Galen Call's Sermon Library
"Serving God Expectantly- Part 3" - October 19, 1986
[ Pause ] >> Fourth chapter. Would you be pleased if the White House were to call tonight and ask your assistance with a project? You know, like taking a flight over Nicaragua or something? [ Laughter ] Service for a person for an office that we respect is not a duty. It's a delight. When I was a sophomore in high school, I was asked by an evangelist who had ministered quite a bit in our area to accompany him and assist him on a trip to the west coast. Now for people today, that would mean a whole lot. For back then, it meant a whole lot. Way back then, right. Way back then. It meant a whole lot. I had never been beyond Denver, Colorado and what is the seven falls? Is that the name of those beautiful falls? They're behind Colorado Springs, isn't it, for those who are? But that's as far as I'd ever been. And let me tell you, that was not a duty to me. In the first place, I respected this man a great deal. And secondly, I was eager to see that part of the country. It was a delight for me to travel with him. I have not seen him in 17 years. And tomorrow night, he's speaking here in the cities. And the Lord willing, I'll have an opportunity to renew acquaintance with him. Service for someone that we respect, someone that we love, is not a duty, it's a delight. And that is the way the apostle Paul looked at his own service for the Lord Jesus Christ. You and I are called to royal service for Christ, the one that we love, the one that we anticipate seeing soon from heaven. Our service for him is an earthly privilege that we have. We must expect, however, that in this world we are going to face opposition. I was reading in some material this week that came across my desk from the ministry of the India National Inland Emission, Paul Pillay. Some of you remember Paul who spoke here a couple of years ago. And in here he tells about some of the great Bible college students in Uttar Pradesh in India who were confronted by a very militant anti-Christian group. And they took their Bibles, the students Bibles, thousands of them they were using. And books and gospel portions and burned them in the street. And some of the workers were critically injured by the mob. Sometimes it's very clear the opposition, sometimes it's more subtle. But the opposition is there and the Lord tells us here in this very book in verse 12 of chapter 3 that if we desire to live godly in Christ Jesus then we will suffer persecution. However, we are assured by the Lord that our message will not be in vain. It will accomplish its purpose, that purpose again being explained in chapter 3 as leading people to salvation, verse 15, for it is the sacred writings which are able to give us wisdom that leads to salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. And the message that we declare also brings believers to maturity verses 16 and 17. And therefore he tells us to be faithful to proclaim the message. When an ambassador of a country does his service well it is expected that he will be honored. Christ has promised his faithful servants just the same. As we serve him faithfully in this world, willingly paying the price that will be exacted of us we can expect that we will receive a reward from our Lord. Paul opens up his heart as he closes this last of his epistles inspired by the Holy Spirit. He is near death and he evaluates life from three perspectives. I want you to hear the confidence and assurance that ring from his heart as he talks about his life's accomplishments and his expectations. The first perspective that he shares with us is found in verse 6. It's the perspective of the present. He views his circumstances here. I am already being poured out as a drink offering and the time of my departure has come. Paul basically says two things in this verse about his present circumstances. In the first place he is suffering. He is suffering, as he says, as an offering poured out. The background of the language here is the libation wine offering, which is described in Numbers chapter 15 verses 1 through 10. In that passage, if you will take time to read it and study it, you will notice that a libation offering was to be poured out beside the altar. The sacrifice was brought. It was slain. The blood was shed in the prescribed manner. And then a certain amount of wine, depending upon the size of the sacrifice actually, was to be poured out after the sacrifice. The pouring out of the wine was the last act of sacrifice. Gradually it was poured out there beside the altar. What a fitting picture that is of Paul's present imprisonment. He judged his whole life to be a sacrificial offering to the Lord. He's the one who wrote to Romans 12, 1 and 2. He saw his life as a sacrifice to the Lord. And now, in his last days, he sees his experience as the pouring out of that wine. The gradual pouring out of his life, ebbing away there in prison. I would hope that our attitude towards life's circumstances and its opportunities would be similar to what Paul had, that we would see our lives as a sacrifice, and even the very end of it as the final act of giving to the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes it's easier to feel that way about our active involvements than it is about what Paul was going through, that is limitations, confinements, containment. It's easier for us to see active service as a sacrifice to the Lord. It's harder for us to see the hospital room, or getting older as a sacrifice to him. The Apostle Paul saw the end of his life, confined as he was in facing execution as his last act of sacrifice to the Lord, his life being poured out for the glory of God. So you're at some stage in life where you're more confined than you used to be. You're more limited than you once were. No longer can you be as active in your service for Jesus Christ as you would like to be in your heart. Let me encourage you tonight to make even this last act of your life, this last stage of your life, if that's the case, an act of pouring out a sacrifice to the Lord and be faithful in it. You see whatever our circumstances, its yieldedness the Lord wants, that's what counts, whether we're active or we have to be passive, whether we're involved or we have to stand back because of a God-enforced confinement, you see God knows what is best for our lives, for our time, our resources. He knows what his assignment for us is at the particular stage that we're in, and as we faithfully live through that stage, it becomes in a sacrifice to the Lord. I think that especially young mothers go through this because as they begin to get children around their legs, they find themselves less free to do what they used to do. And sometimes that gets very frustrating. You'll understand that this is probably not the last act of your life. You may feel like it sometimes, but it's a stage you're passing through. But it's a God-given stage. It is a stage of confinement and limitation perhaps, of what you were used to before. But make this an act of sacrifice to the Lord and do it faithfully. Paul says he's suffering. He sees his life being poured out as an offering. Then he says he's waiting. His time of departure has come. That word "time" in verse 6 is really "season." He sees this not as a single act, but it's more of a "season." It's a period of time leading up to what he knows will be his execution. He says, "The season of my departure has come." What a meaningful word there is in departure. It referred in that day to the loosing of a ship from its moorings, the ropes being taken loose, thrown on board so that the vessel then could be free to move out to the waters where it was intended to be. Paul is saying, "I sense the loosing of the moorings. The ropes are being untied. I'm about to go to what I was prepared for to the presence of the Lord." He says it this way in Philippians, "I desire to depart," same word, "and to be with Christ, which is far better." The way he says that Philippians, he sees his departure and his being with Christ as one act. What an interesting way to express it. He does not see departure here and then eventually being with Christ, but he sees it really as just one single step, "I am departing and I am with Christ that fast," one act. The Apostle Paul knows that now as he writes this letter, he is about to be loosed. Once we can compare it today to the feeling that we have as we sit at the end of a runway of a jet plane, there is that moment when you sit there and suddenly the pilot puts full thrust to the engines and you feel yourself being forced back in the seat. Well Paul is at the end of the runway, so to speak, here. He is waiting for that surge of power which will lift him into the presence of the Lord. For Paul to evaluate his present circumstances like this took a lot of faith, but he looked beyond the present to see the reality of things. Several years ago in a church I was in, we did a dramatic musical presentation and one of the things that we used was a scrim. At that time they were, I think, they were rather new. They are not so new these days, in fact there are probably things that have improved upon a scrim. But the advantage of the scrim was that we could put it up in front of the back of the hipter street, which in that church was in the middle of the auditorium, high overhead. We were able to project slides on the scrim, but yet when a light was turned on behind the scrim, the scene there appeared and the scrim disappeared. It wasn't visible any longer. You see the Apostle Paul is able to look beyond the scene that's before him. The light of faith turns on behind the scene and he sees that his departure to be with Christ is near. He sees that his life has purpose and that it's being poured out to the Lord. It is a step of faith on his part. The next perspective that he shares with us as he opens his heart is the past in verse 7, he views his successes here. Notice that he does not dwell on his defeats. Oh, yes, he had them. He does not talk about his mistakes or his disappointments for that matter. Oh, he might have thought at this time about his separation from Barnabas and the rift that that caused. He could have spoken perhaps about his discouragement in the Corinthian jail when Jesus then appeared to him and said, "Paul, don't be afraid. I have many people in this city." He might have talked here about his stoning at Lystra when he was left for dead, but he didn't choose to dwell on the negative. I think that Paul gives us a good example here. You know, that's a choice that we make in life. We can choose to dwell on the defeats and on the negative things. When we do that, it sours our disposition. It perverts our attitude. It leaves us with a gloomy view of everything, and it's a tragic way to live. God wants us to live positively, optimistically, in faith, not in regret. The apostle Paul looks at his past, and this is the way that he evaluates it. He says, "I fought the good fight. I finished the course. I have kept the faith." He's not being egocentric here, and he boasting that he does is in the Lord. But he uses three metaphorical statements to sum up his evaluation of the past. He first sees himself as a boxer. He says, "I have fought the good fight." That is the noble, the grand fight. The apostle Paul looks at his past, and he recognizes his opponents. Of course, there was Satan, who was constantly after Paul. There were the Jewish leaders who followed him in his missionary journeys. There were the pagan authorities who opposed him. There were mobs. There were the false teachers who sought to pervert his teaching and to subvert the churches that he founded. There was the carnality and the Christians. There was the darkness of sin that he fought against, even the law of sin and death that was operating in his own body. Paul saw his past as a fight, but he says, "I have fought it." He views it as complete, you see. He says, "I have struggled. I have exerted my effort in this battle, and I have won it." And then he sees himself as a runner. He puts it this way, "I have finished the course." The word literally means a foot race. So Paul is talking here about the race, the course that was scheduled for him by the Lord. Please understand that when Paul uses this picture he is not suggesting that we are running in competition with other Christians. Paul is running only against himself here, and that's the way you and I run our race as well. And so he trained himself with self-discipline. He aimed for the prize at the goal line. He kept the rules of his race as he said earlier here in the book, and he says, "I have finished it." Again, notice he sees it has already completed. He's saying, "I stand at the goal line. My foot race is done." And then he sees himself as a steward. He says, "I have kept the faith." The faith, what does he mean by that? Well, there are several possible connotations to it, but it seems to me the most logical one is this. The Paul is saying, "I have kept the responsibility given to me by my master." I have kept that. I have remained faithful and true to the assignment that he gave to me as his steward in the world. And so you see as Paul views his past. He views his successes. He says, "I've fought the fight as a boxer. I'm done. The struggle is over." He says, "I have run the race as a runner. I stand at the goal line now to receive the prize." He says, "I have finished my responsibility committed to me by my master. I've kept the faith." What a great way to live. You know, when we are at that point where we recognize that life is nearly over for us, and we don't always have that privilege, do we, or that opportunity to know that life is near its end, sometimes it is gone quickly. But if we are given that opportunity to know that life is near, and if we want to be able to say as Paul did in this verse, then we have to live the way that Paul did. For then you see, the present right now will be the past. And the way that we live today and tomorrow and this week and this month counts. The third perspective that Paul has is his future. He views the reward that is promised to him by God. In verse 8 he says, "In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day. It is not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing. Reward is promised by God to his faithful servants." Now there are some people, frankly, who despise the idea of reward. I think I understand where they are coming from, however much I disagree with them. You see, the very idea of reward is not man, it is God's. God is the one who offers rewards and promises them. The apostle Paul says, "There is a righteous judge who is going to dispense to me a crown on that day. He is going to give to me what is due." As he talks about the righteous judge, undoubtedly he had in mind the corrupt Roman legal system that had him in prison at that point. What a contrast between the two. One day he would stand before a judge who was not corrupt and that righteous judge would give him what he deserved because of his faithful service for Jesus Christ. By the way, when he talks about the crown of righteousness he is not talking about the crown of eternal life. That is, that somehow through his service he will now receive from the Lord righteousness or eternal life. The point is that because of his righteous service for Christ he will receive a crown. And he tells us that that reward that the Lord has for his servants has kept safe until that day, that is the day when we're examined at the bema, at the judgment seat of Christ after the rapture. Faithful service will never be ignored or forgotten by the Lord. It may not be noticed by man, but that isn't important anyway, is it? Because we serve the Lord Christ and from him we anticipate our reward. All of God's children may receive rewards, it's not just for a few, it's not just apostles who may stand there on that day and get crowns, it is for all of those who love his appearing. And that by the way is a description of all Christians in Paul's language here. All of us who know the Lord Jesus Christ should be loving his appearing, how could it be otherwise? After all there is one who has given his very life for us and who has saved us from our sin and degradation, who has given us a new heart as we heard sung a few moments ago. And that one Sunday we're going to see face to face, and so we love the thought of his appearing, the brilliance of his coming, whatever we must experience now in our service for Christ, it will be worth it all then. Paul was suffering unjustly, but he doesn't complain about that. He counted in privilege, in verse 17 he says the Lord was with him, he didn't have to be afraid of his suffering. He tells us furthermore that there was purpose behind it, he says in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, that all the Gentiles might hear. Even unjust suffering you see has a reason behind it, God is working through it. And he says that Christ's deliverance is assured, he says I was delivered out of the lion's mouth. Just what Paul meant there is not too clear, there are some who say that Paul was literally in the Colosseum and that the lion's mouth was shut as in Daniel's case. But more probably he's using that as a euphemism here for the Roman government, that at another point he was delivered out of their grasp, probably his first imprisonment. And he goes on to say in verse 18, "The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom." You say, "Wait a minute, wasn't he executed shortly after this?" Yes, isn't that a wonderful deliverance? He says he's going to deliver me from every evil work including his own murder and God is going to lead him safely into his heavenly kingdom. So you see the Apostle Paul was assured of the Lord's ultimate deliverance. What great words describe death there in verse 18, "Bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom." You think about death that way? It's far better to be with Christ, isn't it? For me to live as Christ we heard sung, to die that's gain. I desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is very far better the way that Paul says that you can't even compare being in this world to being with Christ. We weep for those who've gone on before us and who have departed already. And we weep really for ourselves because we miss them. It is a loss to us in this world in terms of our human relationships but we cannot weep for those who are with Christ because it is very far better for them. They have already passed through that veil that we stare at. They have already departed and stepped through that door and are in his presence and that forever. And for the child of God the best is yet to come and Paul points to that in his future as he evaluates it. Warren Wiersby said, "When you're ready to face the Lord you need not fear the judgment of men." That's just where Paul was at this point as he faced execution. We can thank God for the privilege of serving Christ in our lives, what an honor it is, to be called into the service of the King, to be a royal ambassador. Yes, we have opposition in this world that's to be expected. But the message that we have to declare, we must preach it faithfully for it will accomplish its purpose and the Lord, well the Lord's going to reward us one day. We'll be brought safely home to his heavenly kingdom and because we have loved his appearing we too will receive a crown of righteousness, a crown that Peter says will not fade away. The important thing is the right here now in our present that we're serving him with a surrendered heart, that he truly is Lord of our attitudes, Lord of our actions, Lord of our words. We must be willing to let the Lord keep the records and not be so concerned ourselves about tallying up the marks of our service. We like Paul must have the attitude what we have accomplished, we have accomplished. We press on to the prize, the high mark of God in Christ Jesus. I'd like for us to open our hymnals again to 474 and sing and closing our service, another verse of the hymn that we sang just before the message. You see there's something here about the perspectives that Paul talked about in verse 3. The perspective of the past, hitherto my Lord hath led. The perspective of the present, today he guides each step I tread. The perspective of the future and soon in heaven it will be said Jesus led me all the way. Dear friend, he does lead, are you following him, is your hand in his, are you able to say Lord, whatever you want? Heavenly Father, I pray that that will be our heart's response, our heart's spirit tonight, that we serve you as a privilege, that we walk with you faithfully as our goal, and when we come to that point in life, should we have the opportunity that Paul did to make these kinds of evaluations, I pray that we'll be able to reflect the faithfulness of his own testimony in these words. In Jesus' name, amen. Let's stand together to sing verse 3 of 474. And give her to my Lord heaven, to name guides each step I tread, and soon in heaven it is said, Jesus led me all the way, Jesus led me all the way, let me step by step each day, I will tell the saints and angels, as I lay my burdens down, Jesus led me all the way, let's bow together with our heads bowed, and just before we go out, I wonder this evening if you know the Lord Jesus Christ, I wonder if you can say that he's led you. My friend, if there is a spiritual need, a question in your life, if you're uncertain about your own relationship with God, I'll be here in the front afterward, I urge you to come. We have folks who will be delighted to pray with you and answer your questions. Don't let another night go by with the kinds of thoughts and doubts and questions that you've been struggling with. Lord Jesus, I pray that someone tonight will respond to that invitation. Would in faith come to understand what it is to have assurance about his or her relationship with you? As we take a step out of this auditorium, Lord, it is our desire that you be leading us, and you keep us from strain, and that your goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives, knowing that one day we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen. the Lord.