Finishing the Race

Introduction

Zeal is something that God’s people must have in their lives; congregations are to be zealous as well -

Zeal is more than a feeling; it involves commitment, dedication, effort, work, and accountability.

Zeal is something that many people have at some point, but they quickly lose. For Christians, being zealous will require perseverance — to the end!

Read . Zeal will be required if we are going to finish the race that we have entered!

But we don’t have zeal just for the sake of having zeal. We have zeal for a purpose — zeal is what will keep us going for the very end.

Zeal involves commitment, dedication, effort, work, and accountability.

FIXED HOPE: The Living God

Paul tells Timothy that our goal is found in the living God -

Eternal life is something we will take hold of -

Aimlessness is not consistent with the life of a Christian -

Paul encourages Timothy to “take hold” of eternal life -

“Taking hold” means to catch or to grasp.

Being a Christian requires living with a purpose and goal to not relinquish the salvation that we have in Christ.

This is why Paul reminds Timothy of the good confession he made.

We must be faithful until death or when Jesus returns -

We are not to live our lives aimlessly without a purpose -

Maintaining zeal is a difficult chore because it requires dedication, practice, and continued work!

Christians are running a race. We are to run with the purpose of winning the prize.

We must discipline ourselves in order to achieve the goal.

Much as we began our study on zeal, zeal is about drawing near to God, so is the conclusion of our study.

Our purpose in life is to live for God so that God will give us eternal life -

The phrase “who gives life to all things” will be important when we consider God being the “living God.”

God is the fixed point of our hope. He is the constant in everyday life.

When sickness and disease strike — God is still with us.

When financial problems become a burden we feel we can’t bear — God is still with us.

When we have problems in our families or marriages — God is still with us.

God never changes; He never moves. He is the fixed point of our hope.

When we focus on God, then we understand that it is easy to be zealous...

We have a goal and purpose that we are striving for — heaven. But why do we want to go to heaven?

Being with the Lord should be our first answer. If it is not, then we may not be grounded firmly enough and our zeal will wane once we are challenged.

The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy that the reason he works, labors, and makes every effort to preach the gospel is because he has a sure and certain hope that is fixed upon God -

God is the “living God” because He gives eternal life - cf

Jesus is the Son of the “living God” -

The “living God” gave life to Jesus after the crucifixion of Christ.

The resurrection of Christ gives assurance to us that God will deliver us and give us life through resurrection, even after our death!

UTMOST EFFORT: Fought, Finished, & Kept

Paul describes his effort and labor and striving to preach the gospel -

Jesus

Prayers are part of this effort; and not just prayers for ourselves, but for others -

We must contend for the faith -

The language Paul uses to describe his life as a Christian shows the effort and diligence he had -

These descriptions are in complete harmony with what Jesus said -

No one will accidentally enter into heaven.

It will require commitment and diligence!

Our efforts must involve fighting for the continuation and teaching of the gospel -

Paul was extremely committed to preaching and teaching the gospel -

Our efforts and striving must involve prayer -

We should pray to God and bring our anxieties to Him.

But we should also pray for others as well!

ABSOLUTE CONFIDENCE: Safety in the Heavenly Kingdom

Paul does not write from a position of doubt and weakness. He writes with absolute confidence in where he will be once he dies. He is certain that the Lord will bring him into the heavenly kingdom -

This isn’t the only passage that Paul shows this sort of confidence in the face of death.

Paul says to live is Christ and to die is gain, with expectation to go and be with Christ (which is very much better) - ,

He also wrote to the Corinthians to be of good courage, desiring to go and be at home with the Lord -

Christians do not have to go around gloomy and constantly doubting their salvation and where they will go after they die. I fear that sometimes we are too negative and we are afraid to speak how the apostle Paul spoke about death and heaven.

Of all people, we have every reason to be joyful in the face of death!

We recognize that God is the ultimate and final judge.

We recognize that a Christian could sin and be lost.

But we must also recognize that God has promised us the crown of life if we have been faithful to Him.

If we are faithful and living according to God’s word, then we have every reason to be confident that heaven will be ours!

Since Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, and assuming you have been baptized and have come into contact with the blood of Christ, because you have obeyed the gospel of Christ, then you have the expectation (hope is desire and expectation; not merely wishful thinking) that you will go to heaven.

We want to be careful, of course, because anyone of us can stumble, sin, and if we don’t repent of that sin, then we could be lost for eternity -

However, if we sin, then we must confess and repent. When we do that then we have confidence that God forgives us -

This sort of confidence gives us every reason to be zealous for the Lord!

Conclusion

Having zeal for the Lord will keep us looking for the goal.

Having that goal firmly fixed in our mind, assured of the confidence we can have, should give us every reason to keep on serving the Lord with all joy, diligence, and perseverance.

When we understand our hope, confidence, and effort is not in vain then we should be all the more eager to keep on living and serving God and Christ -