I HAVE FOUGHT THE FIGHT
2Ti 4:5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
2Ti 4:6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.
2Ti 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2Ti 4:8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
As we get older, we begin to think about our lives – what have I accomplished in this life – how have I spent my years? Psychologists say all of us get to a point in our lives where we evaluate our lives – looking back to assess how we have spent our lives. Sometimes we are too negative in doing this and fall into despair according to some. As we look at our lives we can also see that we have indeed served the Lord and have integrity.
The Apostle Paul is my hero – my model, my example in the Chr live. In the NT we have an account of his life from when he was young and fiery, until he was older and ready to go to meet the Lord. We are going to look this morning at what he said about the end of his life. In 2 Timothy 4.5-8 Paul is writing to his younger friend Timothy about his work for the Lord. Read with me what he says. Read 2 Tim. 4.5-8.
First, Paul had a sense of purpose in life. In Acts 9 we read about Saul/Paul being converted. He was a committed Jewish leader who wanted to destroy this new religion which was preaching about a risen Jesus Christ. He was going to the city of Damascus to arrest the Chrs there when Jesus appeared to him and called him to be an evangelist for him. From the very beginning Paul knew what he was supposed to do – preach and teach about the love of Jesus Christ and salvation through his name. Paul spent the rest of his life knowing his purpose and doing it.
Our faith in Jesus Christ gives us purpose in life. All of us have a reason to live because of Jesus. Some of us serve by cleaning the church; others by teaching Bible school; others by praying for others; some by leading Thursday night alive; many by serving your families; some by helping our neighbors. The list could go on and on, but I believe all of us have a purpose – a God given reason to live. We have a sense of purpose in our lives.
In the passage Paul also knows that he has a sense of accomplishment. He wrote that he had fought the fight, he had finished the race, and he had kept the faith. The Chr life is a fight or a war according to Paul. We need to recognize that we all are in a life and death battle against satan. He is a like a lion looking for every opportunity he can to destroy us. Many do not even see that they are in a battle for their soul. We are to resist the devil and he will flee from us.
The Chr life is also a race. Maybe Paul was in a town where they something like the Olympic Games and he saw the races that took place. The runners would line up and run the race and the crowd would cheer. The race he is talking about here is not a 100 yd dash, but a marathon. In 100 yd dash today the runners are done in 10 seconds or so. The Chr life is a marathon. Years ago I ran marathon races (26.2 miles) and a lot of shorter races. I started 15 marathons and finished 14. I ran Grandma’s marathon from Two Harbor to Duluth a number of times. We would start at 7.30 in the morning and if I had a good race, I would finish running before 11. They were tiring but it was a great accomplishment to finish the race. We are called to run your race for the Lord – day after day for his glory.
The Chr life is about keeping the faith. Paul loved Jesus Christ with all of his heart, mind, soul and strength. He believed that Jesus had lived, died, and then arose from the dead to ascend to heaven to live with God forever there. In the life of Paul, all of these things he believed were challenged by those who did not believe them. Paul is probably the greatest defender of the Chr faith who ever lived. Jesus lived his life and taught us what we needed to do, and then Paul took those teachings and told us how to live them.
We need to keep our faith in Jesus Christ. I know many people who made a commitment to Jesus Christ when they were teenagers, but have not been servants of the Lord for years. I know others who served God in their adult lives, but then for whatever reason, just stopped serving him. Still others may have lived for him into their later years, but then fell away from God. We need to be faithful to God all of our lives. God is faithful to us all of our lives and into eternity. In our lives we have a sense of accomplishment.
Finally, Paul speaks of a sense of assurance. Listen again to what he says in verse 18. Read. He knew that what God promised through Jesus Christ, he would carry out. Jesus promised eternal life with him for all of his servants. Paul was looking forward to the crown of righteousness that he would get from the hand of God at the end of his life. Maybe Paul was thinking again about the races he had seen. At the end of the race, the winner was given a crown of flowers or leaves as his prize. When I finished a marathon, I got T-shirt and a medal usually. A million times more valuable than that will the crown of righteousness that we get from the Lord at the end of our lives.
Notice too that is crown will be awarded by the Lord to him and to all others who are looking forward to the return of the Lord. Sometimes we think – sure Paul will get his crown – he was the best Chr ever and served the Lord so faithfully. But not me – I am a sinner; I fail too often to do what the Lord wants. We even get the idea that maybe we will get disqualified from heaven just at the last minute. If I have an evil thought and then step out on the street and get run over by a car, I will miss out on heaven. We think that we have not done enough to earn our way into heaven, so we will not be welcomed there. I am sure that none of us here today will ever earn our way into heaven – none of us. We are saved only by the grace of God, and his grace alone. We have the assurance of salvation in Jesus Christ.
There is one more passage of scripture written by Paul tells us what we need to do with our lives. Listen to Phil. 3.12-14. 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Paul knew that in his Chr life, he must continue serving the Lord no matter what. He did not rest on his past accomplishments, thinking that he had done enough for the Lord. He knew that there was a crown of righteousness promised for him by the Lord, but he was not done on earth. He was not made perfect by God yet, but he would press on to that goal. Do you hear the eagerness and determination in these verses written by Paul? With all his strength he would keep on keeping on. With all the power that came from the Holy Spirit he would press on the goal, so that at the end of his life, he would win the absolutely unbelievable prize of eternal life with the Lord. At the end of his race on earth he would not just have a crown, but eternal life with the Lord.
God calls us heavenward; God calls us to life with him forever in heaven. No matter what age we are, we cannot stop serving the Lord. Do not let anything keep you from the vision of heaven with the Lord forever. Pray for me that I will never let anything keep me from the serving the Lord. I will do everything I can to help you to press on to the goal of winning the prize for which God had called us heavenward in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Come to the Lord.
Keep on serving him.
