A Living Legacy
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Introduction:
I want to speak to you very briefly tonight on the word legacy.
Legacy is a 15th century word and it is something that you pass down.
You may pass down to your children money, guns, books, houses or lands; but the most important thing that you hand to them is a godly legacy.
If the only legacy we have are possessions, then that is a sad legacy indeed.
The Apostle Paul speaks of the legacy he wanted to leave young Timothy, his son in the faith, and some words of encouragement.
My focus is not on a legacy passed on at death, but a living legacy for now and that will be left behind.
I will tell you something that I will remind you of as we go through this text and that is: “We will all depart, but our legacies are those things by which we are remembered.”
Legacies are not forgotten.
And because they are not forgotten, if we have lived a godly life we should never think that any part of our life is a waste, in God’s service we are never used up and of no good to anyone, because our legacies are things that we are remembered and are never forgotten.
We can all benefit by a reflection of the legacy that we are living; but since this is for the birthday people, I want to take a minute and speak about their legacy; a legacy that will never end.
And the Apostle Paul allows me to do that in this text.
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
I. A Legacy of Fighting (vs. 7a)
I. A Legacy of Fighting (vs. 7a)
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness;
The word that the Apostle uses here to describe his legacy is a very rich word.
It is the word “ἀγωνίζομαι” from where we get our English word “Agony.”
Paul summed up his life as a life of fighting or struggling.
Struggling for the souls of men, struggling for the truth of the Word of God.
The Apostle uses the Perfect, Indicative here to indicate an action that was completed in the past and has results up to the present time.
Paul’s struggle began when he was struck down by the Lord Jesus Christ in and the result of that struggle continue right up to this time and those results will continue until we go to be with the Lord.
Paul’s was a life that breathed every breath and loved every moment in service of the Lord.
Paul had no regrets, no sense of unfulfillment or incompleteness.
The Faithful and productive Christian life is nothing than a fierce and relentless struggle against the powers of darkness.
There is a constant battle, in the Christian life, over the flesh and his own sin.
The legacy of my Father and Mother is the legacy of fighting.
No matter what happens in life, legacies never end.
Since 1991, there has been a fight for truth and for the souls of men, and that legacy will be a legacy that never ends.
People will forget the details of sermons preached, how many hospital visits that are made and how many late night visits to a home to help on a problem; but one thing that will never be lost or forgotten will be the legacy of a life that is willing to fight for the cause of Christ.
To agonize over people and the truth, that is a great legacy of fighting.
But it is not only a Legacy of Fighting.
II. A Legacy of Finishing (vs. 7b)
II. A Legacy of Finishing (vs. 7b)
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
“Finished” is the word “τελέω” and it means to bring something to an end, to carry something out, to fulfill.
Paul left a legacy of finished with completeness that race the Lord had for him.
That is a legacy that lives well beyond our years.
People may forget a lot of things about us, but the legacy of finishing our race to completeness is a legacy that will not be forgotten.
From the time of our spiritual birth until the time that the Lord calls us into His divine presence, that is our divine mission.
Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
“Course” is the Greek word “δρόμος” and literally refers to running a race and metaphorically was used of fulfilling a career, occupation, or military service.
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.
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Since the writer of Hebrews distinguishes “weight” or “encumbrances” from sin, they obviously are not the same thing.
Weights or encumbrances are; therefore, not sinful in themselves, sometimes even worthwhile.
The danger comes when they hinder our service to Christ.
They weigh us down and become a distraction.
They move our focus from the Lord’s work to something else, and they sap energy that should be dedicated directly to Christ.
We all are accountable for abandoning the weights and sins and living a legacy of patience and endurance for our entire race.
Paul had a legacy of Fighting and Finishing.
III. A Legacy of Following (vs. 7c)
III. A Legacy of Following (vs. 7c)
I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:
“Keep” is “τηρέω” and means “to keep watch over”, “to maintain”, “to keep in a certain state”.
All of these word “Fight”, “Finish”, and “Following” are all perfect tense verbs.
Meaning that they are actions completed in the past and having results into the present.
The Apostle from the moment of his conversion made certain decisions; and the decisions were to fight, finish and follow.
And that decision made his present life all the more real to people.
May it never be said of us that we didn’t follow the Saviour and keep the faith until the Lord calls us home.
As a Pastor, you do not remember every sermon you preached, and neither do the people that heard them; but your legacy of fighting, finishing and following will never be forgotten.
Live a legacy every day that you want your loved ones and those you come in contact with to use as an example of Fighting, Finishing and Following!