Finish Well (pt 2)
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· 3 viewsLead Pastor Wes Terry preaches part two of the sermon Finish Well out of 2 Timothy 4:9-22. This message is part of the series "Entrusted: A Study in 2 Timothy." The message was given on June 12, 2016.
Notes
Transcript
INTRO:
This is our last week in 2 Timothy. I want to remind you why it is that we began studying this book. Broadview has been given a unique gift– and responsibility. We have a growing demographic of young adults/new Christians who are becoming part of our church family. We also have a growing number of older/mature Christians who helped make this church what it is and are giving support to this church so that she becomes what God desires her to be in the future. So we’ve been asking the question of how do we bring those two worlds together. How can we be better at being multi-generational?
FROUGHT WITH DIFFICULTIES:
It’s not an easy thing being a multi-generational church. It’s fraught with difficulties. Egos get in the way. The ego of young leaders who think they know it all. The inevitable feeling from an older generation that “we’re being put out to pasture. My days are done. I’m just here to pay the bills…” But God in his grace has limited the negative implications of those sentiments and has really helped to bring unity where there would otherwise be division. For that, I’m thankful. We need each other. We have a responsibility to entrust to others what’s been given to us. We want to do that well.
RECAPPING THE SERIES:
Throughout this series we’ve seen (1) what genuine faith looks like, (2) the pattern we’re to follow, (3) the responsibility to multiply our life to the 3rd & 4th generation, (4)the power for fulfilling that calling and the need to remember Jesus, his person/work/faithfulness. We’ve seen responsibilities unique to the pastor like (5) guarding the gate, (6) setting an example, and (7) preaching the Word. Then last week we looked at (8) finishing well.
FINISHING WELL PART ONE:
Paul gave us a wonderful example of what it looks like to finish well. He was able to (1) look into his present circumstances without fear of what would come next, (2) look back to his past without shame or regret and (3) look forward to the future with hope of a reward. Today’s text looks at part 2 of the call to finish well. The emphasis is on the fact that living the Christian life is just plain hard. Part of finishing well is being aware of certain “life realities.” You need people to live the Christian life (relationships are important.) Those people will let you down. God is always faithful. And you never stop growing.
THE MAIN POINT: THE MANY POINTS
I struggled with how to break this text down. It’s a choppy text. The main point is in 4:17-18 “But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” But on either side of the main point are a multitude of other helpful, painful, hopeful and despairing comments.
SAD, BEAUTIFUL, BROKEN-HEARTED, HOPEFUL // CHOPPY CHOPPY:
The closing words of 2 Timothy are sad and beautiful and full of broken-hearted hope. When reading it, a flood of things cross my mind. It’s a choppy text. A collection of personal concerns, like "come soon before winter if you can" (9, 21) and "bring my cloak from Troas" (13), and "watch out for Alexander the coppersmith" (15), and "nobody showed up to support me at my defense" (16), "but the Lord stood by me" (17), and "greet my dear friends Prisca and Aquilla" (19) and "Trophimus I left sick at Miletus" (20), and "all the brothers greet you" (21), and “The Lord be with you” (22). Choppy text = choppy sermon!
RELATIONSHIPS ARE IMPORTANT AND HARD:
Let’s walk through the text & make a few observations. The 1st thing to notice is that when it comes to the Christian life, relationships are (1)incredibility important for you and (2) incredibility hard on you. They are helpful and hurtful. They bring pain and pleasure. Read 4:9-12 “Do your best to come to me soon. 10For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12 Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.”
READ THE TEXT: 2 TIMOTHY 4:19-22:
Skip down to vv 19-22. “Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus. 21 Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers. 22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.” It’s real easy to read oververses like this because of all the unknown names and locations. Don’t do that. These verses communicate how important relationships are in the Christian life.
PEOPLE LEAVE: GOD GIVES FOR A SEASON THEN TAKES AWAY:
Relationships are essential. They make our life sweet and bitter. In either case, God uses people to do his work IN us THROUGH us. God brings people into our life for certain seasons. Oftentimes those seasons are limited. Paul mentions Demas. For a season Demas was a fellow minister (Col 4:14). However, Demas fell in love with the world, out of love with the Father and out of usefulness as a minster. Sometimes it’s not that people move away from God but that God moves people away from us. That’s the case with Crescens, Titus, Tychicus, Erastus, and Trophhimus. They were all relocated in ministry.
SOMETIMES PEOPLE OPPOSE YOU: 2 TIM 4:14-15
Relationships can be painful because it’s painful to be lonely. They’re also hard bc people will at times oppose us when we’re doing what God wants. 4:14-15 “Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.” So Paul is experiencing loneliness/abandonment from the inside and hostile opposition from outside. Unexpected silence from a friend or verbal blows from an enemy, wounds the spirit.
IN THE FACE OF DISAPPOINTMENT CHOOSE TO BE GRACIOUS:
Relationships are necessary & hard. Sometimes they’re hard bc God relocates the people you’ve grown to love. Sometimes they’re hard bc you’re receiving opposition from people who misunderstand you or misrepresent you. But other times relationships are hard bc people disappoint you. Paul seems disappointed that Demas has left for Thessalonica. You sense Paul’s disappointment in 4:16 “At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me…” What does Paul choose to do in the face of relational disappointment? “…May it not be charged against them!” He chooses grace.
HAVE GRACE BASED RELATIONSHIPS:
If you want to finish well in the Christian life, you’re going to have to enter into and sustain relationships with other people. If you want the Lord to use those relationships as he intends then you need be a person full of grace in the face of disappointment. Grace-based relationships are relationships that don’t depend on the performance of the other person but on your personal choice to treat them better than they deserve because God has treated you better than you deserve. This is true of your marriage, your friendships, your family, your co-workers, the church. Choose to be a gracious person.
CHOOSE GRACE EVEN IF THEY NEVER REPENT:
Choose to be gracious even if they never repent. Demas never repented from abandoning Paul. He fell in love with the world and left for Thessalonica. From all appearances it seems like he never returned, never made amends, never repented. Yet, Paul chooses to give him grace. So be gracious with people who disappoint you even if they never repent because God has chosen to be gracious towards you even when you’ve failed to repent. That’s the definition of grace. Treated better than we deserve! The only other option is to keep letting them occupy real estate in your mind/heart.
DON’T BE A DISAPPOINTMENT BY LOVING THE WORLD:
I think it’s also important to offer a warning here that we examine ourselves internally to make sure we don’t become a disappointment to God or other Christians because, like Demas, we TOO fall in love with the World. So often, the reason that people leave the church or get out of ministry ISN’T because of some intellectual doubt or love lost for the Lord. Rather, it was just a slow process of falling more and more in love with the world. Those misplaced/inordinate affections have consequences!
LOVE FOR THE WORLD MAKE MINISTRY IMPOSSIBLE:
There is a love for this world that makes ministry impossible. Either it abandons ministry, or it makes ministry worldly enough to be at home there. There is a love for the world that is mutually exclusive with real, deep love for Jesus. There is a love for this world that is irreconcilable with the ministry of exposing the world and witnessing to the world, rescuing people from the world and changing the world. What was it was for Demas? What was in Thessalonica? Whatever it was, he left following Jesus to follow that. So will you if you’re not on guard. Demas never came back. Today, if you can, repent!
GIVE GRACE BECAUSE THEY MAY BE RESTORED:
When people disappoint you, be gracious. Even if they never repent. Also, be gracious because often times people will repent. Many relationships will be restored! That’s the case with Mark in this text. Did you see it in 4:11? “11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.” Mark had abandoned Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey. Paul refused to take him on the next journey. (Acts 15:37–38). But here Paul says, “Bring Mark with you, for he is very useful to me.” Good friends in ministry can let you down and still be good friends — someday.
GIVE GRACE BECAUSE SOMETIMES IT’S COMPLICATED:
Give grace even if people never repent. Give grace because sometimes people will repent and relationships will be restored. You should also choose to be gracious in the face of disappointment because sometimes things are just complicated. Sometimes when people disappoint you it’s NOT because they hate you or want to hurt you…sometimes it’s because of factors that are out of their control. The reasons why people disappoint us are hardly ever as simple as we make them out to be.
SHOWING IT IN THE TEXT WITH LUKE:
Paul says in 4:16 that at his first defense “no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me.” So Paul goes before the Roman court. Luke, Onesiphorious, Peter, Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and other Christians should’ve been there. But they weren’t. Why?From what we see in this text it wasn’t because they hated Paul or wanted him in prison. The text doesn’t give us the reason because there could have been hundreds of valid reasons why they weren’t there. Whatever the reason, in the face of that desertion, Paul chooses to be gracious. “May it not be charged against them!”
PAUL INCLUDES THE DESERTERS IN HIS GREETING:
He includes them in his final greeting. 4:21 “…Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens & Linus & Claudia & all the brothers.” He didn’t say bitterly, “Write your own letter!” People let each other down in life and ministry. There are so many circumstances that you or I know nothing about that might explain why any given person let you down. Why they didn’t show up, didn’t call, didn’t say anything. We must be careful not to assume the worst. Giving grace means believing the best instead of assuming the worst. I’ve let many of you down in my pastoring before. I’m thankful for grace!
DON’T BE SIMPLISTIC: DON’T BE UNFORGIVING:
On the basis of what Paul does here, and what Christ has done for us on the cross —for Peter who denied him & the eleven who abandoned him — don’t be so simplistic and don’t be unforgiving. It is simplistic to say, “If they were real Christians, they would have stood by me.” It’s not that simple. It is possible to love someone deeply, and let them down. And don’t be unforgiving. Say with Paul, “May it not be charged against them!” I choose to forgive them. To release the debt. Because it’s more complicated than it seems and because when I was a disappointment to the Lord he chose to forgive me.
BE GRACIOUS BECAUSE JESUS IS ALWAYS FAITHFUL:
Be gracious in the face of disappointment even when people don’t repent. Be gracious because sometimes they will repent and relationships will be restored. Be gracious because sometimes the reasons why people disappoint you are complicated. Don’t be simplistic. Choose forgiveness. Don’t hold it against them. “Sounds nice…” you say, “but how?” The reason Paul was able to be gracious in the face of disappointing relationships is because his primary joy/security was in a relationship that never disappoints.
READ VV 17-18: JESUS IS ALWAYS FAITHFUL:
This is the main point of the text. Human relationships are necessary but painful. Painful bc people will disappoint you. But your relationship with Jesus will never disappoint because he’s always faithful to do what he’s promises. 4:17-18 “But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” Jesus can do what no earthly relationship can.
THE LORD STOOD BY ME:
Seek Christian friendship. You need people. They need you. But when they fail, don’t show up for your trial, at your hospital bed, in your crisis, don’t turn their failure into a rejection of the one friend who is always there. The faithfulness of Jesus is what enables us to deal graciously with the unfaithfulness of others. And it is ONLY your relationship with Jesus that will “rescue you from the lion’s mouth” (death) and “every evil deed” and “bring you safely into God’s heavenly kingdom…” There’s only one sinless savior.
SUMMARY AND TRANSITION:
So if we want to finish well we need to embrace certain realities about the Christian life. (1) Relationships are hard but necessary. (2) In the face of disappointment choose to be gracious. Be gracious when they don’t repent and the relationships isn’t restored. Be gracious when they do repent and the relationship is restored. Be gracious because the reasons may be more complicated than you know. Be gracious because your ultimate security is in a friend that never fails. Finally, and somewhat disconnected from the previous two points, never stop growing in your desire to know/love the Lord.
READ 4:13 / BRING MY CLOAK AND BOOKS:
There’s an interesting verse that we skipped over. 4:13 “When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments…” We don’t know what was on these scrolls and parchments. They’re probably more than the Scriptures themselves. Perhaps some of his own notes and writings. The least we can say is that here is an apostle, an inspired spokesman of the living God, who was enjoying Jesus standing by him in his last days. And this man, in this condition, with this sweet fellowship with the living Christ, wanted to be reading and thinking at the end.
WHY SHOULD YOU KEEP GROWING?
If I am about to die and will see Jesus in a few weeks or days, why should I keep reading and thinking and growing? Because reading and thinking over what you read is how God speaks to you/makes himself known to you now. That’s how God nourishes/strengthens the soul for living and dying. That’s how worship is ignited and joy is increased and peace with God is sustained. If you’re not a big reader than have the Bible read to you. If you a music person then listen to Word-based music. But never stop growing in your knowledge and love for the Lord. Not when you’re mature. Not when you’re old. Not ever.