THE TWO-MINUTE DRILL
By
Jerry Falwell
INTRODUCTION
A short time ago I preached a sermon on “The Final Quarter.” That sermon was about people who are in the last part of their life. I talked about lessons I had learned about the last quarter and how people should live in the last quarter.
Today, I want to talk to people who are facing the end. You’ve got the phone call and it’s cancer . . . terminal cancer. The doctor says you will not live. Once you’ve received that message, everything in life changes; now you’ve got to prepare for death. That’s hard for unsaved people to say because they think death ends it all. But Christians know better.
So this sermon is not about the “Final Quarter” that involves the elderly or the retired. This sermon is about the final two minutes. It could be about a teenager with a terminal disease, or it could be about a middle-aged person who is dying. Now you’re in “The Two-Minute Drill.”
When it comes to the last two minutes of the football game, everything changes for the players. Either you have to change your strategy to catch up so you can win the game, or you have to change your defensive strategy to keep from turning the ball to the opponents so they can win. Whatever you do, the Final Two Minutes are imperative.
This sermon is for those who (a) know they’re going to die, (b) know that the end is predictably soon, and (c) know they have to get their life in order.
When you are within the last two minutes, it’s a whole new ballgame. You need a new strategy, a new focus, and new motivation. Just as a football team practices the two-minute drill (what they’re going to do when the game is almost over); so Christians must have a two-minute drill. We ought to know what we’re going to do when we face the end of our life.
A. PAUL FACED THE END.
When Paul was in prison, he knew he was going to die. But it was going to be a triumphant death. John Wesley said, “Methodists know how to die well.” Can that be said about you? Notice what Paul said when he faced the final two minutes.
“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 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. 4:6-8).
What can be said in the above verses about Paul? Notice the three things I see in these verses:
1. Paul was ready to go, meaning there wasn’t any other spiritual thing he had to do to get ready to die.
2. Paul looked back over his life and knew that he had done all that God had wanted him to do.
3. Paul knew there was a reward for him after death, i.e., he would meet the Lord and be rewarded.
B. SAMSON WAS THE OPPOSITE OF PAUL WHEN HE DIED.
As Samson faced death, he knew he had failed the Lord. He had embarrassed the cause of the Lord God of Israel. Samson knew he was a failure.
“So it happened, when their hearts were merry, that they said, ‘Call for Samson, that he may perform for us.’ So they called for Samson from the prison, and he performed for them. And they stationed him between the pillars. Then Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, ‘Let me feel the pillars which support the temple, so that I can lean on them.’ Now the temple was full of men and women. All the lords of the Philistines [were] there--about three thousand men and women on the roof watching while Samson performed. Then Samson called to the LORD, saying, ‘O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray! Strengthen me, I pray, just this once, O God, that I may with one [blow] take vengeance on the Philistines for my two eyes!’ And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple, and he braced himself against them, one on his right and the other on his left. Then Samson said, ‘Let me die with the Philistines!’ And he pushed with [all his] might, and the temple fell on the lords and all the people who [were] in it. So the dead that he killed at his death were more than he had killed in his life” (Judges 16:25-30, NKJV).
As Samson faced his final two minutes, he knew three things:
1. He knew he had sinned and disobeyed the Lord.
2. He knew he had destroyed the testimony of God among the heathen.
3. He wanted his death to be a shining testimony to God, and he wanted to do all he could to atone for his wayward years.
C. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR FINAL TWO-MINUTE DRILL.
1. When you get the two-minute warning, you know you have one final opportunity to win the game.
All of us have a calling in life, and when you come to the end of your life, you ought to make sure that you have one final opportunity to do everything that God has called you to do.
We go into every play to win the game, but many plays are just another play. But in the final two minutes, make every play count. Make everything you do count in the final two minutes toward your life’s calling.
2. In the final two minutes, play like there is no tomorrow.
In this present life we hold back, because we have to plan for tomorrow. We invest our money, we sleep to get energy; we make short-range plans for next year, and long-range plans for the future and we go on vacations.
In the final minutes, there is no time for “long-range” planning committees nor is there even time for “planning sessions.” There is no time for a vacation in the final two minutes. We should have done everything that was necessary long before we got in the game. You should prepare for your two-minute drill because when you get there, you’ll have to play like there’s no tomorrow.
3. In the last two minutes talk to the Coach often, listen to the Coach, and implement His plan.
Prior to the end of the game, a quarterback can change his play at the line. In living our Christian life, many times we have suffered loss. We sometimes have to go backwards to be able to gain a victory in the future. But in the final two minutes, you don’t give up ground to the opponent. Neither do you kick the ball away to him. You only have one thought in the final two minutes--that’s to win.
4. In the final two minutes, every person must do exactly what the Coach says.
If you are losing the game, i.e., if you have lost your testimony and are living for the flesh; then it’s time to repent and turn back to the Lord and determine to live for Him. So in the final two minutes, stop doing what you’ve been doing that’s contrary to what the Coach wants. Do exactly what the Coach (the Lord Jesus Christ) tells you.
When you are winning and you come to the final two minutes, keep doing what you’ve been doing. When you’re winning, you go with the same people on the field, and you go with the same plays. Listen to your Coach to make sure that you “don’t fix what’s not broke.” Because you want to win, keep playing the game the way you’ve been playing right up to the very end of your life.
Bob Hubbard has cancer, but every Sunday he is right here taking up the offering. He’s doing every day in the final two minutes what he’s done every day for the past three decades. That’s the way to go out, doing every day what got you this far. If living for Jesus Christ has made you a wonderful success in life, don’t change in the final two minutes.
5. In the final two minutes, don’t hold anything back.
You know you must win the game, so give everything you can--every day until you die. Vince Lombardi said,
"I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is the moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle-victorious" -Vince Lombardi
Let me suggest two or three things that you not hold back:
a. First of all, you want to be in every prayer meeting possible. Prayer meeting is like a huddle. You’ll want to talk to the coaches as often as possible in the final two minutes.
b. Second, you’ll want to be in every church meeting possible. If God is here and you can worship Him, you ought to be here worshipping Him right to the end.
c. You ought to get your money/affairs in order. You ought to make sure your family is taken care of, that’s your Christian duty. Make sure whatever money goes to the Lord’s work in the church is accounted for. Some of you have to sell property, some of you have to get your will written. Some of you need to phone the Department of Stewardship, i.e., Joel Pearson, Harold Knowles and Tom Arnold, (800) 543-5309 or 832-0958.
Some of you used to teach Sunday school but quit. Maybe in the last quarter you need to go back to Sunday school. Maybe you need to go out successfully doing what you’ve done for most of your life. If you’ve been an usher . . . if you’ve been in women’s work . . . if you’ve been a teacher . . . whatever you’ve done best throughout life, do it right up to the end.
6. In the final two minutes, be ready at any moment for service, even if you’re called in just for one play.
Remember, there is a “kicker” on every football team. He might be called into the final play of the game. Most of the game he is on the sidelines and he’s not playing actively. But even those on the sidelines have to be in the game mentally. You have to be ready at any moment to go and kick the field goal to win the game.
Some of you may do the greatest accomplishment for
God during the final two minutes. You may lead a soul to Christ, you may counsel a grandchild or a colleague at work, and prevent them from destroying their life. Think of Paul who said, “I am ready.”
7. During the final two minutes, even the third string “bench sitter” must be ready to go in for an injured player.
There are some who are not primarily players on the field who need to be ready for one great play. Some of you will never be behind this pulpit preaching, nor will you be on this platform singing. You may think of yourself as a reserve who sits on the bench. But, you may have one final opportunity to come into the game and do some extraordinary work for God. I don’t know what that extraordinary thing is, but you’ll know. And so like Paul, you need to say, “I’m ready.”
A bench sitter who had one great “play.”
1. Ananias who baptized Paul.
2. Rahab saved the spies.
3. The little boy who guided Samson to the right pillar.
4. Joseph of Arimathaea loaned his tomb for Jesus.
Every sport has its unique way to win the victory in the final two minutes. In baseball you bring in your reliever. In football you bring in your kicker. In hockey you pull the goalie. In basketball, it is the final free-throw, and you want Michael Jordan when the game is on the line. Every sport has a strategy for winning the game, what about your strategy?
I want you to plan a strategy today of how you’re going to end your life. Many of us think that we’ll never die. The poet said, “The eternal beats in every breast.” By that he meant that all of us think that we will live forever and we will never die. That’s not true. Therefore:
a. Live every day as though it were your last.
b. Since you don’t know when your day of death is coming, live as though you have a long fruitful life and invest every day with time, energy, and strength to glorify God.
c. Determine to go out of this life in the will of God, serving the God you love, praying that your life will be glorifying to Him right up to your last breath.
8. Since we do in life what we commit ourselves to do, today I want you to commit yourself to God.
Determine that you will serve God through physical pain, through agony, and through anguish. Determine that you will put Jesus Christ first in everything. As Paul said, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21).
If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:
Dear Lord,
I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God and rejoice with you.
For more information on the TRBC Pastor’s Bible Class, log on to the Internet for TRBC Home page at www.trbc.org/pbc.
