2 Timothy 4:6-8: Finishing Well

2 Timothy 4:6-8: Finishing Well

Please turn in your Bibles to 2 Timothy 4. If you’re using one of the Bibles we provide, that’s on page 835. We’ve been working our way through Paul’s second letter to Timothy passage by passage, and today we find ourselves in 2 Timothy 4:6-8. You may remember that Paul is writing these things to his young protégé Timothy while sitting in a prison. Paul had been imprisoned for his gospel ministry and, as this passage makes clear, expected that imprisonment to result in his martyrdom. So these words that we find written in this letter—and particularly in this passage—are some of Paul’s last words to one of his closest friends. So 2 Timothy 4:6-8: 6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up 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 loved his appearing. 

So you can see from these verses that Paul had no regrets about the way he had lived his life. He had faithfully served Jesus and suffered for Jesus, and we now find him reflecting on his life as he awaits execution. And his reflections in this passage center around the idea of finishing well. That’s the main idea of these verses. Only those who finish well will receive a heavenly reward. Only those who finish well will receive a heavenly reward. 

Back when I was in fifth or sixth grade, I remember running a mile in P.E. class. The whole class had to do four laps around the track. And at that age, many if not most kids aren’t very good at pacing themselves. So the teacher said “go” and all of us took off running. And of course a lot of the guys wanted to show off how fast they could run, so they started running at a very fast pace and completed that first lap in an impressively short amount of time. But then they took a little longer on the second lap and even longer on the third lap. And by the fourth lap, as you can probably guess, most of them were so tired and out of breath that they could barely sustain a jog. So they started well but didn’t finish well. 

And likewise, a lot of people make a profession of faith in Jesus and have a conversion experience that seems to be genuine but then end up falling away. Maybe something happens in their lives that turns them away from God or maybe they just lose interest in God for whatever reason, and they end up falling away from their Christian faith. They start well but don’t finish well. Many of us have probably known people who are in that category. For example, many of the students that were in my church’s youth group as a teenager are no longer following Jesus today. They made professions of faith, they were baptized, but the faith they seemed to have possessed at one time has now evaporated. And these were my closest friends. I knew them so well, and they seemed so genuine. But many of them—perhaps even a majority—have now fallen away. In fact, in the passage right after our main passage in 2 Timothy 4, we see that even one of Paul’s own associates—one of his missionary partners—fell away. In 2 Timothy 4:9-10, Paul says, 9 Do your best to come to me soon. 10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. 

So what do we do with that? How do we think about that theologically? Well, we understand from the Bible that these people who fall away didn’t lose their salvation but rather were never truly saved to begin with. Because, according to the Bible, it’s impossible to lose your salvation. Once you’re saved, you’re saved forever. We call that the doctrine of the “perseverance of the saints” or sometimes “eternal security.”  We see this taught in John 10:27-29, where Jesus says, 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. In addition to that, Paul tells the Philippian Christians in Philippians 1:6, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” God always finishes the saving work he begins. Then in 1 Peter 1:5, Peter refers to his readers as those “who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Then finally, in Romans 8:30, Paul writes that “…those whom [God] predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” Notice there that every single person God justifies—declaring them righteous in his sight at the time of their conversion—he also glorifies one day in heaven. There’s no attrition. Nobody slips through the cracks. Everyone who’s justified is also, one day, glorified. So that’s why we believe you can’t lose your salvation. God will sustain you by his grace all the way to heaven. So the only logical conclusion we can draw about those who profess faith in Jesus but then fall away is that they were never truly saved to begin with. As John says in 1 John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” So even though these people seemed to be saved at one time and perhaps sincerely believed themselves to be saved, time has shown that whatever it was that happened to them wasn’t true salvation—because God always sustains true believers by his grace all the way to heaven. 

However, the Bible also says that we have a role in persevering as well. It doesn’t just happen automatically. Rather, 2 Peter 1:10 says to “make your calling and election sure.” So God will preserve us by enabling us to persevere. There are two elements at work there. God does his part in preserving, yet we also do ours in persevering. It’s on us to use the means of grace God’s given us and pursue God every day and do that for as long as we live. We have to make every effort not just to start well but to finish well. So how can you do that? How can you make sure you’re not a modern-day Demas who fails to finish well? 

One thing you can do is to study the lives of those who have done what you want to do—those who have finished well. And I believe the Apostle Paul was one such person. In fact, I would say that Paul finished not just well but exceptionally well. He didn’t just limp across the finish line—he sprinted. And as we look back at our main passage—2 Timothy 4:6-8— we can see three characteristics of Paul’s life that God used in helping him finish so well. Number one, the depth of Paul’s devotion. Number two, the tenacity of Paul’s perseverance. And number three, the singularity of Paul’s focus. 

The Depth of Paul’s Devotion

So first, let’s look at the depth of Paul’s devotion in verse 6. He writes, “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.” Now remember that as he writes this, he’s in prison awaiting execution. And here we see Paul comparing his execution to him being “poured out as a drink offering.” Back in the Old Testament, a drink offering was pretty simple. It was a drink poured out as an offering before the Lord. It could be offered either by itself or in conjunction with a burnt offering involving an animal. And just as a drink offering would be poured out as an act of worship, Paul anticipates his life being poured out as an act of worship. That’s how he was viewing his impending execution—as his final act of worship to God. In fact, he may have even been thinking a bit more literally about the parallel between his death and a drink offering. Since Paul was a Roman citizen, he knew that he couldn’t be crucified and that it was likely, therefore, that he would be beheaded. So a lot of scholars actually think that, by invoking this image of a drink offering here, Paul may have been referring to the massive amounts of blood that would pour out of him as his head was severed from his body. Yet regardless of how you interpret that, one thing’s for sure: Paul wasn’t holding anything back in his devotion to Jesus. 

And that was a mindset he had throughout his life. Listen to what he said a number of years earlier to the elders of the church in Ephesus in Acts 20:22-24: 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. 24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. 

So this is radical stuff Paul’s talking about. He exhibits such passion for Jesus here that some would probably call him reckless. It reminds me of the story of William Borden. William was a member of an extremely wealthy family in the dairy business. And when he graduated high school in 1904, his parents gave him the graduation present of a world cruise. Yet as he travelled through the Near East and then the Far East, William became burdened for those he saw who were entirely without Christ and without the gospel. So after he returned home, he spent seven years at Princeton University, the first four in undergraduate studies and the last three in seminary. During these years in school, he wrote two words in the back of his Bible: “No reserves.” Then, even though his family strongly encouraged him to take over the family’s dairy business, William was resolute that God had called him to be a cross-cultural missionary. And so, he disposed of his wealth and added the words “no retreat” after the words “no reserves” in his Bible. Then, on his journey to China that he undertook with the intention of bringing the gospel to the Muslims who lived there, William contracted cerebral meningitis in Egypt and died within a month. And after his death, someone was looking through his Bible and discovered that William had added two more words to the back: “No regrets.” So it read “No reserves, no retreat, no regrets.”

Now I’m sure that some would look at William Borden’s life and think—similar to Paul—that his decisions were reckless. How reckless to put your life on the line like William did and like Paul did. And we see how it eventually turned out for both of them. Yet I’d like to argue that this is terribly shortsighted—because once you consider the heavenly reward that both of these men were pursuing, it becomes apparent that their actions weren’t reckless at all. Rather, they were trading something of lesser value for something of greater value. That’s what led them to be so devoted. And so Paul, back in 2 Timothy 4, is able to look his impending execution straight in the face and basically say, “I’m ready for it. I’m ready to be poured out as a drink offering. I’m ready for the time of my departure.”

The Tenacity of Paul’s Perseverance

Then secondly, we see not only the depth of Paul’s devotion but also the tenacity of his perseverance. The tenacity of Paul’s perseverance. In verse 7, he declares, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” And as you read those words, you can almost hear the satisfaction in Paul’s voice, can’t you? This is a man who’s thoroughly satisfied with the way he’s lived. And in expressing that, he uses the metaphors of both fighting and racing. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race.” These are two of Paul’s favorite metaphors to depict the Christian life. And one notable feature of both of these activities is that they require extraordinary amounts of energy. They require everything you’ve got. I remember running cross country in high school. And there were some races where I ran so hard that by the end of the race, I was pretty sure I was on the brink of passing out. I mean, I didn’t have anything left. So I know from experience that racing requires everything you’ve got. And I’d imagine that fighting or perhaps wrestling does as well. Yet it’s that kind of tenacity that we’re called to as Christians. And we’re called to exhibit this tenacity not just for a moment or two but for a lengthy period of time—again, kind of like a cross country race. Just about anybody who’s in decent physical condition can sprint 10 feet or 20 feet or 100 feet. But to run at a fast pace for numerous miles is another thing entirely. Yet that’s what we’re called to do as Christians. True Christian discipleship consists of what one writer has called “a long obedience in the same direction.” “A long obedience in the same direction.” And that’s what Paul’s looking back on in his life here in verse 7.

The Singularity of Paul’s Focus

Then finally, not only do we see the depth of Paul’s devotion and the tenacity of his perseverance, we also see, number three, the singularity of his focus. He says in verse 8, “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day…” So Paul was looking toward his heavenly reward. Whatever price he had to pay and whatever sacrifice he had to make was all worth it because of this “crown of righteousness.” The metaphor of a crown corresponds to the metaphor of a race in the previous verse since the winner of a race would receive a crown. And this “crown of righteousness” Paul speaks of is something that will be given to every true believer upon their entrance into heaven. Jesus will raise them up into a glorified state of being and give them a crown of eternal righteousness that can never be diminished or taken away. We can see that in the final part of verse 8, where Paul says that Jesus will give this crown not just to him but also “to all who have loved his appearing.” Everyone who loves the future appearing of Jesus will receive this crown. And notice that Paul doesn’t just say “all who have believed in his appearing.” He says “all who have loved his appearing.” In other words, that’s what they long for. That’s what they’re living for. And so, the implication is that if you’re not longing and living for Christ’s appearing, you might not receive this crown of righteousness. True Christians have their hearts set on Christ. They long to see his face. Does that describe you this morning? 

Conclusion

So those are three characteristics of Paul’s life that were involved in him finishing well—the depth of his devotion, the tenacity of his perseverance, and the singularity of his focus. Yet I believe there’s something else we need to understand about Paul—something about him that undergirds all three of the qualities mentioned in this passage. And that is that Paul never lost sight of the gospel.  I would even say that that’s the most significant thing that contributed to his longevity in the faith and the passion he exhibited. He never lost sight of the gospel. Just read his letters in the New Testament. In just about every letter, we find Paul marveling at the glories and wonders of the gospel. He never ceased to be amazed at the magnitude of God’s grace shown through Jesus. That’s what motivated Paul to seek and serve Jesus the way he did. And he tells us to have that motivation as well. In Romans 12:1, he says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” So the motive for us presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice to God is the mercy God has shown us. Even though we deserved to suffer eternal judgment for our rebellion against God, God showed us mercy. He withheld the judgment we deserved and instead gave us the grace we didn’t deserve in the least. He gave us this grace through his Son Jesus. God the Father sent Jesus the Son to come to this earth and suffer and die on the cross in our place. Jesus took on himself every bit of the judgment we deserved when he died and then resurrected from the dead as a picture of what God has in store for us. And in order to receive that grace and receive that gift of eternal life, we have to put our trust in Jesus. That involves turning away from our sinful way of living and looking to Jesus alone to rescue us from both the guilt and power of our sins. And then, after that, we’re called to live the rest of our lives in light of what God’s done for us. It’s the “mercies of God” that motivate us to present our bodies as a “living sacrifice.” 

And that’s what I believe contributed to Paul finishing well more than anything else. He finished well because he never lost sight of the gospel. You know, from what I’ve noticed, it’s very easy for us to lose sight of what Jesus has done for us. Our hearts can become cold and indifferent in a surprisingly short amount of time. In fact, I’ve noticed that my own heart often becomes cold and indifferent literally overnight. I might soar to the greatest heights of being captivated by Jesus one day, but then guess what happens when I sleep? It’s like all of that joy and wonder somehow leaks out of me. And I wake up cold and indifferent. And everything I do the next day feels so sterile and devoid of worship until I open my Bible and reacquaint myself with the grace God’s shown me in the gospel. I’ve gotta go back to the fire every day and let my heart get warmed up all over again by revisiting the glories and wonders of Jesus. I love the way George Muller says it in his autobiography. He states that his first great and primary business to which he ought to attend every day was to have his soul happy in the Lord. That was his first priority every morning—to open his Bible and let that guide his prayers and, in that way, be brought to a place where his soul was happy in the Lord. 

And that’s something you also need to make a habit of doing if you want to finish well. You know, I bet there are a lot of you here—especially younger Christians but perhaps also those who have been Christians longer—who need to develop some godly disciplines in your life. You need to start reading the Bible regularly and having a time every day that you set aside for prayer. And you also need to start attending church worship services with greater consistency—because that’s another critical way in which our hearts are warmed and our affections for Jesus are stirred. If you want to finish well, that’s how it happens. It doesn’t happen automatically but requires godly disciplines. 

And let me also say that there are probably many of you here who have developed these disciplines. And that’s certainly a very good thing. Praise God for that. But you need to make sure that you’re not just going through the motions. That’s essentially what Jesus rebukes the church in Ephesus for in Revelation 2. He describes how the Ephesians Christians were holding to all of the right doctrines and doing all of the right things externally, but he says in Revelation 2:4, “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.” Another translation says, “You have left your first love.” I wonder if that’s true of you this morning. Have you left your first love? Have you begun your Christian life with a heartfelt passion and love for Jesus only to see it degenerate into merely going through the motions? How I pray that that would change this very morning. 

Then finally, I’d like to address a third group of people here today—those who haven’t yet put their trust in Jesus for salvation. You know, as we look at our main passage of Scripture in 2 Timothy 4:6-8, one thing that sticks out to me is that Paul was ready for his departure. Look one more time at what he writes: 6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness…. Paul was ready for his death. So my question for you today is, are you? If you died today, do you know where you’d go? When I was a teenager, I was pretty good friends with two brothers named Mike and Cody. And one of the things we liked to do was go hunting. So one day, their dad was with us, and we were in a field that they owned sighting in a new hunting rifle. And I guess we didn’t have binoculars or something, because we would shoot at the target and then pile onto the pickup truck and their dad would drive the fifty or a hundred yards to see where it had been hit. And instead of turning the truck around every time, Mike and Cody’s dad would just throw it into reverse when he was driving toward the target. And so the three of us teenagers were there sitting on the tailgate as this truck was driving in reverse. But Mike I guess wasn’t holding on very well and fell off the tailgate and got run over by this big crew cab truck. And to this day, I can still feel the sickening bump of this truck running over his body. I then remember all of us jumping to the ground and seeing Mike there lying in the field writhing in pain with a big gash in his dead. And I’ll never forget what he kept on saying. “I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.” And normally Mike was a pretty tough guy. He was a football player and all the rest. But as he lay there in that field, he was basically crying, not because of the pain but because he didn’t want to die. 

Now thankfully, Mike did end up being life-flighted out of there and making a full recovery. But it was very revealing to see—in that moment of crisis—what was truly in his heart. And I wonder whether a similar fear is somewhere down in the depths of your heart today. If you found yourself staring death in the face, what would you be saying? Would you be ready for that? Would you be ready to face God? Because the reality, of course, is that that day will eventually come for each one of us. Even if it’s not today or tomorrow or the next day, the day will come when your sojourn on this earth is over and you find yourself standing before God. Are you ready for that? Can you look forward to that day the way Paul does here in 2 Timothy 4—with a heart that’s filled with peace and confidence and even joy? You can have that by putting your trust in Jesus and allowing him to forgive you and redeem you from your sins. As Romans 8:1 states, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”