| Christian Life and Doctrine | August 1979 |
“Ready to Be Offered”
“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.” —II Timothy 4:6,7
WHEN Saul of Tarsus, who had been blinded by the brilliancy of divine glory as he traveled along the Damascus road on an errand of persecution, later lay prostrate and praying in the home of Judas on a street called Straight, in Damascus, the Lord instructed Ananias to visit him, saying, “I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.”—Acts 9:16
Through many years of untiring devotion to the Lord, Paul learned the meaning of these words, for he had been a faithful follower of the Master and a joyful partner in his suffering.
And now he had reached the end of that way of suffering—a way which had led to prisons, to stripes, to stonings, to perils of the sea and perils of the land, to trials among false brethren, and, at last, to waiting for the consummation of his sacrifice—waiting and “ready.” He had no desire to turn back, no regrets for what he had endured. From the human standpoint his life had been a failure, but his was not the human viewpoint. To him his whole life of toil and suffering was the path to glory, and he knew there was laid up for him a “crown of righteousness” which would be given to him “at that day.” Yes, Paul knew that those who suffer with Christ will reign with Christ.
In his farewell letter to Timothy he had urged him to “endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” and to commit the truth which he had learned to faithful men, who in turn would commit it to others—a possible reference to the ancient relay races in which the contestants carried torches and passed them from one to the other.—II Tim. 2:2,3
Paul also reminded Timothy of the verity of God’s promises which give assurance that those who suffer with Christ will reign with him. (II Tim. 2:1-13) No hope was held out to Timothy that living the Christian life faithfully would result in ease or that he could expect a carefree and happy existence.
Certainly Paul knew much of the joys of being a Christian, for by faith he had been blessed by the peace and joy of Christ. He who wrote to the Philippians admonishing them to “rejoice in the Lord alway” did so from the depth of his own “joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 4:4; Rom. 5:11) But Paul knew also that the Christian’s present joys of faith are the fruitage of his great confidence in the unseen things of promise. Of Christ, Paul wrote that for the joy which was set before him he endured the cross and despised the shame.—Heb. 12:2
Paul was blessed with this same kind of joy—a joy that was set before him by the promises of God, promises which assured him that after the fighting there would come peace, and after the suffering a crown, and after death, a glorious divine life. He explained that without this hope of a resurrection we would be “of all men most miserable,” that our standing “in jeopardy every hour” would be folly, and that being baptized in death for the dead world would be in vain.—I Cor. 15:19,30,29
Yes, Paul knew of the joys of faith, but he knew that those joys depended upon a firm conviction, a “witness of the Spirit,” that our present faithfulness will merit the Lord’s “well done,” hence that a crown of righteousness has been “laid up” for us. So he admonished Timothy to “fight,” to “strive,” to “endure hardness.” (II Tim. 2:3,5) He reminded him that those who “live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” (II Tim. 3:12) “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,” Paul warned, “but continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.”—II Tim. 3:13,14
Paul’s entire farewell letter to Timothy is a masterpiece of admonition, of encouragement, of advice, and of warning. But more powerful than the words themselves is the apostle’s own example of how he had put them into practice. “Endure hardness,” Timothy, be a “good soldier of Jesus Christ,” wrote Paul, and then concludes, “I have fought a good fight.”
And again, Timothy, I have given you the torch of truth, so, just as they do on a racecourse, you, too, pass it on to someone else. Thus you are running in the great racecourse of the Gospel Age. I have finished my course, Timothy—I am just about at the end of the way, but you carry on.
And hold fast to the truth, Timothy. (II Tim. 1:13) Contend for it. You will have to contend with evil men and seducers; in fact, they will wax “worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived,” but stand your ground, Timothy. “Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned.” You can do it, Timothy, for the Lord will help you. He has made every provision for you in the Holy Scriptures, which are “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (II Tim. 3:16) So “study” in order that you may be able to “rightly divide the Word of truth” and stand your ground against all opposers; for, Timothy, “I have kept the faith,” and I know that you also can keep it. (II Tim. 2:15) It is a sacred trust, so treasure it and defend it, whatever the cost may be.
Ready to Be Offered
A king of Israel said, “Let not him who girdeth on his harness boast himself as he that putteth it off.” (I Kings 20:11) Paul’s second letter to Timothy came from the heart of one who was ready to take off the “harness.” It is not an expression of theory but the testimony of experience. It is not a boast that he would fight a good fight but that he had done so. He had finished his course, he had kept the faith.
Paul wrote, “I am now ready to be offered.” From the time of his conversion on the Damascus road, Paul had been ready to be offered. (Acts 9:6) The proof of this is in the fact that his whole life from that time onward had been made an offering. Nothing had been held back. When he wrote to the Christians in Rome, “Present your bodies a living sacrifice,” he was merely expressing to them what he himself had done and was continuing to do.—Rom. 12:1
In his previous imprisonment in Rome, Paul wrote the Philippians a farewell letter in which he expressed his readiness to be offered. “For me to live is Christ,” he wrote—meaning that he was willing to continue living unto and serving Christ—but “to die is gain.” (Phil. 1:21) He was ready to be offered in either way his Lord wanted him to be. He would be glad to continue offering his body a living sacrifice; or, as he wrote to Timothy when he was again imprisoned, he was ready to be offered in actual death.
When writing to the Philippians, Paul was not willing to speak with confidence concerning his own attainments and standing before the Lord. “I count not myself to have apprehended,” he wrote. (Phil. 3:13) He was pressing hard for the mark, though, and determined that he would know Christ and have the “fellowship of his sufferings” and be “made conformable unto his death.”—Phil. 3:10
There was no question about Paul’s determination at this time, but there was one factor of which he was not sure. He did not know for a certainty that he had reached the end of the way. He was not sure that the time had come when he could take off the “harness.” He knew that as long as the element of time entered into the matter there was always the possibility of failure. Paul did not believe the false, human philosophy of “once in grace, always in grace.” If his trial period was to continue, he could lose.
But now it was different. When writing to Timothy the second and last time, he evidently knew with certainty that he was about to be executed. Perhaps the very day had been set. Throughout all the hard years of the past he had endured. He had learned how to suffer want and how to be abased. (Phil. 4:12) Neither floggings, imprisonments, wild beasts, nor traitorous friends had beaten his courage down. (II Cor. 11:23-28) “This one thing I do” had been his motto; and that “one thing” was to “know Christ,” through a fellowship in his sufferings and by being made conformable unto his death.
He had met every new scene of suffering with a fortitude that was begotten of faith and courage and love for the Lord. And now he was face to face with the final test. We can imagine a Roman guard approaching the chained apostle, perhaps sympathetically, but probably in a gruff, ruthless, brazen-hearted manner, and announcing the fateful news that he was to be executed. When he wrote to the Philippians that it would be “gain” for him to die, it was theoretical. True, it was a theory based upon unbounded faith and a resolute determination that actual death in the Lord’s cause would be welcome. But the fateful word had not been spoken. He was reasonably sure of a release, so the supreme test had not been applied.
There was now no question about it. He had heard that word. He was to die. And in his heart had welled up an ecstasy of joy which assured the beloved apostle that his heart had not belied him and that God was standing by to help him in this supreme moment. He knew now that he was to die, that the end had come, and he found himself ready and glad.
“I am now ready to be offered”—now, yes now, when I know that the final offering IS to be made. It is easy to say that we are ready to die for Christ when there is little prospect that such a privilege will come our way very soon. But the privilege had come to Paul, and he was ready. There is nothing surprising about this, for Paul had proved his readiness at each step of the way. He had embraced every opportunity he could find to lay down his life for his Lord, for the truth, for the brethren, and for the world. His readiness when the final opportunity came was but the result of his faithfulness in meeting every other test to which he had been subjected. It is ever so. Faithfulness in the small things leads to faithfulness in the large. A lifetime of faithfulness in sacrifice prepares for the supreme sacrifice at the end of the way.
So Paul found it, and he could write, “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day.” (II Tim. 4:8) The question is often raised as to whether all the Lord’s people can expect to know with such definiteness that a crown has been “laid up” for them. We might wonder whether or not Paul’s assurance had been given to him by special revelation. But there seems to be no necessity for so supposing.
Dead with Christ
Any consecrated child of God, placed in the same position as Paul, and finding himself in the same attitude of heart and mind, could be just as sure about his standing as was Paul; for he was basing his confidence on the promises of God, and we can all do the same. “It is a faithful saying,” wrote Paul, “For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: if we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us.” (II Tim. 2:11,12) Yes, “it is a faithful saying.” Here was the basis of Paul’s confidence, and it should be the basis of ours. And what is that faithful saying? Simply that if we suffer and die with Jesus, we will live and reign with him, and that if we deny him, he will deny us.
Throughout all the years of Paul’s faithful ministry he had been suffering and dying with Christ. Never during all that time had he denied Christ. Whether it was before Roman governors, hypocritical Pharisees, the Roman Emperor, whether chained to a prison guard or locked in stocks, he had never denied his Lord. He had always rejoiced to fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ. (Col. 1:24) The Lord had shown him the opportunity of suffering, just as explained to Ananias, and Paul had accepted the opportunities. And now he had accepted the final one. He could have denied Christ and walked out of that Roman prison a free man, but he didn’t. He had no desire to do so. He was, instead, ready to be offered, glad to be offered, anxious to be offered.
“It is a faithful saying”—ah, how well Paul knew that! “IF” we suffer and die with him we shall live and reign with him, and Paul had surmounted the last “if.” There was now no question about it. There had been no question about it when he faced the angry Jews in Damascus, soon after his conversion. There was no question about it when he was locked in the dungeon of the prison in Philippi. There was no question about it when he preached all night in Troas and walked twenty-five miles the next day to join his ship. And now the word had come: Paul, you are to die—yes, die as a Christian, die because you insist on believing and teaching that the crucified Jesus was raised from the dead and will return to earth to establish a kingdom. For this, Paul, you are to die! And Paul was glad.
Because he was glad, and because he had such confidence in the “faithful saying” that those who do not deny Christ and who are glad to suffer and die with him will reign with him, he exultantly wrote, “Henceforth there IS laid up for me a crown of righteousness.” If we have been similarly faithful throughout our Christian life, when we know we are at the end and we rejoice in the privilege of making the last, supreme sacrifice, we too can say there is a crown laid up for us.
Devoted to Sacrifice
When Paul wrote to Timothy saying that he was ready to be “offered,” he used the Greek word spendo, which means to devote one’s life, or blood, in sacrifice. Up to this point the apostle had devoted his time, his strength, his talents, his reputation—all that he had, except life itself—and now he was ready to part with that—symbolically speaking, to shed his blood.
In Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, in which he encourages them to faithfulness in sacrifice, he wrote: “For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.” (Heb. 12:3,4) To resist “unto blood” means to complete the sacrifice of one’s life, even as Jesus did. Paul had followed in the footsteps of Jesus, rejoicing in the privilege of suffering with him, but he had not yet resisted unto “blood”—his blood, or life, had not been fully and actually given in sacrifice. But he was willing and ready for this final experience of the narrow way—ready to be “offered.”
The language used by the apostle reminds us of the typical sacrifices offered in connection with the tabernacle services. In those offerings the blood, or life, of the animals was shed in sacrifice in order to make illustrations of the “better sacrifices” of this Gospel Age. On the typical day of atonement—the tenth day of the seventh month—a bullock and a goat were offered, the bullock foreshadowing Jesus, and the goat, the members of his body.
The lesson of Hebrews 13:10-15 is evidently based upon this typical atonement-day service. In that service three parts of the one offering were progressing simultaneously. The bullock was slain and its fat and life-producing organs were burned on the brazen altar in the court; its body, or carcass, together with its hide, offal, etc., were burned “without the camp”; and two hands full of incense were at the same time being offered on the golden altar in the “holy” of the tabernacle.
The sacrifice of the Lord’s goat was carried out in the same manner, and Paul’s reference to the service (Heb. 13:10-15) shows clearly that the goat represents the church. The three parts, or phases, of the sacrifice picture three viewpoints of the offerings made by Jesus and his church—the world’s viewpoint, the believer’s viewpoint, and God’s viewpoint. The world’s viewpoint is pictured by the burning of the carcass outside the camp. This viewpoint is not favorable. In the type, this burning undoubtedly created a stench in the nostrils of the Israelites; and so does the consecrated child of God appear to the world.
But at the same time, within the court, the fat and choice portions of the animal were burned. The burning of the fat would picture the consuming zeal of the truly faithful, and this is looked upon favorably by those in the antitypical court condition. The sacrifices of the Lord’s people should be, and are, appreciated by one another; and we should ever be on the alert for opportunities to “consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works” of sacrifice.—Heb. 10:24
Incense was burned upon the golden altar in the holy. The fire for this offering was carried by the priest from the brazen altar in the court, indicating that it is by our own faithfulness in service that the consuming fires of sacrifice are caused to burn. It was the sweet perfume from this offering on the golden altar that penetrated into the most holy of the tabernacle, where God’s presence was represented. Thus we see that that which is a stench in the nostrils of the world is a sweet odor to God.
What encouragement this must have been to Paul! As he went from place to place in God’s service, laying down his life in sacrifice, the world despised him; but he had the blessed assurance that God was well pleased. Many times Paul was encouraged by the brethren, although some of these turned against him when the final test came. But God was with him to supply all his needs.
Our Altar
“We have an altar,” Paul says, “whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.” (Heb. 13:10) The altar typifying the one which Paul says “we have” is identified in Leviticus 6:30. An altar is simply a place where a sacrifice is offered, and the sacrifices mentioned in Leviticus 6:30 were those in which the blood of the animals was taken into the most holy of the tabernacle and sprinkled upon the mercy seat as an atonement for sin. This is what was done with the blood of the bull and the goat on each typical atonement day.
In the case of these sacrifices, the bodies of the animals were burned outside the camp. So there is no disputing the fact that Paul is identifying the sacrifices of the church with those of the typical atonement day. “We have an altar,” he says; that is, we are invited to present our bodies a living sacrifice. The offering of sacrifice calls for an altar, and the altar we have is the one on which the sin-offering animals were sacrificed.
In the case of those particular typical sacrifices, the priests were not allowed to eat the meat of the animals. What was not burned on the brazen altar in the court had to be taken “without the camp” and burned. Paul applies the lesson of this, saying: “Wherefore Jesus also, that 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.”—Heb. 13:12,13
There is no mistaking the meaning of this. Paul is not telling us that we are privileged to eat from an altar whereof the typical priests were not permitted to eat, but rather, that such an altar in the type is the one which foreshadowed our share in the sacrificial work of Christ, that we, like Jesus, are to go without the camp bearing his reproach, as represented by the burning of the sin-offering animals without the camp.
In drawing this beautiful lesson from the typical atonement-day sacrifices, the apostle also alludes to the burning of the incense on the golden altar within the holy. He says: “By him therefore [that is, through the merit of Jesus’ sacrifice] let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks [margin, confessing] to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”—Heb. 13:15,16
What a wonderful lesson Paul draws for us from the typical atonement-day sacrifices! It is apparent that he has those three fires in mind in this exhortation to faithfulness in sacrifice. Let us note them again:
(1) “We have an altar” whereof those who served the tabernacle were not permitted to eat—typified by the brazen altar in the court as used on the typical atonement day.
(2) “Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach”—typified by the burning of the carcasses of the slain animals outside of the tabernacle—“without the camp.”
(3) “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name”—typified by the offering of incense upon the golden altar in the holy of the tabernacle.
These three aspects of Christian sacrifice are in reality all parts of one offering. The chief concern to us as Christians should be God’s viewpoint of our sacrifice. Is he well pleased? Is our course in life like the odor of sweet incense to him? Are we offering the sacrifice of praise to him continually? Paul speaks of this as the “fruit of our lips.” It is the sacrifice we make in order to “show forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.”—I Pet. 2:9
And to praise God as we should in this world of sin and darkness does involve sacrifice. How beautiful are our hymns of praise to God; but the singing of them is usually a pleasure, and while it contributes to our spiritual development (Col. 3:16,17), it seldom involves a great deal of sacrifice. But to offer the sacrifice of praise mentioned by the Apostle Peter is costly, for it involves praising God by means of making known his glorious virtues as reflected in the divine plan of the ages—in other words, bearing witness to the truth.
All Paul’s time, all his strength, and all his talents had been used faithfully to praise God by making known the unsearchable riches of his grace as exemplified through Christ Jesus. This was well-pleasing to God, but to the world it was a stench, so much so that finally the apostle was arrested and sentenced to die. The world did not want to be annoyed longer by the message which he preached—that which to them was the unpleasant odor of his sacrifice.
Those who are truly the Lord’s will appreciate the sacrifices of his people. The Lord’s people will encourage one another to faithfulness in sacrifice. Paul exhorts us to provoke one another to love and to good works. (Heb. 10:24) Paul never hesitated to exhort the brethren to faithfulness in sacrificing, and he appreciated those who reciprocated by encouraging him.
Sometimes we may be disappointed in the brethren. Paul was! In his letter to Timothy, written while awaiting execution, he wrote, “This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me.” (II Tim. 1:15) These had put themselves out in the “camp,” as it were, where they viewed Paul’s sacrifice even as did the unbelieving world. They did not appreciate his zeal and loving devotion, nor did they endeavor to encourage him to faithfulness.
How different was the attitude of certain others of that day! Concerning some of them Paul wrote: “The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus; for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain: but, when he was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me.” (II Tim. 1:16,17) What a beautiful testimony concerning the faithfulness of a brother in Christ—he “was not ashamed of my chain”!
No, this dear brother was not ashamed of Paul, nor did he despise his sacrifice. He not only appreciated what Paul was doing but assisted in every way to encourage the apostle. Here was a fellow sacrificer’s view. Brethren, is it our view? Sometimes we might wish that we could have lived in Jesus’ day and could have had the opportunity of standing by him when others failed in their privilege, or in Paul’s day and could have “refreshed” him. But we do not need to go back that far. The Lord’s people are still with us today. Are we standing by them?
The truth is no more popular today than it was in Paul’s time. The laws of the land may be such as to prevent the imprisonment of those who publish the message, yet the worldly-minded still look with disgust upon the sacrifices of the saints. The zeal and self-sacrificing devotion of the Lord’s people is still a stench in the nostrils of those who walk in darkness. Are we taking our place with those who are thus laying down their lives? What a glorious privilege we all have to stand by one another!
Probably not many of us will finish our earthly course in a prison, as Paul did, yet the way is still open for sacrifice. There is still opportunity for offering up the sacrifice of praise to God, even the fruit of our lips, by making known the beauties of his divine plan of the ages. We know the world will not appreciate this, but the true brethren of Christ will; and, more important, God will appreciate it.
Paul was convinced of this in his own case. He had spent years in faithful sacrifice and devotion, and now he was ready to complete his offering. And we can well imagine Paul sitting there in chains waiting for the final hour to come—waiting, but “rejoicing in hope,” assured that a “crown” had been laid up for him. We can see him there and can recognize the scorn of his enemies—his unyielding devotion a stench in their nostrils.
Meanwhile, we note the attitude of his fellow sacrificers. Timothy was one of these. Onesiphorus and his household were others. These saw in the beloved apostle a true example of what it meant to be a follower of the Master. They saw the burning “fat,” the zeal which had taken him to prison and was now rapidly leading to the consummation of his sacrifice in actual death. These were standing by, ready to do all they could to help and encourage.
And as these looked on, the Lord also was watching Paul. The sweet perfume of the burning incense of his sacrifice had penetrated into the antitypical “most holy,” even to heaven itself; and, through the promises, Paul could hear the reassuring words, “Well done!” That “faithful saying” that those who suffer and die with Jesus shall live and reign with him was now a Gibraltar of strength to the apostle, for he knew that he had passed the tests.
Years before, Paul wrote to the church at Rome, saying: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written [Ps. 44:22], For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” (Rom. 8:35,36) When Paul wrote these words to the church at Rome, he was persuaded that none of the things mentioned could turn him aside from the course of sacrifice.
And now he was in Rome—not visiting the ecclesia, but in prison. Distress, tribulation, persecution, and certain death were all heaped upon him. He had been selected for slaughter and was glad. Rejoicingly he wrote, “I am now ready to be offered”—ready to pour out my blood to complete the sacrifice which was started on the Damascus road.
The same promises of God which sustained Paul in this hour of his great need apply to us; and if, like him, we are faithful in the doing of God’s will, joyfully laying down our lives in giving praise to God, we too can say—and say it with certainty—that a crown of righteousness is laid up for us; for, as Paul declared, there is such a crown for all who love his appearing.