What Will Be Written On Your Tombstone?
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· 69 viewsYou are writing your epitaph everyday. Will yours honor the Lord?
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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, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.
Introduction: I wonder if you have ever given any thought to the words that might appear on your tombstone. I know it is a bit morbid to think about that.
I saw several humorous ones on the internet as I was preparing for the message.
“Raised four beautiful daughters with one bathroom and still there was love.”
“I told you I was sick.”
Another had a picture of the deceased talking on a cell phone and the epitaph read, “Jesus called and kim answered.”
On the famous Merv Griffin’s tombstone, it reads, “I will not be right back after this message.”
Another one read prophetically, “I knew this would happen.”
Well, we all know that this will happen one day - that we have an appointment with eternity. The most important question is whether we know that we will go to heaven when we die. The second most important question is what will be written on my tombstone.
Our scripture today could have been engraved on Paul’s tombstone. It was a summation of a life well lived for Christ. Let’s take time to examine it today.
His Readiness to Depart (v. 6)
His Readiness to Depart (v. 6)
Very likely, this was the last letter that Paul wrote before he was martyred for his faith. We know he was writing from prison, likely during his second imprisonment.
He knew that his ministry was winding down so he took the time to reach out to his son in the faith, Timothy.
His impending death was not something that he feared, but something that he embraced. We know that from what he wrote here in these verses.
First, he spoke of his life being poured out as a drink offering to the Lord.
It was the custom among both pagans and Jews to offer such an offering in worship. Wine would be poured out of a cup onto the sacrifice that had been offered on the altar.
Paul was using this image to signify that he would be put to death - that he would pour out his blood - for the cause of Christ.
J.B. Phillips translates this verse like this, “As for me, I feel that the last drops of my life are being poured out for God.”
Even though he was going to die at the hands of Rome, he saw his death as a willing sacrifice for God.
He had the assurance of heaven to look forward to, why would he need to fear death?
When you have the assurance of eternity in heaven in your life, you don’t need to fear man. Death is nothing more than the gateway to Glory!
I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
We don’t have a hope so faith…we have a know so faith! We know so because Christ made it so that we could know so.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Paul said the time of his departure was at hand.
The word departure has several meanings...
It can mean, “to hoist anchor and set sail.”
It can also mean “to take down a tent.” This parallels the passage in 2nd Corinthians 5 where Paul compares living here in our earthly bodies to living in a tent.
Departure can also mean, “loosing a prisioner” or “the unyoking of an ox.”
Illus. Matthew Henry notes “Death to a good man is his release from the imprisonment of this world and his departure to the enjoyments of another world; he does not cease to be, but is only removed from one world to another".
As we grow older in the faith, this world should begin to look less and less attractive to us.
I have traveled a good bit in my ministry over the years. I have stayed in some nice hotels and I have stayed in some zero star hotels. No matter how many of them promise the comforts of home, none of them can completely deliver. In fact, they make you long for home even more.
This earth not my home. Neither is it the home of any heaven bound saint.
Illus. Haddon Robertson shares the story of an old man and his grandson who were sitting on a dock late one afternoon. The two chatted about everything, it seemed—why water is wet, why seasons change, why girls hate worms, what life is like. Finally the boy looked up and asked, "Grandpa, does anybody ever see God?" "Son," said the old man as he looked across the still waters of the lake, "it's getting so now I hardly see anything else."
I must ask this question because life is unsure and tomorrow is never guaranteed to anyone… Would you be ready to depart this life tomorrow if something happened to you? Would you have complete assurance of heaven like Paul?
I’m reminded of the parable of the rich fool that Jesus told.
And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’
He Reviewed His Dash (v. 7)
He Reviewed His Dash (v. 7)
What do I mean by the dash?
Illus. There’ll be two dates on your tombstone and all your friends will read ’em but all that’s gonna matter is that little dash between ’em. - Kevin Welch
It’s not your date of birth or your time of death that matters, it is the dash in between those two dates.
He gives us three statements here that summarize his dash.
“I have fought the good fight.”
The Christian life is much like an athletic contest. Many times Paul used this analogy in scripture. The athlete competes not only against other opponents but against their own bodies striving intensely to overcome their weaknesses and short comings. Their goal is to run in such a way as to obtain the prize.
It truly is a spiritual struggle to live a life that is pleasing to Christ. We do so not to obtain salvation, but because we have obtained salvation.
Are they servants of Christ? I’m talking like a madman—I’m a better one: with far more labors, many more imprisonments, far worse beatings, many times near death. Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers; toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing. Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my concern for all the churches.
I doubt any of is will have to endure the things that Paul did. However, we have our own set of trials ands circumstances working against us seeking to bring us down.
You don’t have to be at the end of you life in order to reflect back and ask, “Am I fighting the good fight for Jesus?” Am I leaving it all on the floor for him?
A few years back, we all used to attend karate classes in Raleigh. The Sensei used to challenge us to bring all we got and leave it on the floor. Bring you all for Jesus and leave it on the floor!
“I have finished the race.”
Not every person who starts the race will finish it. Some will drop out. Some will be taken out by injuries. Some will go off course. Some don’t have the endurance.
The Christian life is not a sprint, it is a marathon. Will you go the distance?
Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Anything that distracts us must be laid aside so that we might freely compete. What is the sin that clings so closely to us? It is the sin of unbelief.
God had laid out a course for Paul. He looked back and saw that he had successfully completed the course that God had laid out for him.
He has laid out a course for you and I. Each course is different. You don’t run the same track as I run, but we all have a track. What matters is that we complete the course.
“I have kept the faith.”
There are two possible meanings here...
Paul had faithfully guarded and passed on the faith that he had been entrusted with.
Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share, I found it necessary to write, appealing to you to contend for the faith that was delivered to the saints once for all.
Or it could simply mean that Paul had been faithful in completing the task that God had given him on earth.
I think both are true but the most likely intended meaning is that he had been faithful until the end.
As you reflect back on the lives of those who have passed on from this life, you can see their faithfulness. Let it inspire your own journey.
His Rewards Had Been Determined (v. 8)
His Rewards Had Been Determined (v. 8)
Paul knew that there was a crown waiting for him in glory because of his faithful service.
The word for crown here is “stephanos” which is the victors crown. It was essentially a trophy which recognized that Paul had competed according to the rules and had won the victory.
In the olympic games, the “stephanos” was a crown made of leaves and ivy. Eventually, it would die.
The crown that he would receive in glory would not fade or fail. It was incorruptible.
There are 5 crowns spoken of in scripture that believes can obtain.
The Crown of Righteousness - for those who have loved his appearing.
The Crown of Life - The martyrs crown for those who endure persecution.
The Crown of Exultation - A.K.A. the soul-winners crown.
The Imperishable Crown - for those who live the Christian life with purity and self control.
The Crown of Glory - For those who lead the church with humility.
When will the believer receive these rewards?
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may be repaid for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.
The judgement seat of Christ is the “bema” in Greek. It referred to an elevated seat where the judge of a contest sat. After the contest, the winners would assemble before the judge and receive their rewards or crowns.
If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one’s work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire; the fire will test the quality of each one’s work. If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved—but only as through fire.
So our works will be judged to determine what our rewards will be. If there are works done with poor motives - things built on wood, hay, and stubble, then those will be burned up. Those works done with proper motives - to glorify Christ - they will be preserved.
Should a believer strive for awards? Some might saw that heaven would be reward enough. Well, those rewards are not for us…they are to be used in our worship of Christ.
the twenty-four elders fall down before the one seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne and say, Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because you have created all things, and by your will they exist and were created.
Paul’s advice to us would be as follows...
Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize.