Faithful to the End of the Road is a sermon teaching us that there is reward in Heaven for those who love the Lord and live in the light of Christ’s return.

Key verses:
2 Timothy 4:1-8

Take your Bible if you will, and turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter four, 2 Timothy chapter four, and we’ll be looking eventually at verses one through eight. But right now, I want to just read with you verse seven, so 2 Timothy 4:7. The Apostle Paul writes, and he says:

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

Now we’re going to pray and then I want to talk to you a little bit about what’s behind this passage and then we’ll look at the passage itself.

The Good Fight

I want to talk to you about this, 2 Timothy, we’ve said many times is the last book or letter, in this case epistle, that the Apostle Paul wrote. It is his final letter. He wrote 13 books of the New Testament, and this is the last one that he wrote.

At this time, he is in prison. He’s probably around 60 years of age, approximately, not hard to say that with certainty but approximately 60 years of age. He’s been in prison in the city of Rome for some time, and he knows that he is going to be executed. Well, what was his crime? Preaching the Gospel, that’s it, that’s it, that was his crime. And for that, he’ll be executed? Yes, and he was.

All of them except John were martyred or killed for their faith, for their preaching. John only survived and, as far as we know, died in his 90s and of natural causes – possibly died as a result of an attempt to execute him that failed. But definitely was not executed.

So, we come to these last words. This is the last chapter of the last book that Paul wrote. He’s talking to us about finishing the race. He’s talking to us about coming down to the finish line. He’s talking to us about being faithful to the end of the road, and that’s what I want us to think about tonight, being faithful to the end of the road.

The School of Life

We start out life, and I often, in the last few years, I’ve thought about life as being very much like school, or maybe I should say school is analogist to life because you start out in school and you don’t know a great deal. You’re a little child and you begin maybe in kindergarten, or first grade and you start and you begin to learn. You don’t know a lot, but you know something, and you begin to learn.

When I used to teach school, and that’s been quite a few years ago. “You taught school?” I did for years, but I always wanted to teach the upper grades. I never did teach anything below third. Why? It’s too hard, it’s too hard. You know, you think about it. You’ve got seniors in high school, you’re teaching. Take out your notebook, take out your book, and you’re going to study chapter 30, and you’re going to answer these questions, and so forth. Now, you go to the first grade. This is your pencil. This is how you make an “a.” It’s much harder to teach the little ones than it is the older ones because somebody else has already done all the hard work for the older ones. Now don’t misunderstand me. I love little children. I just would rather teach the older ones.

But that said, you get into school, and you start to meet people. As you meet people and you grow together, you are progressing towards graduation. It may take you years to get there. And along the road to graduation, there’ll be some who drop out and they don’t make it to graduation. There’ll be others who are maybe a year or two ahead of you that are still your friends, but they’re a year or two ahead of you and they’ll graduate before you do. There’ll be some who are a year or two behind you and they’ll graduate after you do.

It’s a lot like life. You go through life. You start out not knowing a great deal, you meet people, and you learn things. As you go along the way, you have friends, you have family, you have people you care about. We’re all progressing towards the finish line. We’re all progressing towards graduation. You’re either going to drop out along the way or you’re going to graduate. And if you graduate, you’re going to the next level, and the next level in school, and here we would say to the next life. What I’m saying to you is, you’re going to meet people along the way. Some of them will graduate before you do, some of them will graduate after you do, and some of them won’t get to graduation at all.

A few years ago, and it’s kind of a strange feeling to me to say this was a few years ago, but a few years ago when a group of us got together for our 50th high school reunion they had a slide presentation, and the slide presentation was of all the people in our graduating class who had already passed on. Do you know what we saw after 50 years? 20% were already gone, already gone. So, that’s life. That’s how it is. Well, what happened to all those people? Oh, different things, the things that happened to people. Some were accidents some were illnesses, some of them went to Vietnam, and different things happened to different people, but 20% already passed on.

The Quick and the Dead

Now, I want to help you with thinking about that. I was talking to brother Dennis for a minute or two just before the service. We’re looking at the world stage right now and it certainly looks like we’re near the end. Now, before you think I’m up here talking doom and gloom, let me tell you this. It looked like it was, we were near the end before, but it certainly looks like the stage is set right now.

I was saying to brother Dennis, you know if somebody comes on the world scene right now and says, “Hey, look I got the answer. I can solve all these things. We’ll get a piece treaty.” Then you better start looking up. So, is that going to happen? I’m not sure. I’m not sure, but it certainly looks like it could be.

So, Paul writes and he writes this last letter to Timothy. In verse one, he says

2 Timothy 4:1: “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;”

I want you to think about that. Think about what he’s saying here, “I charge thee.” This is like an order to Timothy because Timothy’s going to have to carry on. Paul’s about to graduate. Timothy’s going to have to carry on. “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ,” – if that sounds serious to you that’s because it is. It’s very serious. He gives this charge to Timothy, and he says that the Lord Jesus Christ is He who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom. Now, the word “quick” there, doesn’t mean fast. It means living, those who are living.

So, He will judge the living and the dead at His appearing in His kingdom. What does he mean by His appearing in His kingdom? Well, He’s going to appear. He’s going to take his people out of this world. His people are the believers collectively. We would say the church and He will take them out of the world. He’ll take them where? Home to be with Him. We talked about that this afternoon.

1 Thessalonians 4:16: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:”

1 Thessalonians 4:17: “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

1 Thessalonians 4:18: “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”

Caught up with them together in the air to meet the Lord in the air. That term “caught up” –  the word “rapture” in English doesn’t appear in your Bible. It comes from the Latin word “raptura” but it means to be caught up. So, when it says we’ll be caught up together, that’s where we get this idea of the word “rapture.” So, we say, “Well, I’m studying my Bible. I don’t find the rapture.” You won’t find the word you find the idea. You find the doctrine. You find the teaching: caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air. So, at that time, will begin the Tribulation period, seven years.

Looks like we could be marching rapidly in that direction right now. And then, at the end of those seven years, the Lord returns and establishes His kingdom on Earth, not without a battle. But He returns and establishes His kingdom upon Earth. So, this is what Paul is saying in verse one:

2 Timothy 4:1: “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;”

How’s He going to judge the dead? He brings them up, and His kingdom.

Be True to Your Call

So, what are we supposed to be doing in the meantime? We’re supposed to be doing the same thing Timothy was told to do. Take a look at verse two, “Preach the word.” Preach the Word.

I was a student at Pensacola Christian College. I first attended Tennessee Temple University and then Pensacola Christian College and then did some work at Great Plains Baptist Divinity School. After that, man I’m educated. But the point is folks, the official title for it was the ministerial class. And those of us who were majoring in Bible and other majors that dealt with being in the ministry and the official name was the ministerial class. A lot of people on the campus called it the preacher boy’s class. I never liked that term, I didn’t, “preacher boy,” I didn’t. You see a boy, give him a dollar. You know, this is not it, but the ministerial class. We had a theme song for our class written by one of the students there and I’m not going to sing it for you because solos are not my thing. But the theme song went like this, “Preach the Word, be true to your call.” Ain’t that something? Preach the Word, be true to your call. Where did they get that from? Right here:

2 Timothy 4:2: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”

What does that mean to be instant in season, out of season? It means being ready to preach the word at any time. Dr Richard Schermerhorn, who led me to the Lord and mentored me in so many ways, tells us, “You need to be ready to pray, preach, or die at any minute.” Think about that. You need to be ready to pray, preach, or die at any minute. That’s what Paul is saying here, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season,” and he says, “Reprove, rebuke,” – point out what’s wrong and tell people how to get it right. “Reprove, rebuke, exhort,” – encourage them to do what’s right, but don’t do it in a cruel way. Do it with all longsuffering and doctrine.”

Having Itching Ears

Doctrine is so very, very important, it seems in many cases, and that’s certainly not in every case. I don’t mean to indicate that I think it is, but in many cases today, as I listen to different programs on the radio and different preachers and so forth, many of them aren’t overly concerned about doctrine now, some are. I’m not saying that they’re none, but many of them don’t seem to be concerned about doctrine like it isn’t important.

Paul writes in another letter, he says that some are blown about with every wind of doctrine. That seems to be the case with a lot of folks, these days. Don’t seem to care much about doctrine. What is doctrine? Doctrine is the teaching of the core beliefs and the truths of the Word of God. So, Paul says:

2 Timothy 4:2: “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”

I meant to say:

2 Timothy 4:3: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;”

“For the time will come when they,” – who’s “they”? The people to whom you’re preaching. “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine” – sounds kind of like what I just said a minute ago, doesn’t it? People not much interested in it – “Time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts,” – in other words, people don’t want to hear sound doctrine. They’re not interested, particularly, in what the Bible has to say. They’re interested in what they want to hear and what suits their needs.

Somebody told me this afternoon about a perversion of the scriptures that I had not heard before, and let me be clear about that. It’s not a new edition of the Bible that’s come out, though there are more than enough of those, but it’s just where some people are taking scripture and adding to it something that the Bible’s never said, never would say. And the Book of Revelation says if you add to the writings of this book, God shall add to you the plagues that are written therein. Some folks might want to think about that before they go adding to the scripture. But “the time will come they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts they will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.”

“Teachers, having itching ears.” I’m going to use a term here. I do not mean it to be derogatory to anybody, but I’m using it as an illustration. There’s a term that I only became familiar with, I’d say, in the last couple of years. You may have known about it before then, but “influencer.” How many of you are familiar with the term “influencer”? Okay, most of you are. I’ve asked a couple of young people, “What’s your goal in life? What do you want to be?” “I want to be an influencer.” Well, you know what? They’re serious about that. They’re serious about it.

And what’s an influencer? Well, generally, it’s somebody who gets online and gets a following through one of the various media, and they get a following, and they begin to influence people. Well, how do you make a living at that? Well, some of them do pretty well. “What do you mean, pretty well?” Hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars. That’s doing pretty well. But what are they doing? They’re influencing people. Well, is it wrong to influence people? Not necessarily, it depends on how you’re influencing.

We all influence people to some degree or another. You do whether you intend to or not. I do, whether I realize it or not. We all influence people. We all have an effect on the people around us. We use the verse this afternoon, “No man lives to himself, no man dies to himself.” You have an effect on the people with whom you come in contact.

So, people heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, people who will tell them what they want to hear. “I like the sound of that. Yeah, that makes sense to me.” I’m looking around at folks today, and many people are being led off after their own lust. That’s what it says here. They will not endure sound doctrine. They’re not listening to the truth, but they are listening to people who are telling them what they want to hear.

I knew a fellow like that years ago. He called himself a preacher, and to be fair to him, he did do some preaching. But I would use another term to describe this fellow, and I’ll tell you what that is the minute. But I found that he would come to a church, and he would get to know people in the church, and whatever he thought they wanted to hear, that’s what he told them. I mean, if they were sensitive to one doctrine going this way, well, that’s what he’d tell them. They were sensitive to another teaching going that way. That’s what he’d tell them.

“Why did he do that?” Because he wanted to be accepted by them. “Why does he want to be accepted?” Well, for the reason a lot of people do. He wanted monetary gain. Now, he called himself a preacher. I’d call him a confidence man or con artist because he wasn’t overly concerned about telling the truth. He just wanted to tell people what he thought they wanted to hear.

For example, if you said, “Well, you know we believe in the pre-tribulation rapture.” Well, then, that’s what he talked to you about. And if you said, “No, we don’t believe that at all. We don’t believe there’s even going to be a rapture.” Well, that’s what he talked to you about. Do you understand what I’m saying? That’s not a preacher. That’s a confidence man, somebody trying to gain your confidence for their own their own personal motives. They heap to themselves teachers having itching ears.

2 Timothy 4:4: “And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

I hear people today talking about believing some of the strangest things. Things that don’t even make sense. Things that go against all logic, and yet they believe them. What would that sound like to you? It sounds to me like people who turned away from the truth and turned to fables begin to listen to things that aren’t true.

“Well, give me an example.” Well, I would call this a bulletin. Some people would call it a pamphlet. But if somebody comes along and says, “No, that’s neither a bulletin nor a pamphlet, that’s an orange.” Well, so obviously, it isn’t an orange. “But I say it is. I say it’s an orange.” No, that’s a piece of paper that’s not an orange. “I don’t think so. Then you’re wrong. You’re wrong, and you don’t believe it. You don’t believe. And not only are you wrong, but you also hate me because you won’t accept it. I say it’s an orange.” Something’s wrong with that line of thinking, folks. Something’s wrong with it. “Shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

Be Watchful

Then Paul says:

2 Timothy 4:5: “But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”

“But watch.” When you see the word “watch” in the New Testament, it means be on guard. It doesn’t mean just looking around. We should look around. You should be aware of your surroundings all the time. I don’t want to cause you to be paranoid or anything like that, but when you’re in a building such as this one, you ought to look around and see where the exits are. I don’t know if you do this or not, but I do every time I get on an airliner and the flight attendant stands up and goes through that safety briefing, I’m listening. And when they say locate your nearest exit, I find it. I want to know where it is. Ever had to use it? No, and I hope I never do, but I want to know where it is just in case.

Do you know what else I want to know? I reach under the seat to make sure that the life vest is under there. They say it’s under there. You know what else? I look around to see where those life rafts are that they’re talking about. Now, I pay attention to all that stuff. “Well, haven’t you been on planes before?” Yeah. “Don’t you know they always say pretty much the same thing?” Yeah, I got it. I still pay attention, I still look around, I make sure I got it, so if something goes wrong, I’m going to do the best I can.

I like to sit in the back of the plane. I do. I used to, when I was younger, I used to like to sit over the wing and by the window. Nowadays, I usually sit wherever they tell me to sit. But I like sitting in the back of the plane for a couple of reasons. One, I’m getting older, and the seat in the back is closer to the restroom. But another reason is, I figure this way, if that plane goes down, it’s probably going down nose first. And I’m in the back. I’m going to live two seconds longer than all the rest of them.

But he says watch, and that doesn’t mean just look around and note your surroundings, it means be on guard. Peter puts it this way: be sober, and that doesn’t mean just don’t get drunk. It means that, but it means far more than that. It means to be serious. Be serious-minded. It doesn’t mean you have to be somber, doesn’t mean you have to go around with a frown on your face all the time. But be serious. Look at things seriously. There’s a difference between being serious and somber.

Curtis Hudson said that the difference between serious and somber is this, “Nobody is more somber than a politician when he tells you, ‘I will not lie’ to you, but everybody knows that he’s not serious.” Now, the fact of the matter is, he’s saying, “Watch thou in all things,” – be on guard. Peter says, “Be sober, be vigilant, for your adversary [your enemy] the devil walketh about.” What do you mean “walketh about”? Walking around seeking whom he may devour. So, be serious, be vigilant, be always watching, be always on guard. Your adversary, the devil, walketh about looking for who? Seeking whom he may devour.

Now, three enemies that you have. We’ve already mentioned one: your adversary, the devil. The other two are the flesh and the world. The world wants you to go with them. The world wants you to follow them. “Well, what’s wrong with that?” The world’s going to Hell, and the Lord’s going to Heaven. So, if you follow Him, you’re going to Heaven. You follow the world; you’re going to Hell. That’s what’s wrong with that.

“Well, preacher, I got you right there because if I’m saved, and I can follow the world’s way, then I’m not going to Hell.” And you’re right, you’re right. But why would you want to look and act like the people who are going to Hell? It just kind of doesn’t make sense, does it? “Watch thou in all things, endure afflictions.” Endure afflictions. Back in chapter two and verse three, Paul writes in the same epistle, written to the same person, Timothy:

2 Timothy 2:3: “Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”

Sometimes, in the Christian life, you’re going to have to endure hardness. You’re going to have to endure afflictions. Most of us haven’t had to endure hard persecution. And folks, understand I’m not complaining about that. There are a lot of brethren who do endure great persecution.

We had a man stand here in this pulpit years ago. He’s since gone to be with the Lord. He gave his testimony, and he said that when he gave his life to Jesus Christ, he was married, had a family, had a wife, and had children. He said when he gave his life to Jesus Christ and came home and told his family about it, they were so angry with him that they wanted him to leave the house. They didn’t want him at their house anymore.

Now, they worked out a bit of a compromise, and this wasn’t in South Florida. You’ll know that in a second. But they agreed finally to let him live in the basement, but not to come up to the rest of the house where everybody else was. “So, that didn’t really happen?” It did. “What country was that?” This one. “Nobody treated their family like that here.” They did, they did. “Why?” Because he was a follower of Jesus Christ.

Most of us haven’t had to endure anything like that. Now, you may have lost some friends, you may have had some people turn away from you, but most of us haven’t had anything like that that we’ve had to deal with. But it does happen. It has happened. It does happen. You’re going to see it more and more. Endure afflictions.

Evangelize

Then, the next phrase in verse five, “do the work of an evangelist.” Let’s talk about that. What is an evangelist? “I know preacher, I know what evangelist is. An evangelist is one of those guys that gets on television, and he’s a preacher and every few seconds he’s asking you send him money.” No, that’s really not what an evangelist is. Let me share some terms with you; this is just for your edification.

The word “Gospel.” Somebody raise their hand and tell me, what does the Gospel mean? What does that word mean? Okay, Joe, what does it mean? Good News. Gospel is good news. Do you know what a synonym is for Gospel? Evangel. Evangel is a synonym for Gospel. It’s not the same word, but it has a similar meaning, Evangel. So, Evangel is a synonym for the Gospel.

So, an evangelist, then, is one who spreads the Gospel. An evangelist is one who proclaims the Gospel. An evangelist is one who’s trying to win people to Christ. So, the idea of the evangelist as we see it here in the scripture – and this is not the only place where it appears – the idea of an evangelist is a person who’s a full-time soul-winner.

Now, not all preachers are called evangelists. However, all preachers should do the work of an evangelist. I did a study on that years ago. John R. Rice wrote a book titled “Do the Work of an Evangelist,” and I read it, a good book. So, I did a study on that years ago, and you know what I found out? Do you know what, in the New Testament, a pastor is supposed to do? A pastor is supposed to build up the flock and edify the church. Build up the church, build up the flock, and edify the church. It doesn’t mean building more buildings. It could lead to that. It’s not the primary meaning. It means to build up the people.

Do you know what an evangelist is supposed to do? Edify the church. Wasn’t that the same job? Well, it’s similar. Usually, the pastor stays in one place, and the evangelist travels. That’s about the major difference. So, do the work of an evangelist. What is the work of the evangelist? The work of the evangelist, then, is to spread the evangel or the Gospel or the good news and tell people how to be saved and try to win them to the Lord. That’s the work of the evangelist.

“Make full proof of thy ministry.” What does “make full proof” mean? It means doing the ministry in such a way that if you’re inspected, you measure up. “Well, who’s going to inspect?” The Lord.” Where did you get that?” Well, I get it where He says that we all are going to stand at the judgment seat of Christ.

2 Timothy 4:5: “But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”

Nearing Graduation

Now, Paul is telling young Timothy, a much younger man in the ministry, is telling him all of this because he’s going to carry on the work. Why? Paul is coming to the end of the road. He’s coming to graduation day. His time is limited, and he knows it. It’s possible, and I can’t say this with absolute certainty, but when we get to verse six, you’ll see what I’m saying. It appears that he knew the date of his execution. If he didn’t know the exact day, he knew it was getting very close.

Look at verse six:

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

The time of my departure is at hand. I am now ready to be offered to you. Do you know what he’s saying? I’m ready. I’m ready for the end, I’m ready for graduation, I’m ready for the final examinations, and I’m ready for graduation, I’m ready to come to the end. Do you know what he said earlier? “Watch thou in all things.” Be ready, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” Be ready. I’m now ready to be offered. Paul knew that his time was ending. My time, my departure, is at hand. There’s a period there that’s the end of that thought. But in verse seven, he says:

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

“I have fought a good fight.” Let me ask you a question. Did Paul win every battle he ever fought? No, he didn’t. That’s how he ended up in prison. He won a lot of them, but even when he didn’t win, he fought a good fight, and that means something.

There was a fellow many years ago, and there was a whole movie series that was based on this story. They never use the real names in the movie series, but you’ll have some idea of what I’m talking about. There was a fellow years ago who challenged, and this fellow was a boxer, and he was a professional boxer, but he wasn’t a big-name or high-ranked boxer. But he challenged the heavyweight champion of the world in a boxing match, and the champion accepted. And this fella fought the heavyweight champion of the world. Basically, nobody fought the heavyweight champion of the world.

So, did he beat the champion? No, he didn’t. But he did something nobody else had ever done. He went a full 16 rounds with the heavyweight champion of the world. He didn’t get knocked out. Now, did he win that match? He didn’t. But he could surely say, “I fought a good fight.” Couldn’t he? Yeah, and that’s what Paul’s saying here. I fought a good fight. I finished my course. I finished the path that the Lord had for me. I followed his will. I did what he had me to do. I followed my calling.

And then, he says, “I’ve kept the faith.” He never wandered. He never veered off from the faith. I’m going to tell you in the 50 plus years that I’ve been in the ministry, I’ve seen some fellas who didn’t keep the faith. I’ve seen some fellas who started out serving the Lord. They said they were serving the Lord. They started out preaching, some as pastors and some in other areas of ministry. But they quit. I don’t just mean they left one church. I mean, they quit the ministry altogether. Some of them got into things that nobody should be involved in.

I think of one young man that I knew, and he started out for the ministry. But he turned out doing something that, again, nobody should do. Not Paul. He said, “I’ve kept the faith.” “ I’ve kept the faith.” “Fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.”

A Crown of Righteousness

“Henceforth” – because of all this – “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness,” – maybe one day in the near future, if the Lord allows, we’ll do a study on the different crowns that are offered to the believer. But he says:

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.”

Let’s think about that for a minute: a crown of righteousness. Don’t you already have righteousness? Yes, you have the righteousness of Jesus Christ. But there is a crown of righteousness. That is one of the rewards that is offered to the believer in Heaven when we come to the judgment seat of Christ. Different rewards will be given out. If you want to know more about that, read 1 Corinthians chapter three.  But when the rewards are given out, several times in the New Testament, it talks about crowns, and this is one of them, a crown of righteousness. That crown of righteousness, it says, is laid up for me, a crown of righteousness.

I saw something the other day. We were traveling. Oh, my wife and I were in Pensacola. That’s where it was. I saw something I don’t think I’ve ever seen before. But it says something about our economy today. We were passing by a used car lot. Now, you don’t hear people talk about this much anymore. I did it when I was younger.

Raise your hand if you ever bought anything at a store and you bought it on the layaway plan. Anybody? Okay, I have, others have. What is the layaway plan? It’s where you go in, and you find the item you want to buy. You can’t quite afford it, but you make an agreement with the store. You give them so much money, and they set it aside for you, and then you go in, and you pay on it and pay on it until you finally have paid for it, and then you get it.

Okay, now, here’s what I have never seen before so we passed a used car lot up in the Pensacola area, and they had a sign out front. You can buy a car on the layaway plan. I’ve never seen that before, never seen that before. In other words, you don’t get it until you’ve paid for it. I mean there are lots of people that finance a car, and they get it, or they lease a car, and they get it, and they pay for it as they go, but no layaway plan. You start paying for it and when you paid for it, then you finally get it. I’ve never seen that before. I think it does say something about our economy now. Why would a car dealer do that? Well, I didn’t stop and ask him, but I can imagine he wants to make sure he gets all his money before he gives you the car. I’m pretty sure that’s what that’s about.

But look at verse eight again. “Henceforth there is laid up for me,” – it’s there, it’s ready. Paul says, “There’s laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.” What day? The Judgment Day, when he stands at the judgment seat of Christ. The Lord will give him this crown of righteousness.

But this ought to encourage you, and we’re going to close here: “And not to me only,” – I’m not the only one going to get that, Paul says, “but unto all them also that love his appearing.” Those who are looking for the Lord to come, those who are longing for the Lord to come, and those who are praying for the Lord to come. The crown of righteousness is laid up for all those who love his appearing, those who live in the light of the return of Christ. Do you know what the last prayer of the Bible is? “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”

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Let’s pray. Heavenly Father, we’re getting near the end. I don’t know how near we are to the end. I can’t see the finish line from here, but we’re getting near the end. And whether we go by graduation or whether we go by your return, it’s my prayer that you would help us to examine our lives. Be sure that we’re saved, be sure that we’re surrendered to you, be sure that we’re serving you. Help us to be those people who love your appearing and are helping other people. We’re doing the work of an evangelist, helping other people to get ready for your return.

Our heads are bowed, and our eyes are closed. God spoke to your heart tonight. There’s a decision you need to make. There’s no better time than right now to make it. We’re going to sing a hymn of invitation. God’s spoken to you. If you need somebody to talk to, I’ll be down front. If you want somebody to pray with you, I’ll be there.

Father, bless and move in this invitation time. We do pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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