to the Borden Dairy estate, he was already a millionaire.

For his high school graduation present, his parents gave him a trip around the world. As the young man traveled through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, he felt a growing burden for people and their hurting and lost condition.

Finally, Borden wrote home to say, “I’m going to give my life to prepare for the mission field.” At the same time, he wrote two words in the back of his Bible: “No reserves.” Indeed, Borden held nothing back.

During his college years at Yale University, he became a pillar in the Christian community. One entry in his personal journal that defined the source of his spiritual strength simply said: “Say no to self and yes to [Christ] every time.”

During his first semester at Yale, Borden started a small prayer group that would transform campus life. This little group gave birth to a movement that spread across the campus.

By the end of his first year, 150 freshmen were meeting for weekly Bible study and prayer.

By the time Bill Borden was a senior, well over half of Yale’s 1,300 students were meeting in such groups.

But his real passion was missions.

Once he narrowed his missionary call to the Kansu people in China, Borden never wavered. Upon graduation from Yale, Borden wrote two more words in the back of his Bible: “No retreats.”

In keeping with that commitment, Borden turned down several high-paying job offers, enrolling in seminary instead. After graduating, he immediately went to Egypt to learn Arabic because of his intent to work with Muslims in China.

While in Egypt, he contracted spinal meningitis. Within a month, 25-year-old William Borden was dead.

Prior to his death, Borden had written two more words in his Bible. Underneath the words “No reserves” and “No retreats,” he had written: “No regrets.”

You could write the same three statements over Paul’s whole life: No reserves, no retreats, and no regret. Paul’s life and ministry challenges us to live for Christ with the same kind of passion and faithfulness.

We will never regret giving our lives to the Lord or giving our all as we serve Him. We will only be glad we did when the day comes that we stand before the Lord at the Judgment Seat of Christ.