Graduation Day
Today is a day of new beginnings. We celebrate our graduates as they turn the page to a new chapter in their life. We celebrate with a brother in Christ who is turning the page to a new chapter in his life as well. It is graduation day.
For our text this morning I’d like to draw your attention to Paul’s second letter to Timothy chapter 4.
2 Tim. 4:6For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now 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.
I was fairly fortunate in school to never get left behind in school. Each year the teachers passed me on to the next grade. I was never quite sure if it was because I had successfully completed the work to move up, or if they were just thrilled to have the chance to get rid of me. However, I did have some school chums that were not so fortunate. When the day came for us to get our final report cards I would very apprehensively look at mine to see if I graduated to the next grade. I remember the disappointment of a friend of mine that didn’t get to move up.
Then there came the day of high school graduation. I put on my graduation gown, balanced the mortar board hat on my head and sat there with my fellow classmates waiting for my name to be called. Many of my fellow students received awards and accolades for their high school achievements. I did not receive any of those awards or accolades. I did however receive the same diploma they received. I had graduated! Afterward, there were lots of hugs and pictures out on the campus lawn as we celebrated with our classmates and family. There was a lot of excitement surrounding our graduation. None of that excitement will compare to our graduation day with the Lord. There is a great graduation day coming for each of us. On that day those that have trusted the Lord by faith, will put on a graduation robe of white. Instead of a mortar board we will receive a crown of righteousness.
Whenever I’m asked to conduct a funeral service, I always want to know if that person was a Christian or not. The knowledge that a person had put their trust in Christ for the forgiveness of sin determines what kind of service I need to conduct. We have the promise of scripture that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord! (2 Cor. 5:8)
When I’m preaching a funeral for a brother or sister in Christ I know I’m preaching about a graduation to heaven. There is rejoicing going on in heaven when a Christian is called home. There will be sadness as we miss our graduated loved one, but in our hearts we know where they are. They have graduated to be with the Lord.
Paul wrote to us in 1 Thess. 4:
1 Thess. 4:13Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. 14We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
So, whether through the grave or through the air, we that believe that Jesus died for our sin and rose again for our salvation will be gathered to Him in a glorious graduation ceremony!
At the commencement ceremony the school principal stands at the podium and one by one he looks down at the list of graduates. As he sees a name on the list he calls out that name and that student is then given their diploma. Listen to what John wrote from the isle of Patmos:
Rev. 3:5 He who overcomes will… be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels.
One day Jesus will look at the book of life and he’ll come to my name – he’ll call my name and I will be acknowledged before God and the angels that I have graduated. What a day that will be!
Our graduates had a choice to make every day of school. They could choose to learn, be obedient, work hard and strive to graduate. Or they could have blown it all off, skipped school, ignored home work, dropped out and flunked out. What is there to gain with those choices? There is a great reward for those willing to make the sacrifice in academics. They have better job opportunities, they are better prepared to interact with society, they have greater confidence and security, they realize achievement matters. Those unwilling to make that sacrifice pay the penalty of their decision. They tend to make much less money and struggle through their life.
And so it is with mankind as a whole. We have a choice to make. We can choose to take up our cross and follow Christ or we can choose what this world has to offer. There is a reward for each choice.
Mt. 16:26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
We will each be rewarded for what we have done for the Lord. What choice are you making every day? Are you focused on the three R’s - Repentance, Restoration and Regeneration? Jesus told Nicodemus that except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Folks that means we need to “Repent” of our sin. Jesus said that unless we repent, we will perish, (Lk. 13:3). Acts chapter 17 says that God at one time overlooked our ignorance, but now commands all people everywhere to repent.
God’s desire is that we be restored to Him. Restoration comes when we are no longer at odds with God. As sinners we have no fellowship with God. In His righteousness, He cannot accept us as His children, but in His love, He calls to us to return. As the prodigal son came to himself as he fed among the swine, he returned to his father and was restored as a son. Is there a distance between you and God? Be restored into perfect fellowship with Him.
We must be born again if we are to experience God’s graduation day. As we experience the forgiveness of sin through the blood of Christ, the Bible teaches that we are made brand new! We are a new creation – the old has passed away and all things are made new! What a thrilling experience to know that we are not the old person we used to be, but a new creation in Christ Jesus!
Have you done all you need to do to graduate? If you were to stand before God today would he say, “Enter in thou good and faithful servant”, or would He say, “Depart from me, I never knew you.” John wrote:
Rev. 20:12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. 13The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. 14Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. 15If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Is your name on the list? Are you ready to graduate? Every day you live is like taking a final exam. We have no assurance of tomorrow. The test isn’t that hard. There’s only one question and it’s multiple choice with only two possible answers. The answer is Jesus – are you going to pass or fail?
Conclusion:
Jesus said:
Rev. 22:12"Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
If today is your graduation day, will you graduate?
