“THE LAST MILE OF THE WAY”
“THE LAST MILE OF THE WAY”
2 TIMOTHY 4:1-8
KEY VERSES: 2 TIMOTHY 4:6-8
INTRO: In our text we have the final testimony of an old soldier of the Cross
who is about to take his departure for his heavenly home. The
apostle Paul said in v6—“For I am now ready to be offered, and the
time of my departure is at hand.” As Paul considers his life he looks
backs with no regrets. This conviction of the apostle that he was
about to die, is urged as a reason why Timothy should be laborious
and faithful in the performance of the duties of his office. His own
work was nearly done. He was soon to be withdrawn from the earth,
and whatever benefit the world might have derived from his
experience or active exertions, it was now to be deprived of it. He was
about to leave a work which he much loved, and to which he had
devoted the vigor of his life, and he was anxious that they who were to
succeed him should carry on the work with all the energy and zeal in
their power (Albert Barnes’ Notes On The Bible).
There is something very interesting about a person’s last words: A few
hours before Dwight L. Moody died, he caught a glimpse of the glory
awaiting him. Awakening from a sleep, he said, "Earth recedes,
heaven opens before me. If this is death, it is sweet! There is no
valley here. God is calling me, and I must go!" His son who was
standing by his bedside said, "No, no father, you are dreaming."
"No," said Mr. Moody, "I am not dreaming; I have been within the
gates; I have seen the children's faces." A short time elapsed and
then, following what seemed to the family to be the death struggle, he
spoke again: "This is my triumph; this my coronation day! It is
glorious!" A person is not really ready to live until he is ready to die.
It was a dark night in Marshfield, October 24, 1852. Daniel Webster
was dying. He was ready. His physician, a very sensitive man named
Dr. Jeffries had ministered as much medicine as he could and as was
practically possible. He realized that death was near and he chose to
be a friend rather than a physician at that moment and he picked up
an old rather well worn hymn book that Webster had often sung from
and he chose to read the words of one of his favorite hymns:
"There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel's veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains."
He read every stanza, when he got to the last, Webster's lips were
moving, though no sound came:
"When this poor lisping, stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I'll sing thy power to save.
And he looked at Webster, their eyes met, and Webster uttered three
final words: Amen, Amen, Amen!!” and he was gone. How different is
the broad road of the wicked. Kenneth Cober points out that the
worldly man's way of carnal desire terminates in frustration and
despair. Lord Byron abandoned himself to the pursuit of pleasure; yet
at the age of 35 he wrote: "My days are in the yellow leaf. The flowers
and fruits of love are gone. The worm, the canker, and the grief Are
mine alone." Compare those lines with the words of Adam Clarke, a
Christian saint and biblical expositor. At 84, he said, "I have passed
through the springtime of my life. I have withstood the heat of its
summer. I have culled the fruits of fall. I am even now enduring the
rigors of its winter, but at no great distance I see the approach of a
new, eternal springtime. Hallelujah!"
Someday each of us will say our last words. Let us turn our thoughts
to an old soldier’s farewell address, that of the Apostle Paul. There is
something in his words for each of us. Note with me three things:
(1) HE REMEMBERS THE PAST
2 TIMOTHY 4:7—“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my
course, I have kept the faith.”
A. He Did Not Look Back With Remorse. Many today near the end of
their lives look back with remorse over a wasted life. But Paul had no
remorse. Paul does not look back past his conversion which took place
on the road to Damascus. This is very important. Why did he not look
back and recall all those sins which as a lost man? Because:
1. He saw the Light (Acts 9:1-8). Saul, of Tarsus, who once walked in
the darkness of sin saw “the light of glorious gospel of Christ, who is
the image of God…To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 3:4,6). Since that
day Paul had never been the same. He could say without remorse,
“For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2
Timothy 1:12b).
ILLUS: Charles Swindoll in his book, Paul, A Man of Grace and Grit,
writes: For more than three decades Saul controlled his
own life. His record in Judaism ranked second to none. On
his way to make an even greater name for himself, the laser
of God’s presence stopped him in his tracks, striking him
blind. Saul and his companions feel to the ground,
stunned. For the first time in his proud, self-sustained life,
Saul found himself a desperate dependent. Not only was he
pinned to the ground, he was blind. His other senses were
on the alert, and to his amazement, he heard a voice from
say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4).
Saul, who had never been under a blazing light or heard
such a magnificent voice, answered meekly and with
respect, “Who are you, Lord?” The answer hit him like the
blow of a stun gun: “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”
There must have been several seconds of deafening silence
as Saul let in the wonder. Once that happened, he stopped
believing Jesus was dead. His rebel will was captured. His
journey reversed directions. His mind did a turnaround
that would ultimately transform him from the inside out.
That’s the essence of genuine repentance—the mind does a
turnaround. The Greek word is metanoia from the verb
metanoeo, meaning literally, “to change one’s mind.” That’s
precisely what happened to the once-proud Pharisee on the
road to Damascus. So many things within Saul’s thinking
changed—and changed completely. He changed his mind
about God, about Jesus, about the Resurrection, about
those who followed Christ…When Saul was converted, he
realized that the living Jesus, whom he had hated and
denied his entire life, was now his Savior and Lord (1).
2. His Sins were gone. All had been forgiven. What a glorious and
precious thought that when you bring your sin to Christ they will
not only be forgiven, but will be covered by the Blood, to be
remembered against you no more—EVER! Paul says of himself in
1 Timothy 1:12-15—“Who was before a blasphemer, and a
persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it
ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding
abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a
faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came
into this world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” Paul could look
back without remorse and rejoice because his sins were gone! What
glorious comfort the Scripture gives concerning the believer’s sins
not only being forgiven but forgotten. Jeremiah 31:34b says, “I will
forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Hebrews
8:12 tells us, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their
sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” And Isaiah 1:18
promises, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD:
though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though
they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
ILLUS: The Hymnwriter, N. B. Vandall wrote a song that should
reflect the joy of every forgiven Child of God. It goes like
this:
You ask why I am happy so I’ll just tell you why,
Because my sins are gone;
And when I meet the scoffers who ask me where they are,
I say, my sins are gone.
“Twas at the old time altar where God came in my heart,
and now, my sins are gone;
The Lord took full possession, the devil did depart,
I glad, my sins are gone.
When Satan comes to tempt me and tries to make me doubt,
I say, my sins are gone.
You got me into trouble, but Jesus got me out,
I’m glad my sins are gone.
I’m living now for Jesus, I’m happy night and day,
Because my sins are gone;
My souls is filled with music, with all my heart I say,
I know my sins are gone.
Chorus: They’re underneath the Blood, on the Cross of Calvary,
As far removed as darkness is from dawn;
In the sea of God’s forgetfulness, that good enough for me,
Praise God, my sins are gone.
(N. B. Vandall, All-American Church Hymnal, p. 216).
B. He Did Not Look Back With Revenge. Paul did not look back on all
the problems, the pain and the bad things that people had caused in
his life. Paul, in his life, was a man who was acquainted with sorrow
and grief. In fact the Lord Jesus told Ananias in Acts 9:16—“For I
will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.”
Paul testifies of his life in 2 Corinthians 11:24-28—“Of the Jews five
times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods,
once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have
been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of water, in perils of
robbers, in perils of mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in
perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils
among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often,
in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides
those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care
of all the churches.”
But not once in any of Paul’s letters do we see Paul seeking revenge
nor harboring bitter feelings toward anyone. A revengeful spirit leads
to bitterness. Some of the most miserable people you will ever meet
are those who have harbored resentment and revenge in their hearts
for many years! W. E. McCumber said, “The holy heart can be hurt.
But it answers injury with love and prayer and forgiveness” (2). Paul
did not seek revenge, but He was a man of prayer who exhorted us
in 1 Timothy 2:1—“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications,
prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men.” It
is to hard to hold a grudge against someone when you are praying
for them!
C. He Did Not Look Back With Regret. He did not look back on his
failures with regret. Paul, as great as he was for God, had faults and
failures. He says of himself in Romans 7:18—“For I know that in me
(that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with
me; but how to perform that which good I find not.” Many do little for
God in the present because they live with the regrets of the past.
ILLUS: We are so good at doing things our own way. Then, when
they do not work out, we turn to God and say, "Help! Now
what do I do?" We are so foolish, for if we had read His
instructions in the first place, we wouldn't have had the
problem in the second place. "Thy Word have I hid in my
heart that I might not sin against thee." That's a powerful
thought!
The truth of the matter is that we are merely sinners saved by grace
and there will be times in our lives where we fail God terribly and face
defeat at the hands of the Wicked One. But we must keep going on
for God and not wallowing in regret!
ILLUS: An elderly lady was once asked by a young man who had
grown weary in the fight, whether he ought to give up the
struggle. "I am beaten every time," he said dolefully. "I feel I
must give up." "Did you ever notice," she replied, smiling into
the troubled face before her, "that when the Lord told the
discouraged fishermen to cast their nets again, it was right in
the same old spot where they had been fishing all night and
had caught nothing?"
Paul did not dwell on the bad things of the past. Paul said
Philippians 3:13—“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:
but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and
reaching forth unto those things which are before.” Paul had reason to
feel guilty—he held the coats of those who stoned Stephen, the first
Christian martyr (Acts 7:57, 58). We have all done things for which
we are ashamed, and we all live in the tension of what we have been
and what we want to be. Because our hope is in Christ, however, we
can let go of the past guilt and look forward to what He will help us
become (3).
D. He Did Look Back With Remembrance. What did Paul remember
and look back on?:
1. He had been a good SOLDIER—“I have fought a good fight..”.
The figure is drawn from the Grecian games. Literally, "I have
striven a good strife." (The People’s New Testament Commentary).
Paul realized the real spiritual warfare that all Believers are in and
he says, “I have fought a good fight..”. Paul had on the whole
armor of God and he did not retreat, but kept marching forward
for the cause of Christ!
ILLUS: Newsweek (11/19/90) ran an article titled "Letters in the
Sand," a compilation of letters written by military
personnel to family and friends in the States during the
Gulf War. One was written by Marine Corporal Preston
Coffer. He told a friend, "We are talking about Marines,
not the Boy Scouts. We all joined the service knowing full
well what might be expected of us." He signed off with the
Marine motto, Semper Fi, Latin for "always faithful." The
Bible says, "Now it is required that those who have been
given a trust must prove faithful" (1 Cor. 4:2). -- Richie
Lewis in Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching
(Baker), from the editors of Leadership.
Paul was faithful unto death and so MUST we be also!
2. He had been a good STEWARD—“I Have kept the faith…”. "I
have kept my faith"; or have been faithful to my trust, as a good
steward of the mysteries of God; not concealing and keeping back
any thing that was profitable, but declaring the whole counsel of
God; and now what remained for him was the crown of
righteousness; and this he says for the comfort and
encouragement and imitation of Timothy and others (John Gill’s
Exposition of the Entire Bible). Paul says, “I have safely preserved,
as a guardian or steward, the gospel treasure committed to my
trust” (4).
3. He had been a good RUNNER—“I have finished my course..”.
The race of life set before him, his course of years; his days were
extinct, the grave was ready for him, and he for that; his last
sands were dropping, and he was just going the way of all flesh; or
else he means the course of his ministry, which he desired to
finish with joy, and was now finishing; Act_13:25 he was now got
to the end of his line, to Rome, where he was to be a martyr for
Christ (John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible). Paul had ran the
Race lawfully and loyally. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27—
“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 Christ
to others, I myself should be a castaway.”
As Paul walks THE LAST MILE OF THE WAY HE REMEMBERS THE PAST, and…
(2) HE REFLECTS ON THE PRESENT
2 TIMOTHY 4:6—“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of
my departure is at hand.”
*The word reflect means “to think carefully, ponder.” (Funk & Wagnalls
Standard Desk Dictionary, Volume 2, N-Z). As Paul thinks about, reflects
on the present we notice three things:
A. HIS CONFIDENCE. “I am now ready to be offered..” Paul says. As
Paul neared the end of his life He could say with confidence that He
had been faithful to his call. That is why he faced death so calmly; he
knew a reward awaited him in heaven. Friend, let me ask you, “Is
your life preparing you for death? When death comes can you say, as
Paul, “I am now ready to be offered”? or Will you be ashamed?
ILLUS: One day when Luther was a young man, he was walking with
a friend named Alexis. Suddenly a bolt of lightning struck his
friend and killed him instantly. From that moment on a
radical change took place in Luther's life. Your life will also
change if you think seriously that one day it will end, perhaps
suddenly and soon. After that you will have to give an account
of it to God. Are you ready for it?
Paul could confidently say, “I am now ready to be offered.” Friend,
What about you? Paul had no unfinished task, no regrets, He was
prepared to die.
B. HIS CONVERTS. Paul had souls he had won to Christ that he would
meet in Heaven. He looked with anticipation to the glad reunion they
would enjoy together before the Throne of God. Paul was a soul-
winner. He preached Christ wherever he went. In good times and in
bad. Whether free or imprisoned, Paul let everyone know about his
precious Jesus! What about you, my friend, are you telling others
about the Savior’s marvelous love? Psalm 107:2 says, “Let the
redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand
of the enemy.” William Barclay said, “The final proof that a man
himself knows Christ is that he can bring others to Christ” (5). Dan
Greene said, “Witnessing is not a spare-time occupation or a once-a-
week activity. It must be a quality of life. You don’t go witnessing, you
are a witness” (6). Paul had many converts that he had won who had
gone on before and he longed to see them again face to face!
ILLUS: Are we attractive Christians? Do we give people the impression
that the most marvelous thing in the world is to be a Christian
and to have the Spirit of God within us? This is the thing to
which we are called and the way to do that is positively to
avoid grieving the Spirit, and to walk in him, to dwell in him
as he dwells in us, and to be led by him in all things. -- D.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones in Growing in the Spirit. Christianity
Today, Vol. 37, no. 2.
C. HIS CONSCIENCE. As Paul neared the end of his life, he could say,
“And here do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of
offense toward God, and toward men.” (Acts 24:16). All the old
accounts had been settled. All who had done him hurt had been
forgiven. What about you? Can you say the same? Someone has
said, "We should forgive and then forget what we have forgiven." We
should keep short accounts with God and with our fellowman. So
when we near our end we can say with Paul, “I exercise myself, to
have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward
men.”
As Paul walks THE LAST MILE OF THE WAY HE REMEMBERS THE PAST, HE REFLECTS ON THE PRESENT and finally…
(3) HE REJOICES AT THE FUTURE
2 TIMOTHY 4:6-8—“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.”
A. THE DEPARTURE. “The time of my departure is at hand..” Paul looked
at his final approaching hour as being a “departure”. The word
departure in the Greek means literally "loosing anchor" (Jamieson,
Fausset & Brown Commentary). Already the anchor is weighed, the
ropes are slipped, and the boat is about to set sail for another shore (7).
Paul is ready to set sail for his heavenly home and He rejoices that
soon he will see his Savior face to face! Paul said earlier in Philippians
1:23—“For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart , and to
be with Christ; which is far better.” But now as Paul faces the
inevitability of his death he can say, “..I am now ready to be offered..”
The apostle faced his departure with no feeling of futility or
hopelessness or despair but with the divine assurance that his real life
was only about to begin. Just as he had faced earthly living without
fear, he faced earthly dying without fear. As the Lord Jesus had
commanded, Paul took up his own cross and never laid it down, in the
certain knowledge that “this perishable must put on the imperishable,
and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will
have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on
immortality,” he would exult with Isaiah that “Death is swallowed up in
victory,” and cry out with Hosea, “O death, where is your victory? O
death, where is your sting?”’ (1 Cor. 15:53–55; cf. Isa. 25:8; Hos.
13:14). MacArthur, J. 1995. Second Timothy. The MacArthur New Testament commentary.
Moody Press: Chicago
ILLUS: Death Frees the Soul
[A letter written to one's physical body.] 1Co_15:44.
"You and I have been together for a long time in a most
intimate and valuable relationship. Now you have grown old.
Your hearing and strength are failing. Your resistance to cold
is diminishing. You cannot climb and run as you once did. In a
word, you are running down. In a short time you will cease to
breathe and your heart will stop beating. When you can go no
further, you will be returned to the substance of which you
were made, and I shall continue on in that life where you are
not needed. A Power greater than you and I started us on this
journey together. Now I recognize that you are aware of the fact
that your journey is nearing its end, while my journey has
scarcely begun. I know this to be true, for while you are feeble,
I have never been more alive. Our separation, therefore, cannot
be one of sadness, but will be one of joy. You are weary and
want to stop. I am longing to alight from this slowing vehicle
and go on without you. Death will mean that your desire to
stop is granted, and my longing is satisfied."
B. THE DELIGHT. Death for the Christian is a home-going. Paul wrote
in 2 Corinthians 5:1,8—“For we know that if our earthly tabernacle of
this house were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not
made with hands, eternal in the heavens. We are confident, I say, and
willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the
Lord.” What a Joy it will be when we see Jesus!
ILLUS: THE HOMELAND by Myrtle Erickson
THINK…
Of stepping on shore and finding it Heaven;
Of taking hold of a hand and finding it God’s hand;
Of breathing new air and finding it celestial air;
Of feeling invigorated and finding it immortality;
Of passing from storm and temptest to an unbroken calm;
Of looking up—and finding it HOME!
When we walk THE LAST MILE OF THE WAY We have two things to
look forward to if WE belong to HIM:
1. Reunion (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
2. Reward (2 Timothy 4:8). Oliver B. Greene said, “What a day the
rewarding day for believers will be! Some of those who we expect to
receive great reward will be at the end of the line, while some of the
insignificant, humble saints who never made headlines in the newspapers—perhaps did not even get their names in the church bulletin—will receive great rewards when God passes out the trophies! God’s measuring stick does not measure like man’s; but when God measure, that measurement is right, and every believer will get from the hand of God exactly what he earns by faithful stewardship—no more, no less (8).
CLOSING: As Paul walked THE LAST MILE OF THE WAY, HE REMEMBERS
PAST, HE REFLECTS ON THE PRESENT, and HE REJOICES AT
THE FUTURE. Paul had no regrets as he faced eternity: he had
been a good soldier, a faithful runner, a faithful steward of the
treasure of the Gospel. He looked forward to receiving his reward
from the Lord. What was it that kept Paul going during more than
thirty years of toil and suffering? He loved Christ’s appearing! “The
love of Christ constains us!” (2 Cor. 5:14)…Next to losing one’s soul
and going to hell, the greatest tragedy of life would be to come to
the brink of eternity and discover we had missed God’s will and
wasted our lives on fruitless, transient things (9).
Friend, What about you as you near THE LAST MILE OF THE WAY
can you say with Paul, “…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.”
NOTES: 1. Charles R. Swindoll. Paul, A Man of Grace And Grit. pp. 23-26.
2. Albert M. Wells, Jr. Inspiring Quotations-Contemporary &
Classical. p. 99.
3. Living Letters From The Life Application Bible. p. 142.
4. John R. W. Stott. The Message of 2 Timothy: Guard The Truth. p.
114.
5. Wells. p. 34.
6. Wells. p. 35.
7. Stott. P. 113.
8. Oliver B. Greene. The Epistles of Paul The Apostle to The
Thessalonians. pp. 131-132.
9. Warren W. Wiersbe. Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines On The New
Testament. p. 652.
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