LIVE WITH THE END IN MIND
2 Timothy 4:6-8
INTRODUCTION… http://www.forbes.com/sites/samanthasharf/2013/07/02/the-t-shirt-turns-100/
According to Forbes Magazine and other clothing aficionados, 2013 marks the 100th birthday of the t-shirt. I thought t-shirts had always been around since cave man days, but apparently that isn’t so. The t-shirt was born in 1913 when the US Navy issued crewnecks for soldiers to wear under their uniforms. In 1920, the word “t-shirt” was officially added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary and it was used in college athletics by 1932. Every one of us has our favorite t-shirt. T-shirts come in all sizes, colors, and tons of designs.
* T-shirts can advertize your favorite company or food.
* T-shirts can be a reflection of your favorite TV show or movie.
* T-shirts can be printed with funny sayings, offensive ones, or even political sayings.
* T-shirts can also be printed with thoughtful messages. This is my favorite t-shirt and was given to me as a gift after I commented on it once at a convention I was at. I have never worn it. It hangs up in my office because it has the absolute coolest statement on it that I have ever heard. This shirt says, “Live your life so the preacher won’t have to lie at your funeral.” I can’t help it. I love that.
Today we are going to be finishing up our series on “You’re Dead… Now what?” and we are going to talk about living the way this t-shirt says. We are going to talk all about living with the end in mind. At the end of every life is death. I know death is not something we talk much about because it is uncomfortable and it brings up memories and thoughts that are often sad and painful. We don’t even like the word “death.” When someone dies we say “they’ve passed on” or “they’ve gone ahead” or “we lost them.” Yet the Bible does talk about death and frames our lives as short brief periods of time. In Psalm 102:11, the Bible describes our lives, “My days are like the evening shadow; I wither away like grass” and James 4:14 says, “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Whether you think of your life as withering grass or a momentary mist, it is true that our lives on this Earth are temporary and are not forever.
How do we live life so that the preacher doesn’t have to lie at our funeral?
How do we live life so that we have very few regrets?
How do we live life so that the brief days that we have in this life are lived to the fullest?
In 2 Timothy 4:6-8, the Apostle Paul can sense that his time on earth is coming to an end and he knows that it will come sooner rather than later. He uses several phrases as he talks about facing death that can help us
face death well and help us live our lives with the end in mind.
READ 2 TIMOTHY 4:6-8
“For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 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.”
I. POURED OUT LIKE A DRINK OFFERING (2 TIM 4:6)
The Apostle Paul is talking about the pouring out of his life and Paul had in mind the sacrifice and service that were his way of life. I cannot help but think of Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 2:8 when I see his words in 2 Timothy 4:6, “We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us.” Both passages ring with the truth that Paul lived his life with the end in mind by pouring out his life for others and sharing his life with everyone he came across. Paul served with and for others. Paul sacrificed for those around him. This was his way of life.
ILLUSTRATION… To Obey is Love, Seth Dillon, illustrationexchange.com
The Princess Bride, a popular romantic comedy, begins at the home of Buttercup (Robin Wright).
Though dressed in drab brown clothes and clearly a peasant girl, Buttercup orders others around as though she were royalty. Another peasant named Wesley (Cary Elwes) is a laborer on Buttercup's farm, and the narrator says that Buttercup's greatest pleasure in life is tormenting Wesley. She refers to him as "farm boy" and makes liberal use of her authority as she orders him about. Yet no matter how menial the task, Wesley always responds the same way: "As you wish." Though Buttercup is incredibly condescending, Wesley is the model servant. He never refuses her demands, and his attitude is kind and willing. The narrator reveals that one day Buttercup has a precious insight. He reads, "That day, she was amazed to discover that when he was saying 'As you wish,' what he really meant was, 'I love you.'"
I believe one of the ways that the Apostle Paul lived with the end in mind was that he showed love to the people around him by pouring his life into them and serving. We can make the same emphasis as we live our lives with the end in mind.
Malachi 3:18, “And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”
Matthew 20:26-28, “Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave-- 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
APPLICATION
Where are you serving in the church or in your neighborhood or in your immediate community?
Where are your pouring out your life into other people and sacrificing for them?
If we can’t answer those questions I think the challenge for us would be to attack in prayer the self-centered, self-important, and selfish attitudes we have in our lives. Pray and look for places that you can serve and sacrifice and be last in line. Where can you be a servant? Where can you sacrifice? This is a worthy way to live with the end in mind.
Paul also says something else significant in verse 6.
II. THE TIME HAS COME FOR MY DEPARTURE (2 TIM 4:6)
The word “departure” in this verse comes from a word that means “to unloose” and was the word used to describe “loosing” a boat from its moorings in port or for soldiers when they “broke camp” for departure. Paul saw his death as if he was leaving the port for a wonderful cruise. Paul realized that his duty station had changed and he was going to a different assignment. In Paul’s mind, he wasn’t facing execution; he was getting ready to depart for his true home.
I see in this part of verse 6, Paul living with the end in mind and living his life full of hope. He had the perspective that this life is temporary and that what was promised ahead was more than he could imagine. Paul lived his life as hope in action. He let loose the hope in his life and it flavored his speech, his actions, his faith, and everything he was. The Apostle Paul mentions “hope” 56x in his writings in the New Testament.
Romans 5:5 “And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
Romans 12:12, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
2 Corinthians 1:10, “He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us”
ILLUSTRATION… You’ll find Jesus There (www.sermoncentral.com)
"Tomorrow morning I'll open up your heart" the surgeon said to the 8 year-old-boy.
"You'll find Jesus there," the boy said.
The surgeon continued, "I'll open your heart and check the damage."
"You'll find Jesus there," the boy said.
"When I see the damage, I will suture you back up and then think about the next step," said the surgeon.
"You will find Jesus in my heart because my Sunday school teacher told me so. She said it says so in the Bible. Besides that, our Sunday school songs say He lives there," said the boy. The surgery took place the next day. After the surgery the surgeon began to make notes of what he found. In his mind there was no hope and no cure. The little boy would die within a matter of months.
The thought began to get to the doctor and all of a sudden the doctor shouted to God, "Why did you do this to the boy? Why can't he live a normal life?" God spoke to the surgeon's heart and said, "The boy is a part of my flock and will always be a part of my flock. When he is with me there will be no more suffering and pain. He will have comfort and peace. One day his parents as well as you will join him and my flock will continue to grow."
The next day the surgeon went to the boy's room and sat down with the parents beside the bed.
In a moment or two, the boy opened his eyes and asked very quietly, "What did you find in my heart?"
With tears flowing down his cheeks, the surgeon said, "I found Jesus there."
APPLICATION
Does the hope of God fill your heart and overflow to the people around you?
Are you living your life in hope in the Lord or are you setting your hope on something or someone else?
Does Godly hope flavor your speech and actions?
If we can’t answer these questions as people who live in hope, then we need to have an attitude change. Hope allows us to handle personal problems and money troubles and issues at work in a godly way. Hope brings perspective when illness or accidents come our way. Hope frames relationships that are not going the way we need them to go. Authentic Christians are people who live hope, love hope, leave hope, share hope, spend hope, speak hope, read hope, write hope, and carry hope to everyone we meet. You see, living with hope is a dynamic and godly way to live your life until the end.
Paul continues to encourage us to live with the end in mind in verse 7.
III. I HAVE FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT (2 TIM 4:7)
Paul understood that life on this side of eternity could often be a struggle and not always great or easy or smooth. He was not naive to the pain and suffering of this world and its toll it took on him and those people around him. Paul knew hardship. He tells us in 2 Corinthians 11:24-28, “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.” I am going to go out on a strong limb here and say that life was a struggle for Paul. Paul’s physical life was one of pain and anguish… I hope you see that from 2 Corinthians.
How did Paul approach life? What was his attitude in the face of struggles and problems? When Paul says that he “fought” the good fight, he is saying that he has made every effort in his life to be faithful in his relationship with God. He is thinking about his life and our lives in this passage as an athletic event. If I could paraphrase what he is saying, he says, “I have competed well in the athletic contest of life.” The Message puts it “I’ve run hard right to the finish, believed all the way” (4:7). It is that phrase “believed all the way” that caught my eye because the fight that Paul is referring to is the fight to remain faithful to God.
Paul in living with the end in mind is encouraging us to be faithful to the Lord our God. This means if we commit ourselves to faithfulness to God our entire lives then we have certainly lived with the end in mind. When we acknowledge our sin and take steps to repent, we are living faithfully and living with the end in mind. When we keep ourselves from developing sinful habits and living a lifestyle of sin, we are living faithfully and keeping the end goal in mind. When we come upon problems, accidents, sin, and strife we don’t get mad at God and stop coming to church or stop praying or looking in His Word, but look to Him and act faithfully through our trials which will refine our faith (James 1:2-3, 1 Peter 1:6-7).
APPLICATION
Are you faithful in your personal relationship with God?
Are you making every effort to be faithful in Bible reading, prayer, service, and other spiritual disciplines?
Are you letting life situations and sin beat up your faith and cast it aside from your priorities?
ILLUSTRATION… My 5th Grade Year (p)
I remember my 5th grade year growing up very vividly. In 5th grade my family and I moved to Jonesboro, Georgia. I remember my parents bought their first house and going with my parents to pick out the carpet that was to replace the orange shag carpet that adorned the house when they bought it. I remember my sister falling from her bicycle down the street. I remember going to school. I remember the faces of the bullies in my neighborhood. I remember the night those same bullies threw a rock into our house and busted windows and when they knocked on the door to have me come out and fight them.
I remember one time at the bus stop… standing there waiting for the bus… that the bullies came up and wanted to fight. They kept egging me on to fight. I told them I didn’t want to fight… and I remember clear as day one of them saying, “well if you won’t fight, we’ll just beat you up.” I fought. I think I might have won that particular tussle.
I remember that because the option laid out to me was either fight or get beat up. I think Paul says in verse 7 that it was his effort to fight life with his faith all the time. He certainly had a life that was hard and full of obstacles, but it was his faith that saw him through and in the end, he wasn’t beat up. When we live with the end in mind, we live making faithfulness to God a priority.
Paul finishes out this passage by thinking about his life as a race and continues to encourage us to live with the end in mind in verses 7-8.
IV. I HAVE FINISHED THE RACE AND A CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IN STORE (2 TIM 4:7-8)
I love that Paul likens life to a foot race and I think he gives a picture of an extended race. Life is not a sprint or the long jump or a relay race. Life is more of a marathon and is a journey. Life is most often a long race with ups and downs and hurdles to overcome. Paul’s race wasn’t perfect. He tripped and fell along the way. He hit the wall more than once, but now he’s in the final stretch and knows he will finish and finish faithfully. It’s never too late to start running again and finish the race, no matter how you started and no matter how you have failed the obstacles along the way. What happens for the one who finishes? An athlete who won their event was rewarded with a crown of leaves worn only by the victor. Paul is anticipating a crown that will not wither or fade and will be a crown of righteousness for the faithful forever in Heaven with God.
Paul frames our lives as a long foot race and the only way to stay in the race is to put one foot in front of the other expecting that you will eventually get there. When I read these verses in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, I can’t help but also think about Philippians 4:8 which encourages us, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things.” Paul was a person who wanted to chase after godliness and goodness and purity and wanted those around him to do the same. That is a huge way to live with the end in mind… to live holy… to make more steps to be holy every day. The end result of living holy is that we get a crown of righteousness when we stand before God in Heaven… not because of anything we have done, but because of Jesus Christ in us. The holy living is the on purpose reaction to Christ saving us.
ILLUSTRATION… When All is Said and Done by Geoff Moore
When the music fades into the past, When the days of life are through, What will be remembered of where I've come? When all is said and done?
Will they say I loved my family? That I was a faithful friend? That I lived to tell of God's own son?
When all is said and done.
Of how I long to see the hour, When I would hear that trumpet sound. So I could rise and see my Savior's face, And see him smile, And say 'Well done.'
You can forget my name And the songs I've sung, Every rhyme and every tune.
But remember the truth of Jesus' love, When all is said and done, When all is said and done.
You see living with the end in mind means we live to hear those words “well done.”
CONCLUSION
I don’t know what your favorite t-shirt is like. Maybe it was a t-shirt you got from a memorable concert. Perhaps it is a t-shirt from high school that you can’t really fit in anymore. Could be a shirt with a sport’s team on it or one of those shirts from a trip where everyone signed it as a keepsake. My favorite shirt, which hangs on my wall, reminds me to “live your life so the preacher won’t have to lie at your funeral.”
Live with the end in mind.
Live serving and sacrificing for others.
Live in an attitude of hope and share that with others.
Live faithfully to the God you profess to believe in.
Live a holy life.
Do that and nobody will have to lie about anything. Live with the end in mind.
