Finishing the year strong
2 Tim 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
I guess every time we come to the start of a New Year we approach it with some degree of hope as to what it would or could bring us. Things may have gone bad last year but this a New Year and we have new hope.
Emily Dickinson the American Poet wrote;
“Hope is like a nightingale that sings in the dark.
It does not have to wait for daylight to come before it begins to sing” .
Hope is a sense of expectation to triumph over difficult circumstances and negative conditions. Hope is the anticipation of success even in the midst of failure. Hope is having a positive attitude about the future. Hope is seeing a way out of despair. Hope looks forward; hope looks onward, and hopes looks upward, never backward never downward. Hope shines brightest in the deepest darkness.
Hope is the light at the end of the tunnel. Hope is the fuel that takes us from today into tomorrow, hope is the silver lining on every cloud and hope is the pot of gold at the end of every rainbow. Hope is sunshine after the rain and hope is the dawn after darkness.
Hope is seeing a rainstorm in a raindrop. Hope is seeing a cornfield in a grain of corn. Hope is seeing a goldmine in a gold nugget. Hope is seeing a pearl in an oyster and a diamond in a rock. Hope is the anticipation of good, and at the start of a New Year we muster up some good old-fashioned hope and make resolutions while embarking upon the twelve month long journey hoping to arrive at our pre-planned destination.
A British survey revealed that 14% of New Year’s Resolutions fail within the first day and 27% are ditched in the first week. Can you guess how many resolutions are kept? ABOUT 14%. When New Year’s resolutions go unfulfilled people fall back into the old routine that put them where they were in the first place.
There is a word for that you know, it is the biological term, HOMEOSTASIS. Say it with me “HOMEOSTASIS.” Now don’t try to be cool when you leave here telling people “don’t be HOMEOSTATIC” because they keep falling back into their same old ways. Say it with me again HOMEOSTASIS. It means the tendency to go back to a state of balance when destabilized. For our purposes it refers to falling back into the same old rut.
So what we want to avoid in 2008 is going back to what we were in 2007. We need to go forward. Paul says it like this in Philippians 3:13-14 “…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
I think we consider a couple of critical things when we decide to take a trip or embark on some new enterprise. First we determine where we want to go. Next, we figure out how we plan to get there. We face various challenges with doing new things. Many people just never get started. The old Chinese Proverb says:
“the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.”
On the other hand sometimes a good plan of how to start is made but we do not plan how to finish. So this year I want to encourage you to decide how you want to Finish 2008. A good visionary sees the end from the beginning. The best plan always has an exit strategy. So it is here that the Apostle Paul comes to our rescue describing his life’s journey by saying;
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” 2 Tim 4:7,8.
Paul the Apostle enters the Holy Bible as Saul of Tarsus a Jewish Pharisee whose religious zeal drove him to embark upon a crusade against the followers of Jesus Christ. We first see him authorizing the execution of Stephen, a godly man, an early deacon of the 1st century church. As the rocks registered their fatal thumps to Stephen’s head, face, chest, arms, back and legs he cried out “Lord do not hold them guilty for this.”
Saul, at whose feet the murderous mob dropped off their outer coats, so they could pummel their projectiles without inhibition, just stood there and relished the moment as Stephen fell to his knees then flat to the ground in the pangs of the horror of such a gruesome death. Saul planned to launch his persecution of believers to Damascus where he was intent upon arresting and imprisoning every Christian he could find.
On his way there a bright light blinded him and he fell to the ground then a voice spoke to him saying; “Saul why are you persecuting me?” He answered “Who are you Lord?” The voice responded "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. 6 "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." 7 The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9 For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything. 10 In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!" "Yes, Lord," he answered. 11 The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight." 13 "Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name." 15 But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name." 17 Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord-Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here-has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18 Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19 and after taking some food, he regained his strength. (NIV)
God later changed his name to Paul and he began preaching and teaching over much of the then known world. But his was not an easy journey. He struggled with racists. He fought off religious heretics. He rebuked kings, challenged philosophers and reasoned with scholars.
FOUGHT
Physically he suffered torture and privation. Hear him as he speaks in 1 Corinthians 15:32:
“I have fought with beasts at Ephesus,…”
Then again in 2 Corinthians 11:23-30…. :
“I have been in prison,… been flogged… severely, exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received 39 lashes from the Jews. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” (NIV)
“I have had to fight” he said, “I have to battle through thick and thin week in week out day come day go. Mine has been a life of warfare” he declared. Hear him as he explains in Ephesians 6:12:
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” KJV
KEPT
Kept his mind on Jesus
I have had to keep, keep my mind on Jesus “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” Isaiah 26:33 KJV
Kept Looking to Jesus
Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith;
Kept his body under control
1 Cor 9:27-10:127 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. KJV
Kept himself from being a burden to others
2 Cor 11:9-10 And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself. KJV
Kept the unity
Eph 4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. KJV
Kept himself pure
1 Tim 5:22-23 Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure. KJV
Kept his commitment
2 Tim 1:12…I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. KJV
FINISHED
Finally Paul says I have finished. I have dashed across the line I was first to break the tape. I have finished and God is about to reward me because he knows that I finished well.
Many people start but only the determined, persistent, resilient, unrelenting, constant, finish.
The Story of Walt Disney
A young man with an artistic talent was born in 1901. He tried to get a business going in 1919 and it crashed in less than a month. Later in 1923 he was at it again but it lasted less than a year and went under. Walt went from investor to investor with a sketch of a mouse asking for their help. He went bankrupt once, was taken over twice and had to start again. He determined to build a theme park that would provide family fun for the price of $1.00 per ticket. Some laughed some just politely refused the proposal. Walt and his brother mortgaged all they had and opened Disneyland, then later one year after Walt’s death in 1966 construction of Disney World in Florida began. Today what really matters about Walt Disney is not how he started but how he finished.
The Story of John Wesley
A page from John Wesley’s Diary reads as follows: Sunday morning, May 5, preached in St. Ann’s, was asked not to come back anymore. Sunday p.m., May 5, preached at St. John’s, deacons said, "Get out and stay out." Sunday a.m., May 12, preached at St. Jude’s, can’t go back there either. Sunday p.m., May 12, preached at St. George’s, kicked out again.
Sunday a.m., May 19, preached at St. somebody else’s, deacons called special meeting and said I couldn’t return. Sunday p.m., May 19, preached on the street, kicked off the street. Sunday a.m., May 26, preached in meadow, chased out of meadow as a bull was turned loose during the services. Sunday a.m., June 2, preached out at the edge of town, kicked off the highway. Sunday p.m., June 2, afternoon service, preached in a pasture, 10,000 people came to hear me.
The Story of Billy Graham
Finishing the year will require determination: Have you heard of, Chuck Templeton? What about Bron Cliffort? What about Billy Graham? Did you know that Templeton and Cliffort were also packing out auditoriums in 1945 when Billy Graham first preached to large crowds? All three of these young men rose to prominence in their middle twenties. Templeton and Graham became very close friends. They started preaching together with the Youth for Christ Organization. Most observers thought that Templeton will be the one who go to the top. Why haven’t you heard of Chuck Templeton? The answer may surprise you. By 1950 Templeton had left the ministry. He became an announcer and a newscaster, telling the world that he no longer believed Jesus Christ was the son of God. He became an atheist.
What about Cliffort? By 1954 Cliffort had lost his family, ministry and health. Eventually he lost his life because of his addiction to alcohol. Financial irresponsibility left his wife and their two Downs-syndrome children penniless. This once famous preacher died of cirrhosis of the liver at the age of thirty-five in a rundown hotel on the edge on Amarillo.
He died unwept, unhonored, and unsung. Some of the pastors from Amarillo, Texas, got together and collected enough money to buy a cheap casket. They shipped his body back to the east coast, where he was buried in a pauper’s cemetery.
In 1945 all three of these young men with extraordinary gifts were preaching for the purpose of multiplying the church by thousands of people. But within ten years only Billy Graham was still preaching and has become known as the world’s greatest evangelist. In the Christian life it’s not how you start but it’s how you finish that counts.
So for the New Year it is not how you start it but how you finish it that counts so I urge you to determine to do three things to finish strong.
1. Be determined to maintain your devotional life.
2. Be determined to do your ministry well
3. Be determined to live holy.
Like Joshua say Joshua 24:15: ’Choose this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.’
Like David say “…some trust in chariots and some trust in horses but I will remember the name of the Lord.”
So at the end of this year like Paul you could say 2 Tim 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
