Sermon: The foremost conferment (2 Tim 4:7-8)

WHAT IS FOREMOST?
The Foremost Conferment (2 Tim 4:7-8)
pdf
Dr. Paul Manuel—2011

(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to
each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted.)

Whenever children want to get from one place to another, they often run, even if there is no urgency. Most adults, however, are content to take life at a stately pace...unless there is some urgency.

Two lawyers walking through the woods spotted a vicious-looking bear. The first lawyer immediately opened his briefcase, took out a pair of sneakers, and put them on. The second lawyer looked at him in disbelief, "Are you crazy? You'll never be able to outrun that bear!" "I don't have to," the first lawyer replied.... "I only have to outrun you."

Most adults are content to take life at a stately pace...unless there is some urgency, in which case, they may run. While not out of urgency, Christians do run, because the Christian life is a race of sorts, one that ends with The Foremost Conferment.
Paul travels extensively throughout Asia Minor during the mid-first century, spreading the gospel and establishing new churches, and he is imprisoned in Rome at least twice during that period. It is during his fourth missionary journey when he is arrested and imprisoned the second time, an experience he expects will ultimately lead to his execution. The impending end of his ministry prompts Paul to write one last epistle, the second to his protégé Timothy. In it, he charges Timothy with continuing the young minister's work among the congregations he serves. He will face challenges, especially as he has to deal with some of the same troublesome people Paul encountered when he was there.

• Like Demas, who "loved this world" more than he loved the Lord, and deserted Paul when the apostle needed him (2 Tim 4:10)

• Like Alexander the metalworker who did Paul "a great deal of harm [and] strongly opposed [his] message" (2 Tim 4:14-15).

Paul's experience was not all bad. He did meet some good people.

• Like Mark who, Paul says, "is helpful to me in my ministry" (2 Tim 4:1 1a)

• Like Luke, who supported Paul, even when he was in prison (2 Tim 4:11b)¹

All in all, as Paul recalls his service over the years, it has been a good run.

His overall positive attitude may seem a bit puzzling, given his imprisonment and the unlikelihood of release. This may, indeed, be the end of the line for Paul. Nevertheless, however bleak his immediate future may seem, the apostle wants Timothy to know that the best really does lie ahead, as Paul can look forward to...

* XXIX The Foremost Conferment²...

which is...

• The prize from God (2 Tim 4:7-8)

Please turn to...

2 Tim 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness,³ which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

The demands and concerns people have cause many to move from one pressing issue to the next without much reflection. What leisure time there is, they often fill with some distraction, something to take their mind off their responsibilities and troubles. The apostle's imprisonment offers plenty of time to consider his life, and he relates his conclusions here. Reflecting on his service, Paul can honestly say: "I have given it my best shot."⁴ This was his greatest desire, as he said to the elders at Ephesus before going on to Jerusalem and eventual arrest.⁵

Acts 20:24 ...I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

Everyone's task is not the same,⁶ but everyone's task has the same requirements, and they are what determine his prize in the end. That is what Paul wants Timothy to understand, and that is what he would wants you to understand.

Paul identifies the prize as "the crown of righteousness" (v. 8), an allusion to Roman sporting events, yet what that signifies is not entirely clear.⁷

• Is it a crown recognizing what you were in life (genitive of description), like a good conduct medal?

—or—

• Is it a crown marking what you become in death, when you will finally reach moral perfection (so Knight 1992:461)?

Paul does not make the distinction here, but it may not matter. Whatever the prize is, he is describing how one gets it, and...

1. Your award, that crown, acknowledges your completion of—not just your participation in—the race.

It does a person no good to begin and not to finish.⁸ There are no points for showing up or even starting. You are either all in, or you are out. As Jesus said...

Luke 9:62 ...No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.

Once you are in, there are certain requirements, conditions you must meet to complete the race. Paul lists three of them here.⁹

The first condition to complete the race is that...

a. It requires effort.¹⁰

...which Paul describes with an allusion to a boxing match:¹¹ "I have fought the...fight." This effort is not what you do to earn salvation, which Paul states clearly is by faith in what God has done through Jesus.¹² Salvation is obtained free, but it is not maintained free. Once you have been justified, it is necessary to develop your relationship with God or, as Paul states it elsewhere, that you "continue to work out your salvation" (Phil 2:12b) in your devotion to God.¹³ This is the first condition to complete the race: It requires effort.

The second condition to complete the race is that...

b. It requires endurance.¹⁴

Have you ever begun a project only to get distracted or discouraged and not complete it? ...Perhaps you thought you would get back to it later, when you had more time or more energy.... Whatever you have done with other endeavors, delaying or deferring them, you must not do with this endeavor. As I mentioned before, you get no points for starting, only for staying. Jesus said, "it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved" (NASB Matt 10:22b; 24:13). This is the second condition to complete the race: It requires endurance.

The third condition to complete the race is that...

c. It requires evenness.¹⁵

You must hold unwaveringly to a basic set of convictions, what Paul calls "the faith." This is necessary to keep you on track and prevent you from getting off track. He does not identify what these particular doctrines are but, based on what he says elsewhere in his correspondence to Timothy, they include what you should believe as well as how you should behave. For example...¹⁶

• Paul identifies a theological component that prescribes what you should believe, and deviating from that will undermine the faith. He says...

2 Tim 2:18b [There are false teachers who] say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some.

• Paul identifies a practical component that prescribes how you should behave, and deviating from that will undermine the faith. He says...

1 Tim 6:10b Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith....

Whatever others may promote, be it a belief that you know is not true or a behavior that you know is not right, hold fast to your convictions. This is the third condition to complete the race: It requires evenness.

Paul describes what receiving the crown of righteousness signifies: Your award acknowledges your completion of—not just your participation in—the race. There is more:

2. Your award, that crown, acknowledges your expectation of the return.

That is, by committing yourself to the race—your effort, your endurance, your evenness—by doing what is required to complete the race, you demonstrate your conviction that God is not finished, and that Jesus will come back. In other words, your receiving the crown when he does return is an affirmation of your faith that he would return. So, do you "long for his appearing"?

When life is going well or when you are feeling well, you are often satisfied with the state of things and not anxious for change. It is usually when life is not going well or when you are not feeling well that you are anxious for a change, sometimes a radical change, like the one that will attend Jesus' return, when you will receive your resurrection body and enter the Messianic Age to reign with him. However life is treating you, though, you can and should be yearning for Jesus' appearing.¹⁷ That is, after all, one of the reasons you are in the race, because of what and whom you will find at the finish line: Your award, that crown, acknowledges your expectation of the return.

Characterizing the Christian life as a race is a common metaphor in Paul's writings, one he commends to his readers, including you.¹⁸

• In his letter to the church at Galatia, Paul warns believers not to impede their progress by entertaining false doctrine.

Gal 5:7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?

If you encounter false doctrine, you must identify and dismiss it, lest it impede your progress in the race.

• In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul exhorts believers to exercise discipline, so they can focus on the goal.¹⁹

1 Cor 9:24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not fast; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.²⁰

Some people treat the Christian life as a spectator sport. Apart from their occasional attendance in church, there is little that marks any progress in the race. But everyone, including you, is a participant; there are no spectators this side of eternity.²¹ To win the prize, your training for the race must be dedicated to what prepares you to run well.

• In his second letter to Timothy, Paul encourages believers to anticipate Jesus' official recognition for their devotion.

2 Tim 4:8 ...the crown of righteousness...the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award...to all who have longed for his appearing.

• Many, perhaps most, Christians have a casual attitude toward his return:

It'll happen when it happens, and there's no point getting worked up. After all, a person shouldn't be so heavenly minded that he's no earthly good.

That attitude, though, is often an excuse for inactivity, for dong one's own thing, because, after all, there is plenty of time to get serious.

• Other Christians take the opposite approach, concentrating on Jesus' return (or some other concept) to the point where it consumes (or paralyzes) them, preventing them from seeing the larger plan of God.²²

Your attitude toward his coming again (or most other doctrinal issues) should be neither casual nor consuming. Rather, allow your anticipation of Jesus' return to shape your priorities and stimulate your progress in the race.

Paul uses his imprisonment to look back on his life and take stock of what he has accomplished. Despite how things appear at the moment, he can anticipate a most significant reward at the completion of his race: the crown of righteousness. This same award also lies before you at the completion of your race. It is The Foremost Conferment, the prize from God. Just keep moving forward, keep looking forward, and "fix [y]our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of [y]our faith" (Heb 12:2a).

Having considered The Foremost Conferment, we will look next at The Foremost Confrontment, which is the presiding of God, in Dan 7:9-10.

For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.

(This sermon is part of Dr. Manuel's sermon series: "What is Foremost?" Links to each of the sermons in the series will be found here as they are posted)