Finish Well (pt 1)
0 ratings
· 3 viewsLead Pastor Wes Terry talks about "Finishing Well" out of 2 Timothy 4:5-8. This message is part of the series "Entrusted: A Study in 2 Timothy." The message was given on June 5, 2016.
Notes
Transcript
INTRO:
INTRO:
This week I read about a UUPG in East Asia that has a unique custom. In that tribe, the day you turn 65 you’re responsible to build your own casket. It sits outside your home as a reminder that one day you’re going to die. That’s kind of morbid isn’t it? Who wants to spend all day every day thinking about their death? Yet, there is some wisdom to that! (cf Ps 90:12) I’d like all of us to try a little exercise this morning in light of our text. Imagine that today was the last day of your life. What would you say? Who would you talk to? What actions would you take?Would you be ready to give an account for your life?
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IF IT WAS YOUR LAST DAY?
We’ve been studying the book of 2 Timothy which contains Paul’s “last words.” He knows his life is close to an end. He would be beheaded by Nero for preaching the Gospel and spreading Christianity. Our text today shows us how Paul finished well and how we can do the same. Turn to 2 Timothy 4:5 as we seek the Lord’s help for how we can finish well. Paul charges Timothy with that command and then he points to his own life as an example. I’ve broken into 3 sections, (1) looking in, (2) looking back, (3) looking forward.
READ THE TEXT: 2 TIMOTHY 4:5-8
2 TIMOTHY 4:5-8 “As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”
WHAT YOU NEED TO FINISH WELL: STAY COOL
Paul starts out by giving Timothy the charge to finish well. In 4:5 we get a short summary of everything Paul has been saying the past two months. “Be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry…” 1st,Timothy needed to be “sober-minded.” The word means to have “a moral alertness” a “coolness and presence of mind.” It’s one of Paul’s qualifications for a deacon/pastor in 1 Timothy 3:2. You might paraphrase it, “Don’t lose your head. When things get tough don’t freak out. Stay calm. Stay cool. The Lord is still in control.” **Look into the present without fear of what’s next.**
THE SECOND REQUIREMENT: ENDURE SUFFERING:
The 2nd part of finishing well is a willingness to “endure suffering.” Persevering through hardship is a common theme in 2 Tim & an ongoing reality in Paul’s life. Remember in 2:1 Paul told Timothy to “be strong in the grace” and to “share in suffering like a good soldier.” In other words, “When people make your life hard don’t get bitter! Don’t be a quitter. Don’t let them win.” One of the things we will discover next week is that living the Christian life is HARD. People let you down. Things don’t go as planned. Don’t quit!
THE THIRD REQUIREMENT: DO THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST:
The 3rd requirement is to “do the work of an evangelist…” If Timothy was going to finish well he needed to keep using his life/influence/platform to preach the Gospel to anyone who’d listen. He called it “work” because sharing the Gospel can be a laborious process at times. The charge to share the Gospel isn’t just for pastors, by the way. It’s for everyone. In fact, for a pastor, part of fulfilling this charge is equipping the people in your church to feel comfortable in sharing the Gospel with others. (why we’ve made tools available in the smart phone app // why we are going into the community on Wednesday)
THE FOURTH REQUIREMENT: FULFILL YOUR MINISTRY:
The last thing he tells Timothy to do is to “fulfill your ministry…” The work Paul has in mind includes everything he’s listed in 1 & 2 Timothy thus far. But from the immediate context, the emphasis is on the faithful preachingof the Word of truth in a truthless culture. A culture that despised the Gospel. Timothy, “Keep preaching the Word, pointing people to Jesus, and loving the local church.” If Paul were here he’d remind me or anyone in ministry, “Don’t quit just because it’s difficult. Finish out what God has called you to do.”
DOES ANYBODY HERE NEED THIS ENCOURAGEMENT?
I wonder if there would be anybody here this morning who needs this word. You’ve been laboring hard and long. You’re doing what you know God has called you to do. Be who God has called you to be. Maybe it’s a season of “being a stay at home mom” could be “volunteering in some ministry” at the church, etc. Maybe it’s not connected to the church at all. It’s something you’re doing in the work place. It’s hard. You’re tired. Afraid. And you need to hear from the Lord, “Don’t give up. Finish Strong. God’s grace is sufficient.” Paul adds to his exhortation with the encouragement of his own example in 4:6.
TRANSITION:
In 4:5 Paul urges Timothy to fulfill his ministry and then in 4:6 Paul reflects upon his own ministry. It’s powerful. I love these verses. They’re a great source of encouragement for how to finish well. In 4:6 Paul says, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come…” Two images: death and departure. He speaks of his death as the (present tense) process of being “poured out as a drink offering…” and his departure as a (perfect tense) process of a boat “departing” from a dock into the ocean. Let’s think about these two images for just a moment.
BEING POURED OUT LIKE A DRINK OFFERING:
1st he mentions being poured out like a “drink offering.” He used this same imagery 5 years earlier in his letter to the Philippians (Phil 2:17.) He was describing the upcoming possibility of his death. In 2 Timothy it is isn’t an upcoming possibility, it is a present tense reality already begun. The image of sacrifice Paul uses is drawn from the OT sacrificial system. (Ex 29:40-41; Lev 23:13; Num 15:1-12; 28:7, 24) During the ritual of sacrificing a lamb, wine was poured out at the base of the altar. Perhaps Paul was talking about the type of death he would die. (Couldn’t be crucified so alternative was beheading)
POURING OUT HIS LIFE AS AN OFFERING TO JESUS:
The emphasis isn’t on the way he would die but how he thought of his life/death. Paul viewed it an offering of WORSHIP to Jesus. The Scripture doesn’t give us the details of Paul’s death but the concept of pouring out your life as an offering to Jesus is awe inspiring. Paul’s entire Christian life was an act of sacrificial service. It was worship. Rom 12:1 “I appeal to you therefore brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God which is your spiritual worship…” We worship not just with our lips but with our living, our dying, our everything.
THE TIME OF MY DEPARTURE IS AT HAND: NO FEAR IN THE PRESENT
One of the reasons Paul could think of his death in this way is because he didn’t see death as a final destination but instead a departure, a transition to something else, something better! Paul talks about his death as a “departure.” It’s the image of a boat departing from the dock. (also used of a soldier pulling up the stakes from his tent) Death is a departure. The believer never really dies. They just depart. They lift up the anchor, toss aside the ropes, and joyfully sail to a better place. (Pastor David’s Funeral Illustration)
APPLICATION: SUMMARY AND TRANSITION
Paul wasn’t afraid to die. Are you?Can you look into the present without fear of what’s next? Fearless in the present because God holds the future? Do you live every moment as an act of worship before the Lord? Your living, your dying, your everything? That’s how you finish well. Paul’s present circumstance and impending death caused him NO FEAR. That’s what it looks like to finish well. Let me encourage you this morning, “God is faithful. Look fear in the face and tell it to go away. Do what needs done.”
READ THE TEXT: 2 TIMOTHY 4:7-8
In 4:7 we see that Paul is not only unafraid of his present situation/impending death. He is also not imprisoned by guilt, shame and regret from his past. Paul looks back on his life with triumph. 2 Tim 4:7 “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Look into the present without fear of what’s next. Look back to the past without shame or regret. Wouldn’t you love to be able to say what Paul says here? He wasn’t saying, “I’m sinless” or that “I did everything perfect.” He wasn’t. He was a terrorist who murdered Christians before his conversion. But his past mistakes didn’t haunt him.
DON’T LET SHAME/REGRET KEEP YOU FROM FINISHING WELL:
So many people don’t finish well in their Christian life because they let one of their past sins (big or small) dominate their thinking and doing for the rest of their days. I hear people say all the time “I know God forgives me I just have a hard time forgiving myself…” I understand that sentiment. I really do. But your refusing to forgive yourself is really an offense to the Lord. Jesus paid the penalty for that sin and every sin and when you refuse to let it go you are cheapening the price that he paid for your freedom. So don’t let guilt and shame dominate your life. Live in the Gospel. Keep your faith.
I HAVE KEPT THE FAITH: NOT DOCTRINE BUT A PERSON
When Paul says, “I have kept the faith” what does he mean? What is “the faith?” How do you keep it? The faith that Paul kept wasn’t faith in himself, or any mere man. It is faith in Christ Jesus. A person, not a thing/concept. When you put faithin a person you TAKE them at their word. You COUNT on them to live up to what they say, you TRUST their counsel, you have CONFIDENCE in their promises. When Paul says, "I’ve kept the faith," he means, "I have KEPT on taking Christ at his word, KEPT on counting on what he said, KEPT on trusting his counsel, and KEPT on having confidence in his promises."
WHEN YOU HAVE FAITH IN SOMEBODY YOU TRUST THEIR WORD:
Faith in Jesus is most fully explained as faith in his word. If I put my faith in X that means I have confidence that when they say they’ll do something that they’ll do it. With Christ this includes confidence of forgiveness, hope in the resurrection, God’s grace in all circumstances. But fundamentally “keeping the faith” it’s about trusting his WORD. Saving faith is a joining of ourselves to Christ as one who is FULLY trustworthy, who will do ALL of what he says. If we say, “I’m going to heaven when I die” but then live as though much of what he promised is untrue, then we are not “keeping the faith.”
FOR MANY THIS IS YOUR STRUGGLE:
For many, this is your struggle. You believe that Christ has forgiven you, given you eternal life, you’ll go to heaven when you die. But you struggle in your everyday life to trust the everyday life promises of Jesus. Or you don't even care to find out what his promises are. His Word and His promises are preserved perfectly for us in God’s Word. Faith in Christ is faith in all his Word. It’s faith in his integrity and his power. Do you have that kind of faith? Are you keeping it? “How do I know?” Paul gives us a few hints.
THIS KIND OF LIFE IS HARD:
Paul uses the pictures of a race and a fight. These two images give us a picture of what “keeping the faith” looks like. What’s entailed. The 1st thing we can say is that keeping the faith must be hard. There must be some sort of stress and strain and discomfort involved. Boxers get hit in the face, and runners push themselves to the limit of tolerance, and both train for long, monotonous hours. Therefore, keeping the faith must involve some sort of stress and discomfort like this. It must be hard. Finishing well will not be easy. So if your Christian life is easy then you may be doing it wrong!
YOU MUST FINISH: CROSS THE FINISH LINE:
The 2nd thing implied in the image of the race is that we must endure to the end in faith, or we will not gain the crown. "I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up a crown of righteousness for me." You can run 5 mi, 10 mi, or 20 mi in a marathon, but if you don't cross the finish line, you don't get the crown. This is taught in many places in the NT. Keeping the faith is a lifelong task. You can't give up at the halfway mark and expect the crown of righteousness. Paul actually makes this point to Timothy in 2:12 “if we ENDURE we will also reign with him…”
WE HAVE TWO GREAT ENEMIES:
The 3rd and final thing illustrated by these images is that there are opponents who would defeat us and we must resist them. The Christian life is a fight! Who are the enemies we fight? There are two main enemies to our keeping the faith, but they can muster many neutral forces for their purposes. The two enemies are our old nature and the devil. And these two try to pervert all God's good creation into idols by alluring us to trust more in man and things than in God. Some simplify it as “the flesh, the world, and the devil.”
SO FIGHT YOUR ENEMIES:
So if you want to have the confidence to say at the end of YOUR life what Paul was able to say at the end of HIS life then you need to fight every day of your life to keep the faith. Battle the flesh, the world and the devil! Be on guard against the temptations that they bring. You can do it! Your perseverance matters! Those who’ve truly come to a saving knowledge of Jesus as Lord and Savior continue in him. He never loses those who are truly his. So fight the good fight, finish the race, keep your faith.
THE FUTURE CROWN:
The final picture Paul uses is that of a crown. 4:8 “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” Look forward with hope of a reward. A crown of righteousness. The Greeks treasured their crowns from wins in the Olympian Games. Paul says I’ve got an even greater crown coming. I didn’t live my life on this earth for earthly treasure. I invested all that I had here for all that I’ll receive there. I’m looking forward to the future with hope of a reward.
THE CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS:
What is the crown? A crown of righteousness given by a righteous Judge. The crown is a right standing before God. It’s peace with God because you’re no longer at enmity with him and the peace of God protecting your heart and mind. It comes by grace through faith. And it awaits all of those who “love His appearing.” A sure evidence that you are finishing well is a heart that is set on the 2nd coming of Christ. Holding loose the things of this world for the treasure you have in Christ and his coming Kingdom. This vision will keep you running your race, fighting temptation, and keeping your faith.
TYING IT ALL TOGETHER:
So (1) look into the present without fear of what’s next…(2) look back to the past without shame or regret…and (3) look forward to the future with hope of a reward. That’s how to finish well. Look IN, look BACK, and look FORWARD. Continue the course that the Lord has laid before you. And look up. The only way you can look into the present without fear, and look back at the past without shame, and look forward to the future with hope is if your eyes are fixed on the cross of Christ. Live in the Gospel.
WHAT IF THIS WAS THE LAST DAY OF YOUR LIFE?
What if today was the last day of your life? Could you say with Paul, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness"? There are people here who can give 3 different answers to that question. One will say, "I fought no fight because I felt no great desire to follow Christ's counsel and trust his promises. Satan and my own flesh got no resistance from me." Another will say, "I felt some desire to trust Christ and go his way, but whenever a conflict arose, I was defeated every time. I really didn't fight a very good fight."
THE THIRD AND VICTORIOUS WAY:
And a third will say, "Praise God, it was a hard but glorious year. The Word of God came alive for me and helped time and time again to overcome temptation and hold to Christ. It wasn't always easy, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord." Whichever one of those groups you are in now, remember this: by the grace of God, this day is only a rehearsal of the end. His mercy is opening before you a new life, and you can enter it and finish as a victorious fighter if you will declare yourself free from Satan's power and self-reliance and one who trusts Jesus Christ for all his word.