Fight to the Finish

I. Introduction

This morning as we come to a close here in 2019 we are going to be setting out on a new journey to lead us into 2020. As I began to think about this upcoming year, I couldn’t help but to think about the thought of 20/20 vision. I mean, anytime you hear that phrase 20/20 you either think about vision or the ABC news broadcast that comes on on Friday nights and has for years now, right?

But as I began to think about this sermon today and how it is the last Sunday of the year, I began to ponder on what we as Church should focus on in 2020. And at first, I began to look up words like rest, restore and complete trying to find something that I felt like God wanted me to preach on for this last Sunday but it wasn’t until I typed in the word “finish” that I knew I had found what God was leading me to!

When I began to look at all the verses where the word “finished” was used, there were two verses that jumped out to me and as I began to ponder on them there was a great commonality that I found in the two. The first verse that I came to was...

(KJV) — I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.

And then I came to our text before us today in where Paul tells Timothy...

— I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

Now, in order to see the commonality here, you have to know the background of these two passages. In , Jesus has just finished supper with His disciples and He is telling them of things that are about to happen to Him and things that will also come to happen to them after He’s gone.

And then, He looks up to heaven here in and has what has to be one of greatest glimpses of who Jesus really was in all the Bible. He begins to pray to His Father in heaven and for just a moment here just opens up about missing His eternal home and tells His Father, “Father I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.” Then Jesus goes on to say in verse 5, “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.”

He in essence is saying here, “I’ve done what you asked me to do. I’ve completed the mission and now I’m ready to come home! I’m ready to get back to how things were before this world was even formed!”

And then, right after this, Chapter 18 opens with Judas and his band of unbelievers coming to arrest Jesus and take Him to Pilot’s hall for questioning and as we all know, scourging, mocking, beating and ultimately the crucifixion was to follow.

The thing I want you to keep in mind out of all that though is the fact that Jesus knew His time was over and He makes the statement, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”

Now, let’s jump forward to the text before us here today. We have Paul who is telling young Timothy, “I fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:”

To understand the setting here you need to know that Paul is actually penning this letter from a Roman prison cell. This letter to Timothy would be the last letter Paul ever wrote. It is believed that Paul wrote this letter to Timothy in A.D. 67 and was martyred either the end of that same year or the spring of A.D. 68. Either way, Paul knew that His time was at hand and that any day could be his last!

It wouldn’t even surprise me if he didn’t pass this letter off to Dr. Luke as they were walking him to the chopping block to be beheaded!

Now, in both instances Jesus and Paul both knew that this was the end and they both make similar comments, Jesus saying, “I have finished the work” and Paul saying, “I have finished my course.”

Now, this is the thought that God gave me…it’s not time to rest, it’s not time get lax, it’s not time to take a breather but rather it’s time to get busy! The fields are white with harvest and God is looking for some workers in the field!

It’s not time to slack off, let up or quit but rather we must “Stay the Course” for our work is not finished! Our race is not complete! Instead, we are somewhere right in the middle of our marathon! We have work to do Church and not just any work but a good work, a great work, a gospel work, Amen!

And so our foc

So, with that being said, we’re going to end 2019 and begin 2020 with a series entitled “Staying the Course” and we’re going to look at a message today entitled “Fighting to the Finish!”

(KJV) Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

If New Home Missionary Baptist Church is going to be successful in 2020 and the years beyond in reaching people for Christ, then we must determine in our hearts that we are going to Fight to the Finish! Not until next year or the year after or the year after that but rather until one of two things happen…we go to be with the Lord or the Lord calls us home! Amen!

II. We must Fight

“I have fought a good fight”

Paul begins by saying, “I have fought a good fight.” Listen this morning friend, whether your here and saved or here and lost what you both need to understand is that this world we call earth is a battleground and we are all in the enemies cross hairs!

This reality was all to real to Paul! At every turn the snares of Satan were trying to stop him but you know what he did…he stayed the course, Amen! Every time Satan sent a snare to stop Paul or end his life it only strengthened him and his ministry because he didn’t know what the word quit meant!

John Phillips — Paul had practiced what he preached. He had waged war day and night against all of the power of the enemy. Now he was a battle-scarred prisoner of war; but even so, the Devil did not know what to do with him. If Satan turned Paul loose, he would turn the world upside down. If Satan locked Paul up in prison, he would win his jailers to Christ, engage in prayer that would shake the Devil's strongholds to their foundation, and write deathless letters that would arm multitudes of believers in ages yet unborn to fight as the apostle had fought. If Satan killed Paul, he would simply be promoted to glory, where he longed to be.

You see Church, Paul understood that the battle had already been won on Calvary and whether he lived or died he was a winner either way! Amen! And what that enabled Paul to do was to fight without fear! Listen friend, when you can fight without the fear of losing it adds a whole new perspective to the battle at hand!

Paul said in — For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's.

Paul said, “whether I live or whether I die I’m a winner either way!”

Then he said in — For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

And what that enabled Paul to do was fight without fear! When your not scared of something your able to put more of yourself into it right? Paul left it all on this field we call earth!

Listen friend, when your not scared of something, you’re willing to put a little more of yourself into it right? Paul left everything he had on this battlefield we call earth! Once he came to the saving knowledge of Christ he gave God 110%!

Once he came to the saving knowledge of Christ he gave God 110%! What are you giving God this morning? At what percentage of this race we call life are you running at for God?

What are you giving God this morning? At what percentage of this race we call life are you running at for God? Paul said, “I fought a good fight” and if we are going to be successful for Christ, we too must fight a good fight!

Who are we fighting against you ask?

A. The Saved

For the saved this morning, the Bible says in...

— 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

We’re fighting first and foremost against the devil and his minions!

— Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary (opponent, enemy) the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

And if that weren’t enough, we not only have the fight without but the fight within!

And if that weren’t enough, we not only have the fight without but the fight within! Paul said in...

— 12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

— Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

— Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

That word “mortify” means “to slay or deprive of power.”

You see, when we come to know Jesus as Lord and Savior we become new creatures in Christ Jesus but sometimes that old man, our flesh, still wants to have control and therefore, there is always a constant battle going on not only on the outside but also on the inside! Paul said it like this in...

— 14 For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 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 is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

You see, we are constantly at war with our old nature trying to keep it subdued and the first instance when you decide to stop keeping a check on him guess what’s going to happen? He’s gonna come out before you even know it!

So, for the born again believers this morning, in order to Stay the Course We must Fight the good fight!

The Lost

Now, to the lost. If you are sitting here and lost or watching online and lost, what you need to know is that your in a fight and don’t even know it! You see, the devil has you blinded from the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ and your on a one way street headed straight for hell!

You say, “well I don’t feel like I’m in a fight.” That’s because the devil has you right where he wants you! As long as your headed to hell on your own he ain’t going to bother you! His only job when it comes to you is to try and keep you blinded from the very fact that your lost!

The Bible says in...

— 3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

You see if you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then the devil has you right where he wants you for the Bible says in:

— He that believeth on him (speaking of Jesus) is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

You see friend, it isn’t the fact that you’ve done anything wrong, it’s the fact that you haven’t done anything at all! In order to be saved you must be born again! Jesus told Nicodemus in:

& 5 — 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again (from above), he cannot see the kingdom of God. 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

So, if you’ve never been born again by believing upon Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, then friend the devil has you blinded and right where he wants you! But you see, there’s a little word called repent in the Bible and that word means to literally turn around and go the other way.

If you’re here and lost, what I want you to know is that you don’t have to continue down that road this morning that leads to death, doom and destruction! You have the option of turning around and heading towards Jesus! And if you will do that, the Bible says in...

— 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

The Bible goes on to say in...

— There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

The Bible says here for all who have put their trust in Jesus and walk after His ways, there will be no condemnation! It doesn’t say there may be a little or some but dear friend it says there will be NO CONDEMNATION! None whatsoever! And do you know what that means?

It means that if you have trusted in Christ you have won! The battle is yours! Now go and fight the good fight without fear!

So we see that Staying the Course means that We must Fight. Not only must We Fight but We must Finish!

We must Finish

“I have finished my course”

When Paul says, “I have finished my course” the idea behind the thought is one of a runner who runs on a prescribed course and finishes it. When Paul met Jesus on the Damascus road that day his life would forever be changed. His course was no longer the one he wanted to run but rather the one Christ wanted him to run. His life was now hid with Christ!

What was Paul’s course you ask?

— 22 And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: 23 Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. 24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

His job was to spread the gospel of the grace of God and I want you to know that grace he was talking about had a name and His name was Jesus!

His job was to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to as many people as possible and dear friend that’s exactly what he did with every ounce of his being! He told the Corinthians in...

(NLT2) — Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!

As I was thinking on all this and studying it and found out that this was the last letter he ever wrote, I began to think how wonderful of a thought to think that maybe as he was being walked by the Roman guards to his execution he took this letter out of his pocket and handed it to his dear friend Luke to deliver to Timothy.

Paul spent every minute he had up until his very last day no doubt telling the people around him about the grace of God shed upon mankind through the Lord Jesus Christ!

He finished his race and if we are to make a difference in this world for Christ in 2020 We Must Finish our race also! Paul encouraged the Galatians Chapter 6 Verse 9 by saying...

And here’s the thing Church, it wasn’t just Paul’s course to tell people about Jesus but it’s every born again believers course! Sadly many born again believers have never told the first person about Jesus. They can’t say they’ve finished their course because they’ve never even began it!

— And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

You see it wasn’t just Paul’s job to tell people about Jesus. It’s our job

And then he told the Corinthians in...

And lastly, Paul says

— Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

MacArthur — In 490 b.c., the Athenians won a crucial and decisive battle over the forces of King Darius I of Persia on a plain near the small Greek coastal village of Marathon. One of the Greek soldiers ran nonstop from the battlefield to Athens to carry the news of victory. But he ran with such unreserved effort that he fell dead at the feet of those to whom he delivered the message. The marathon races that are so popular today are named for that battlefield. They are also a tribute to that soldier, the length of the run being based on the approximate distance (just over 26 miles) he ran in his last effort for his country.

Just as this soldier ran without holding anything back to deliver his countries message of victory, we too should run our race without holding anything back to deliver our coming countries message of victory!

Just as this soldier gave everything he had to deliver this message for his country, we too should give everything we have to deliver the message that a Savior was born for our country to come for we are but pilgrims traveling through

We must Fight and We must Finish and we can do both of these if we will do what Paul says last.

We must remain Faithful

“I have kept the Faith”

Paul says, “I have kept the faith.” Do you think for one second that Paul could have accomplished all the things he did if it hadn’t of been for his faith?

The man traveled over 10,000 miles by foot and sea through what then was 7 or 8 different countries planting somewhere around 14 churches and writing 14 different epistles in the New Testament! During this time he was imprisoned, beaten, stoned and shipwrecked multiple times!

Somehow he still found time to stand before multitudes of people, kings and dignitaries alike and share what God had done for him and what God could do for them if they would believe!

He never once wavered! What God had committed to Paul, Paul committed back to God! He was the epitome of...

— 5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

His faith was everything to him and He believed in God with all his heart and that my friend is what enabled Paul to keep on fighting and to finish his course with dignity!

Paul gave God everything he had and God used him in many, mighty different ways.

I want to leave you with this…if we will get serious about fighting the enemy, finishing strong and remaining faithful to God, the sky is the limit as to what God can do with this Church in 2020.

In one week

If we will stay the course and be faithful to Him, He has promised us in His word that He will be faithful to us!