“THE LAST MILE OF THE WAY” - Sermon Outlines. Org



“THE LAST MILE OF THE WAY”

2 TIMOTHY 4:1-8

KEY VERSES: 2 TIMOTHY 4:6-8

INTRO: In our text we have the final testimony of an old soldier of the Cross

who is about to take his departure for his heavenly home. The

apostle Paul said in v6—“For I am now ready to be offered, and the

time of my departure is at hand.” As Paul considers his life he looks

backs with no regrets. This conviction of the apostle that he was

about to die, is urged as a reason why Timothy should be laborious

and faithful in the performance of the duties of his office. His own

work was nearly done. He was soon to be withdrawn from the earth,

and whatever benefit the world might have derived from his

experience or active exertions, it was now to be deprived of it. He was

about to leave a work which he much loved, and to which he had

devoted the vigor of his life, and he was anxious that they who were to

succeed him should carry on the work with all the energy and zeal in

their power (Albert Barnes’ Notes On The Bible).

There is something very interesting about a person’s last words: A few

hours before Dwight L. Moody died, he caught a glimpse of the glory

awaiting him. Awakening from a sleep, he said, "Earth recedes,

heaven opens before me. If this is death, it is sweet! There is no

valley here. God is calling me, and I must go!" His son who was

standing by his bedside said, "No, no father, you are dreaming."

"No," said Mr. Moody, "I am not dreaming; I have been within the

gates; I have seen the children's faces." A short time elapsed and

then, following what seemed to the family to be the death struggle, he

spoke again: "This is my triumph; this my coronation day! It is

glorious!" A person is not really ready to live until he is ready to die.

It was a dark night in Marshfield, October 24, 1852. Daniel Webster

was dying. He was ready. His physician, a very sensitive man named

Dr. Jeffries had ministered as much medicine as he could and as was

practically possible. He realized that death was near and he chose to

be a friend rather than a physician at that moment and he picked up

an old rather well worn hymn book that Webster had often sung from

and he chose to read the words of one of his favorite hymns:

"There is a fountain filled with blood

Drawn from Immanuel's veins,

And sinners plunged beneath that flood

Lose all their guilty stains."

He read every stanza, when he got to the last, Webster's lips were

moving, though no sound came:

"When this poor lisping, stammering tongue

Lies silent in the grave,

Then in a nobler, sweeter song,

I'll sing thy power to save.

And he looked at Webster, their eyes met, and Webster uttered three

final words: Amen, Amen, Amen!!” and he was gone. How different is

the broad road of the wicked. Kenneth Cober points out that the

worldly man's way of carnal desire terminates in frustration and

despair. Lord Byron abandoned himself to the pursuit of pleasure; yet

at the age of 35 he wrote: "My days are in the yellow leaf. The flowers

and fruits of love are gone. The worm, the canker, and the grief Are

mine alone." Compare those lines with the words of Adam Clarke, a

Christian saint and biblical expositor. At 84, he said, "I have passed

through the springtime of my life. I have withstood the heat of its

summer. I have culled the fruits of fall. I am even now enduring the

rigors of its winter, but at no great distance I see the approach of a

new, eternal springtime. Hallelujah!"

Someday each of us will say our last words. Let us turn our thoughts

to an old soldier’s farewell address, that of the Apostle Paul. There is

something in his words for each of us. Note with me three things:

(1) HE REMEMBERS THE PAST

2 TIMOTHY 4:7—“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my

course, I have kept the faith.”

A. He Did Not Look Back With Remorse. Many today near the end of

their lives look back with remorse over a wasted life. But Paul had no

remorse. Paul does not look back past his conversion which took place

on the road to Damascus. This is very important. Why did he not look

back and recall all those sins which as a lost man? Because:

1. He saw the Light (Acts 9:1-8). Saul, of Tarsus, who once walked in

the darkness of sin saw “the light of glorious gospel of Christ, who is

the image of God…To give the light of the knowledge of the glory of

God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 3:4,6). Since that

day Paul had never been the same. He could say without remorse,

“For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able

to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2

Timothy 1:12b).

ILLUS: Charles Swindoll in his book, Paul, A Man of Grace and Grit,

writes: For more than three decades Saul controlled his

own life. His record in Judaism ranked second to none. On

his way to make an even greater name for himself, the laser

of God’s presence stopped him in his tracks, striking him

blind. Saul and his companions feel to the ground,

stunned. For the first time in his proud, self-sustained life,

Saul found himself a desperate dependent. Not only was he

pinned to the ground, he was blind. His other senses were

on the alert, and to his amazement, he heard a voice from

say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4).

Saul, who had never been under a blazing light or heard

such a magnificent voice, answered meekly and with

respect, “Who are you, Lord?” The answer hit him like the

blow of a stun gun: “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”

There must have been several seconds of deafening silence

as Saul let in the wonder. Once that happened, he stopped

believing Jesus was dead. His rebel will was captured. His

journey reversed directions. His mind did a turnaround

that would ultimately transform him from the inside out.

That’s the essence of genuine repentance—the mind does a

turnaround. The Greek word is metanoia from the verb

metanoeo, meaning literally, “to change one’s mind.” That’s

precisely what happened to the once-proud Pharisee on the

road to Damascus. So many things within Saul’s thinking

changed—and changed completely. He changed his mind

about God, about Jesus, about the Resurrection, about

those who followed Christ…When Saul was converted, he

realized that the living Jesus, whom he had hated and

denied his entire life, was now his Savior and Lord (1).

2. His Sins were gone. All had been forgiven. What a glorious and

precious thought that when you bring your sin to Christ they will

not only be forgiven, but will be covered by the Blood, to be

remembered against you no more—EVER! Paul says of himself in

1 Timothy 1:12-15—“Who was before a blasphemer, and a

persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it

ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding

abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a

faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came

into this world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” Paul could look

back without remorse and rejoice because his sins were gone! What

glorious comfort the Scripture gives concerning the believer’s sins

not only being forgiven but forgotten. Jeremiah 31:34b says, “I will

forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Hebrews

8:12 tells us, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their

sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” And Isaiah 1:18

promises, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD:

though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though

they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

ILLUS: The Hymnwriter, N. B. Vandall wrote a song that should

reflect the joy of every forgiven Child of God. It goes like

this:

You ask why I am happy so I’ll just tell you why,

Because my sins are gone;

And when I meet the scoffers who ask me where they are,

I say, my sins are gone.

“Twas at the old time altar where God came in my heart,

and now, my sins are gone;

The Lord took full possession, the devil did depart,

I glad, my sins are gone.

When Satan comes to tempt me and tries to make me doubt,

I say, my sins are gone.

You got me into trouble, but Jesus got me out,

I’m glad my sins are gone.

I’m living now for Jesus, I’m happy night and day,

Because my sins are gone;

My souls is filled with music, with all my heart I say,

I know my sins are gone.

Chorus: They’re underneath the Blood, on the Cross of Calvary,

As far removed as darkness is from dawn;

In the sea of God’s forgetfulness, that good enough for me,

Praise God, my sins are gone.

(N. B. Vandall, All-American Church Hymnal, p. 216).

B. He Did Not Look Back With Revenge. Paul did not look back on all

the problems, the pain and the bad things that people had caused in

his life. Paul, in his life, was a man who was acquainted with sorrow

and grief. In fact the Lord Jesus told Ananias in Acts 9:16—“For I

will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake.”

Paul testifies of his life in 2 Corinthians 11:24-28—“Of the Jews five

times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods,

once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have

been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of water, in perils of

robbers, in perils of mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in

perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils

among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often,

in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides

those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care

of all the churches.”

But not once in any of Paul’s letters do we see Paul seeking revenge

nor harboring bitter feelings toward anyone. A revengeful spirit leads

to bitterness. Some of the most miserable people you will ever meet

are those who have harbored resentment and revenge in their hearts

for many years! W. E. McCumber said, “The holy heart can be hurt.

But it answers injury with love and prayer and forgiveness” (2). Paul

did not seek revenge, but He was a man of prayer who exhorted us

in 1 Timothy 2:1—“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications,

prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men.” It

is to hard to hold a grudge against someone when you are praying

for them!

C. He Did Not Look Back With Regret. He did not look back on his

failures with regret. Paul, as great as he was for God, had faults and

failures. He says of himself in Romans 7:18—“For I know that in me

(that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with

me; but how to perform that which good I find not.” Many do little for

God in the present because they live with the regrets of the past.

ILLUS: We are so good at doing things our own way. Then, when

they do not work out, we turn to God and say, "Help! Now

what do I do?" We are so foolish, for if we had read His

instructions in the first place, we wouldn't have had the

problem in the second place. "Thy Word have I hid in my

heart that I might not sin against thee." That's a powerful

thought!

The truth of the matter is that we are merely sinners saved by grace

and there will be times in our lives where we fail God terribly and face

defeat at the hands of the Wicked One. But we must keep going on

for God and not wallowing in regret!

ILLUS: An elderly lady was once asked by a young man who had

grown weary in the fight, whether he ought to give up the

struggle. "I am beaten every time," he said dolefully. "I feel I

must give up." "Did you ever notice," she replied, smiling into

the troubled face before her, "that when the Lord told the

discouraged fishermen to cast their nets again, it was right in

the same old spot where they had been fishing all night and

had caught nothing?"

Paul did not dwell on the bad things of the past. Paul said

Philippians 3:13—“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended:

but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and

reaching forth unto those things which are before.” Paul had reason to

feel guilty—he held the coats of those who stoned Stephen, the first

Christian martyr (Acts 7:57, 58). We have all done things for which

we are ashamed, and we all live in the tension of what we have been

and what we want to be. Because our hope is in Christ, however, we

can let go of the past guilt and look forward to what He will help us

become (3).

D. He Did Look Back With Remembrance. What did Paul remember

and look back on?:

1. He had been a good SOLDIER—“I have fought a good fight..”.

The figure is drawn from the Grecian games. Literally, "I have

striven a good strife." (The People’s New Testament Commentary).

Paul realized the real spiritual warfare that all Believers are in and

he says, “I have fought a good fight..”. Paul had on the whole

armor of God and he did not retreat, but kept marching forward

for the cause of Christ!

ILLUS: Newsweek (11/19/90) ran an article titled "Letters in the

Sand," a compilation of letters written by military

personnel to family and friends in the States during the

Gulf War. One was written by Marine Corporal Preston

Coffer. He told a friend, "We are talking about Marines,

not the Boy Scouts. We all joined the service knowing full

well what might be expected of us." He signed off with the

Marine motto, Semper Fi, Latin for "always faithful." The

Bible says, "Now it is required that those who have been

given a trust must prove faithful" (1 Cor. 4:2). -- Richie

Lewis in Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching

(Baker), from the editors of Leadership.

Paul was faithful unto death and so MUST we be also!

2. He had been a good STEWARD—“I Have kept the faith…”. "I

have kept my faith"; or have been faithful to my trust, as a good

steward of the mysteries of God; not concealing and keeping back

any thing that was profitable, but declaring the whole counsel of

God; and now what remained for him was the crown of

righteousness; and this he says for the comfort and

encouragement and imitation of Timothy and others (John Gill’s

Exposition of the Entire Bible). Paul says, “I have safely preserved,

as a guardian or steward, the gospel treasure committed to my

trust” (4).

3. He had been a good RUNNER—“I have finished my course..”.

The race of life set before him, his course of years; his days were

extinct, the grave was ready for him, and he for that; his last

sands were dropping, and he was just going the way of all flesh; or

else he means the course of his ministry, which he desired to

finish with joy, and was now finishing; Act_13:25 he was now got

to the end of his line, to Rome, where he was to be a martyr for

Christ (John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible). Paul had ran the

Race lawfully and loyally. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27—

“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one

receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man

that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they

do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I

therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that

beateth the air: But I keep under my body and bring it into

subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached Christ

to others, I myself should be a castaway.”

As Paul walks THE LAST MILE OF THE WAY HE REMEMBERS THE PAST, and…

(2) HE REFLECTS ON THE PRESENT

2 TIMOTHY 4:6—“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of

my departure is at hand.”

*The word reflect means “to think carefully, ponder.” (Funk & Wagnalls

Standard Desk Dictionary, Volume 2, N-Z). As Paul thinks about, reflects

on the present we notice three things:

A. HIS CONFIDENCE. “I am now ready to be offered..” Paul says. As

Paul neared the end of his life He could say with confidence that He

had been faithful to his call. That is why he faced death so calmly; he

knew a reward awaited him in heaven. Friend, let me ask you, “Is

your life preparing you for death? When death comes can you say, as

Paul, “I am now ready to be offered”? or Will you be ashamed?

ILLUS: One day when Luther was a young man, he was walking with

a friend named Alexis. Suddenly a bolt of lightning struck his

friend and killed him instantly. From that moment on a

radical change took place in Luther's life. Your life will also

change if you think seriously that one day it will end, perhaps

suddenly and soon. After that you will have to give an account

of it to God. Are you ready for it?

Paul could confidently say, “I am now ready to be offered.” Friend,

What about you? Paul had no unfinished task, no regrets, He was

prepared to die.

B. HIS CONVERTS. Paul had souls he had won to Christ that he would

meet in Heaven. He looked with anticipation to the glad reunion they

would enjoy together before the Throne of God. Paul was a soul-

winner. He preached Christ wherever he went. In good times and in

bad. Whether free or imprisoned, Paul let everyone know about his

precious Jesus! What about you, my friend, are you telling others

about the Savior’s marvelous love? Psalm 107:2 says, “Let the

redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand

of the enemy.” William Barclay said, “The final proof that a man

himself knows Christ is that he can bring others to Christ” (5). Dan

Greene said, “Witnessing is not a spare-time occupation or a once-a-

week activity. It must be a quality of life. You don’t go witnessing, you

are a witness” (6). Paul had many converts that he had won who had

gone on before and he longed to see them again face to face!

ILLUS: Are we attractive Christians? Do we give people the impression

that the most marvelous thing in the world is to be a Christian

and to have the Spirit of God within us? This is the thing to

which we are called and the way to do that is positively to

avoid grieving the Spirit, and to walk in him, to dwell in him

as he dwells in us, and to be led by him in all things. -- D.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones in Growing in the Spirit. Christianity

Today, Vol. 37, no. 2.

C. HIS CONSCIENCE. As Paul neared the end of his life, he could say,

“And here do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of

offense toward God, and toward men.” (Acts 24:16). All the old

accounts had been settled. All who had done him hurt had been

forgiven. What about you? Can you say the same? Someone has

said, "We should forgive and then forget what we have forgiven." We

should keep short accounts with God and with our fellowman. So

when we near our end we can say with Paul, “I exercise myself, to

have always a conscience void of offense toward God, and toward

men.”

As Paul walks THE LAST MILE OF THE WAY HE REMEMBERS THE PAST, HE REFLECTS ON THE PRESENT and finally…

(3) HE REJOICES AT THE FUTURE

2 TIMOTHY 4:6-8—“For I am now ready to be offered, and the time

of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have

finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is

laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the

righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only,

but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

A. THE DEPARTURE. “The time of my departure is at hand..” Paul looked

at his final approaching hour as being a “departure”. The word

departure in the Greek means literally "loosing anchor" (Jamieson,

Fausset & Brown Commentary). Already the anchor is weighed, the

ropes are slipped, and the boat is about to set sail for another shore (7).

Paul is ready to set sail for his heavenly home and He rejoices that

soon he will see his Savior face to face! Paul said earlier in Philippians

1:23—“For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart , and to

be with Christ; which is far better.” But now as Paul faces the

inevitability of his death he can say, “..I am now ready to be offered..”

The apostle faced his departure with no feeling of futility or

hopelessness or despair but with the divine assurance that his real life

was only about to begin. Just as he had faced earthly living without

fear, he faced earthly dying without fear. As the Lord Jesus had

commanded, Paul took up his own cross and never laid it down, in the

certain knowledge that “this perishable must put on the imperishable,

and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will

have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on

immortality,” he would exult with Isaiah that “Death is swallowed up in

victory,” and cry out with Hosea, “O death, where is your victory? O

death, where is your sting?”’ (1 Cor. 15:53–55; cf. Isa. 25:8; Hos.

13:14). MacArthur, J. 1995. Second Timothy. The MacArthur New Testament commentary.

Moody Press: Chicago

ILLUS: Death Frees the Soul

[A letter written to one's physical body.] 1Co_15:44.

"You and I have been together for a long time in a most

intimate and valuable relationship. Now you have grown old.

Your hearing and strength are failing. Your resistance to cold

is diminishing. You cannot climb and run as you once did. In a

word, you are running down. In a short time you will cease to

breathe and your heart will stop beating. When you can go no

further, you will be returned to the substance of which you

were made, and I shall continue on in that life where you are

not needed. A Power greater than you and I started us on this

journey together. Now I recognize that you are aware of the fact

that your journey is nearing its end, while my journey has

scarcely begun. I know this to be true, for while you are feeble,

I have never been more alive. Our separation, therefore, cannot

be one of sadness, but will be one of joy. You are weary and

want to stop. I am longing to alight from this slowing vehicle

and go on without you. Death will mean that your desire to

stop is granted, and my longing is satisfied."

B. THE DELIGHT. Death for the Christian is a home-going. Paul wrote

in 2 Corinthians 5:1,8—“For we know that if our earthly tabernacle of

this house were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not

made with hands, eternal in the heavens. We are confident, I say, and

willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the

Lord.” What a Joy it will be when we see Jesus!

ILLUS: THE HOMELAND by Myrtle Erickson

THINK…

Of stepping on shore and finding it Heaven;

Of taking hold of a hand and finding it God’s hand;

Of breathing new air and finding it celestial air;

Of feeling invigorated and finding it immortality;

Of passing from storm and temptest to an unbroken calm;

Of looking up—and finding it HOME!

When we walk THE LAST MILE OF THE WAY We have two things to

look forward to if WE belong to HIM:

1. Reunion (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

2. Reward (2 Timothy 4:8). Oliver B. Greene said, “What a day the

rewarding day for believers will be! Some of those who we expect to

receive great reward will be at the end of the line, while some of the

insignificant, humble saints who never made headlines in the newspapers—perhaps did not even get their names in the church bulletin—will receive great rewards when God passes out the trophies! God’s measuring stick does not measure like man’s; but when God measure, that measurement is right, and every believer will get from the hand of God exactly what he earns by faithful stewardship—no more, no less (8).

CLOSING: As Paul walked THE LAST MILE OF THE WAY, HE REMEMBERS

PAST, HE REFLECTS ON THE PRESENT, and HE REJOICES AT

THE FUTURE. Paul had no regrets as he faced eternity: he had

been a good soldier, a faithful runner, a faithful steward of the

treasure of the Gospel. He looked forward to receiving his reward

from the Lord. What was it that kept Paul going during more than

thirty years of toil and suffering? He loved Christ’s appearing! “The

love of Christ constains us!” (2 Cor. 5:14)…Next to losing one’s soul

and going to hell, the greatest tragedy of life would be to come to

the brink of eternity and discover we had missed God’s will and

wasted our lives on fruitless, transient things (9).

Friend, What about you as you near THE LAST MILE OF THE WAY

can you say with Paul, “…I am now ready to be offered, and the

time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have

finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up

for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge,

shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also

that love his appearing.”

NOTES: 1. Charles R. Swindoll. Paul, A Man of Grace And Grit. pp. 23-26.

2. Albert M. Wells, Jr. Inspiring Quotations-Contemporary &

Classical. p. 99.

3. Living Letters From The Life Application Bible. p. 142.

4. John R. W. Stott. The Message of 2 Timothy: Guard The Truth. p.

114.

5. Wells. p. 34.

6. Wells. p. 35.

7. Stott. P. 113.

8. Oliver B. Greene. The Epistles of Paul The Apostle to The

Thessalonians. pp. 131-132.

9. Warren W. Wiersbe. Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines On The New

Testament. p. 652.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download