December 13, 2023
Author: Pastor Gordon Cook
December 13, 2023
For I am already being
poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I
have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the
faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, a the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day,
and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
II Timothy 4:6
Over the years I’m sure
there are things that you have read, and certain quotes that have come
back to your mind. The one that has often come back to my mind over the
years is by Horatio Bonar, “Few men begin well and finish well.” And you
could focus on those in our bible whom it doesn’t appear finished well
but we could also focus on those in our bible who finished well. And
certainly the apostle Paul was one of those men. He gives his own
testimony here “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race,
and I have kept the faith.” But if you went looking for other men in
your Bible who finished the race, who finished the race well, I think we
could go to John. Remember he was not he island of Patmos but he writes
the book of Revelation. That’s a good way to finish. I think of Peter,
he had his ups and downs but there was that period of restoration or
that interview with Jesus and it’s obvious he’s restored. He’s gonna go
feed the sheep of God, the lambs of God. And then subsequent history,
the book of Acts we have every reason to believe that Peter finished
well. What about Job? I think you could say that as well couldn’t you?
The very last chapter of Job he’s back worshiping God.
If we ran through church history we could also say men like Calvin,
Luther, Spurgeon and Jonathan Edwards, they finished well. I thought of
some of the men that we’ve known, over the years who recently died. I
think of R.C. Sproul, Ted Donnelly, Gary Hendrix, every reason to
believe that those men finished well. Every Christian should have that
desire, we we want to run the race and we want to finish well and we
were always in need of endurance. That word is used throughout our
bible, this matter of endurance. I think it was John Piper who said you
could fly the flag of endurance over the whole of your bible. Hebrews
10:36, “You have need of endurance.” Ephesians 6: 13 “Stand firm.”
Revelation 2:25 “Hold fast.”
You have that theme of overcoming that runs through the book of
Revelations and if we are going to run this race and finish it and
finish it well what are things that we constantly have to keep in mind?
What are some spiritual strategies that we must constantly use if we’re
going to finish the race well? Here’s a few that came to my mind today;
number one, keep your eyes on Jesus. Think of that injunction in Hebrews
chapter 12. “Let us run with endurance”, same word and he says “Keep
looking onto Jesus.” Jesus ran that race of endurance, he was the
perfect model, perfect example of endurance, he ran every step
perfectly. The second great help to run this race of endurance; meditate
on the bible or make good use of your bible. Romans 15:4 Tells us it
was written for our instruction “That through endurance”. The Bible has a
lot of instruction to help us to endure. Warnings of endurance,
exhortations, examples so that we might continue to run that race. The
third major key, again going back to Romans 15:5, pray to the God of
endurance. “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you or give
you.” So endurance is a gift, it’s a blessing but it’s also a duty and
responsibility. So we must go to God for the grace of endurance. Never
stop praying, Lord keep me, Lord preserve me, deliver me from my pride
help me to fight this fight of faith. The fourth major key to run this
race of endurance, we need one another we need the church. Hebrews 12
talks about being surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Now there’s
questions as to who exactly he has in mind, some think its the Old
Testament saints that he has already talked about back in chapter 11,
those folks who have already run that race, but it also couldl have
reference to all the witnesses. Old Testament, New Testament, church
history everyone who has run that race. You could say that every
Christian who has run that race is in the grandstands of heaven and they
are cheering us on, encouraging us to keep on running. Keep on running
and finish the race well and they give us incentive and motivation.
Notice what Paul tells Timothy here in, II Timothy 4:8, he speaks of a
“crown of righteousness” that he will receive and so will everybody who
loves his appearing.
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