Finishing Well
2 Timothy 4:6-8
Paul’s Valedictory
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the
time of my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have
kept the faith.
8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not
to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
This was Paul’s valedictory or farewell message. He knew that the
hour had come for him to depart and die. He was sentenced to death
for his faith in Christ. He had done well in running the race of
faith. And he had finished the full journey, keeping the faith and
remaining faithful to God. He knew that there was a victory prize
awaiting him. It is what the Lord will give on that Day, not only to
him, but also to all those who wait patiently, and love to see His
appearing.
Starting nicely is always easy but finishing well is not! Many
people make resolutions at the beginning of a year, but very few
maintain the momentum, continue what they have begun, and drop out
easily when difficulties arise!
Starting is exciting and full of fun, but persisting and persevering
over the long run is not. When struggles, problems and obstacles
pop out along the way, many people simply give up!
Our Christian life is the same. Like any relationships such as
marriage or parenthood, it requires a lot of love, efforts, joys,
pains, patience and perseverance!
Beginning our Christian life is comparatively easy. We accept Christ
as our personal Saviour and Lord by acknowledging our sins, and
receiving by faith the gift of eternal life. As the gift of
salvation is free for all who believe, we do not have to work or pay
for it.
But what do we do with the free gift that God has given us? We are
born again. Beginning as spiritual babes, we need to grow in Christ! Our
journey of faith begins! This is the difficult part, learning the
ways of God and becoming His people as He is our God!
1 John 2:15-17
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves
the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the
world.
17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who
does the will of God abides forever.
Facing a world that is going against God and His ways, we are
battling daily against worldly systems and standards. We should not
love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If we love the
world, we do not love the Father. These are the evil things in the
world: wanting things to please our sinful selves and desires,
grabbing whatever we see that others are having, and becoming proud of
things that are not pleasing to God! But none of these worldly
things come from the Father. All of them originate from the world.
The world is passing away. And everything that people want in the
world is passing away. But the person who does what God desires will
live forever.
Will we run the race faithfully? Will we endure the tests of our
faith? Will we resist temptations? Will we overcome the obstacles
and problems along the journey? Will we persist and persevere until
we cross the
finishing line?
Our Christian life is like running a race. And this race is not a
short distance sprint but a long distance run! And this race will
take a whole lifetime to complete!
As the apostle Paul was crossing the finishing line, he was looking at a younger man, Timothy. He desired to pass the
baton to the next generation! And he told Timothy his last words
before his departure.
The words of Paul were not rooted out from the heart of a
discouraged, heartbroken, discontented and beaten old man. In fact,
there was no traces of any despair, defeat, desolation and
depression in his final words! As Paul was waiting for his
execution, he was probably chained and placed in an underground cell
which was filthy, poorly ventilated and unsanitary. But out from a dirty, dark and degrading
dungeon, the words of the true apostle brought joy, encouragement and hope!
2 Timothy 4:1-8
1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who
will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince,
rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine,
but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears,
they will heap up for themselves teachers;
4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned
aside to fables.
5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work
of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the
time of my departure is at hand.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have
kept the faith.
8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which
the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not
to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
At that moment in time, many Christians had turned away from the
truth, and had rejected the teachings of the imprisoned and elderly apostle. They had abandoned, and
ceased running the race of faith. They were following false
apostles, prophets and teachers! They were following after their own
worldly desires, seeking after prosperity, prestige and power! The
apostolic messages from the Roman prison were not what they were
after, and not what they wanted to hear. Thus, the epistles of Paul did not
attract their attentions and receive their endorsements! And they
did not appreciate what the elderly man was doing as he wrote in
the prison cell as the Lord inspired him to do so.
Like Jesus our Lord who gave the Great Commission to His disciples
before His ascension, Paul was commissioning Timothy to do the same!
He solemnly urged Timothy before God and before Lord Jesus.
Paul exhorted his beloved student to preach the Word of God urgently
at all times, whenever there was an opportunity, in season and out
of season, and regardless of whether it was convenient or not, and
regardless of whether people liked to hear it or not!
Paul encouraged Timothy to feed the believers with the Word of God
faithfully and patiently. If necessary, correcting, confronting and
rebuking them as well as encouraging them to do what was right in
the sight of God!
Even though he was imprisoned, Paul knew what was happening in the
churches! Many people were not interested in listening to the truth
but were going around looking for teachers who would tell them what
their itching ears wanted to hear. They would not listen to the Word
of God but would blindly follow after their own misguided desires and
unguarded thoughts.
Paul told Timothy to continue to be strong and steady in the Lord,
to be not afraid of sufferings, persecutions, tribulations and
rejections, and to be faithful to bring others to Christ, leaving
nothing undone that ought to be done.
As his time was running out, Paul told Timothy that he would not be
able to help him any longer as very soon he would be on his way to
heaven. He also shared that he had fought a good fight for the Lord,
remaining true and faithful to Christ! As he was finishing the race,
he knew it was time for him to stop fighting and rest in the Lord. And there was
a reward for him in heaven!
We have many valuable lessons to learn from Paul.
To finish well, we need to keep in focus of the past, the present and the future.
Philippians 3:12-14
Pressing Toward the Goal
12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I
press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has
also laid hold of me.
13 Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching
forward to those things which are ahead,
14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God
in Christ Jesus.
The past will remind us of our faults, failures and feebleness. We
need to forget the past! We cannot go back to our past as it is
behind us! There is no need to continue regretting what had
happened.
However, there are many lessons we can learn from our past. Many
errors, mistakes and sins committed in the past can help us to wise
up, and not to do so again in the present and in the future! The
past is good for reminding us to become more sober as we learn to
exercise self-control!
Our present is precious as we are now living in it! We are to be
mindful of what is happening inside us, around us and outside us! We
cannot afford to be ignorant and arrogant! We cannot live just for
the moment without any thoughts for the future! We need to worry
less about our tomorrows of what we should eat, drink and wear
Matthew 6:31-34
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What
shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly
Father knows that you need all these things.
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all
these things shall be added to you.
34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry
about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
We should not be anxious about our tomorrows. God will take good
care of us daily. Because He lives, we will be able to live today,
and face our tomorrows even though each day has new troubles and problems.
When running the race of faith, we just need to be faithful to do
what we are called, and keep going steadily without losing strength,
vision and hope!
As we live in the present, we need to forget the past, and look
forward to the future. Learn from yesterday, live for today, and
hope for tomorrow. We need to continue to press forward to reach the
goal! Yes, having our eyes focused on the finishing line!
Paul knew his time was up. There were no regrets for serving the
Lord and others! There were no worries about his present conditions in
the prison! There were no uncertainties of where he was heading!
Paul was ready to go. He was letting go of all his earthly
achievements and accomplishments! He did not boast about the
miracles, supernatural encounters and dramatic events in the past or
present that the Lord had brought and carried him through. Because all these
could not compare to the reward that was waiting for him at the other side!
Philippians 1:21-26
21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my
labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell.
23 For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart
and be with Christ, which is far better.
24 Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.
25 And being confident of this, I know that I shall remain and
continue with you all for your progress and joy of faith,
26 that your rejoicing for me may be more abundant in Jesus Christ
by my coming to you again.
For Paul, being alive meant living for Christ, and dying might be
a better choice! He knew that his life on earth was just for a temporary
season, and his eternal home would be permanent on heavenly shores!
While alive, he was given the blessed opportunity to win others to
Christ. Thus, he had this dilemma of not knowing which was better - to
live or to die. Sometimes he wanted to live, and at other times he
didn't, for he longed to go and be with Christ. How much better for
him to be in heaven than being here! But the fact was that he was
of more help to others by staying alive! Yes, he was still needed
down here. He was certain that he would be staying on earth a little
longer, to help others grow and become stronger in their faith.
Staying alive was to glorify Christ in doing good and helping
others!
Paul was not so heavenly minded that he had no earthly use. In
fact, he became more useful to others by helping them and
encouraging them to live and persist through hard times. He taught
the believers how to endure persecutions, and how to persevere
faithfully in the Christian faith. He taught them how to live for
Christ, and how to be a good testimony for others to follow! Before
his imprisonment, Paul made tents to support himself and his
ministry. He was never a financial burden to others!
Acts 18:3
So, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and
worked; for by occupation they were tentmakers.
Paul lived for Jesus while he was alive. Even if
death happened, there was no fear. As he was ready to die, he lived
even more fully and more richly by serving God and others!
Very soon, his execution would be carried out. And Paul was ready to depart from his earthly life to be with the
Lord! There was no fears and no doubts. He knew that his life was
truly rich as he had lived for Jesus! He knew that he had been
storing up true riches and treasures in heaven that would not erode
away or be stolen. He also knew where his heart was!
Matthew 6:19-21
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and
rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal;
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth
nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
As we have many faithful people of faith like Paul and Timothy around us,
their lives tell us
what faith means. So let us run the race that is before us and never
give up. We should remove from our lives anything that would get in
the way. And we should remove the sin that so easily traps and
entangles
us.
Hebrews 12:1-2
The Race of Faith
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so
easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is
set before us,
2 looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher
of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of
the throne of God.
Let us look only to Jesus. He is the One who began our faith,
and He will help us to finish well. Jesus suffered death on the cross.
But He accepted the shame of the cross as if it were nothing. He did
this because of the joy that God put before Him. And now He is
sitting at the right side of God’s throne. Think about our Lord Jesus. He
held on patiently while sinful men were doing evil things against
Him. Look at Jesus’ example so that we will not get tired, give up and stop
trying.
Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to
those things which are ahead, let us finish well in this race of
faith!
Written on 16 November 2021