Confidence for Life and Death

2 Timothy 4:6–8 (ESV)

6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

In our passage that we have read today Paul is writing to his protege, Timothy, knowing that the end of his life is near.

“Departure” = loosening

term sometimes used for ships as they pull up anchor

Paul is essentially saying, “It is time for me to pull up anchor on this earth and set sail toward eternity.”

Paul then summarizes his life in a satisfactory, though not arrogant, way.

One might even say Paul displays a confidence in both life and death.

Paul notes three things that give him confidence in life and death:

He has fought the good fight

“Fight” might be better translated as “struggle”

It’s more of the image of wrestling than brawling.

Life is not always easy, is it? Doesn’t life seem like a struggle sometimes?

Whether it’s in the context of relationships, finances, or health, we all face difficulties in life. Paul was no exception.

Throughout the Scriptures, we learn that Paul had been threatened, kidnapped, arrested, interrogated, falsely accused, beaten, imprisoned, ridiculed, shipwrecked, and if that wasn’t enough bitten by a poisonous snake.

Paul’s life was by no means easy or comfortable.

Yet through all of this Paul calls the struggle “good.”

Why is this? Because Paul understood his efforts to be purposeful. He used whatever time, energy, and resources he had, in whatever circumstance, location, or season of life, not for his own desires or glory, but for God’s glory.

How do I know? Paul said so:

1 Corinthians 9:25–26 (ESV)

25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.

Matthew 6:19–21 (ESV)

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth . . . 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, . . . 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

It is hard to know where Phyllis the person began and where Phyllis the teacher ended. They were sort of one and the same. Just like it was hard to know if Phyllis was teaching about educational principles or biblical ones.

Phyllis saw her gifts, vocation, and seasons of life as ways to serve God for his glory.

(When asked if she would be willing to be on leadership teams, her response was that she wanted to be wherever God could use her.)

Even those struggles that were out of Paul’s control he still used for God’s glory and so it redeems his troubles into a good struggle.

What are YOU working for? What do YOU spend the majority of your time, energy, and resources on?

2. He has finished the race

I love how Paul says he “finished” the race - not that he won the race.

I don’t know how fast Paul was (I’m not sure if Pharisees had foot races), but it seems his focus was not on beating others: rather, it was on finishing well.

ILLUST - Ironman competition - triathlon consisting of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a marathon 26.22-mile run completed in that order, a total of 140.6 miles. Goal of this competition is really and simply to finish!

“Race” = course - less focused on the competition and more focused on the path laid out.

God had a course for Paul’s life, (just like God has a course for your life as well) and Paul was not interested in making his “own” path; instead, he wanted to faithfully complete God’s path

Acts 20:24 (ESV)

24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Also like Paul, you and I have to make a choice - whether we will pursue our own path in life - one that we “hope” will lead to fulfillment, meaning, purpose, or we can choose to follow God’s course for our life, knowing we can run through this life and into the next with confidence that, though there may be struggles, it will be fulfilling and meaningful.

The best way to complete a race is to keep taking steps. Each choice we make is a step on the course of our life.

I have often known Phyllis to pray over decisions she needed to make as she allowed the Holy Spirit to lead her through the course of her life.

3. He has kept the faith

The third reason Paul has confidence in life and death is because he has “kept the faith.”

Paul did not have confidence in life and death because he had ‘A’ faith or because he was religious.

Paul had confidence in life and at the end of his life because he knows he has kept THE faith.

The faith that Paul is keeping is the gospel:

The understanding that you and I have been created by God to be in in close relationship with God.

But because of the sin which is in the world around us, and because of the rebellion which is INSIDE us as we desire to chart our own course, we are then resisting living life the way we were made to, running a course we hope will find us fulfilment in this life and sure to find us judgment when we die.

This gospel is then the active trust that though we cannot through our best moral efforts or religious affiliation repair our relationship with God, God so loved us even in our rebellion that he sent His Son Jesus, as a great exchange - He would live a perfect life and give us the relationship with God and He would take our sin and taste God’s judgment on the cross.

If you will simply trust in this reality and believe that God raised Jesus from the dead to show this faith to be real, you will have the same confidence as Paul (and as Phyllis) in both life and in death.

Paul had once kept ‘A’ faith but then counted it as loss compared to THE faith in Christ Jesus:

Philippians 3:7–8 (ESV)

7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

I have stood with many grieving families who claim to have “never expected this to happen,” and there is a marked difference between those who finish life with confidence and those who don’t.

The difference does not come in how or when they die but in how they LIVE - not by moral behavior, but by active belief evidenced by fighting at good fight - submitting all of the aspects of life for God’s purpose, and by walking in step with the Spirit because of an active faith in Jesus and what he has done.

How will we feel when the day of our “loosening” from this earth has come?

When the anchor has been loosed from this life, where will you be heading?

Do you have confidence to live and to die?

Philippians 1:21 (ESV)

21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

For Phyllis, living was about Jesus, and while we experience losing her, she is experiencing nothing but gain.