“THE TIME OF MY RELEASE IS COME”
D. T. Howie
A simple thought, beloved brethren, as to what Paul says in this epistle to one to whom he could speak as his beloved child. Paul here is about to leave this scene, no doubt dying the death of a martyr; a time of great pressure was upon him. And how often pressure does come upon us in many ways; the pressure of circumstances, the pressure perhaps of ill-health, and then the pressure that death brings in. But in all these circumstances we not only prove by faith the help and support and encouragement of the Lord, but what happens is that affections are drawn out amongst us.
This is a time when there is grief and mourning, but then it is also a time when love comes into expression in a way that perhaps it has not before, but the great thought is that it should remain, because love working among us in this way has a great binding effect upon the saints.
So the death of our beloved sister is to bear its own fruit. She bore fruit in her own pathway, as seen in the way in which she worked out her life as a simple christian—and what a pattern she has been for those who looked upon her.
Here Paul says, “For I am already being poured out, and the time of my release is come. I have combated the good combat, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”. What a challenge that is
for those of us remaining! We may have started the race, and we may so far have kept the faith, but are we going to finish? And are we going to finish as Paul finished? He finished in a spirit of triumph and victory and in the spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ, considering for those who remained. This was how he considered for Timothy. He appeals to him and says, “Use diligence to come to me quickly”. I believe, beloved brethren, that where Paul’s truth is held it affords a sphere of salvation for us. I believe Timothy would realise that. You might say,
‘Paul, you need Timothy’s presence’. Well, I think Timothy needed Paul’s presence. I think safety for us all at the present time is to be where the truth that Paul has given is held in its fulness. So he says, “Use diligence to come to me quickly”. Let us give that prayerful consideration as before the Lord. We are to be keepers and maintainers of the truth. If we are not in it, the Lord would bring us to it. So Paul makes this appeal, ‘Come and share these conditions’. Winter conditions were coming; there is suffering where Paul is, but he says,
“Use diligence to come to me quickly”.
Then Paul says, “Salute Prisca and Aquila”. He knows there are those who will continue; he has this company at the end. There is no word here as to the death that he is to face, only the thought that he is going out in triumph; no word of the pressure of the sufferings that he is having to endure, but the thought of what he is going to; what he has enjoyed, and what he will enjoy. “Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the house of Onesiphorus. Erastus remained in Corinth, but Trophimus I left behind in Miletus sick”; that is, things are to be worked out locally, and worked out in affection. “Use diligence to come before winter”—the place of warmth is where Paul’s ministry
has been held and practised in faithfulness before God. Paul adds, “Eubulus salutes thee, and Pudens … and the brethren all”. Paul is not alone at the end. There was a time when he was alone (2 Timothy 4: 16) and at that time he knew the presence and comfort of the Lord.
Beloved brethren, there is One who will never leave us. This is not a position of weakness; there are these brethren and households. Things are being worked out in affection; that is, Paul’s sufferings are having a result in a practical and living way. So he says, “The Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit”, and the footnote says that is singular; then Paul adds,
“Grace be with you”, that is a collective thought. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is available to us, to maintain us all to the very end. May we know what it is to be in the pathway of faith and finish as Paul finished, and as our dear sister finished, in the triumph and might of the work of Christ.
Word at the burial of Mrs. B. Falconer, Airdrie
23 October 1975