Fighting The Good Fight Of The Faith

"Every now and then I guess we all think realistically about that day when we will be victimized with what is life's final common denominator--that something we call death.

We all think about it and every now and then I think about my own death and I think about my own funeral. And I don't think about it in a morbid sense. And every now and then I ask myself what it is that I would want said and I leave the word to you this morning.

If any of you are around when I have to meet my day, I don't want a long funeral. And if you get somebody to deliver the eulogy tell him not to talk too long. Every now and then I wonder what I want him to say.

Tell him not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize--that isn't important. Tell not to mention that have 300 or 400 other awards--that's not important. Tell him not to mention where I went to school.

I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody." -Martin Luther King Jr.

Paul wrote in a letter to his young apprentice, a young man who he inspired, named Timothy... that he had fought the good fight. He had finished the race. Paul was elderly at this time in his life, yet continuing his work. He wrote in his second letter to Timothy:

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store 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 longed for his appearing.

Today I'd like to urge you, as you are now, to keep the faith. Don't turn away, don't turn to the left or to the right. But stay the course, to the end. One day at a time, Jesus Christ is Lord. One day at a time, trust in Jesus.

You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.

Psalm 18:28.

The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.

Proverbs 4:18-19

Do you feel left behind? Do you feel useless? Or do you feel blessed? Do you feel the joy of closeness with God?

Jesus Christ will judge the living and the dead it says. This is true. Once you pass away, you will come face to face with the mystery of life itself: Jesus Christ.

Are you ready to meet Jesus? Are you ready to see him in all his glory? Do you long to be with him?

It's a foundational truth of Christianity that all people will be judged by God on the last day. Are you ready for that day? The truth is we've all fallen short of God's perfect standard. On judgment day, if I came before the Lord with my good works, that would not be enough. Because he would see my sins. And I would be sent to outer darkness.

That's the situation all of us find ourselves in. But, thanks be to God, because God has made a way for us to be perfect, holy before him. He has come as Jesus Christ.

In Colossians chapter 1 it says that Jesus Christ is exact image of the invisible God. One of the many names in the scriptures for Jesus is Immanuel. Immanuel means: God with us. The formula is this: God became a man, Jesus. He came to offer himself as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of his people. We all have many many sins. And Jesus Christ paid the price for those sins on the cross.