THE FINISH LINE
Sunday, November 05, 2006 – AM
By Pastor Jim May
2 Timothy 4:1-8, "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. 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."
The Apostle Paul was coming down to the final days of his life on this earth. In this letter to Timothy, his young protégé, Paul expressed his final words of testimony and instruction. I can only hope and pray that we will all have the same testimony as Paul.
Paul knew that after his ministry had come to an end, but that life would go on. It was his greatest desire to see the Kingdom of God grow as souls were won to the Lord.
But while he was here, he continued to serve the Lord faithfully. His last days on this earth would not be days of sorrow and self-pity. Paul intended to go out with a bang. He wasn’t about to let the hope of Heaven grow weak after he had gone this far. When he left this world, he wanted to know that his life had not been in vain.
Now this isn’t a message about the fact that all of us are facing the grave someday. I don’t want to dwell on the physical aspects of our lives. I want to dwell on the spiritual things.
While we are able to do so, let us ever keep in mind what Paul says in these verses.
First he says, “Preach the Word”.
We are not all called to be Pastors, teachers and evangelists. Most Christians will never stand behind a pulpit, or teach a class, or hold a tent revival. But all of us are called to “Preach the Word”. We are commanded to “go into all the world and preach” to every one who will listen. You are a preacher today, whether you realize it or not. You preach every time you bow your head to say grace over a meal. You preach every time you refuse to follow the crowd into the arena of sin. Your life is the greatest message that you could ever preach.
What message is your life preaching right now? Are you preaching Jesus, or are you preaching about the world and the things of Satan? You are preaching, the question is, what are you preaching?
I don’t care to talk much about the things of this world. I figured out a long time ago that people really don’t care what I think about politics, sports or the economy. It may sound strange to others, but I have a different focus. My focus is on the eternal life to come. I try not to dwell on what I don’t have, what I’ll never get in this life, and the places I will never go. I love to travel. I love to see all the sights wherever I go. I love to have new cars, and to live a comfortable lifestyle. But none of these things are all that important. God meets our needs. He is watching over us and He knows what we have need of, so why should I overly concern myself with it when God is already handling it? He is the best financial planner I could find. He is the best banker I know. God is the best Physician that money can’t buy. God is my Everything and my all in all.
If I am consumed with the cares of this life, then my life is preaching that “this life, and the things of the world” are the most important things of all. But if I’m focused on things eternal, then that’s what my life is preaching.
I must live according to the Word of God. I must remain as faithful and true to God’s Word as I possibly can. Even my best efforts may fall short, but I want people to see my life as a testimony of God’s grace and mercy, as a testimony of God’s love and power to save, set free and deliver.
Your life should preach Jesus to those who are lost, because they should see a difference in you. And the only thing that is different in you, from what is in the world, is the part of your life that has been completely surrendered to Jesus so that His Word and His character can shine through you.
Paul then says to be “instant in season, and out of season”. What does that mean to you and I? It means that we should redeem the time and be always ready to share the gospel. We should be so full of the Word of God and so full of the Holy Spirit that we can’t help but “spill over” onto everyone we meet.
Let me give it to you in another way.
Right now we are in the middle of hunting season in South Louisiana. Whether you are going after deer, rabbits, squirrels, ducks or some other wild game, you must be prepared before you hit the wilds. You don’t take a bow and arrow to a duck hunt, neither do you take a slingshot to hunt deer. You have to make sure that you have the proper equipment, or your trip will be for nothing.
Let’s say that you are going duck hunting. You gather up your waders, make sure the boat is gassed up and ready to go, get your shotgun and ammo, put on your camouflage, bring along old Blue to retrieve whatever you manage to hit. You’re all prepared and ready to go. Look out ducks, the terminator is on the way to the duck blind and it will be roast duck for dinner for sure.
But when you get to the blind, you realize that it’s freezing cold out on the water, so you put on your hand and foot warmers. Then your ears and face are freezing so you pull down the hood over your head and put on your earmuffs. Then you are still cold, so you cover up with a wool blanket. And man, that steel barrel is too cold to touch. Let me hold it under the blanket to get it warmer.
So there you are, all bundled up, sitting in your duck blind, waiting for Donald, Huey, Dewey and Louie to come flying along. And here they come, zipping by at 60 miles an hour, and it takes you 45 seconds just to get unwrapped and you never get off a shot. There’s no roast duck tonight, unless you buy it from the store.
The point is that you can’t be instant in season, our out of season, if you are too concerned with being comfortable and keeping out the elements of the world. If you are going to bag some game, there will have to be some discomfort involved. Life can’t be perfect if you are going to always be open for ministry. In fact, I have found that most of ministry is always inconvenient. People don’t get sick at 10:00 in the morning. Surgeries always seem to get scheduled so that you have to get up before dawn. It seems that the kids never need to go the emergency room until it gets close to, or after midnight, so you’re up all night.
Be instant, be ready, be prepared, get equipped with the Word and the Spirit, but don’t get comfortable, stay on guard and be ready for every opportunity to work for the Lord and tell others about Jesus.
Now comes the part of being a Christian that most of us would rather not have to hear, but Paul says that we are to “reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”
That means that we are to try to correct the wrongs in the church and preach against those things that we know are hurtful to the Body of Christ. We are to teach the Word and encourage others to do what’s right, and forsake the things of the world.
But the key is that we are to do so with “longsuffering”. I can’t cram it down your throat.
I wish I could force the Word of God into the heart and spirit of people, but all I can do is lay out a banquet table before you and then pray that the Holy Ghost will make you hungry enough to want to eat something that I’ve prepared. It’s our job to present the doctrines of the sinfulness and unworthiness of man, along with the doctrines of salvation, deliverance, healing and forgiveness of sin through Jesus Christ alone. We lay out the banquet and pray that someone will eat. We are only the messenger, the preacher; we are not the Lord and we can’t force-feed people who aren’t hungry. If they don’t eat, that’s between them and the Lord. My job, and yours is simply to spread the food on the table.
Skip down to verse 5. I don’t want to dwell on verses 3 and 4, because we talk about them all the time. We all know the condition of the church world today, but that’s not the message of this sermon.
Paul said to Timothy, “But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”
It’s not just the job of the Pastor to be a watchman on the wall, looking for the enemy of the flock. It’s the job of every one of us. You might spot the danger before I will. We are to all be on guard, not only for ourselves, but for one another. We are all in this together and either we will make it as a team, or we will die together. I need you, and I hope you need me, and together, we will win this war against the devil, with the Lord leading us through the fight.
Enduring afflictions can mean being prepared and not getting too comfortable like I mentioned before, but it can also mean that you must be ready for the attacks of the devil. Satan will do everything in his power to bring you down and destroy your testimony.
Just this week we have seen the destruction of a Minister who fell under the attacks of the devil. None of us are above temptation and sin. While I do not condone his sin, and I do believe that he needs to resign and get his heart right with God, and prove his faithfulness once again before he steps into ministry, I feel for Ted Haggart. I may not agree with his methods for building a “seeker friendly church” but I hate to see any minister fall into sin. But like Jesus said, “Let him that is without sin cast the first stone.” I pray that Haggart makes it right with God and I hope that God will use him again. We need more warriors in the Lord’s Army. Pray for him, and for every child of God. Pray for restoration.
When you are out there doing the work of an evangelist and witnessing for Jesus, working for the Lord in any way, rest assured that Satan doesn’t like it. Check yourself daily, and see whether you are still walking in God’s will. Satan’s greatest deception to a man or woman of God is when he gets them to believing and thinking that they are above sin and immune to Satan’s devices.
Like Paul, we must realize that our time is short. Whether Jesus tarries and we go by way of the grave, or Jesus comes again to catch his people away in the Rapture, our days are growing shorter all the time. What we need to do, we must do quickly. The time of our departure is at hand, and I want to take as many people with me as I can.
The army and the marines have a commitment when they go into battle that no one is to be left behind on the battlefield. Every soldier must be accounted for, whether living or dead. A few years ago, the educational gurus of our country came up with the policy of “no child left behind”. While their ideals are great, the reality is that the policy often leads to the slowing down of the education of those who are ready to run so that those who don’t want to work as hard can keep up.
These are good and worthy commitments and goals, but I think that, as Christians, our policy, our goal and our commitment should be that “no soul is left behind”.
I want each of us to be able to say like Paul, "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."
That’s what we are all aiming for isn’t it? Life is a battle, but for the Christian, the battle will pay off in ultimate victory and a glorious reward. The sad fact is that those who don’t know Jesus fight just as many battles, but they have no crown of righteousness waiting at the end of their journey. Their “reward” will be an eternity without God.
That’s why we have to be instant in season and out of season. We have to tell others about Jesus so that they too, can have that eternal reward.
Is there such a thing as a good fight? When the boxer enters the right, the only “good fight” is the fight he wins. If he loses, it was a bad fight for him, and only good for the other guy.
Fight a good fight – a fight that you will win! Finish the course, cross the Finish Line, and If you have Kept the Faith, and kept your eyes on the reward, then the Crown of Victory will be yours.
