A Ministry Fulfilled

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 99
• Hymn
• Prayer of Invocation
• Catechism Recitation — Westminster Shorter Catechism, Fourth Commandment (Exodus 20:8-11)
• Scripture Reading — 1 Samuel 30:16-31
• Baptism of Keegan and Peyton Hall
• Pastoral Prayer
• Sermon
• Hymn
• Benediction

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Sermon Title: A Ministry Fulfilled

Scripture: 2 Timothy 4:5-8

I. The Confidence a Fulfilled Ministry Instills (2 Timothy 4:6)

A. Paul describes himself as already being poured out as a drink offering

1. The drink offering in the Old Testament (Numbers 15:5, 7, 10) consisted of wine poured on the altar, symbolizing the pouring out of life
2. In Philippians 2:17, Paul used conditional language ("even if I am poured out"); here it is certain — his death is already in process
3. Paul views his death not as murder by wicked men but as a sacrificial offering to God, because his entire life had been a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1)

B. Paul describes his death as a "departure" — a Greek nautical term meaning loosing a ship from its moorings

1. For one who has lived for self, death is a fearful binding to the dust; for one who has died to self, death is a loosing from this world to gain Christ
2. Philippians 1:23 — "My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better"
3. 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 — hold loosely to this world; the present form of it is passing away

II. The Perseverance a Fulfilled Ministry Entails (2 Timothy 4:7)

A. Three declarations: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith"

1. Military metaphor (fighting) and athletic metaphor (racing) — Paul does not claim to have won, only to have fought and finished
2. Both soldiers and athletes in the first century swore an oath of fidelity; Paul has kept faith with his covenant Lord, staying within the bounds of the gospel once delivered to the saints
3. The fight for the gospel is a good fight — worthy of blood, sweat, and tears, as World War II is widely considered a just and necessary conflict

B. Encouragement to all Christians in the race

1. Different believers face different obstacles — perpetual sin, tragedy, doctrinal struggle, hard circumstances
2. The psalms of lament — one third of the 150 psalms — are written for limping, exhausted, dejected believers; nearly every one ends with an encouragement to keep moving forward
3. Whether sprinting or limping, keep fighting and keep running to fulfill the Lord's calling

III. The Prize a Fulfilled Ministry Expects (2 Timothy 4:8)

A. The crown of righteousness continues the soldier and athlete metaphor

1. Olympic victors received a wreath crown; soldiers who fought valiantly received a crown of grass — the highest military honor, equivalent to the modern Medal of Honor
2. The righteous judge who awards this crown is Christ — contrasted with the notoriously unjust judges of the Olympic games and with Nero, the unjust emperor about to execute Paul

B. The crown is not earned by works but received by faith

1. It is a faith-righteousness crown — faith that looks to Christ as Savior whose righteousness is imputed, and as Lord who pours out the Spirit so that believers become the righteousness of God
2. On the day of Christ's appearing the dead will be raised (1 Corinthians 15) and the crown awarded to all who have loved his appearing
3. Those who receive crowns will cast them at Christ's feet, as the elders do in Revelation 4

C. The crown belongs to all who love his appearing — not those who merely dread his judgment and get their house in order out of fear

1. Paul frames both the charge to Timothy (2 Timothy 4:1) and the promised reward (v. 8) around Christ's appearing as judge
2. Loving his appearing is a test of where we stand with this world and with Christ — do we hold tightly to this world and loosely to Christ, or loosely to this world and tightly to Christ?
3. The call to cry out daily: Maranatha — Come quickly, Lord Jesus, come