Biblical Text: 2 Tim. 4:6-8 (KJV)
“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.”
Quitting is a common malady among Christians.
Many start this race with a false concept of its requirements, and leave disillusioned.
They come into the fellowship seeking shelter, and instead, they find themselves in the middle of a battlefield.
They come in to escape the troubles of their world, and instead, they find that they are troubled on every side.
They come running from the temptations that haunt them, and find that there are still temptations they must endure in order to receive their reward.
They never bargained for a fiery furnace;
They never bargained for a personal cross to bear;
They never bargained for painstaking trials, deep-seated sorrows, or unceasing temptations.
So they end up quitting.
The quitters miss the whole point of this Christian race.
The faithful Christian allows God to test his endurance.
He knows that God examines our love and loyalty in the midst of problems, persecutions, and pressures.
He knows that God tests our courage and faith, in the midst of defeat, despair, and difficulties.
He knows that God studies our character and commitment through trouble, trials and turmoil.
Yes, we will continue to face temptation, but “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”
Yes, we will continue to suffer; “We are troubled on every side….yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.”
Though we are afflicted, we are blessed, because the Christian winner knows how to suffer THROUGH affliction.
And thanks be to God, who giveth us the ultimate victory…not here and now, but at that great “getting- up mornin’”!
Everyone of us knows a quitter.
Most come in to present their own personal agendas to God.
God…I need money.
God…I need friends.
God…I need a promotion.
God…I need good health.
God…I need to be in charge of something.
And when the money, the friends, the promotion, the good health, or the position don’t immediately materialize, the quitter finds the nearest exit.
They didn’t count on endurance as a prerequisite to blessings.
Paul is sitting in the drab dungeon of a Roman prison. He is facing the capital charge of insurrection against the Roman government. He has had his preliminary hearing before Nero, and he is soon to stand before Nero
in his final trial and hear the fateful verdict: “Execution.” We do not know how soon, but our text today indicates very soon. Paul knew that the end of his life upon earth was imminent. What does he do?
If anyone had a reason to be a quitter, it’s Paul. He suffered beatings and stripes beyond measure. Three times he was beaten with rods. Once he was attacked with stones. He was shipwrecked and spent a day and a half floating in shark-infested waters. He suffered imprisonment seven times, and the threat of death almost constantly. And now Paul is facing death for the cause of Christ. But is Paul a quitter? No! His only focus now is to pass on his testimony of the love of Christ to Timothy. He is like an Olympic runner, straining to pass the baton to his successor.
In Nero’s dungeon, with death hanging over him like a repulsive stench, Paul pen’s his awesome charge to Timothy, the charge to preach the Word of God and to minister to a world that is lost and dying—a world that is reeling under the weight of so many desperate needs. This man who stares death in the face, encourages Timothy to look ahead to the end of his own life and to be
able to bear the same strong testimony, to the end.
Paul wants Timothy and us to know that our lives are not only a living testimony, but a living sacrifice. He sees death as his final offering and sacrifice to God. “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. The Greek word for offering spendomai, and its implication is striking. It refers to the drink offering that was presented to God in ritual sacrifice. When a person wanted
to make a sacrifice to God, he often took a cup of wine or oil and poured it out as an offering and sacrifice to God. The drink offering symbolized the Lord Jesus pouring out His soul—dying—for us.
This imprisoned apostle is saying, “I am pouring out my soul through death for the Lord Jesus Christ. The life and blood of my body is being sacrificed for the preaching of God’s Word. I am laying down my life as an offering to Christ Jesus, my Lord—laying it down in the supreme act of sacrifice. I am dying for Christ.”
Paul never thought of himself as awaiting execution. He was offering himself to God. His life was not being taken from him; he was laying it down. Ever since his conversion, Paul had offered to God—his money, his scholarship, his strength, his time, the stamina of his body, the acuteness of his mind, the devotion of his passionate heart. The only thing he had left to offer was life itself.
Paul was ready for his departure. He was weighing anchor or breaking camp for the last time. He felt like an animal being released from his burden; it was as though a millstone would be pulled from his neck, and he would be released into the pastures and still waters of heaven and eternity.
That’s quite a contrast to the view most Christians have of death. As a pastor, I can tell you that most Christians FEAR death, preferring to stay on this side of God’s creation for as long as possible. But Paul had the right mindset concerning death– “To live is Christ, and to die is gain!” He also wrote to the church at Rome, “For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s” (Romans 14:8).
Paul was no quitter. His glorious testimony to Timothy glances back over his life and summarizes it using three analogies - that of a soldier, an athlete, and a steward or manager. Paul says that he has lived life just like a faithful soldier: “I have fought a good fight.”
1 He volunteered to serve Christ.
2 He separated himself from this world, sacrificing all that he was and had to be a soldier for Christ—a soldier totally committed to the mission of Christ.
3 He suffered through the threats, scrapes, and wars launched by the
enemies of Christ.
4 He fought a “good” fight: a fight that was worthy, honorable,
noble, and commendable.
5 He had done his time, and stuck to the mission of Christ to the very end.
Paul knew that “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier” (2 Tim. 2:4).
Paul says that he has run and finished the course of his life; he has completed the race, just like the athlete. He lived the disciplined and controlled life of an athlete – doing all for the sake of Christ.
1 He controlled what he ate and drank and what he did with his body and mind.
2 He focused upon the course of his life, and how he ran it. He could not run the risk of being distracted by the things of the world and of the flesh lest he become a castaway and be disqualified from running the race. “And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 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” (1 Cor. 9:23-27).
Paul says that he’s kept the faith. He looked after his faith just like a good
steward looks after the estate of his master. The Lord had entrusted the gospel message to Paul, and he kept the faith. He had proven himself to be faithful, managed his ministry for the Master. Paul kept his end of the contract, and now he knew that the Lord would keep HIS.
With all the suffering Paul went through—the terrible trials—the times that he could have quit... He never did quit. And now he faced his final act of sacrifice for the sake of Christ, that he might receive his reward.
And what was that reward? —a crown of righteousness! It’s a crown that makes even the worst sinner acceptable to God. No one can be admitted into the presence of God without a crown of righteousness—for it covers us and makes us perfect.
Quitters come seeking earthly crowns – crowns that deteriorate, trophies that fade. But winners in this race come to receive a crown of righteousness; a crown of righteousness given by the Lord, the righteous Judge. And Christ knows if we have a soldier’s dedication, an athlete’s determination, and the heart of a steward, determined to preserve the Word and pass it on to future generations.
The Christian who has committed his life...
1 to be a soldier for Christ and His mission.
2 to be an athlete for Christ and His course (race and life).
3 to be a steward or manager for Christ and His faith.
This is the person who loves and looks for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is the person who will be the winner – for he shall receive the crown of righteousness. Don’t be a quitter. “If we would be partakers of the fruits, we must labor; if we would gain the prize, we must run the race.”
Don’t be a quitter. “When the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away” (1 Peter 5:4).
Don’t be a quitter. “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown” (Rev. 3:11).
