Paul, a servant of God

Now, in previous nights we've been doing a little character study. We've been thinking of Abraham, the friend of God, and David, the man after God's own heart. It's my exercise to think of two men in the New Testament, Paul, a servant of God, under the will of God, learn some lessons from the life of Timothy, the man of God.

So tonight we'll ponder the Apostle Paul, a servant of God. Reading then firstly in Titus chapter 1, the book of Titus, the epistle of Titus in chapter 1. Titus 1 verse 1, Paul, a servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God's elect, the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness. Now back to the book of the Acts.

The book of the Acts in chapter 9. The book of the Acts in chapter 9. Acts chapter 9 verse 1. And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest.

It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do. And the men which journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man.

And Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, neither did eat nor drink.

And there was a certain disciple of Damascus named Ananias. To him saith the Lord in a vision, Ananias. And he said, Behold, I am here, Lord.

And the Lord said unto him, Arise and go into the street which is called Strait, and inquire of the house of Judas, for one called Saul of Tarsus. And behold, he prayeth, and had seen in the vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his right hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Verse 15.

And the Lord said unto him, Go thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name unto the Gentiles, and kings, and children of Israel. For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. Now over to Philippians in chapter 1. Philippians chapter 1. Philippians 1 verse 21.

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, that is the fruit of my labor, yet what I shall choose I want not. For I am in a state which makes two, having a desire to depart, to be with Christ, which is far better.

Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you. First Timothy chapter 1. First Timothy chapter 1. First Timothy chapter 1. And at verse number 16. Howbeit for this cause I obtain mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering for a patron.

You'll observe that expression, for a patron to them that should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. And secondly, in the second epistle, chapter 4. Second Timothy in chapter 4. True Timothy chapter 4 verse 6. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.

Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge shall get me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. Now that's a reading with the Lord's blessing. It is interesting to notice in our bible how a person is first introduced on the page of scripture, for it usually gives character to their service and ministry.

You remember, Gideon is introduced to us as he was thrashing. You remember, in fact we were looking at it last night across Ontario, David. David is introduced on the page of scripture as keeping sheep, and that never left the heart of David, a love for the sheep and for the flock of God's pastor.

And then you remember Saul in the Old Testament. He's first introduced in the bible looking for assets that he never found. When we come through to the New Testament, you remember that we're introduced to Peter.

Peter was looking after the nets associated with fishing. Indeed I was noticing recently when the Lord chose the disciples, that most of them were fishermen. They first learned to work with each other in the boat.

Mind you, that's a big lesson in life, to be able to work with each other in the boat. But tonight we're thinking about Paul, the servant of God. The first thing it says about Paul after he got saved, Ananias is sent down to look for Paul in the street which is called Strait.

And the Lord says, Now you know the man, behold he breatheth, behold he breatheth, a newborn soul praying. Paul is introduced into our bible as associated with the stoning of Stephen. And you know there's a parallel in those two men, Stephen and Paul.

Both were characterized by the fullness of the spirit. To both there was the revelation of the open heaven. To both they had a vision of the glorified Lord.

And both were alike the praying servant. What we're thinking about tonight is that pious Jew, a pharisee of the pharisees, as touching the law blameless. Ah yes, a man of the temple, a man he says he served his forefathers with a clear conscience.

But you know as we study the life and the path of the servant of God, there is no one in the bible except David that we get a closer look at the thoughts of his heart. Apart from David there is few writers in our bible that tell us of their personal devotion, of those salutations, of those benedictions, of those notes of praise, of those prayers, of that thanksgiving, of the worship that rose in his heart, in his supplications and in his intercessions. Oh he says night and day I was praying, praying with tears.

And how often even with the deep burden that he had in his service, he rises in those great notes of doxology and praise to God. The patron servant as we've stressed in our reading, a patron to those that would afterward believe, he began as a praying servant, a praying servant. Now yes that patron, in fact he's a patron in salvation.

That experience that we read of in Acts chapter 9 on the Damascus road, he's a patron even of the future salvation of the nation of Israel. For Israel, oh yes Israel at an end of themselves will be saved when there's a revelation of the pierced Christ from an open heaven. And so Paul is an example to us of praying, of that of supplication in the presence of God.

It's interesting to notice in Acts chapter 9, in Acts chapter 9 at the beginning of the chapter we're reading about Saul of Tartus just saved on his way in. At the end of the act book of the Acts chapter 9 we're reading about Dorcas, a woman, she's dying on the way out. The old man that's getting, got saved on his way in, there's the brilliance of the sun, there's that good start.

At the end of Acts chapter 9 there's a dear woman, Dorcas, on her way out. For her the sun is setting, for her there was a good finish. It's good to have a good start isn't it? We all had a good start in the mercy of God's salvation that crossed our path.

But what about the finish? Oh yes, you know really it's the finish that counts. We were speaking the other night somewhere in Exodus chapter 17. It says about Moses that his hand was steady until the going down of the sun.

Good to see an older saint and his hands are steady till the going down of the sun. Faithful in the things of God, a dear sister that has gone on like Dorcas in the past and had a good finish. Of those that are introduced in Acts chapter 9, of both it says concerning the disciples that they were with them.

Paul came in and was brought in among the disciples, he was with them. As Dorcas passed from the scene, they remember days when she was with them. It says they were both with them coming in and going out.

When she was with them, those that are with the saints and in the assembly and there by conviction, not by convenience. You know there's many on our day that tag along and they're just well at the meetings. Just at the meetings maybe on the Lord's day and you don't see much of them during the week.

They're just well there as the ungodly about would go to a place of religion in a church. But it's lovely to see those saints. Whether it's like Saul of Tarsus from the day that he started out, it says he was with them.

It says about Dorcas at the end of her life, they look back upon times when she was with them. With the assembly and with the saints. In days of blessing, in days when the sun is shining, in days when it's cloudy, in days of difficulty.

Said the old brother with the assembly through thick and thin up to the chin. Just with the people of God. I want to think about Paul the servant of God.

I want to think about the light that he saw. I want to think about the Lord that he acknowledged. The light that he saw, a light from heaven.

The Lord that he acknowledged, who art thou Lord. I want to think about the neighbors that he did. He says in another passage more than they all.

The neighbors that he did. I want to think about the life that he lived. He describes it himself.

We read it in Philippians. For me to live Christ, to die again. The light he saw, the Lord he acknowledged, the neighbors he did, the life he lived.

We spent a few moments thinking about the letters he wrote. Man, he wrote letters. Big deficiency in our Bible that we hadn't got the inspired writings of the Apostle Paul.

And then in 2 Timothy, in chapter 4, we have the last words he recorded. The time of my departure is at hand. The light he saw.

Ah yes, here in the book of the Acts, in chapter 9, he says it was a light. In chapter 22, he says it was a great light. In chapter 26, he's recounting the experience of his salvation and he says it was a light above the brightness of the noonday sun.

The light, the revelation, I am Jesus of Nazareth, thy persecutor. The revelation of his Lord seems to increase as he goes through life. My dear brother, dear sister in life, are we increasing in our appreciation of the glories of our blessed Lord? You know, really on the Lord's day, when a brother gets up to lead the saints, I think really I should be listening to him for about two minutes to discover where he has been reading and what he has been enjoying and what he's enjoying with freshness about the person of Christ.

We haven't come on the Lord's day, we enjoy, we appreciate God's salvation, but we don't come to the morning meeting or remembrance meeting just to tell the Lord how we got saved and the bad rascal we were. The Lord knows the bad rascal we were. Oh yes, we'll come to remember the Lord and to shew his death and to speak into the Father's ears concerning his blessed Son.

And surely we have an interest in the blessing of salvation than an interest in our increased appreciation, our increased appreciation of the Lord that he saw. You'll observe in Acts chapter 9, the language he spoke. He's heading for Damascus.

His demeanor of hatred and anger and animosity is expressed in the language of threatenings and slaughter. After he gets saved, change language, you know. The holy breath, the holy breath.

Telling the saints across there the other night about the early days in Russia, when the saints were persecuted by the KGB, that is the secret police. They would send those that would come in, sometimes they would disrupt the meetings, but usually they would just mingle in amongst the people of God. And they would wait a little time just to see who was coming and who was going.

In fact, three or four years ago when Shona and I was there, we turned up at a meeting on the Lord's day and the brethren went down with us and there was a man hanging around outside. He was coming to the meeting, the remembrance meeting. And the brother that I was with lived in the village, in the town, and he didn't know this man.

And the man came in and said he wanted to observe the meeting. And we showed him the seat backseat and I conversed with him a little. And then I tried to work with him through the interpreter, but I didn't just get happy about it.

And then the other brothers spoke to him, and some of the believers as they gathered spoke to him. And then I detected that he was telling them different things than he was telling me. He lingered with us all day.

Nobody ever knew him. He disappeared again and nobody knew whence he came or where he went. You see, they would place people in amongst the Lord's people just to find out who was coming.

And in an early day, they would seek to find out who was coming. And then eventually, when they found out all that were gathering, they would close them down. And they were very smart and very sly in the way they went about things.

And in an early day, I'm told, they would actually try to take part. And they could read the Bible to the saints. And some of them would even pretend to get up to preach.

But you know, if the believers were a little suspicious of a man, they would ask him to pray. He couldn't pray. Of course he couldn't pray.

It means to tell you, we're still living in days when preachers are planting. Get to know a man and let me hear him pray. Let me hear him in the presence of God, drawing near to God.

There's a vital lesson at the beginning of Paul's life. The holy prayers. The language he spoke was changed.

And the letters he brought. He's bringing letters to bind them. He's bringing letters to bind the saints and bring them into bondage.

The Lord saved them. And Paul settled down and he wrote those epistles. And really, all those epistles is about the deliverance of the saints from the bondage of Judaism and materialism.

I think there's a big change. You know, God's salvation brings about a big change. A big change in the language that he used.

A big change in the letters that he brought. But what about the Lord he acknowledged? Chapter 9, verse 6. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And what I notice, Paul's linked on with the person of Christ. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? The acknowledgment of his control.

And then the apprehension of his choice. Further down, verse 15. He's a chosen vassal unto me.

The apprehension of the Lord's choice. The Lord's control is called. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? The apprehension of his choice.

A chosen vassal. And then there's another secret in Paul's life, and that is this. His association with the cross.

His association with the cross. Oh yes, as he's writing. He's writing to the Galatians.

I didn't read all the verses. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, and yet not I, but Christ that liveth in me. And then again, God forbid that I should go around saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I ask the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. Paul never got far away from the cross. His blessed Lord, the acknowledgment of his control, the apprehension of his choice, association with his cross.

But then there was that which marked Paul in his life. Abandonment to his claims. Completely abandoned to the claims of Christ.

In Christ, to live Christ, to preach Christ. He says my great object is to win Christ. Philippians, my desire to be with Christ.

Abandonment to his claims. The acknowledgment of his control. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? He had a desire from the very start, not only to pray, but to know the purposes of God, the purposes of Christ in his life.

I understand Romans chapter 12 is a once for all desire. A desire to commit the matter of ownership and lordship to Christ. You know, sometimes we have to admit, many believers just, well, there's those periods even in our own lives, it can't be aimless.

Can't live selfish. It can't have a jumble up of our lives. Yes, it can't have a jumble up of our lives.

The intent is right and we want to live right and we're in the assembly and we go to the meetings and all those things, but really, it's when the day is through and our energy is spent. Spent on things legitimate, I would know. On the things of this life down here.

But have we got that aim, that focus, that objective? Paul, as he got saved and began to discover the purposes of Christ for him, he says, I've discovered that I was sanctified from the day of my birth. He from the very start was yielded. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? The divine will.

You know, that will lead us not only in a path of service, but a path of trials. Of times, those things that cross our path and if left to ourselves, we never choose that path. Path of grief, of suffering, of trial, of difficulty.

And you know, by times when we're up against a problem and we can hardly see a way out, of times the Lord leads us that way where we just say, thy will be done. Do we know about that? Sworn it in her own will. The acknowledgement of his control.

My dear brother, my dear sister, you're looking at me and I'm looking at you. Only one life will soon be passed and only what's done for Christ will last. I address it particularly and we long there will be more of them, but they're young men in this meeting.

Have you got a focus? Have you got a name? Have you got an objective before you? And that is Christ. Lord, what wilt thou? His control acknowledged. The apprehension of his choice.

Verse 15. He's a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name. That was the big problem in the Acts of the Apostles.

Ah yes, in the Acts of the Apostles. Ananias, in fact, says it here in this chapter. He says, that man, Saul of Tarsus, the whole bant upon that man is to bind all that call on the name.

He's out to persecute all that are associated with the name. For it was that name. The name of Jesus of Nazareth.

No other name under heaven given among men, they preached. To preach in the name, to suffer in the name, to be associated with the name. Mind you, my dear brother, dear sister, there is still a reproach to the two or three that gather together.

My name is peerless person. It's precious name. His blessed presence.

My name. Ah yes, this man is a new creature. He's a contradiction to all that he once was.

Some people have problems, you know. And indeed, probably it is a day in which there's big confusion about who's saved and who's not. You know, it's easy to know you're saved.

You love the things you once hated and you hate the things you once loved. It's just as simple as that. Mind you, before I was saved, I came to learn separation, a child of Christian parents, and brought up in that atmosphere.

And you know, I knew with that conviction deep down in my heart, though the devil would put other thoughts in my boy's mind, that those people had reality. And I longed for a day when the barrier of my sin would be removed and I would be able to be in amongst those people. Mind you, if they'd just let me look through the keyhole, if they'd let me get into the back seat and have a look at them, just to be numbered amongst the people of God.

I ask just to have that link on with the Lord and with the people of God. You see, it all began with a cross, you know. And for you and I, it begins with a cross.

It says, Paul, as I look back upon this now, it says, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. I have died with Christ.

Now I live. Yet not I, but Christ that liveth in me. And it's not after the flesh, but after the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

It says, Paul, when it's all finished, and he has written all those words to the Galatians of old, and all those doctrinal truths as he has set out, it says, Paul, I'll tell you the secret of it all. God forbid that I should glorify, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which or by whom it can be translated either way. I am crucified unto the world, and the world unto me.

Oh, his cross. He appreciated a blessed man that died for him, that died a cross death, that died a violent death upon the cross. My dear brother, my dear sister, your Savior and my Savior took a heavy wooden cross upon his lacerated back, and he bore it outside the city of Jerusalem, and he never came back.

For Jesus thought he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. Want to serve Christ? Want to serve your blessed Lord? Want to be known like the apostle of old as a servant of God? Well, if you want to find Christ, you'll find him outside.

When he was born, it was outside, for there was no room for them in the inn. When he lived in Nazareth, eventually he was outside, for they thought to throw him over the brow of the hill. In the day of his service in the country of the Gadarenes, he was outside, for they said, they thought of him that he would depart.

In his death, they laid him outside the city wall with a cry in his ears, away with them. You and I, my dear brother, dear sister, he called me out, the man with garments died. I knew his voice, my Lord, the crucified.

I knew his voice, and oh, I could not stay. Had to follow, had to obey, it cast me out the world. Well, once it found that I was in my rebel heart, it crowned the man, and it rejected, spurned, and slain.

And God in wondrous power raised again, and so we are with it, my Lord and I. But oh, his presence sweeter is than any earthy joy, which once I counted sweeter than his fame. I am out, not only from the world, but to his name. Outshined, crucified with Christ.

Who knows this expression that we read in Philippians chapter 121, for me to live Christ, to die again. Here Paul is abandoned to the claims of Christ. Here he is, as he said in Corinthians, the love of Christ constraineth me.

Those that live, live not unto themselves, but unto him who died for them rose again. Philippians, the position he gained was in Christ. The purpose that governed his life was to live Christ.

The privilege that he had and that gave him joy was to preach Christ. The praise that he grasped after was to win Christ. And the prospect that grew greater was to be with Christ.

Look over that again now. The position he gained in the blessing of salvation in Christ. Once in Christ, in Christ forever, thus the eternal covenant stands.

What a blessing to be in Christ. But the purpose that governed his life, the position he gained through grace was in Christ. But the purpose that governed his life was to live Christ.

To live Christ. Now, really it is, for me to live Christ. The privilege that gave him joy was to preach Christ.

Ah yes, what a costly path it was to own that precious name and to preach Jesus of Nazareth. It cost him all the hatred of the Jews. It cost him those hailstones of storms.

Ah yes, the heart-rending anguish dragged out for dead. He contended in the amphitheater with raging fanatics. Ah yes, he faced the councils.

He faced the kings. He stood before Caesar. But I might preach Christ.

May you in the ministry, I would like you, my dear saint, tonight to have a look at Christ. Don't you know in the preaching of the gospel, our brother Jerry and I have labored together. You know the aim of a gospel preacher.

Tell them about sin and warn them of wrath to come. And then leave them face to face. Give them a look at Christ.

To preach Christ. Ah yes, but what about to win Christ? Saul of Tarsus. A child that was born through Hebrew.

At five years of age he was taught to read. At six years of age he was sent to school. At ten years of age he was acquainted with the oral law.

At the age of thirteen he would have been made the son of the law. In his teenage years at Jerusalem, the man that we're talking about now sat at the feet of Gamaliel. Ah yes, he was brought up a trained rabbi.

He was brought to be in the strict sect of the Pharisees. Of the tribe of Benjamin. Pharisee of the Pharisees.

Philippians 3 says, I counted it all but dross, that I might win Christ. Ah yes, Christ. We sing about it, don't we? Christ is all.

Is he real? Paul's vision. That voice. The vocation of his life.

The focus of all that lay before. Damascus, Jerusalem, Judea, out onto the Gentiles. Ah yes, he says I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.

Paul began to serve. The first burden he had was for his own people. Heart's desire, prayer to God for the maids, that they might be saved.

In his early service, everywhere he went, first place the synagogue. He had a desire, a cherished hoops. Ah yes, the cherished hoops of those early years was for his own people, the Jews.

It must have been a heavy burden to the apostle to discover. Indeed it took long years to discover that God's plans were wiser. Paul in his service, he had closed doors on open doors.

The next chapter 18, the next chapter 22, he went up to Jerusalem. Ah yes, and he tells us that there was a clear revelation from God the Father. Get thee out! And from hence on to the Gentiles.

Repugnant to that Jewish blood that coursed in his veins. A closed door of Jerusalem, open doors to the Gentiles. Serving God.

Costly business, you know. Costly business. The hatred of the Jews.

The fickleness of the crowd. Those hailstones of stones that rained down upon them. Those raging fanatics and all, all that were read against him.

But there was that learning of God's plan, God's desire for him. Did you notice in Paul's life he was very slow to tell you of any plans. He was cautious about referring to future programs.

Now he had an exercise. Here and there as he moved about, I'll be there for Easter. I'll go to Corinth when the way opens up.

He had an exercise. But he left it for God to guide, to discover the track of God's counsels for him. Paul was a man of ability, of learning, of language.

I don't think that Paul was a man that was stuttering about. I do not. I would judge the man to be a man of oratory.

But he was a man that found power. The power of God in his own weakness. I'll explain what I mean.

We're talking about a man, the praying servant, the patron servant. But we're talking about a man that had power. Now he had character, he had leadership, he had thought, he had language, he had intelligence.

But in the service for God you cannot dictate, you cannot see, you cannot detect anything of self-confidence. He wouldn't rely upon his own ability. Listen to him.

When I awake in a maestro power in his own weakness said the Corinthians, his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible. I even believe that Paul held back in that natural ability that was his. A man of intelligence.

He wouldn't use oratory of man. He wasn't a man that was given to just talking, but conscious of his own weakness. He said, when I am weak, then am I strong.

That's the sort of man in the Bible that God used, you know. John Baptist. He must increase but I must decrease.

My dear young brother, if you're going to grow, begin low. If you're going to grow, begin low. And let God fill you as a chosen vessel.

Paul, I tell you, before he was saved, it was hard to kick against the pricks. That's before he saved those pricks, like a stubborn heifer, like the beast of service. He used those pricks to guide them, to goad them on.

In a stubborn rebellion, God set hard Paul, to kick against the pricks. After salvation, the Lord gave me a thorn in the flesh. A thorn in the flesh.

We don't know what it was, but he was disciplined by pain. That thorn, the word is a stick. He was impaled upon a stick.

It was a lacerating thorn in the flesh. He besought the Lord three times that it would be removed. And it wasn't removed.

But what was the answer? What does he say? He says, My grace is sufficient for thee. My grace is sufficient for thee. My dear brother, my dear sister, what enabled this man to face the howling mob of Jerusalem, to face the barbarous brutality of the crowd that were arrayed against him at Philippi? What enabled this man to face those beasts at Ephesus? Oh yes, he multiplied sorrows and anguish and burden and tears about the Corinthians.

The service of God is not easy, you know. This is not just preaching. This is not just a platform business.

Oh yes, bonds and afflictions await me. I labored more abundant than them all, he says. And so we went on through the bandits in the mountain, through the hardships of the sea, through the shipwreck in the ocean, and onward to unfold the blood-stained banner of the Savior in the very palace of the Caesar.

A bondservant of God. Bondservant of Jesus Christ. Ah yes, that first journey into Asia Minor, preaching to Jew and Gentile.

That second journey, Luke wrote two books. I have an exercise maybe somewhere to speak about the villages of Luke's gospel. But Luke wrote another book.

It's not about villages where the Savior went. The book of the Acts is largely about cities where Peter and Paul and the rest went. This man, oh yes, on he went through those great cities, those great cities of Europe.

And his third journey through Greece and Icarium. Ah yes, and at last, that last journey through the Mediterranean into Rome and to lay his head upon the martyr's block. Ah yes, those things that were expressed in his deep feelings.

His deep feelings in the letters that he wrote. There's no man in the Bible, maybe apart from David who wrote the Psalms, that expresses his feelings, his burden, his weeping about the Corinthians, his strong, strong, strong rebuke as to the impostors at Galatia. The heights of praise in Ephesus.

Those notes of joy in Philippians. That correction that was so necessary to the Colossians. That tender touch of love and affection to the church at Thessalonica.

And then where we left off reading, the pastoral epistles. Tender care of a man with a shepherd heart. I want to notice the anticipation of the crown.

When it was all finished now, he's talking in 2nd Timothy about the time of his departure. We've thought about the acknowledgement of the Lord's control. Lord, what will thou have me to do? The apprehension of his choice, the chosen vessel.

The appreciation of the cross. The abandonment to the claims of Christ. He delivers Christ.

Paul, what about the future? Paul, made a mistake. A man like you shouldn't be in prison. You should be on the platform, not down in prison.

Those years and all that thing in prison, all a waste of time. The man's voice is closed and the man's well, he's downcast. Some of us get very downcast if we're not preaching, don't we? Oh my dear brother, dear sister, here's a man, even in the prison he's preaching.

That type of a man, you know. Found through joy. I was telling someone the other night, I met a dear man, I didn't mean to say this tonight, but I met a dear man up in Siberia that had been in the prison camp in the Stalin period in Russia.

He was in prison because of the preaching of the gospel. Constantly found himself in prison but because he had a large family the authorities let him out. So they had to maintain the family.

But the KGB as I've referred to already, they kept an eye on him so as he wouldn't preach the gospel. Wasn't allowed to gather with the saints and at that period they were just gathering in the forest. They watched him.

And even a KGB man came in and lived in the house so as he wouldn't be allowed to speak to his own children. Forbidden to name the name of Christ. His companion likewise was in prison because they found a torn page of Luke's gospel in the heel of his shoe.

And he died in prison. I said to him, I said, you weren't allowed to preach and you weren't allowed even to speak to your own family about Christ. How did you feel about that? He was a tender man.

Maybe about 60 but he looked about 80 for his little his little body was so well spanned. And you know there was a lovely smile that came over his face. I asked him, you're not allowed to speak to your own family.

A smile came over his face. He says, no problem. He says, I preached to the KGB man and the KGB man got saved.

And then he preached and through the form the family got saved for the KGB man was his best friend. You know, a man in touch with God, you couldn't suppress him. Here's Paul.

The anticipation of the crown. Paul saying now the thing is finished. The account is settled and about to be handed in.

2 Timothy 4 verse 6 Now ready to be offered. That's the fragrance. I have fought a good fight.

Verse 7. That's the fight. I have finished my course. That's the finished.

I have kept the faith. That is the faith. Henceforth the crown of righteousness.

That's the future. What about it? Now ready to be offered. He's thinking of the lamb of the peace offering and the drink offering that was poured out upon the lamb of the peace offering.

He uses that language to the Philippines, doesn't he? He says, yours was the sacrifice. Yours was the big thing. But mine was just a drink offering poured out upon it.

Oh, that fragrance of that life. And then he says, I have fought a good fight. The conquest is over.

The enemies are vanquished. The fight. I have finished my course.

That path, that path that he has followed, that allotted course that he has passed. No regrets. And it's good to live in the fear of God so that when you get to the end of the course there's no regrets.

Finished my course. That's the finish. He says, I have kept the faith.

That's the faith. I take it as that trust. That deposit of truth that has been given to him.

That treasure of divine truth that in the person of Christ he has taken as a sentry and defended. He has taken as a banker and he has put it into his trust. He has taken it and he has defended it against all attack.

And at the end of it he says, I have kept it. He's telling Timothy keep the charge. That example, that example of keeping the faith.

But what about the future? Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me in my day. Paul, what about men? Oh, he says it's a small thing to be judged of men. Paul, what about others and what they think about it? Not as men pleasing.

Not as men pleasing. My dear brother, my dear sister, don't be ever trying to please everybody. You'll turn out a nobody.

Don't be trying to please others. Now the Bible says to be lovers of good men and to be followers of good men. But you know what I tell you? Be sure that it's Christ.

Be sure that you're a servant of God. Be sure all that is yours is gained through grace in Christ. That the focus of your life is to live Christ.

That the bent of your preaching is to preach Christ. That you're striving after. Now we'll never reach sinless perfection.

But Paul always desired and so far as possible to reach out to the resurrected man that I might win Christ. And now the time of his departure's at hand. And in a few days there'll be heavy steps at the sail door.

And the veteran apostle and servant of God will be led out to the executioner. What about the future, Paul? Oh the Lord, the righteous judge. The time of my departure is at hand.

The soldier is taking down his tent and marching out. The sailor is raising his anchor and he's sailing away. The servant of God has finished his course.

He says, Paul, I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll just leave it against that day. And it's the Lord, the righteous judge.

My dear brother, my dear sister, look at it now as we look at it then. Scanned by the Lord and angels and men. Only one life will soon be passed.

Only once done for Christ will last. The righteous judge. Any little we do he will reward.

The big show of a thing that pleases men and is judged of men will come to naught. Deeds of merit as we thought them, he will tell us were but sin. Little acts we had forgotten, he will tell us were for him.

Would it be good in that day if he were to say, servant of God, well done, good, unfaithful servant. Shall we pray? Our Father we bow before thee in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Conscious how quickly the precious moments of a little meeting can slip by.

Conscious our Father that another chapter of another day has been written. Conscious that soon the volume will be closed to be opened in that day. That day of manifestation.

We bless thee for the one that will do so. The one that sits upon the judgment seat. The judgment seat of Christ.

The Lord, the righteous judge. We pray that he might be enabled to encourage thy people from thy word. And to be encouraged that there are others.

There are others that have served thee faithfully. In recent nights we've been thinking of an Abraham. He was called the friend of God.

We've been thinking about a David. He had his victories, he had his fears. God was pleased to call him the friend of God.

The man after God's own heart. Tonight we ponder Paul, the servant of God. Our Father, our hearts are filled with wonder and deep humiliation to think that ever thou wouldst look upon sinners.

Sinners that deserve to be in hell. Deserve thy wrath to save our souls and to give us a little day down here. To serve thee and take us home to heaven and to reward us for it.

How great is the mystery of the person of Christ as we leave the meeting tonight. That there might be something of the sentiments of a veteran servant of God in a former day. And even in our day, present tense, we might be able to say for me to live is Christ.

And at night of that day when we shall pass from this scene and the day of departure comes, we lay it all up before the Lord, the righteous Judge and the reward that will be given in that day. Bless the testimony here and the little assembly gathered in the blessing of God upon thy people. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.