What a great, great song. Thank the Lord. In C.S. Lewis’ book called The Great Divorce, he talked about fame in that book. He talked about the fame of heaven, and the fame of earth are two quite different things.

Fame in heaven, and fame on this earth, two very, very distinct things. Think about that for a moment. Fame in heaven: What did I do for Jesus? Why did I do what I did for Jesus? Did I pour out for Jesus? All for Jesus. Conversely, fame on this earth: What I did? Where I live? Who I know? Who I get to tell people I know? Job. Power. Control. All for me. Fame in heaven and fame on earth, no question about it, they are two quite different things.

Paul’s about to die in this series we’ve been in on 2 Timothy. Throughout the series we have laid the context on numerous occasions, but in order to really understand the power of our text today, you must understand the context like never before. Paul was moments before death. Paul was located in Rome in jail. And while Paul was there in jail, he began to write a letter to his protégé by the name of Timothy. And Timothy heard those words, saw those words, the churches around there saw those words, we have the privilege to know and to see those words, and how they challenge our lives.

Paul must have understood, and he must have heard the chatter there, “Paul’s going down. This is it.” Paul understood. Paul knew this was going to be the last time. He knew that there would be no one there to save him from the stones. He knew that there would be no one to rescue him from the lions. He knew that this time this was over. He was toast. And Paul wanted us to get it.

Somewhere before 68 A.D., Paul died. We know that because he died under the reign of Nehro, and Nehro quit reigning in 68 A.D. Some believe that just before 68, Paul was escorted towards his death. And then all of a sudden Paul’s march to the place where he would be killed, and there he, in that setting, was beheaded for his faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

And he writes the words that are absolutely powerful and riveting, found today in 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 6 through verse 8. For he said these words, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time for my departure is close. I have fought the good fight. I finished the race. I have kept the faith. In the future, there is reserve for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the Righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved His appearing.”

From this text today I want to challenge you to live for eternity. Right now, live for eternity. That’s really what 2 Timothy is about, but these 3 verses talk about it in such an illustrative manner, that I’m telling you, we have got to get it today. God is calling us to live for eternity.

For 10 weeks I have been talking about, for 8 of those weeks, and we’re in a 10 week series, we’re in week 8, of a series called, “The Top 10 Ways To Make It Through Difficult Times,” an expositional series through 2 Timothy. And do you realize that one of the greatest ways to make it through difficult times is to learn what we’re talking about today, “Live for Eternity.”

Now that’s not something we talk about a lot. Obviously it’s not something you’re going to get ever from this culture, because we live in the generation now. Everything’s now. It’s all about now. But this text flies in the face of that generation “now” mentality.

So how do we live for eternity? Paul talks about that. Live for eternity by:

1. Giving. Giving. Paul called us to understand the power and the heart of

giving. Notice what the scripture says in verse number 6. He said, “I am being poured out as a drink offering.” He picks up on Old Testament language, and after the burnt offering was given at the alter; the drink offering would be poured out on the offering. What Paul was saying is, “I am that offering. I am right now being poured out.” When you understand what that means contextually, he was saying, “This is final. No rescue this time on this side.” And the urgency is there, and that’s why he felt the incredible necessity that he must pen these words for Timothy initially, for the churches of that day, and for you and me as well. We are the beneficiaries of him walking with God even to the point of death.

And he said, “I am being poured out even right now as a drink offering.” Understanding it even greater, he says, “I am pouring out myself slowly towards death. That I am pouring out myself even if I shed my blood in my death,” was what Paul was saying, “then it will be even in my death that I can do what I did in my life, and that is that I will even in death give my all to Jesus, where there’s nothing left, all of my blood there as a testimony before the world.”

And Paul said, “It’s about time for departure. The time is at hand.” That was another way for him to say, “I’m about to be killed. I’m about to be a man who loses his life for the sake of Jesus Christ.” That word, “departure” has a couple of word pictures that are very powerful, and they are very illustrative for us to understand the text even greater.

One of the word pictures is of a ship, and how a ship pulls up the anchor when the ship is ready to set sail for home. And the other word picture is about soldiers, and the soldiers would break camp, and they would end up camp. And they were going to leave camp. You see both of those word pictures through that one word “departure” indicates one thing, Paul was saying, “I am going home.” You say, “Oh no. He’s in prison.” You say, “He’s about to die.” That’s exactly what I’m telling you. Once he died, he went home. Home’s not here, home is there. Some of us are far too much in love with here, and we give little thought about there.

Well the Apostle challenges us greatly in telling us that, because Paul was telling us that he is setting sail for eternity. He was taking down the tent because he was going home! And none of that should surprise us because we know what he penned over what we record as Philippians chapter 1, verse 21, “For to me to live as Christ, and for me to die is gain.” Paul understood something that many of us struggle with even to this day greatly, including me, for me to live as Jesus, but listen, my gain is not here, my gain is there!

I mean we have got some twisted thinking in the Christian world today. Paul did not see himself as sacrificing his life. Paul saw himself as giving his life once and for all for the gospel. Paul did not even see, listen carefully, he did not see that Nehro was taking his life, but he saw that I am pouring out my life as a drink offering to my Savior, and even if it costs me my life, it costs me my life.

In the book Crazy Love, written by Francis Chan, and by the way, I haven’t read a book in a decade that’s messed me up more than that book. And I mean it has just disturbed my world, has challenged me in a good way. I’ll read it again, and I’ll probably read it again. And I’ll sit before the Lord, and I’ll ask the Lord, “Lord what do you want me to do about that because the first time I didn’t know what to do when I finished it. It was that powerful. I was challenged greatly by the book.” But Chan talks about in his book, talks about how we talk about sacrificing ourselves for God, talking about how we do chores for God, we work for God, and we just sort of borriously involved with God. “Oh I’m just so tired for working for the Lord. I just don’t know how I’m going to do anymore. How am I going to make it through this week coming up? How am I ever going to come to choir practice? It’s so hard to come to choir on Wednesday night after I work hard.”

Chan says, “You know what, if you have that kind of mentality, I’ll tell you your problem is,” he said, “We get the glory, not God.” And he said that’s exactly what’s happening way too much in our culture, that it’s all about us getting the glory, and God getting little to no glory at all.”

I have a very, very disturbing question I want to ask you, and I hope it wears on you. I hope you wake up in the middle night with it. I hope you get up in the morning thinking about it. I hope you go to bed at night wondering about it. I hope it messes up your life greatly. I hope it disturbs who you are, and I’m going to start with this group right here. Are you pouring yourself out for Jesus Christ?

And I wonder about you, are you pouring out yourself for Jesus Christ? To those who would be watching by television, I ask you today, are you pouring yourself out for Jesus Christ? That’s what the Apostle challenged us to do was to pour ourself out for Jesus. You know what? We pour ourselves out for everything in the world that doesn’t matter. Some of you just pour out so much in your business, you don’t have anything else out to pour out to Jesus. Some of you pour out so much to the craze of recreation and sports in our, in our country, you know the idol that there’s nothing left to pour out to Jesus! I want to challenge you today, let it awaken you, are you pouring yourself out for Jesus?

You know what? It’s joy to give. It’s not a labor. I have a privilege every day to give myself completely to Jesus. Billions of people around the world just wish they knew about Jesus. But we know about Jesus, and then we gripe about what we know, and justify why we don’t do more, and negotiate with God this about this, and that about that. You know what I’m amazed at? I’m amazed continually, and I’ve been in this deal for a long time, I’m amazed at how many people so struggle over giving their resources to God, over why they don’t honor the Lord with first-tenth and offerings beyond that. You know why? I’ll tell you why. Let me tell you why. Because you never learn the secret of pouring out your life to Jesus. And some of you it’s no big deal to give money, anybody can give money. Let me tell you, anybody can give money, but what about your life? Giving money’s a breeze. It’s an overflow of what’s happening here. Are you pouring out your life for Jesus?

Missionary to Africa by the name of David Livingston, he was speaking to a group of students at Cambridge University. The time was the 1800’s. He stated these words when he was asked about sacrifice. He said, “You know, people talk of the sacrifice I have made spending my life in Africa. I never made a sacrifice.” He said, “WE ought not to talk about sacrifice when remember the great sacrifice which He made who left His Father’s throne on high to give Himself for us.” We don’t need to be talking about all this we just give up, all this sacrifice. None of us give up anything compared to what He gave up. That’s what Livingston is saying.

He’s calling us to the joy of giving, the joy of pouring ourselves out as a drink offering to the Lord. What a privilege it is to be able to do that. And that doesn’t matter where you work, what you do for a living, I want to challenge you today, listen, learn to pour out yourself to Jesus. It involves giving.

But living for eternity also involves:

2. Service. Service. What an incredible insight the Apostle gives us in verse number 7. “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.” Have fought. Have finished. Have kept. Paul looked at those as complete actions, even though he was still alive because he knew he was about to die. He had insight knowing that it was just moments before he would die. But he said, “I want to tell you it doesn’t matter how much I fought, and how much I have, I have finished that race, and how much I have kept that faith, it’s not only completed action, it’s going to keep on again and again and again for generations to come. My life is going to be a living testimony of pouring myself out to Jesus. Because pouring out myself is my service to Him.”

And do you realize what verse 7 is? It’s nothing more than Paul’s resume. It’s what it is. It’s Paul’s biographical sketch. You say, “Wow that’s not very much to send out. What about all of his degrees and pedigrees?” Who cares? Paul said one thing, this is known, I have fought the good fight. In fact I’ve fought the good fight like someone who is a soldier. I have finished the race like a great runner. And I have kept the faith like a steward has kept the faith, where the steward has taken that which God has given to him, and invested it. And that’s what Paul said. Paul said I have poured myself out. I have invested my life in serving Jesus all the way, and forever my life will be a living testimony that I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. And I have kept the faith.

Let me give you that in the Floydonian version today, perhaps this will help you out a little bit. Paul was saying, “I’m a living testimony, with all that I am, and with all that I have had. I have served the Lord. And I’m leaving with no regrets.” What a testimony. “With all that I am, and with all that I have had, I have served the Lord, and I’m about to leave. I’m about to set said for eternity. I’m about to break camp toward home. But I don’t have any regrets.” Boy I tell you what, that’s quite a statement, isn’t it?

There are thousands of people who will hear me talk about this, and their full of a lot of regrets about their life. A lot of regrets. “Oh I wish I would have served the Lord in my younger days.” Or, “I, I, I wish I could have done more for Jesus. I wish I wouldn’t have had that deal here, and I could have, I could have served the Lord more. I wish I could have given more of my life to this or that. I wish I could have taken that missionary trip they talked about in Africa. I wish I could have helped that orphanage over in Malawi. I wish that I could have gone out to San Diego and helped that church plant. I wish that I could have gone up to Montreal and helped that church. I, I wish. I wish. I wish.” We live in regrets. I want to remind every one of you today you are here, and you are alive. You are not dead. Repent of where you’ve been, and start today living a life that is so poured out to Jesus, so committed to Jesus, that there absolutely, there will be no regrets when it’s all over.

I tell you what a privilege it would be for a pastor one day to stand right here, and your body’s laying here, and all of a sudden with truth and authenticity he can say, “I tell you, let me tell you about this woman or this man. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. And I have kept the faith.”

When I think about that verse, I think about two men. I think first of all about Adrian Rogers who pastored over in Memphis for 32 years. He was world-renown, tremendous preacher of the gospel. He personified that verse. I’m telling you his life personified it. I saw him on numerous occasions like he was literally fighting Satan in the pulpit. I’ve seen him so fight for the faith. He fought the good fight. I’ve seen him walk through tough times where he’s been abused and maligned, and made fun of, and caricatured as a fundamentalist, but I have seen him finish the race until cancer took him home. And I’ve seen him kept the faith. I’ve seen him keep the faith. I mean he poured himself into men and women all over this world, thousands and thousands by the week there in Memphis, but also guys like me, poured himself into guys like me. And today, even though he is gone with the Lord, listen the great news is, he lives on as a living testimony!

Another man I think of when I see that verse, I think of a man named W.A. Criswell. For 5 decades plus Dr. Criswell pastored that old First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas. I remember seeing him continually fight the good fight. I remember him preaching, I mean preaching up a storm. I mean going ballistic. I mean just, just, I saw him chase the liberals from the pulpit. I mean he called, in front of 25000 plus people one day I saw him call liberals skunks, nothing more than a skunk.

And I’ve seen, I’ve seen, I saw him finish the race. The race wasn’t hard. In fact the race was so enjoyable he would give up the church. Pastored it 5 decades plus. And I tell you what, he kept the faith. Thousands and thousands, and thousands, and thousands of men and women from that church, and many of us who watched from a distance, and got to know him a little bit personally, poured into us, poured into us, poured into us. He’s a living testimony today.

My friend, a life that lives for eternity is a life that involves giving, and a life that involves service, and you know what? When that’s what you give, that’s where you are, then there is a result. You know what the result is? The result is:

2. Reward. Reward. Verse 8, what a great verse. Verse 8 stirred me up

this week. In fact, I tell you I have spent about 2 and a half hours on this verse, and you know what? I went in thinking I knew what I believed, and after I studied it all that time, I wasn’t sure what I believed. Because there were 3 distinct views that scholars had on this, and I’m wrestling. I mean have you ever been in the text that much where you just wrestle? God what does this mean? I mean what does this; I’m about to talk to thousands of people. I mean Lord I need to know what this means? I don’t need to mislead. Help me Lord.

So I decided you know what? I’m going to get on Twitter and I’m going to send

out a Tweet, and I’m going to say, “Hey, I’m about to speak from this passage, and if you’ve got any insight, shoot me something on the crown of righteousness. Well it wasn’t a little over an hour and I heard from 3 preachers. And I thought boy this is going to be good. They’re going to help me. And guess what? Each one of the three gave me a distinctly different view, and I thought oh, thanks a lot. I already knew that!

So I got back into the text again, and I wrestled more. Finally I was able to converse with one of the great scholars that I have great admiration for, and he was confirming what I had already started believing earlier that morning in the depths of study, and through all that, man I tell you what, today, I want to tell you what a word for us today. He says in verse number 8, “In the future…” remember we’re talking about reward. “In the future…” not here, but in the future. Some of us, we’re looking for all of our rewards down here. No, they don’t come here. They come there. Everything down here burns. You remember that? It all goes away. Everything you’re proud of, oh you ought to see what I do. Well bless you; you just lost your blessing.

In the future, notice what the scripture says, “reserve for me,” meaning lay it away for me. “…is an award,” like a runner would receive an award if he, if he won the race. It has been laid away for me, and it’s a particular crown given to an athlete who has achieved. And he talked about the crown being the crown of righteousness.

The word crown there is the word stephanos, referring to the victor’s crown, referring to the point whereby achievement has occurred, success has been done. Therefore, there will be a crown, a stephanos, a victor’s crown of righteousness, and notice what he says, “which the Lord the Righteous Judge,” key phrase. Paul says that this crown of righteousness will be given me by the Lord Jesus Christ.

And you know what? While we look at everybody else, and how they judge us, let me just make it real clear to you, there’s only Judge and Lawgiver in this world, and His name is Jesus Christ according to the book of James. And notice what the scripture says here, “He will be the one to examine our lives. He will be the one to determine whether or not we get this crown of righteousness, and He will determine whether or not we warrant that reward.”

I mean could you imagine today? I mean it’s a great thing. I mean, when you see somebody achieve and they get honored. But could you imagine what it would be like when you’ve lived your life, and you stand before God, and you know what? You will stand before God one day, and He will determine at that moment, based off what He has seen and His divine video system, and He will determine whether or not you are worthy to receive the crown of righteousness. And He will personally put that crown upon your head.

And the scripture says that He will, “give me,” according to the scripture. In fact he says that He will give me that crown in the future. Interestingly if you will notice in Luke chapter 14, verse 14, you can just reference that. When Jesus talks about rewards there, it is the same word used here for give, as the word give over in Luke 14:14, because in that setting Jesus was talking about rewards being given on the day of the resurrection of the just. That’s the resurrection of those of us who have died, and one day we will be raised from the dead, and we will stand before God at that moment when we’re raised from the dead.

Those who do not know God, they will stand before God in a different judgment. But I want to notice the judgment he’s talking about here, because he says, “He will give me that crown of righteousness on that day.” That day meaning a specific day. Meaning there’s never been a day like it before in human history, or the history of the universe, and there will never be another day like it. You know what day he’s talking about? He’s talking about the day called the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. Do you realize today that one day as a Christian, you will stand before Jesus Christ the Righteous One, and you will stand at the judgment seat of Jesus Christ? And every one of you will be judged basically on two things: what you did for God while you lived on this earth. And why you did what you did for God on this earth. And your rewards will be determined accordingly.

Work and motive. Those who do not know Jesus, they will not be at the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. They will have been judged at the great white throne judgment at the resurrection of those who do not know the Lord. And they will be cast into hell. So right here the scripture is very, very clear. He says, “On that specific day,” and then he gives a statement. Notice this. Powerful word. “Not only to me, but to all those who have loved His appearing.” Love, meaning those who have meditated on the coming of Jesus Christ. Those whose lives have been altered in their lifestyle and their choices for Jesus Christ.

In other words, there’s going to be something so powerful in your life that’s occurring because you are conscientious of the Lord’s coming that everything is altered. Kittel’s New Testament Dictionary for the Language, the Greek Language, he writes, he says, “In his faithfulness to Christ that is grounded in His appearing.” In other words, a person has lived for faithfully for Jesus because he has constantly had in his mind and his heart that Jesus was coming, Jesus was coming, Jesus was coming, and Jesus can come any moment. It’s an imminent return. It can come any moment suddenly, any moment, any time, anywhere. And his life was so determined by that. His behavior, his choices, his acts, and that was his, that was his heartbeat. And he didn’t want to be caught doing something he didn’t need to be doing, or being somewhere that he didn’t need to be in case Jesus came again.

I tell you what everybody was always looking for Jesus to come, because preachers would stand up, and they’d be preaching from those Scofield Bibles, and they’d be calling people to Jesus because they were telling people, “Oh I tell you Jesus could come again.” Well I want to tell you something friend, I’m not going to be one preacher silent about it, Jesus is coming again, and if you cannot understand that, you had better learn to read the paper. You’d better learn to read the newspaper. You better get online man. You better start thinking about everything prophetically, and thinking about hey, how everything’s happening in such a rapid succession. That’s exactly what the Revelations talks about. It will start happening and happening and happening and happening. And then the Lord will come again.

You see, there’s a biblical truth here that I want you to grab today. Focusing on Jesus’ future coming will determine your behavior now and your rewards in heaven.

Paul was saying my life and my choices, and my behavior have been so altered because with one eye I was always looking for His return, and the other eye I lived to know where I was going. And my life was so fixed on that, that one day I’m going to receive the crown of righteousness. You know what? Why are we so in love with this world? This world disappointment, it constantly disappoints us. Why are we so infatuated with this system here that we just think it’s just, it’s just wonderful, and it’s nothing more than a deceptive system that misleads us, and leads us away from God. Why are we so intrigued with it? Why are we so in love with it? I’m telling you, Christ could come! Some of you have small children; some of your small children may never live to adulthood because the Lord could come back that soon! And I know that as soon as I say that, somebody will say, “That would be really bad if my little Johnny, and my little Sissy wasn’t able to grow up and know life.” What do you mean? We’re sicko man!

One of the greatest things that could ever happen to your children is the Lord comes back now before they reach the age of accountability, and God takes them to heaven with you! [APPLAUSE] And they wouldn’t have the afflictions, and they wouldn’t have the sufferings of life that many of us have had! And those sufferings, and those afflictions Paul called life, and momentary. And you know what we call them? Burdensome. We’re so concentrated on. But Paul saw life from the big scheme of eternity. He said you’ve got to live your life from an eternal perspective.

Most of us never focus on the return of the Lord. I, I, I’ve told Josh, and I’ve told Kim numerous times, “Where is the contemporary music today talking about heaven?” You see the reason we don’t write music today talking about heaven, because we’re so much in love with now! It’s all about now! It’s all about oh Jesus help me to today to be what I need to be. Whoa, whoa, whoa, yada, yada, yada, and that’s what he said. No! It’s deeper than that! We are here to live for eternity!

And I tell you what a great story, here’s the Apostle and he says, “You know what? One day guys in the future there’s going to be laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord Himself is going to put on me. It’s all because my life has been so altered every day because I keep my eyes on Jesus, and the Lord can come again, and it alters my whole life, my whole thought processes, my own behavior.” Could you imagine what would happen if you knew the Lord would come back tomorrow, how would you alter today? Paul lived his life like that.

I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith. I wonder today, is that your testimony? When I read that verse this week again, I tell you what, I thought of, I thought of 3 men. Now these 3 men that I thought about were unique men. They all lived in Turkey. And I remember hearing about it vaguely; you’d never hear it on the news media. But I remember hearing it in the realm of, of the evangelical world. And I want to tell you about these 3 men today.

They were located in a Turkish province 300 miles northeast of Antioch, the city where the Lord had His people first say they were Christians. They were called Christians because they lived so passionately for Jesus. But on Wednesday morning, on April the 18th, 2007, one of those men, a 46 year old German missionary, and father of 3 by the name of Tillman Gueske prepared to go to his office, kissing his wife good-bye, taking a moment to hug his son, and giving his son the priceless memory of, “Good-bye son. I love you.”

In another area of the same town, a 35-year-old pastor by the name of Nacati Adien, a father of two, said good-bye to his wife, and he left for the office as well. They were on their way to a Bible study that morning that was meeting with, they thought, some believers in town, or some seekers in town.

And also, there was one other guy, his name was Ugar Ukse. Ugar also joined them in that Bible study. None of these 3 men knew what was awaiting them at that study. For you see, on the other side of town, there were 10 young men, all under age 20 who had put their final arrangements in place to demonstrate their ultimate act, living out their love for Allah, and the hatred of infidels who had in their mind undermined Islam.

Dial back just a few days, it was on Resurrection Day, on Easter of that same year, 2007, five of these men came by invitation only to an evangelistic service that Pastor Nacati had put together for these men whom they believed were seekers. They indicated they were seekers. They had not believed yet, but they were basically imposters. Well on this certain occasion they brought 5 of their buddies, and so 10 of those young men came to that Bible study.

The young men got their guns, they got their bread knives. They got their ropes. And they got their towels, because they were ready to wipe up the blood from the devastating moment in their service to Allah. They arrived and the Bible study began, and reportedly Pastor Nacati read a chapter from the Bible, and then all of a sudden the assault began. The boys tied Ugar and Nacati and Tillman’s hands and feet to chairs, and they videoed their acts on their cell phones. And they tortured your brothers, and my brothers in Jesus Christ for 3 hours without any mercy at all!

Tillman, he was stabbed 156 times. Nacati was stabbed 99 times for Jesus Christ. Ugar was stabbed so many times they could not count. These men were disembowed. Their intestines were sliced up in front of their eyes. They were emasculated as they watched body parts being destroyed, from fingers being chopped off, from noses, to mouths, and it goes on and on and on. And possibly the worst part was watching their brothers suffer. And finally, their throats were sliced from ear to ear, pretty well decapitating them.

A man who was to be at the Bible study was running late. He called the cell phone of Ugar’s, somehow Ugar was able to answer that cell phone in the midst of all that torture, and this man heard this gurgling sound, and he knew it was human suffering. And he called the police, and the police came, and the police knocked on that door, shattered open that door, “Police! Police!” Finally some of them ran away when the police opened the door. He saw torture of 3 born-again, faithful believers in Jesus in an unbelievable way for their faith.

Somehow Ugar was still alive, but shortly after, he died. I’ve thought a lot about that this week. I wonder what they thought of when they saw each other being tortured like that? I wonder what they said to one another? I wonder how they encouraged each other? “Be faithful. Be faithful. You, you know they were tempted to, to not, but you can count on that on that judgment seat of Jesus Christ, Jesus Himself will take that crown of righteousness, and there will be Nacata, and Tillman, and Ugar, and He will place on their head the crown of righteousness, because they have fought the good fight like a soldier. They have kept, and the finished the race like a good runner. And they have kept the faith like a good steward!

And I close today asking you one question, and I really want you to wrestle with this question. Are you pouring yourself out for Jesus Christ? And if you’re not, why not?