Some of the most thought provoking words a person utters in their lifetime are the very last words they say before they die.

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1 Message for THE LORD S DAY EVENING, February 12, 2012 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister Finish Well II Timothy 4:6-8 (NKJV) Please turn with me to tonight s scripture text in II Timothy, chapter four, and let s read verses For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. P R A Y E R 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. *********************************************************************** I N T R O D U C T I O N Some of the most thought provoking words a person utters in their lifetime are the very last words they say before they die. Last words generally reflect the kind of life the person lived. Last words are often a window that reveals the eternal destiny to which that person is headed. Sometimes last words can even be humorous. *Stephen Decatur s last words were.. I am mortally wounded, I think. *Huey Long s last words were I wonder why he shot me? *The last think President Franklin Delano Roosevelt said was, I have a terrific headache.

2 *Joel Chandler Harris last words were.. I am about the extent of a tenth of a gnat s eyebrow better. *Douglas Fairbanks Jr. s final words were.. I never felt better. *Civil War General John Sedgwick s last words were, They couldn t hit an elephant at this distance. Jesus last words before He died on the cross were. "Father, into your hands I commend My spirit" Stephen s final words before he died by stoning were.. LORD, do not charge them with this sin. According to Jewish historian Jerome, the apostle Peter made requested to be crucified upside down, saying, I do not deserve to diein the same form and manner as my Lord. ********************** T R A N S I T I O N ********************* In our scripture text, we find some of the most familiar last words spoken in the Bible. They are the last recorded words of the Apostle Paul. In fact, most Bible scholars believe by the time Timothy received this letter, Paul had already entered into his eternal glory. I can t help but wonder as Timothy read these final words of his father in the faith if his heart was deeply saddened and yet comforted at the same time. Paul s last words were so CHALLENGING, so ENCOURAGING and so RE-ASSURING.

3 In VERSES 1-5 Paul issues his dying challenge to young Timothy. 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. In the twilight moments of his earthly life, Paul didn t write about all the things he had achieved for the cause of Christ. He didn t brag about how many baptisms he had performed or how many Churches he had established or how many New Testament letters he had written. He wrote about the one thing that weighed heavily upon his heart and that was that young Timothy continue to preach the gospel to lost souls. Paul wanted to make sure the cause of Christ was advanced after his death. ************************* PAUL S LAST WORDS *********************** After issuing this challenge to Timothy, Paul then recorded his last words: v.6a For I am already being poured out as a drink

4 offering. Do you remember in Paul s letter to the Romans, in chapter twelve, verse one, Paul admonished us to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. As Paul nears the end of his life, he is acknowledging he is about to pour out the final drops of his life as a sacrifice to God. He is about to shed his final drops of blood for the cause of Christ as he is beheaded by Nero. APPLICATION: Wouldn t it be great if you and I could say these same words when our time on earth nears an end? For I am already being poured out like a drink offering. I have given my very all to the LORD and I now pour out the final drops of my life for You LORD! v.6b The time of my departure is at hand. Note Paul does not refer to his death as the end but rather as a departure. To the Christian death is NOT the end of the road, it is a journey from our earthly home to our eternal home. The Greek word for departure is aphisis (APH-UH- SUSS) which is a nautical term meaning To cut a ship loose from the dock. That is the way Paul saw his death. He saw himself as a ship being cut free from the earthly dock to sail toward heaven s harbor. APPLICATION: Through these words, Paul is teaching us that we need not fear death. Death is not the end for us. Death has no hold over us. Death has no victory over us. Like Paul, our death will be like cutting us free from this earthly port so we can sail to our heavenly port. v. 7a I have fought the good fight.

5 Here Paul is comparing the Christian life to that of a soldier in battle. People fight for a lot of causes in this life, but there is only one good fight worth fighting and that is for the cause of Jesus Christ. -Paul had fought many physical battles as he met resistance to his preaching in many places he proclaimed the gospel. -He had fought many spiritual battles as his old sinful nature and new spiritual nature warred in his spirit. -And Paul fought a personal battle with his thornin-the-flesh that he had prayed three times that the LORD would remove. Paul is now acknowledging that he never gave up the good fight, but that he has fought it to the very end. APPLICATION For now, our good fight continues. Every day when you and I step out of bed we step right back on to the battlefield of life. You and I can find strength to fight the battle every day knowing that Christ has already won for us the victory. verse 7b I have finished the race. Here Paul turns his thoughts toward the ancient Olympic games he had no doubt seen contested in Rome. Paul is comparing his life to that of a long marathon race that is now almost over. Paul can now see the finish line and he is satisfied he has given his all in the race. APPLICATION While Paul s race has ended, ours has not. Though at times the race is grueling and we often grow weary, we must continue to run until our race is finished.

6 verse 7c I have kept the faith. Over the years Paul had seen a number of people abandon the faith. In I Timothy 6:10 Paul talked about those who had wandered away from the faith to pursue money. And if you ll look down at verse 10 here in II Timothy 4, Paul mentions Demas who at one time had been a faithful co-worker who had forsaken Paul and gone back to the ways of the world. But as for himself, Paul said. I have kept the faith. I have not given up on my LORD! I have never forgotten my commitment! I have remained faithful unto death. APPLICATION Like Paul, you and I know people who have not kept the faith. They stopped running the race. They stopped fighting the good fight and went back to the ways of the world. We must cling to that wonderful promise the LORD gave to the Church at Smyrna in Revelation 2:10, Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. verse 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. One has to wonder if Paul ever had any doubts about whether the Christian life was worth it when he being beaten and stoned and imprisoned. Well if there were any doubts those doubts have now been erased. His eyes are now fixed on the prize, the eternal reward that now awaits him. APPLICATION As Paul wrote the words of this eighth verse he wasn t just thinking of himself,

7 he was thinking of you and me also. Isn t that a wonderful thought. Paul wasn t just thinking of the crown of righteousness he would receive, but the crown of righteousness you and I would receive as well. What is this crown of righteousness? It is not a crown any of us earns by our own merit. It is the crown the LORD HIMSELF has laid up for those who truly love Him with all their heart, all their soul and all their mind, who long for His return. C O N C L U S I O N The late Dwight L. Moody once said, A man s life should never be written while he is living. What is important is how a man ends, not how he begins. As Paul s life drew to an end, he was concerned about finishing well. His greatest desire was that he had lived his life in such a way that he would receive the LORD S approval. May these last words of the apostle Paul challenge you and me to FINISH WELL! I don t know if you have ever given any thought as to what words you would like inscribed on your gravestone when your earthly life has ended. What greater testimony of a life wellspent than to have these three simple statements etched on our grave stone. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.