He Finished his Course
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Introduction:
Introduction:
-One of the hardest realities that we face as Christians or even as unbelievers is God’s timing and his choices.
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;
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-To be quite honest that scripture is really a tough pill to swallow. What this tells us is that Death, Life, Sickness, Disease, Affliction, Trouble and the future are all under the direct authority of God.
-We live on the other side of God’s choices, meaning he does not consult us when he makes a decision. And to be honest with you that can be hard to deal with.
-The thing that Perplex me about our dear brother Minister Barnes is that I wanted to see him and his bride get old together sipping tea on the front porch talking about the fine-tuning of cosmos, walking his daughters down the aisle, holding his first grandchild, and watch him develop as a minister of the Gospel.
-It seems as if he got a second wind when he came to MBC he told me Pastor plug me in wherever you need me. I want to be used. Pastor’s long for people with this type of attitude. Then out of the blue his health concerns start to creep back up into his life........You are left with this question:
Lord are you sure about this one?? I think you got the timing wrong on this one!
-I think a little reflection on the Life of Minister Barnes may give us some insight and understanding about his journey home.
1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 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 course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future 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.
I. Lee’s Call
I. Lee’s Call
I. Lee’s Call
I. Lee’s Call
1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.
2 Tim 4:
(v.1) In this text Paul is giving Timothy his ministry marching orders. He is Commissioning Timothy for the undertaking of his office.
-We do a similar thing in the US when a President takes the Oath of Office “"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."[2]
-This is serious undertaking. In the Case of the US you ultimately are bound to act according to the constitution, but the undertaking the Minister Lee took it was not Congress, the American People, or the Constitution. It was to Jesus Christ.
(v.1) “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus” You see I believe Minister Barnes read this scripture, because he live his life like a person who understood that his life was under the evaluation of The King of King and Lord of Lords. He live as if he was accountable to someone that was bigger than himself
(v.1) “Who is to judge the living and the dead” Paul tells Timothy you are accountable not so much to me but to the God who is going to judge or put under a microscope all of creation. There will be a Employee Review. There is coming a time when we will have to sit down next to the boss to give an account.
-You can tell when you watch certain people who claim to be christian if they really believe this truth. I have been around Minister Barnes enough to let you know that he took this reality very serious. He lived in light of this Employee Review. He understood the magnitude of this call
-One might say Minister Barnes just became a Minister in September of 2018 how did he fulfill his ministry??? Let me tell you something for the most part anyone who has been truly called was preaching & teaching long before he made it official. In the words of my wife “can we conversation without you preaching” Minister Barnes has been preaching & teaching long before it became official.
2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.
1 Timothy 4
-(v.2) Here is the Oath of office that Timothy took “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season;” Preach the word---Not your opinion, Not the local paper, Not readers’ digest, and not the political section of the Wall Street Journal. Preach the only book “that is sharper than any two edged sword”
-(v.2) “be ready in season and out of season” Paul tells Timothy be ready at the drop of a dime to speak a word of truth from the book when folks want a word of encouragement, or when folks do not want to hear. To have this type readiness Paul is telling Timothy you have to know the word....I believe Minister Barnes might have read this passage, because he had a sound grasp of the word of God. I had a chance to go Minister Barnes house and look at some of his book. There was not any Dr. Suess books in there; He was a student of the Word.
-(v.2) “reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” reprove-expose, rebuke-call it out, exhort—Encourage with great patience and instruction.
During one our Lunches Minister Barnes talked to me about how when he was in college he was taking his bible knowledge and thumping people over the head with it. And he then reflected on how God taught him humility in his knowledge and that it was more important to lovingly and patiently win someone over to Christ rather than destroy them in a biblical argument.
Transition Statement-This Truth about Lee leads me into my second point.
II. Lee’s Passion
II. Lee’s Passion
2 Timothy 4:3-4
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
(v.3) Paul gives Timothy a snapshot of the direction that the world is going too. There will be time when folks will not want to hear the word. But would prefer to “have their ears tickled” we would say “you just looking for people to tell you what you want to hear” Paul tells Timothy people will increasing look for those who tickle ears. I believe Minister Barnes might have read this passage. One thing you can say about him is that he was not an “ear tickler” I know this because the first lunch we had together he gave me some constructive criticism about my preaching that was true. I was mad at first until the Lord told me he was right. He wanted me to be better.
(v.4) Look at what these teachers do: “they turn people away from truth aside to myths(fables)” Fables---You those stories about this man healing the sick, exorcising Demons, Raising the Dead they are just stories for little children. There is no real truth to the story of the Gospel. I believe Minister Barnes might have read this passage; Let me quote him directly this is something that he told me at least 10 times “Pastor we need to teach folks about Jesus, because people cannot Love someone that they have not meet” He had passion to teach folks about Our Risen Saviour. He believed the stories of the bible: Jesus was born from a virgin, Jesus lived a sinless life, Jesus healed the sick, Jesus raised the dead, Jesus saved the drug addict & prostitute. He believe it and he lived it out. These were not fables to Minister Barnes.
-I think he might have memorize this scripture:
22 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; 23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, 24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1 Corinthians 1:
Transition Statement: Lee understood his call, and he pursued his passion, but one of the most power things about his walk with Christ was:
III. Lee’s Perseverance
III. Lee’s Perseverance
III. Lee’s Perseverance
III. Lee’s Perseverance
III. Lee’s Perseverance
5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 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 course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future 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.
2 Timothy 4:
(v.5) “But You” Paul then brings it home Paul is about to make this personal for his mentee. I think he read this and determined that Paul is not just talking to Timothy, but he is also talking to me.
(v.5)
(v.5) “Be Sober” This is the opposite of an out of control drunk. He is asking Timothy to be self controlled.
(v.5) “Endure Hardship” this word means to endure physical, emotional and spiritual pain. Paul is telling Timothy your calling will lead to Hardship. But you are to “endure” you are to preserver, You are to pressed forward despite your suffering.
(v.5) Minister Lee dealt with Sickle Cell his whole life, buried his first-born son(preached the eulogy), suffered through kidney dialysis, lost jobs due to his physical condition, loss his younger brother to the same disease, and physically persevered through this last ordeal:
This is one of our last conversation via text: I am still alive and kicking. We don’t have all the answer yet, but I’ve turned the corner as far as my critical health is concerned. Hopefully I will be out of here in the next few days. I will keep you posted. For my next sermon “Do you still want me to cover OT and NT giving?” I ask because I will have some down time. And since I like to read, Can I continue to work with my existing materials?.....Despite the pain, Despite the outcome He is still studying and preparing “If you ask Lee where he strength came from He wouldn’t take credit for this” Although his body became weak he is Spiritual Giant!!!! He would tell you that his strength came from, and His name Jesus the Christ. All of Minister Barnes Hope was in the Lord!!!
(v.5) “do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” Paul tells Timothy complete your task, finished what you have been put here for.
-One of the things that perplexed me about Minister Barnes situation was that he was just licensed in September to preach the Gospel, and it seem like God had taken him before he could really do some damage for the kingdom. One day last week it became clear to me “that Minister Barnes greatest sermon was his life”
Minister Barnes can say like Paul said in (v.6-7)
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 course, I have kept the faith;
(v.6) Paul is dying in a Roman Jail. And he tells Timothy I am not getting out this time. Paul had beat death several times and realize this was it.
(v.7) Minister Barnes fought the good fight, Minister Barnes finished his course. Minister Barnes “Kept the Faith”
Use Minister Barnes Rollercoaster Illustration to transition to the Gospel
Parting Words to the Family
Call up the Funeral Home