From the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster we present Let the Bible Speak. It's good to have you join us today as we spend time around the Word of God, preaching Christ in all his fullness to men and women in all their need. like the falling of the leaf, like the winding of the sheep. Be in time. Leading days are telling us that the day will soon be past, that the day will might be past. Be in time. Be in time. a while Airless powers soon decay, youth and beauty pass away. Oh, you have no love to save me in time. Why, what spirit bid you come, sinner, do no longer know? Lest you see your hopeless doom. Be it Thine, be it Thine, while the voice of Jesus calls you, be it Thine. If in sin you longer wait, you may find an open gate, and your cry be just too late, be it Thine. of a I just Well, it's good to be here with Let the Bible Speak, and we're grateful for all who have joined with us, and we trust the Lord will bless us even around His word. Let's unite our hearts together in a word of prayer and commit our way onto the Lord. Our gracious God and our loving Heavenly Father, we do thank Thee that as we seek Thy face together, that Thou art the One who is sovereign, Thou art the great Creator of the ends of the earth, Thou art the Lord God Almighty, and yet we have this great privilege of being able to commune with Thee in the attitude of prayer. And we come in the name of thy beloved Son and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray, O God, for thy presence to be with us. We do rejoice that we have thy word, even in our own language, that we can open up the scriptures together and we can read. of thy redeeming grace, and of thy great love towards us. And we pray for thy servant as he will come to minister thy word, that he would know help from heaven, and that that word would be used to the extension of thy kingdom, and if it please thee, to the salvation of precious souls. So hear us and abide with us now. We ask it for Jesus' sake. Amen. We're going to read from God's precious word from 2 Timothy and the chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter 4, and as Paul writes to Timothy, his own son in the faith, we're reading from the first verse. I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Preach the word. Be instant in season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned on to fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make foolproof of thy ministry. 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 give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love. His appearing. Amen. We end there at verse eight, and may the Lord add His own blessing to this reading from His own precious and infallible Word. We're going to sing another gospel hymn together. Someday we'll stand before the judgment bar, the quick, the risen dead. The Lord will then make known the record there. Our names shall all be read. I'm. Our toil will lift me up, and lay the burden down. I will answer when they call my name, saying through Jesus' blood. I'd like to thank the Reverend Kenny for leading the first part of our service. This evening I want to speak to you from 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 6. The words in particular are these, the time of my departure is at hand. Sudden, unexpected deaths leave us with many headaches and heartaches. There is the confusion surrounding the what ifs. What if we had been there? Could we have done something to help the one who passed away? Could we have been with them to help them? Of course, there's always the hurt surrounding the unfulfilled dreams. The children will never watch their parents grow old, or the parents will never watch their children grow up. Sudden death brings great sorrow. And one of the most distressing problems surrounding sudden death is this. We do not always have the opportunity to tell our loved ones how much they meant to us. how much we loved them, how much we cared for them. And for those who pass away suddenly, they don't have the opportunity to tell their loved ones how dear they were to them. So yes, sudden death brings great heartache to a family. In 2 Timothy chapter four, Paul is taking the opportunity that God has afforded to him to say his earthly farewell to Timothy. Timothy was a young man that Paul laid to the Lord. Add to that the fact that Paul nurtured his faith. They were very close. Paul's death is coming soon. It will not be sudden. It will not be unexpected. He knows that death is coming, and therefore he takes the opportunity God has afforded to him to pass on some vital words of wisdom to Timothy. before Paul passes away. He ensures that Timothy is fully aware of God's will for his life. He reminds him of what God's will is for this young man who was called to be a preacher. He tells him in verse two, preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. Paul warns Timothy, even though you're called to preach, and you must fulfill that calling, some of the hearers will not always appreciate your ministry and what you have to say. Look at verses three and four. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables." The Apostle Paul recognized the necessity to warn Timothy concerning the disappointments he would have in the ministry and the opposition that he would face in the ministry. He knew that Timothy would experience severe blows and many knocks, some of those blows and knocks so severe that they might even knock him over, and if the devil got his way, even knock him out in the work of God completely. Timothy knew what to expect. Therefore, he was not taken by surprise. He was warned about what lay ahead. And Paul then exhorts him in verse five, watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. He says, Timothy, stand against all error, be strong in the face of opposition, evangelize the lost, finish the work that God has given you to do. Paul then switches from speaking to Timothy to referring to himself. The idea is, Timothy, you keep going in the work of God, because I'll not be with you for much longer. Look at verse 6. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. Here there's a reference to being offered. Now that reference is a reference to the drink offering, which was the final offering that followed the burnt and green offerings prescribed for the children of Israel. And Paul saw his coming death as his final offering to God in a life that had already been full of many sacrifices. But this is the final one. Lord, I'm about to go home. Timothy, I'm about to go home. The final offering. Whenever the laborers are removed out of the vineyard, it's time for those following on to take up the work. Whenever the baton is handed on by the older generation to the younger generation, they take the baton and they run. And they keep running until it's time for them to hand it over to the next generation. And this is what Paul envisages. I'm going to be offered now to the Lord. But Timothy, I hand the baton on to you. You keep going in the work of the Lord. I now come to the words of our text. The words, the time of my departure is at hand. There are three important lessons that I would like you to learn from this statement. The first lesson is this. I see in this statement an event that is specific. It says there, the time. the time. There is an event that is specific. Now the word specific means exact, particular, defined, certain, or fixed. Now the Greek word here for time, it means a set or a proper time. Now let me read to you some verses from the Old Testament. Job chapter 14, and I want to take time to read the first five verses because they're very important if we're going to understand this first point. It says in Job 14 verse one, man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower and is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow and continueth not. And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one, and bringest me into judgment with thee? Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Not one, seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee. Thou hast appointed his bounds, that he cannot pass. The Hebrew here for determined in verse five means decreed, fixed, or settled by God. God has fixed the number of our days, and we cannot exceed that. These days are known exactly to the Lord. The number of our months are with the Lord. God orders them. They are determined by Him. So the Lord has fixed a limit. He has determined a time for us to live, and we will not go beyond that. The term of man's life is fixed by God. And we will not live longer than God has determined. As in birth, so in death. God has determined both. As God has determined all things for us. He's the one in control. That means there's no medicine that can prolong our days. We'll not live beyond the period God has given us. So many want to be healthy. They want to live as long as possible. They want to beat death. They want to cheat death if they can. They do not want to die. They'll do anything to live longer, but they can't. I was reading about James Fuller Fix. He's credited with helping start the American fitness revolution. He popularized the sport of running, but he died of a heart attack at 52 when he was out jogging. Then I read about Colonel Saunders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame. He lived until he was 90. If we were to go by the evidence of these two gentlemen, we would stay at home and eat fast food and not go out in the fresh air and run. But we don't go by that evidence, sure we don't. We go by the Bible. And the Bible says God has fixed a time for us all, a time in which we will live and a time in which we will die. So we shall all come to the outer limit of life, and then we must die. When that is, we do not know. And that's a good thing. It's better that it's concealed from us. If we knew that death was coming soon, we would be in despair and we would almost give up on life. If we knew that death was far away for us, we might live a wasteful life, wasting the time. We don't know when it's going to come, and that's good, God's wise. But tell me this, do you ever think about the time when you will depart? This is the time that's mentioned in our text. The time when, regardless of our best efforts, we'll reach the end of life upon this earth. When for us, time will be no more. Sometimes we hear people saying, I don't have time. I'm too busy. You will have time for this special event. You will have time. It is a specific time. Then there's an event that is solemn. Our text says, the time of my departure, of my departure. Departure here, it's a very interesting word. It describes a very solemn event. The Greek in this portion refers to dissolving or dissolution. So our departure or our death speaks of the dissolution of the soul and the body. That's what we're talking about. Dissolution of the soul and the body. And you know, this word, it's applied to the act of unloosing a ship in ancient times. Departure. It speaks of the ship that is tied up at the dock, and then the ropes are loosened. And that allows the ship to depart, to sail off. That is the word picture that we have here For this word, depart, that's what death is. God loosening the ropes that tie us to this life, setting that ship free to sail off into eternity. That's the departure that we're talking about. And you know, with such a view of death, no Christian should be afraid to die. What is it? It's God just loosening everything that ties us to this world and setting us free to go home to glory, into the Lord's presence. You know, Paul uses the verbal form of the noun in 2 Timothy in Philippians 1.23. And there he says, for I am in a scrape betwixt two, having a desire to depart. and to be with Christ, which is far better. He had a desire for this departure. He didn't just accept that it was going to happen. He desired the departure. Why? Why would any person desire death? Because he knew that he was going to be with Christ when he would die. Oh, death is difficult. Death is solemn. But as long as you're saved, It simply means sailing into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. I've read some stories of the missionaries decades ago. Whenever they were leaving home, they had to sail to the foreign field. And they went and they stood in the boats by the docks. And families stood on the docks and family waved. Family members were heartbroken. They were sad. There were tears in their eyes. They knew they mightn't see the missionaries for 10, 15, 20, 25 years. They were heartbroken. The missionaries were standing on the deck of the ship, realizing they were leaving family, but realizing they were going somewhere they wanted to be, somewhere where they'd be happy, and they couldn't wait to go. And that's a bit like death. We leave the loved ones behind. They're sorry that we're going, but we know we're going to a better place. The time of my departure. Tell me this, do you ever stop and think about your departure? It says in Joshua 23, 14, and behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. Joshua was about to die. He was going the way of all the earth, and he was able to speak about it. He was able to talk about it in public. He was not one bit afraid to say, I'm dying. You know, some people don't want to talk about death. Oh, they'll talk about other people's death, but not their own. They just don't want to talk about it. But Paul was willing to talk about it. Joshua was willing to talk about it. They found it easy to talk about it, because they knew what it meant. They knew where they were going. They knew why they were going to heaven. and they look forward to it. God's people can enjoy when they think of their departure, but the unsaved can't. Because when they depart, if they're without Christ, they're not going to heaven. They can't rejoice in this departure. That's why you need to be saved. There's an event that is specific. There's an event that is solemn. But I want to finish off with this. There's an event that will take place very soon. What do I mean? Our text says the time of my departure is at hand. Now there are a couple of places in the New Testament where this Greek word at hand is translated in a different way. And it's translated come. Let me read to you those examples, Luke 21 and verse 34. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life. And so that day come upon you unawares. The Lord is talking about the second coming. And he's saying it will come. And it'll take people unawares. It's going to come. It's at hand. And that means it's coming quickly, unexpectedly. So, at hand means to come quickly, unexpectedly, without warning. There's another place where we find this word. Acts chapter 11 and verse 11. And behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was sent from Caesarea unto me." And here Peter is recalling how the Lord came very quickly with three witnesses, and they were used to point him to go to the Gentiles. And they came quickly, unexpectedly, out of the blue, as it were, at hand. That's the idea behind this word. The time of my departure is at hand, is come, is come without warning. Now folks, that's the way death comes. Death is at hand. It's coming quickly, coming quicker maybe than we think. So there's great folly in thinking that you've got many years left on this earth. I often think of the words in James 4, 13 and 14. Go to now, ye that say, today or tomorrow, we will go into such a city and continue there a year, and buy and sell and get gain. Whereas ye know not what shall be in the morrow, for what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. Tomorrow is not guaranteed to anyone. We all think we'll be here tomorrow, but we do not know. There are no guarantees. And dear unsaved person, maybe you've been thinking about getting saved, and you'll do it in a few years' time. You don't know, but death could be at hand. And so you need to be saved. Make sure you're ready to depart this scene of time. Let's bow together in prayer. Our gracious God, bless the Word of the Lord to each one who hears it. Help them to understand the need to prepare to meet the Lord. These things we pray in the Savior's great and glorious name. Amen. Thank you for spending some time with us today around the Word of God. For further information visit our website at ltbs.tv. We look forward to joining with you next time as we seek to let the Bible speak once again.