LEANING FOR THE TAPE
II Timothy 4:6-8
I. INTRO
1. This morning I’d like to share with you excerpts of two life stories.
2. Listen closely and see if you can realize the similarities.
Failed in business 22
Ran for Legislature--defeated 23
Again failed in business 24
Elected to Legislature 25
sweetheart died 26
Had a nervous breakdown 27
Defeated for Speaker 29
Defeated for Elector 31
Defeated for Congress 34
Elected to Congress 37
Defeated for Congress 39
Defeated for Senate 46
Defeated for Vice President 47
Defeated for Senate 49
Elected President of the United States 51
That's the record of Abraham Lincoln.
Wilma didn't get much of a head start in life. A bout with polio left her left leg crooked and her foot twisted inward so she had to wear leg braces. After seven years of painful therapy, she could walk without her braces. At age 12 Wilma tried out for a girls basketball team, but didn't make it. Determined, she practiced with a girlfriend and two boys every day. The next year she made the team. When a college track coach saw her during a game, he talked her into letting him train her as a runner. By age 14 she had outrun the fastest sprinters in the U.S. In 1956 Wilma made the U.S. Olympic team, but showed poorly. That bitter disappointment motivated her to work harder for the 1960 Olympics in Rome--and there Wilma Rudolph won three gold medals, the most a woman had ever won.
3. What Wilma Rudolph and Abraham Lincoln had in common was more that just being great Americans.
a. More than just being determined.
b. More than their can do attitude.
4. What set them apart from the also-rans was a determination to finish strong.
a. In spite of setbacks.
b. In spite of defeats.
c. In spite of seemingly impossible obstacles.
5. One of the most important things we as Christians can do in our lives is to finish strong.
a. There are three stages in a man’s life.
1. The developmental stage. Where life skills are learned.
2. The practical stage. Where life skills are applied.
3. The Legacy stage. Where learned intelligence is passed on.
b. These stages are mimicked in the Christian life as well.
6. The importance of finishing strong cannot be overstated.
a. Finishing strong leaves a testimony that…
b. Our faith is real.
c. That it is strong enough to carry us through.
d. That our children can rely on it after we are gone.
e. Leaves an indelible mark upon this earth.
f. It glorifies and magnifies the Lord Jesus Christ.
7. Sadly the road of life seems to be littered with those who run out of gas before the finish.
a. So many…
b. Christians who backslide into the world.
c. Ministers who either self destruct or fall to the wiles of Satan.
d. We see so many and we know so many that it can be disheartening.
8. But then there are the success stories.
a. The Billy Grahams and the Jack Arnolds.
b. Jack Arnold, who at 69 after returning from a missions trip where he taught pastors.
c. Quoted that great theologian John Wesley when he said…
d. “Until my work here on this earth is done, I am immortal, but when my work for Christ is done…I go to be with Him.”
e. It was at that point in his sermon, that Jesus said, Jack your work is done.
f. And we have the man we look at in scripture this morning…the Apostle Paul.
2 Timothy 4
6 For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
8 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.
9. There are three things I would like to share with you this morning about finishing strong.
a. How to finish strong.
b. Why we should finish strong.
c. Who will finish strong.
BODY
I HOW TO FINISH STRONG
I. Be prepared for your time of departure.
1. Paul knew his time was at hand.
a. He knew Jesus Christ as his personal Savior.
b. He had lived worthy of his calling.
c. He had been a faithful witness.
d. He had completed both requirements of the Christian life.
e. Now as his departure time neared…he was ready.
2. I Love the greek word for departure here…ana-loo-sis.
a. It literally means to remove the mooring ropes from a ship.
b. To set it free to sail to it’s new destination.
c. It is said in The Historical writings that when Paul was brought out of his prison cell he ran to the executioner.
d. Paul was ready to be set free.
II. Fight the good Fight.
1. Paul uses three metaphors in verse 7 to describe his life. The Soldier, The Athlete, and The Steward.
2. In each one we see an aspect of great importance.
3. The soldier…
4. I have fought…
a. I have volunteered to serve Christ.
b. Paul knew from experience that he had been in a war.
c. We have in our midst today way too many “peace time Christians”.
d. People who don’t even know there is a war going on.
e. Their lives have never stirred up Hell’s fury because their testimony is weak.
f. I’ve heard so many people say, boy the old devil’s really been after me lately…don’t flatter yourself. Most of us aren’t even a blip on Satan’s radar screen.
g. When we sell out…to Christ…and give our all…to the reaching of people for him…then we stir up the devil.
h. Most churches and Christians today are no threat to Satan’s kingdom.
i. Most of them are not in the fight.
j. They’re just going through the motions.
k. We have a real enemy of the church.
Eph 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.
l. Paul knew the enemy well.
m. He fought.
5. But notice that Paul fought The Good fight.
a. The worthy fight
b. The Commendable fight.
c. The only fight worth fighting.
d. So much of our time today is spent fighting fights that are worthless.
e. The struggle for materialism
f. The Fight up the corporate ladder.
g. Are you looking for a worthy cause?
h. Are you one of those people who love fighting for a cause?
i. The cause of Christ is more worthy, honorable, noble and satisfying that any cause you could ever dedicate your life to.
j. It is the one Paul dedicated his life to.
k. And as he comes to the end of his life…we see no regrets.
III. Finish your course.
1. Like a great runner Paul had not quit in the middle of the race.
a. Even with all the troubles and trials Paul had experienced.
b. Even now when falsely accused and imprisoned.
c. Even though his faith would now cost him his life.
d. Paul never quit…He finished strong.
2. Notice Paul says he had finished “his course”.
a. We all have our own race to run.
b. Many of us do OK on the downhill stretches.
c. It’s the uphill ones that we struggle with.
d. To look at Paul’s life it would seem he ran uphill most of the way.
e. The book of Hebrews tells us how to run our race.
Hebrews 12 :1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
3. We don’t run our race in obscurity!
a. Hebrews Chapter 11 is the Faith Hall of Fame.
b. This is the cloud of witness who have gone before us.
c. These are the ones who have blazed the trail.
d. We run a course God has laid out and our forefathers of faith have marked.
4. There are two things that will encumber us in this race.
a. Every weight.
b. These are the cares…the things of this world…our worries. These things that become a burden to us…lay them aside.
c. The sin…
d. The one that so easily besets us…that personal sin…the one that defeats us so easily…different for each of us…lay it aside.
5. Run the race with patience.
a. Patience is required because it is a long race.
b. Not a sprint.
c. Not a relay.
d. But a marathon.
IV. Keep the Faith.
1. Paul says in effect…
a. I have fought for the faith.
b. I have committed my entire life to the cause of Christ.
c. I have been faithful.
2. At the end of his life, with death approaching, Paul reflects.
a. These are the words of a man reflecting upon how he spent his life.
b. Was it worth it?
c. Did I do the right things?
d. Did I contend for the right cause?
e. Am I satisfied with my life and my testimony?
f. YES Yes Yes.
g. How about us?
II. WHY WE SHOULD FINISH STRONG vs. 8
1. Henceforth…
a. From here on…
b. Paul says all there is left is to receive his crown of righteousness from the Lord Jesus.
c. I’ve done all that was required of me.
d. I’ve fought the good fight.
e. I’ve finished my course.
f. I’ve kept the faith.
g. All that remains now are the rewards which I’ll receive from my Savior.
2. There are those who teach that we should not do things here on this earth just for the rewards we will receive in heaven. I beg to differ!
Mt 6:19 ¶ Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mt 6:20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
a. God’s Word tells us to be mindful of our heavenly rewards.
b. It tells us to lay up…or to place in a savings acct…a retirement acct if you will…
c. To store up things that are incorruptible…that’s another sermon.
3. Paul was ready to receive his prize.
Philippians 3
13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, 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.
4. There is a difference in this prize and a worldly prize.
a. You see in the worldly race, only one can receive the prize.
b. In a race only the winner receives the trophy.
c. Although many vie, only one receives the promotion.
d. In a worldly system of rewards there can only be one grand prize winner.
5. But notice what Paul says in verse 8.
8 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.
a. In gods system of rewards we can all win.
b. We can all receive the crown of righteousness.
c. We can all receive the crown of life.
d. All that God has is available to each and every one of His children.
e. We can rejoice with Paul over his crown of righteousness because one is still available for us!
f. His rewards are never ending and everlasting.
g. They are the hope of all who serve Him.
h. They are the reward of all who love Him.
i. So how do we become the Who?
III. WHO FINISHES STRONG?
1. … all them also that love his appearing.
2. Who are those who desire His Second Coming?
a. Those who love Him.
b. His Children.
1Jo 4:7 ¶ Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God
3. Only His children will long for His coming.
a. I long for the Lord Jesus Christ to split the clouds and return in all His glory and Splendor.
b. I long to see with these sinful eyes the Glory of my Savior.
c. I long for the world to see Him as He Is.
4. The next time He comes it won’t be as a babe in a manger.
a. It won’t be as a humble man.
b. It won’t be in a mortal body.
c. It won’t be with His splendor hidden by His humanity.
5. The next time He comes He’s coming on the clouds.
Revelation 19
11 And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
6. Oh Yes I long for His return.
a. Do you?
b. Do you really long for Jesus’ return, or are you like so many?
c. Those who say well, I’d like to see Jesus’ come back…but just not yet.
d. I’ve still got some things I want to do.
e. I’ve got some family members who need to be saved.
f. I need to get my life cleaned up.
g. As Paul would say…getter done.
7. Learn to say, as John the Revelator did…
20 ¶ He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
CONCLUSION
1. In conclusion this morning I promised you three things.
a. I promised you I would tell you…
1. How to finish strong.
2. Why you should finish strong.
3. Who would finish strong.
2. I have done that.
3. Now I ask you.
4. You are here this morning by a divine appt.
