October 24, 2021

2 TIMOTHY: FINISH STRONG!

October 24, 2021

Pastor Charles Billingsley

 

Most people have had the experience of being in a race, a marathon, or even a deadline designed to give merit to those who finish well. Does this bring a memory you can share?

The Apostle Paul spent several decades and endured many tribulations preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. As he neared the time when he would become a martyr for the Lord, he wrote this letter to Timothy, with his thoughts centered on encouraging and edifying his “son in the faith” (2 Tim. 4:6-7). In captivity in Rome, in chains, isolated in a cold, damp, and dark cistern, no bed and little food, Paul still wrote with passion. His last words would carry Timothy through the next decades of his ministry as pastor of the church at Ephesus, and then he, also, would be martyred for the gospel. Today we will look at Paul’s admonitions to fight the good fight, keep the faith, and finish the race.

Focal Passage: The Book of 2 Timothy

 

Fight the Good Fight and Live your Life with No Retreats

 Choose your Battles Carefully

  • Read 2 Tim. 2:3. Why would Paul use the analogy of a soldier? As we live as Christians, how are our lives like a battlefield? What are some of the battles we face, perhaps even daily? Why is it necessary to choose our battles with care?
  • How would you decide which are important enough to fight for? Which areas in your life would this advice be useful?

Stay Prepared for Battle

  • Read Eph. 6:11-12. If any of you are or have someone in your family who is a First Responder, is there ever a time when one can “kick back and relax”? Why is there seldom a time when one can call Time Out?
  • Read Eph. 6:13-17. Why is it vital to know the pieces of armor? What are some other steps you can take after “putting on your armor” every day?

Fight from your Knees

  • Read Eph. 6:18. Why is this the ultimate weapon? Can anyone recite Dr. Jerry Falwell, Sr.’s, favorite saying on prayer? Why is it true?
  • Read Phil. 4:6 and Col. 4:2. What is critical about the attitude of being in constant communication with the Father?

 

Keep the Faith and Live your Life with No Regrets

Faithfulness in the work

  • Read 2 Tim. 2:6-7. Why does Paul switch his example here? What are some lessons we can learn from the farmer? How does a farmer live his life?
  • Read 1 Cor. 3:7-8. How much control does the farmer have, other than sowing and reaping? How should we be looking to God for the same help in our lives?
  • Read 2 Tim. 3:13-15. How do we see this happening today? According to verse 14, what are we to do? What causes some to throw up their hands and quit?

Faithfulness to the Word

  • Read 2 Tim. 4:2-4. Who were Paul’s instructions meant for? Read Matt. 28:19-20. Were Jesus’ words meant only for the apostles? Do we take them seriously?
  • What were the action words Paul used in 2 Tim. 4:2? How can you be prepared?

Finish Strong and Finish your Race with No Reserves

Stay Alert

  • Read 2 Tim. 4:5. How had Paul done what he is now telling Timothy to do? When you’re exhausted, what are some techniques you use to get a fresh wind?
  • Charles gave the statistic that only 46% of people in any given situation are engaged with the speaker. Think classrooms, congregations, conversations; is this you? How can you change your mental gears to stay completely focused?

Stay the Course

  • If you had an example in the opening when your strength was giving out, what did you do to finish the course? Have you ever concentrated on taking just the next step? Did you eventually finish? How is that like our Christian walk?
  • Read John 6:66-69. We recently read this passage. How is it so important in the context of finishing strong, so that we may focus on the reward of eternal life?

 

Close

How many people have you had for friends who have deserted their Christian walk and turned away from God? It seems many people do not have the frame of mind that we find in Job 2:10b when he spoke to his wife, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” Trials are not always from God, as Job’s were, but most would feel that “if He’s God, then He could have prevented this.” Many people believe that if life goes “south,” He doesn’t love them.

Trust is always so very important! Think back over your life, and you’ll no doubt see times when you felt betrayed by God. Yet often, though it make take years, you can see what He was doing, or possibly what He needed you to learn, or—if you came through with flying colors—what new level of faith you found yourself living. An English poet from the late 1800s wrote, “Ah! Must—Designer Infinite—ah! Must Thou char [burn] the wood ‘ere Thou canst limn [draw] with it?” Sometimes, that is exactly where we find ourselves.

In the end, we have to stand with Peter, as we read in John 6 above: if you give up, as others do, where will you go? Who else has the words of eternal life? And what if time passes and you don’t return? Will Hell be worth the life you turned from? Remember the way we WIN. When life is tough when you don’t know what to do, where to go, how to keep on going, What’s Important Now? Just think about what you should do and take that next step. Matthew 10:38 says, “And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” Carry your cross one step at a time, and you’ll make it to the Finish Line.

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