Dr. Falwell, speaker to Liberty University student body, faculty and staff
Convocation in Vines Center – December 5, 2005
In the New Testament the apostle Paul had about finished his ministry and was bound for Rome to appeal his case before Caesar. He had been charged with preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He was bound for a martyr’s grave, but en route and before taking that road to Rome, he made a visit of a number of places he had preached. One of them was Ephesus. And he wanted to meet with the elders and say one final thing to them.
As this calendar semester comes to a conclusion, most of you now are completing the first quarter of your life and ministry. I’m a sports addict and I think of life in terms of quarters—four of them. You’re in your first one, I’m in my fourth. I may well be over into overtime but we all are at some point in the spectrum of life, and for most of you, in the first quarter. Most of the big things are out in front of you and I want to challenge you to determine that “I’m going to be a champion for Christ. I am not going to waste the talent, the influence, the time, the potential I have in the 21st century—I am going to make a difference in the world.”
One of the great delights of my life is talking with the students here at Liberty University. When I come to a ball game I sit right over here in the corner with my wife and I usually get a few hundred visitors before the game is over—they all have a camera—and we get a picture made, but more importantly, I get to find out who you are and what your name is. While I’m driving around the campus . . . some of you with a lot of courage, when I’m stopped in traffic . . . you’ll open the door and jump in. I take you to the next stop. I find out who you are and where you’re going. I don’t mean where you’re going today, but where you’re going down the road because today in this room are young lawyers in the making and business persons, and pastors, missionaries and evangelists, and educators.
When I watch the 90 Seconds Around Liberty each Wednesday here at Convocation, I am always amazed at what is going on with the kids. I learn as much from that as you do, because frankly, this is such a busy place no one person can be “plugged” in at every event and into every happening. The potential in this room right now, the potential in your lives yet future, is unlimited. But it’s so important that you finish well.
You know the Christian life is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. And having been a Christian now 54 years, coming to the Lord as a college sophomore, I don’t remember much except this life in Christ. And I would rather die today than not to finish well. I think of so many who haven’t finished well. I think of President Nixon who was such a great President, and then because of one dumb mistake, one thing called Watergate, he blemished his legacy. I think of President Bill Clinton, so gifted, so talented, so brilliant . . . probably the smartest politician I’ve ever heard . . . but didn’t have the personal character to guard his own behavior, his own testimony, and he left a terrible influence for the children, the young people of America.
And I think of baseball great Pete Rose, who was one of my heroes; I thought he was the greatest “hustler” on the field I’d ever seen. With energy bursting, he set records that will never be broken, but because of a few dumb mistakes, he’s not in the Hall of Fame. There’s also Mike Tyson, there’s TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggart, and there are men and women who started well, who were very distinctive in their early days that made a difference, which made a name for themselves and then because of the lack of character, commitment, or lack of a Christian worldview, somehow stepped off the track and were disqualified. May God never allow that in your life.
Dr. J. Robert Clinton, professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, did a study of male leadership in the Bible and determined that the scriptural stories of great men only 30 percent of them really finished well. I want you to finish well. You’re going home for a month, some of you are graduating this week, others of you in another year . . . . two, three, four . . . but the day will come when you walk across the platform right here and I’ll hand you a piece of paper that says you’ve finished the first quarter in your life. But I want to tell you, it’s how you play the fourth quarter that makes the difference. In the world of track and field, the issue is, “Does he have a great kick on the final lap?” In the field of boxing, “Has he been twelve rounds before?” Can you fight the championship fight? And my prayer is for you and my prayer for me is, that we will all have great fourth quarters and we’ll finish well with dignity.
Now I mentioned Paul and his farewell visit to the elders at Ephesus. Acts 20 is my text. In the twentieth chapter of Acts, 31-38, “Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. I have coveted no man’s silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.” (KJV)
We shall never again assemble just like we are here today. There will be some of you missing, some going on to other pursuits, some graduating. We shall never again meet just as we are today. And I have just a few comments that I want to pass on to you.
I was watching a NASCAR event on television and a driver who had led the race from the very beginning ran out of gas on the final lap. I watched a few years ago Greg Norman, one of the great golfers of all time, he led the Masters for three days. It looked to me like it was a slam dunk; he fell apart on Sunday and lost it, and he hasn’t done very much since. And I want to challenge you . . . I want you to finish well.
I think of the many LU alumni . . . we have 98,000 names and addresses of alumni who have studied either in the residential or external programs. They’re all over the world. Most of them, to their credit, are doing well and they’re finishing well. But many are not. I think of former pastors . . . some who have exchanged their birthright for a “mess of pottage” like Esau in the Bible, and that is not what God wants.
Let me tell you what it means to finish well. It means to walk with God victoriously to the end of your life. Young people, I’ve said it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. That means you’ve got to live by the rules. I told you last Wednesday that if you’re a virgin, stay that way. In this day, that is amusing to some. But I want to tell you that there is nothing more precious that could be said about you than that you’re morally pure. If you have sinned, get God’s forgiveness and stop it. Don’t do it anymore. And when you get married, be loyal to that man, that woman, to whom you will spend the rest of your life. Live by the rules. Don’t be victimized by drugs and alcohol. Keep your body clean and pure. Don’t be dumb enough to use tobacco. Don’t waste eight years of your life; a chain smoker loses eight years on the other end. He lives eight years less than the average. When you get my age, by the way, eight days is a lot. Don’t waste precious time with a dumb habit, and don’t violate your integrity. Be a man or woman of your word. Be honest, walk with God victoriously until the end of your life.
To finish well means to make a life-long contribution to God’s work with your time, your talent, your treasure. I listened to the two young ladies singing here this morning . . . I could attend every conservatory in the world and never learn how to do that. That’s not my thing. It may be yours. . . if it is, use your talent to the glory of God. We all have gifts, we all have talents . . . and we’re to use our gifts and talents to the glory of God for all our lives.
To finish well means to leave a spiritual heritage so your children, and I might add, your children’s children; will continue the work for God after you’re gone. God has blessed Macel and me after 48 years of marriage with three wonderful children, all who serve the Lord. My son Jerry, Jr., is an attorney; he’s the Vice Chancellor here at LU and he provides most of the backroom leadership of this University. I get the credit for it but he does the work. But it makes me very comfortable to know that I spent 43 years training him and if God calls me home today, this school won’t flounder because he’s ready to step forward and move on. He does it every day. That’s his life now.
I thank God for our son, Jonathan. Jonathan is 39 and he’s co-pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church where I’ve been for nearly 50 years now. If God called me home today, he would do what he did two weeks ago; he’d step up to the pulpit and take it on . . . what he did last spring for me when I was in bad health. Now that didn’t happen accidentally, we’ve spent our lives passing the lamp to our children. Our daughter Jeannie, she’s 41 now, and she’s a surgeon and a professor of surgery, and all three of them are Christian parents, and they have eight grandchildren of ours who are now being nurtured and raised up in the ways of the Lord. As far as I’m concerned, the most important thing that Macel and I are involved in all the 48 years of our life together, has not been Thomas Road Church, or LU, but our family. And I want to tell you that that it best be your number one achievement. Because unless you get it right now, you won’t be able to pass that legacy on to your sons and daughters and grandchildren. That’s what it means to finishing well.
Let me give you some barriers to finishing well, some things that will keep you from winning. Things that will keep you from finishing your fourth quarter on top. Sometimes you have to play “hurt.” Sometimes you’ll be alone. I’ve buried so many of my dear friends that I went through high school with, played ball with . . . I’ve buried them. And I think of the men and women who helped me start Thomas Road Church 50 years ago. Some of the guys who are so important in my life are gone. This Arthur S. DeMoss Learning Center next door . . . Arthur S. DeMoss was the first chairman of my board here and he was my counselor and advisor and we worked so closely together, but September 1979 while playing tennis . . . he suffered a heart attack and went instantly to be with the Lord.
I leaned on him so heavily I could not imagine leading this great ministry without my friend Art DeMoss standing beside me, but he was gone; I have to move on. That will happen in your life. There are barriers to finishing well and you must deal with it.
The first is the love of money. Don’t do anything just for money. Everybody needs money . . . you have to eat, you have to be clothed . . . pay the price for living and support your family. There’s nothing wrong with money, but the Bible says, “The love of money is a root of every evil.” Do not become a lover of money. We all are faced with the prospect of greed and selfishness, and everybody wants just a little more. And in this very affluent age in which we live it’s all the more prevalent, but the Bible is filled with stories of men and women who fell in love with money and they lost their love relationship with God and humanity.
I think of Ananias and Sapphira in the book of Acts who sold their possessions and they were supposed to give to the lord a certain amount and they lied about it . . . didn’t give . . . and God took them to Heaven prematurely.
Don’t allow the love of money to motivate you. I’ve heard young people say, “I’m going into medicine so I can make some money.” Don’t go into medicine so you can make some money, go into medicine so you can help people and glorify God while doing it. Then if you make some money . . . and God will take care of you . . .that’s a by-product. Don’t go into law, government, athletics . . . Today, the average baseball player in the Major Leagues makes $2 million, the average. Now some get way up and some get way down. Bobby Richardson who was our second baseball coach here at LU, second baseman for the New York Yankees, never made $100,000 in his life playing baseball. Now he makes that much by signing picture and baseball cards, but he didn’t make it while he played. Mickey Mantle only made $125,000, one of the greatest players to play the game, one year. Today, multimillions in today’s athletics. I tell the kids playing ball here, the real good ones who want to go to the next step, I say, “That’s fine, but don’t do it for money. Do it so that you from that platform can be a good witness for Christ, and the fact that you get paid well for what you do, will just enable you to bless others and be a blessing to humanity around you. Don’t do it for money!”
Some people are enslaved by the desire of power, prestige; they want to be in charge. In the Bible a man named King Saul became neurotic over his power and when young David got recognition, he couldn’t stand it. The women were singing songs saying, “David, Saul has slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands,” and that literally just couldn’t be accepted by Saul. He was so bitter, so jealous in the quest for power, that he tried to kill David, and he lost his kingdom.
Materialism is another problem. You got to have every toy. The only difference between boys and men is the price of their toys someone said. Well the fact is that we’ve got to get over that. Things . . .
We have a missionary family now in Afghanistan and I talk by email with them and through their family on a regular basis. They just got transferred into Afghanistan; mom, dad and the children. Their home that they live in right now seldom gets above 40 degrees in their winter season now, and the house is cold; they’re wrapped up in blankets when they’re in the house. They can only use their heat about one hour a day because the type of heat they have . . . the fumes are toxic, and so on. When they go out of the house to minister, it’s dangerous. A home two houses down below them was blown away . . . bombed last week. A husband, wife and children. Suppose God put you in that place. You say, “I wouldn’t go.” But if God wants you there, you got to go. And if God calls you, that’s where you’re going to go. Don’t be caught up in materialism.
And then the big obstacle and barrier to finishing well today, illicit sex. This whole culture is literally enamored with and bound up with the desire for illicit sex. Heterosexual, homosexual . . . the whole culture . . . We were talking in the meeting today in our Chancellor’s meeting that here at Liberty we’re looking down the road . . . we’re accredited by all the accrediting agencies, but the pressure is on from accrediting agencies for us to accept sexual orientation as one of the non-discriminatory items . . . that is . . . we are to believe that practicing gays and lesbians should have the same minority status that other minorities have like women, like blacks, Hispanics, etc. But as long as I’m the Chancellor here, I’ll burn it down first. We’re not going to do that. Not because we don’t like gay people, we want to win them to the Lord, but just because you misbehave sexually you shouldn’t be rewarded for it.
And the same is true for heterosexuals who live promiscuously. All sex outside marriage between a man and woman is forbidden by God, whether it’s premarital sex or extra-marital sex, whether it’s heterosexual or homosexual, and the only marriage that God accepts is between a man and a woman. That is the bottom line. That’s real easy and we love everybody . . . we work with people who have all kinds of problems in those areas. That’s what the church is all about. But we don’t endorse misbehavior, we don’t endorse sexual addiction, we don’t promote people or reward people for misbehaving. We win them to Christ . . . we bring them out of that culture . . . but we don’t reward it.
And you young people of the 21st Century are living in a pornographically crazy world. And may God help you to be a part of the “unhooked” generation. And I take that to Internet porn, I take it to the DVDs, to the television, to the theater, whatever it is you ought not to be.
And then . . . spiritual stagnation. God has called us to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus and many men and women reach a high level early in life and then for some reason stop growing. Having been a Christian 54 years, this morning, every morning, I find it necessary and so do you, to meet with God in Bible study and prayer, personal devotion, intimate fellowship because before I go out to my task, my job, to my calling, I need the infusion of God’s presence and power and anointing upon me. So do you! And don’t ever become spiritual stagnant. Don’t begin living on memories. Don’t always be talking about what happened twenty years ago, let it happen this morning. Let it happen today in your life.
There are some things necessary to finish well, for which I close. One is lifelong vision. Early on find out where God wants to take you and focus on that vision. I’m called to be a pastor, therefore I don’t have to waste any time exploring business opportunities, or political opportunities. I’m called to be a pastor. What are you called to be? God has a calling upon your life. This man (Danny Rocco, former assistant coach at the University of Virginia) is called to be a football coach. When we were looking for a football coach we had 26 applicants and Sam Rutigliano was helping me . . . the first things . . . we have to have a man who loves God. Secondly, he had to have the ability to take us to a dominant position . . . so with that order of priorities we began going through the list. We wanted a man who felt that “my calling is to be a football coach.”
What’s your calling? Education? Business? God calls some people to make money. Not to horde it but to invest it in the kingdom. And if God can bless you that way . . . You know this campus was built . . . got a check Monday for $270,000 from a friend up in Ohio who years ago began supporting our ministry. He went to Heaven last year and left a will and he left his lovely estate, all of it, to this ministry right here. We get gifts regularly from men who give us a building, or give us buildings, or whatever; God has given them the ability to make money and they do it to the glory of God. What is your calling, lifelong vision?
Secondly, discipline. Discipline of your time, your talent, your resources. Do you commit to the work ethic? You know the only hopeless person I know, and I always spend very little time with, is the lazy person. If he’s lazy . . . just shoot him. I mean really . . . anybody who won’t get up early and work hard and who has his hand out wanting something for nothing, no matter what you do for him, it won’t be enough. So, you must stop doing. And I’ve talked to parents who have these deadbeat kids . . . saying, “You caused it, but you’re not going to cure it by throwing money at him. You let him go out and get a job, that’s the first thing, a job; let him work 40 hours a week at least, let him learn to make his own car payments, let him learn to make his own rent payment, let him learn to feed himself, clothe himself. If you want to help him, stop giving him money.” Now that’s going to “bug” some of you, but I’m telling your mom and dad that. If you’re going to amount to anything, learn how to work and stand on your own two feet. Be disciplined, Hebrews 12:1, 2: “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus.”
And then perpetual learning. School is not the only place that you ought to be learning. Spend your life reading and learning. I had to take my wife to the doctor the other day, and snow was coming down and the doctor’s schedule was all backed up and I sat two hours in my car in the snow . . . I confess, I am the most impatient person in the world . . . it needs to happen right now . . . and as I was sitting out there, I always carry a book with me. The best cure for me when I can’t get out and do something is read a book. So, I read a whole book in those two hours. I read a little faster than some do, but I read a whole book. I don’t read novels, I’m not against them, but if it didn’t happen, I’m not interested in it. But I read books about what is going on
And then personal revival. Live the life of revival . . . spiritual revival every day. That means worshipping God in church. On Sunday morning you shouldn’t be anywhere but the house of God. And daily devotions, Bible reading and prayer.
And then special times . . . I’ve had some real special times in my life when I’ve just taken the day off to talk with the Lord. You know the Bible speaks of having a prayer closet. You know where my prayer closet is? It’s wherever I can get alone. My automobile, my truck—that Denali that I almost run over you with, out there, that black monster, that’s a prayer closet. When I’m alone I can talk with God and no one can interrupt me. Your bathroom when you’re there alone can be a prayer closet. Your bedroom can be a prayer closet, or a special time and place where you can get alone with God . . . have a prayer closet. And sometimes, stop your world long enough just to take the day with the Lord. That isn’t easy in today’s complex world, but it’s very necessary.
When the burdens begin to pile up and the heartache begins to increase, when the pressure is too much, just shut your world down and get over in His and spend a day in the Word and prayer and let God infuse you again with His strength, personal revival.
I’m talking to you, young people, about finish the fourth quarter and winning. And if necessary going into overtime and still win. I don’t ever want to be out of the starting lineup and the only way to stay in the starting lineup as you get older is to train more, study more, get smarter, spend more time with the Head coach, the Lord Himself and learn how to be what God wants you to be: a focused individual, a champion for Christ, a winner in life. Don’t be a spectator, don’t just fill up space, don’t be a bum; but be a leader, be a champion for Christ, be a winner.
When you go home for the holidays, ask God to open doors for you and to show you things you haven’t seen before and ask Him to help you to help your parents, and help your siblings, and help your high school buddies of yesteryear. Those of you who are going abroad or going to inner-city America to work during the holidays, Christmas, New Year’s, ask God to use you in a special way.
I am convinced that in this room are the leaders of the 21 Century and of this nation and others. There are 80 nations represented inside this building right now, 50 states . . . why don’t you set something on fire spiritually where you live? Why don’t you become the leader spiritually where you live? Why don’t you become that winner and stay that way through all four quarters and more if necessary? Don’t ever retire on God. Stay in the battle.
Let’s pray. “Our Father, on this final day together I pray, Lord, that you’ll wrap Your loving arms around these students, the faculty staff and administration, the men and women who lead and mentor them. May we go out of this place next week after finals, may we go out with a zeal to make a difference, to be special. Not ordinary, but extraordinary. Pour Your Holy Spirit out upon this huge body of potential champions, I pray it in Jesus’ name. AMEN.
If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:
Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God. Please contact me at http://home.trbc.org/ and tell us about your salvation experience so that we can rejoice with you.
