Say It Out Loud – Keep The Faith is the last little bit of advice from an old pastor to a young one. Paul was about see his Lord. Timothy has his whole ministry ahead of him.
Preach The Word
Consider verse 2, he tells Timothy to, “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season.” Preach the Word. He wanted Timothy to take every single opportunity to share that Word before it was too late, because for Paul it was just about too late. In that Roman jail, he knew he was about to die. 6For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. He talks about the time of his “departure,” literally an “untying,” like a ship released from the moorings, ready to set sail. Paul was waiting for what was likely to be a pretty gruesome death, probably a beheading. But for Paul, it was a trip to look forward to, a going home, being freed from all the problems of this life.
As Paul looks back on his life, notice what he sees. He compares his last days to the drink offering. Understand a drink offering was the concluding act of a worshipper at the temple in offering a sacrifice. Paul saw his life as one of sacrifice for God and now it was coming to a close. Look at verse 7. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. He declares that he fought the good fight. He ran the whole course God had laid out for him. He guarded the faith. In fact he was in prison because he would not let his testimony of the gospel be tainted. He fulfilled his purpose.
Look Back On Life
Is that what you see when you look back on your life? Are you living up to your purpose? For me, all too often, I see missed connections. I see plenty of fights that wouldn’t be described as so good. I see those days when every other path looked more appealing than the course God had laid out for me.
You know those missed connections too, don’t you, when you acted like the friendship was more important than your faith, the sports more important than your Savior, the sleep more desirable than sanctification, when popularity was more important to you than “preaching the Word, being prepared in season and out of season; correcting, rebuking, and encouraging,” when your patience wasn’t so great and you didn’t care quite so much for instruction?
First the cross…
For that, what should be in store for you is punishment. Our “departure” should be away from the presence of God forever. But look at what Paul sees when he looks forward (verse 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.”
Want to hear more? Watch this week’s message from 2 Timothy 4, Say It Out Loud – Keep The Faith.
Book(s): 2 Timothy
Series: Say It Out Loud
Tag(s): Ministry
Speaker(s): Fred Guldberg