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I Have Kept The Faith · Stornoway Free Church of Scotland - Sermons

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  Timothy chapter 4. We can read again verse 6, 2nd Timothy chapter 4, reading at verse 6.
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  But I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
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  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is
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  laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me
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  on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.
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  You may be familiar where Paul was writing this letter from, but if you're not, it just helps us
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  to understand the emotion behind his words here, and just how powerful a letter it is as he writes to
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  his one who was taking over from him, Timothy. He was really handing over the reins to him, hearing and
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  encouraging him to keep the faith, to keep a firm hold of the word of God. But where was Paul
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  when he was writing? He was in a prison cell, and he was just maybe perhaps days before the time
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  of his departure, as he puts it here, when he was going to be executed and put to death.
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  So how would Timothy have felt hearing these words as Paul wrote to him, writing to him of his
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  impending departure? I'm sure there would have been a mixed set of emotions for him. There would have
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  been a fullness of sadness as he was hearing what was about to happen to Paul, but also a sense of
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  thankfulness. Thankfulness for all that was being given over to him to be shared going forward with
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  others. The gospel and all its truth and all its power in all its glory. And this setting of
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  Paul's departure and the gospel going on is kind of a setting that we maybe feel that we're in just now
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  as well. The last week has been a time of emotions that we've experienced, similar to maybe what
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  Timothy has been feeling here. With the departure of Paul, there would have been a sense of a void,
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  a great void being left. And for ourselves, in this last week, as we think of those who have been
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  taken into glory, we know Professor McLeod was taken into glory on Sunday evening. Before that, on Friday,
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  Timothy Keller, an American preacher, evangelist, was taken into glory. And just, I think it was the day
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  before that, another American, maybe less well-known, the name of Harry Reader, who was another faithful
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  servant of the Lord, was taken into glory. He wrote a book called From Embers to a Flame, a book that
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  encouraged the church to revitalize and to put its trust in the word and power of God. Three well-known
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  men taken into glory. But others, maybe not as famous, even in these last few weeks, have been taken into
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  glory as well. People who maybe we knew personally and meant much to us as individuals, men and women who
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  encouraged us, who built us up in the faith, who prayed for us, who gave us wise teaching and counsel
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  along the way. Anytime these people are taken from us, we feel a sense of a void in our midst.
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  But we also should feel a sense of responsibility and a sense of thankfulness as well for all that they
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  have left for us, for all they have given to us over many years of life, for the many ways that they've
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  served their King and their Lord. And what do we think then of our own responsibility going forward?
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  Well, as Paul is writing to Timothy here, he's encouraging him to hold fast to the truth,
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  to the word of God, to keep going in the strength of the Lord, fixing his eyes on the Lord Jesus.
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  And those who have departed from our midst in these recent times would be encouraging us in the same
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  way, not to mourn as those who feel a sense of grief in it all, yes, but not to mourn without hope,
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  and to look and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul here is coming to the end of his life, but he's looking
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  back over it here and he's encouraging Timothy, encouraging him with wonderful words of encouragement,
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  even as he speaks here of the time of his departure. You notice he doesn't say the time of his death, he says
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  the time of his departure. And even in that, there is a sense of encouragement. There's encouragement
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  for us, Timothy as a Christian then, and for ourselves as Christians today, that the Christian hope
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  is firm even in death, that we are secure in Christ Jesus. Because even behind that word
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  departure, there's so much meaning, it just paints such a vivid picture for us of what it is for the
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  Christian to depart from this world. The word departure, the word in the Greek behind its meaning
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  is really four different pictures that you can look at in the sense of what it means. It means a
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  loosening, the loosening, the loosening of a weight or a burden in many instances. For example, when a plough or a
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  cart was taken off an animal, that was described as the loosening of it. So that's the word departure here.
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  And we think of the Christian. It's a loosening in terms of the labors and the toils of this life.
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  The work being complete. The time of departure is the time of that loosening.
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  It's also used in the sense of a prisoner being released, the loosening of the chains or the bonds that a
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  prisoner has on. And again, you think of it in light of the Christian in this life, the time of their
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  departure is the time of the loosening of the bonds of sin in this world and a corruptible body.
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  It was also a word that was used in the loosening of a soldier's tent, the ropes in a soldier's tent.
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  The soldiers in those days would set up camp as they were going to battle. They could spend months
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  and even years in these camps as the battles were going on. But when the time of their departure,
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  when the time of their loosening would come, the battle was over. The victory was won. They were
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  heading home. And again, it's such a vivid picture for the Christian there, the time of
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  our departure, the time of my departure. As Paul is speaking about here, as the battle is over,
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  the victory's won. It's time to go home. There's also another use it was used for was
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  the mooring ropes of a ship. When they were loosened, when they were let go, it was time to cast off and
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  to set sail. And again, you think of the Christian's experience in this world. And Psalm 107,
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  maybe comes to mind in that when they get to the desired haven, when the storm is changed
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  into a calm, even as Paul is speaking here of his departure, it's in this way, this loosening,
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  this blessing that there is, that what faith in Christ means, it's not just the end,
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  it's just the beginning. Departure to a better place, to glory, to be with the Lord.
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  And so as Paul is writing this letter to Timothy, yes, there's much emotion in it,
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  much sadness and sorrow, but also much encouragement. And he's reminding Timothy here,
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  as he's done himself in his life, the faith, the battle of faith is one that is always ongoing.
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  The Christian's life is always one of being a servant, right to the very end, to the very time
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  of departure. And he says there, after the time of departure has come, he says,
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  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith, right up until that
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  point. You see, for the Christian, there isn't an option of retirement. And taking it easy for a
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  number of years before we depart, it's about this battle, this life that is always ongoing.
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  We are always to keep going, without until our last breath, looking to Jesus, because we all have
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  something to offer. While we have breath, we have something to offer the Lord. We've heard that in the
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  prayers already this evening. We think of people who we see as powerfully serving the church in great
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  ways. But every Christian serves, in every ordinary way, in all that we do, through our prayers, through
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  our service, through our hospitality, through our visits, through our calls, so many different ways,
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  we all have a part to play. We are all encouraged to take on the reins as they're passed on to us from
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  others, to keep the faith, to uphold the word of God and to pass it on ourselves to others. And so just
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  for a few moments, I want to think of how Paul says here, I have kept the faith. One of the things he
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  says there in verse 7, he speaks about fighting the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept
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  the faith. Just to think of what that word means here for Paul at the time of his departure. I have kept
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  the faith. Well, we could say first of all, he means here that he has preserved the message. You see, as you
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  read through these verses from verse 10 in chapter 3, down to this, the end of this section in chapter 4,
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  the word of God is at the heart of all that he is speaking about. In verse 16 of chapter 3, it says,
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  all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, and so on, that they may be equipped
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  for every good work. It's about keeping the word. And Paul is saying here, when he says, I have kept
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  the faith, I have preserved the message, I have kept it for what it is, the word of God. He maintained it
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  in its purity and in all its truth, and he was passing it on in that way. And we think of those
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  who have gone on since then, who have kept the faith, who have guarded the word of God, who have
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  kept it pure in its entirety, who have shared it in that way, who have not been afraid of the truth
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  of God in the midst of an ever-changing world, but who have, in the midst of even pressures of false
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  teachers, as Paul was under here, nothing new under the sun. We still see it in the church to this day,
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  but to keep the faith, to guard the word of God, and to pass it on in that way. He speaks about it in
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  chapter 2 of this letter earlier on in verse 2. He says, what you have heard from me, and in the presence
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  of many witnesses, entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also, share in suffering as a
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  good soldier of Christ Jesus. This is what is being passed on. This is what it is to keep the faith,
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  to preserve the word of God, that the church has many roles in this world, so many important roles
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  in this world, but one of its primary concerns is to guard the word of God, to keep the truth.
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  Fort Knox in the United States of America is a place that's well known for containing and
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  protecting much of the gold reserves of the United States. It's a place that's heavily guarded because
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  it's so important, and that is the church's role when it comes to the word of God, to guard the truth
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  because it's so precious. Refusing to alter it one little bit, but to stick to the word of God,
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  which is more precious than gold, which is worth far more than any gold or silver in this world,
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  while at the same time passing it on to those who come after us. To keep the faith then
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  is to preserve the word, to keep it in all its purity. And we are so thankful to those who have taught and
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  preached the word of God faith, who have shared it with so many around this world, who have kept the faith
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  in this way. So that's what Paul is saying when he says, I have kept the faith. I have guarded the word of God.
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  The second thing he's saying here, when he's saying, I have kept the faith, is the sense of proclaiming
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  the master. Preserving the word and yet proclaiming the master. It's the idea of kept the faith, not in
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  keeping it to himself, but in sharing it with others. Throughout Paul's life, you see that, even as he's
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  passing it on to Timothy here, it's so that the word of God will be proclaimed. For the word of God is,
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  it is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching and for equipping for every good work.
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  It's not going to achieve that if it's kept to ourselves. It's got to go out. It's got to be
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  shared with others. And so many people down through the generations have been blessed with gifts
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  to proclaim the word of God, to teach generations of people. We think of the legacy of those we've
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  mentioned already tonight, of the number of teachers and pastors around the world, of the number of
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  Christians all over the world who have benefited from their teaching, from their guidance, down through
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  the generations. And the word of God through that has spread, spread to all ends of the earth. Far and wide,
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  the master is being proclaimed. And we thank God for that. One of the most precious jewels in the world is the
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  hope diamond. It's said to be worth around 250 million dollars. And it's kept in a museum in Washington.
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  The hope diamond is kept behind glass that's several feet thick. You can go in and see it,
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  but you'll never be able to touch it. You'll never be able to handle it. It's to be seen and not touched.
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  But the gospel is so different. It's worth so much as we've already said, but it's not something that's
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  to be kept in a museum. It's not something that's to be kept in a place where it's going to gather dust
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  and where we can just look on it. It's to be given away. Unlike so many treasures, it's worth more,
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  the more it's given away. And that's what Paul realized. And what every Christian and every servant
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  of Christ should realize is this gospel is worth giving away. Paul's testimony of ministry can be
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  found in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 5, where he says, but we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus,
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  the Lord. And that's a wonderful testimony of any Christian. We preach not ourselves,
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  but Christ Jesus, the Lord. And in the midst of all that was being taught and shared by many through
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  generations and more recently as well, it was never about themselves.
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  But about Christ Jesus, the Lord and him being known and shared. So that all that we've received,
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  we are to share with others. And I encourage you as you receive to give away. To give away what you hear,
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  what you receive from Christ and share it with others. Because it is something that is worth sharing.
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  If all we ever do is keep it under lock and key, gathering dust, then it's worthless.
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  We're just a dry museum where the truth is stored to look at and not touch. That's not what we are about.
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  We are about the business of proclaiming the master, making Jesus known. When you think of the time of the
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  Reformation, that's what it was all about. When the word was just for a select few and who you had to be taught
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  to understand it. But the Reformation set the gospel free, set the word of God free so that all people could hear it
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  and understand it. And that's the legacy that's been passed on to us and that we would pass on to others.
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  The legacy of Christ Jesus as Lord, the one who is able to save. So we are to proclaim our master,
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  to make him known. I have kept the faith in that way, that Jesus is known. The third thing we see here
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  in these words, I have kept the faith, is the assurance that Paul has in this. The assurance
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  that the Lord is with him. Here is Paul in a prison cell. And many of his friends had deserted him at
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  this time. They were afraid to go and see him for the fear of persecution themselves.
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  But Paul, he says, I have kept the faith. He knows who is with him. He is a man who has reached
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  the end of his journey. His time of departure has come, but he has kept the faith.
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  He has held on to the word of God and all its promises. It's not just something that he is holding
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  in his hands. It's something that he is holding dear in his heart. But the Lord is with him.
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  And you look at Paul's life and testimony, and like many Christians since then and before then as well,
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  it's the experience of all the ups and downs, the battles that have gone on, the struggles that he's had,
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  the lonely valleys that he's gone through. When you read of Paul's testimony in different parts of
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  scripture, he tells us that there's various struggles he's been through. How many times he's been in
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  prison? How many times he was shipwrecked? How many times he was beaten for his faith? Yet despite
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  all these times, and despite the very fact that here he is facing up to the time of his departure,
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  what has held him and what is keeping him, it is relationship with the Lord. That the Lord
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  is with him. He knows he is there. There may be nobody else around him, but the Lord is with him.
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  And as the Christian goes through life, as we go through life, we're going to face difficulties.
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  We're going to face times of hurt. We face times when we'll be misunderstood, misrepresented.
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  There'll be days when we feel like we're walking alone. But we have that promise that the Lord is
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  with us, that we are never alone because he is with us. How would you assess the ministry of Paul?
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  You know, if we were to look at the way we apply criteria today of success, you'd almost say that
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  Paul's ministry was a failure. When you look at the churches that he'd started in Corinth,
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  there was a church there squabbling and falling out with one another. When you look at Colossae,
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  there was a church drifting back into the way of error. When you look at the church at Philippi,
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  there you have ones who have contributed well. So there's a whole host of variety in the church
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  that he's been involved in, from being successful in some eyes to falling away in others.
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  But success isn't about us. Success is about what God is doing. And even despite the fact that there
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  may be many who are falling away from the truth, there is still this hope that the Lord is building
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  his church. Paul has been faithful. That's what he says here. I have fought the good fight.
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  I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. And so as Christians today as well,
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  our success or failure is not what counts, but that we live for Christ. That's Paul's motto,
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  as you see in Philippians, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.
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  So in spite of all the challenges that he faced in life, despite all that he faces here at the time of
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  his departure, his sense of loneliness and nobody around him, he has kept the faith. And in that,
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  he knows the Lord is with him. The fourth and final thing we see here, though, is the mention of reward.
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  reward. Henceforth, it says there in verse eight, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,
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  which the Lord, the righteous judge will award to me on that day. And not only to me, but also to all
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  who have loved his appearing. He has kept the faith. And what that means is that there is the crown
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  of righteousness awaiting him. And as a great reminder for us as well, that this is for all
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  Christians. Not only to me, he says, but to all who have loved his appearing, to all who love the Lord.
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  The idea here so often in Paul's writing is athletes running the race.
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  I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, he says. Now, the athletes will be running for
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  the crown. Crowns that will be made up of leaves that will be placed on the heads of those who won the race.
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  But Paul here is saying there's a different kind of crown. A crown that awaits the Christians.
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  The crown of righteousness, the crown which the Lord will give to his own, to those who keep on,
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  to those who fight the good fight, who finish the race, who keep the faith.
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  And as you think of the situation here, when those looking on him in prison, those Roman soldiers and those
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  who have put him into prison, they'll be looking on him and thinking, this is the end for him.
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  This is the end. We'll execute him and that's it.
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  But Paul knows differently. And that's what gives him this great hope. The time of his departure,
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  the time of his loosening from this world, knowing he has kept the faith,
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  he has this promise of a crown. And that's what we have learned from so many down through the
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  generations. And we think of the teachings and the preachings we've been under, even in our own
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  lifetime, from those who have now gone from us. The beauty of Christ, the wonder of the cross,
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  what faith is all about, what death means, and what eternity has in store. The wonders of Christ that
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  we've heard about down through the years, we would never lose our sense of awe of Christ.
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  Christ on the crown that he has prepared for those who love him. His reward has come.
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  He's saying here, the reward of those who have gone now is for them the crown of righteousness.
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  And what keeps us going is to fix our eyes on Jesus, that we too may receive the crown of righteousness.
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  C.S. Lewis, in his book, The Weight of Glory, he says this, he's encouraging believers in how we often
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  underestimate the full riches of God for his people. He says, if we consider the staggering nature of the
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  rewards promised in the gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too
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  weak. We are half-hearted creatures, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum,
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  because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are too easily pleased.
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  Those who have now gone from us have reminded us so often that we're too easily pleased,
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  but that there's a greater glory that we should strive for, the riches of Christ.
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  We have lost some whose greatest desire was to show and tell others of the glory of God in the person
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  of Jesus Christ. And the wonder of the cross, but how thankful we should be for what they've taught us
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  and what they've left us to pass on to others. Much is written in these days about those who have gone to glory.
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  But that's not the words that they would rejoice in. The words that they would want to hear is,
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  well done, good and faithful servant. The words of the Lord to those he receives into glory.
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  What do we want said of ourselves? What do we want to hear? Not what others have to say about us,
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  but that we would be able to say as Paul, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race.
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  I have kept the faith. That's what the word of God does for us. Encourages us to keep on looking to Jesus.
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  And what matters even more is that as we put our trust in him, the day will come when we will hear those words to,
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  well done, good and faithful servant. We are encouraged to serve the Lord in whatever way we can.
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  In the little things and in the great things, it doesn't matter. The Lord has given us a responsibility
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  and a duty to uphold the truth, to guard the truth and to share the truth. And we all have a part
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  to play in that. So may we be a people who keep the faith. Let us pray.
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  Our Father in heaven, we do rejoice in your gospel, for it is a gospel of hope and a gospel that's secure
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  in Christ Jesus, our Lord. It reminds us that in this world we have but a time, a time that passes
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  so quickly. It describes us like the mist that comes and goes or the flower that grows and then is gone.
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  But we thank you for the word of the Lord that stands forever. And help us, O Lord, to guard it
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  and to have that hope in it, that hope that keeps us secure through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
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  Help us that we would fight the good fight, that we would run the race, and above all that we would keep
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  the faith. That we would be a people who are strengthened by you and encouraged through you and built up by you
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  in the faith to keep us on. So Lord, be with us, continue to bless us and to comfort, to uphold us and to be
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  near in all our days as we commit ourselves into your hands, asking all things for the forgiveness of our sins.
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  In Jesus' name, Amen.