Moments Till Midnight
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Picture this…
Midnight was rapidly approaching, soon a rope would be lowered into the prison and Paul would be lifted out of the filthy and unsanitary conditions he had come to know so well.
Paul looks back down the rope as he is being lifted, gripping the rope with old man strength, looking tearfully at the temporary home he made with the criminals of this world. Looking at some of the teary eyes of some of the felons who had become friends, offering a word of encouragement, knowing that he would never see them in this world again.
For now his executioners would lead him away. A team whose existence and vocation reflect the darkness and disdain Emperor Nero felt toward Christianity. He would soon be at the place where unspeakable things happen. Probably to a pilar where his neck would be exposed, and his life would come to an end.
Paul was ready for this moment. We don’t often talk about death, and don’t worry I’m not going to go to far this rabbit whole. But it is a question that starts to get on your mind the older you get.
In the end Paul knew his death was imminent.
Reading in 2nd Timothy we see that he seems to be at rest in the clarity that midnight would be here soon.
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.
Do your best to come to me soon.
Paul lived well and now Paul would die well.
While death is a scary thought, and it is a known fact that 1 out of every 1 person dies. We can look towards Paul to gain comfort in that scary thought. Because the key to dying well, is to live well.
And the key to do that is…
Live like we’re dying. (Song)
C.S. Lewis compared this life to a title page or prologue of a book. If he is correct, then our pilgrimage to heaven is but the title page of eternity.
I can imagine Paul sitting there waiting for his eventual crossing over the river, and probably thinking about Jesus dying at the hands of Roman soldiers not unlike the ones probably preparing his own execution.
Surely the words he had written came to his mind Philippians 3:10
that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Paul ultimately wanted to know Christ and he was moments away of knowing Him face to face, the Christ that appeared on the road to Damascus, the Christ that helped along in every trial on his missionary journeys. Would now be the Christ who would lead him to His father’s country like it’s called in the Chronicles of Narnia.
In thinking about his final suffering I wonder if he thought on Jesus final words on that cross. Young people you have to understand something. Like I said earlier 1 out of every 1 person dies. The question is when.
Want to know something interesting, almost all of the apostles died a martyr’s death. They died for preaching about Jesus, and continued to do so in and after that death because of their testimony.
They lived every single day of their lives as if they were dying today.
How is it possible that one man’s death on a cross, would cause these apostle’s to have so much peace in the face of execution.
How can we live well, like Paul who said I have fought the good fight I have finished the race. The answer?
Jesus, and what he did with his death.
The first thing that Jesus accomplished with his death….
Jesus Died Extending Grace to the Undeserving
While on the cross while looking at the crowd that was mocking him from 9am until noon. The crowd, the soldiers, the religious leaders, the criminal to his left, and even those passing by on the road, all mocked him. They also all stood guilty mocking the Suffering servant.
In their ignorance, cause you can’t find a better word for what they were doing. Jesus cries out to God and says Luke 23:24
And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.
The people around Jesus all deserved to be on that cross not Jesus. Instead of breaking his bonds getting off that cross and smiting them all, he told the Father, to be patient with them. He asked for forgiveness. Doesn’t mean that they wouldn’t be held responsible for their sins, it just means that Jesus was extending undeserved grace. He stayed on that cross and didn’t wipe them out because he wanted his death to be atonement for those sins, and that those people in that crowd, would be able to have the chance to be redeemed.
Sins cannot be removed by good deeds, so paying the price for that sin Jesus died on that cross and eventually rose again.
Jesus is showing us that forgiveness cannot be separated from sacrifice.
Through that death on the cross we see God’s love and commitment to redeem a people that doesn’t deserve it one bit. But he loves them beyond measure.
That is why Jesus first words on the cross were of forgiveness.
This is also why after Paul describes to Timothy everyone who abandoned him he immediately writes 2 Timothy 4:16
At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them!
Paul wanted to finish his race knowing he had forgiven just as Jesus had forgiven.
Extending grace to the undeserving.
Which shows us how to live well.
Forgive well.
Jesus forgave quickly and completely, so we shouldn’t wander through life all tangled up with unforgiveness. Extend grace to all who have wronged you. It’s hard but those who die at peace, are those who have extended grace, even to the undeserving.
The next way we can live like we are dying?
Jesus Died Giving Hope to the Hopeless
Two criminals were at the sides of Jesus. Both without hope. But one recognized that Jesus had done nothing wrong, and that he and his fellow criminal were guilty and where receiving the correct punishment for their actions.
To that criminal Jesus offered hope. The criminal makes one request
And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Fulton Sheen an American bishop puts it this way
A dying man asked a dying man for eternal life; a man without possessions asked a poor man for a kingdom; a thief at the door of death asked to die like a thief and steal paradise. One would have thought a saint would have been the first soul purchased over the counter of Calvary by the red coins of redemption, but in the divine plan it was a thief who was to escort the King of kings into paradise.
It reminds me of this picture of Jesus holding up a guilty man who holds the hammer of the judgement of his own sins. Our hopelessness is turned into Eternal Hope by what Jesus did on the cross. For the believer in Christ our journey is one filled with Hope. Paul could patiently wait for his own death because he had the hope that this world was not the end. And he would be escorted into paradise by the savior himself. Those who live well, have Hope even in the face of hopelessness.
How else can we live like we are dying?
Jesus Died Being Faithful and Obedient to His Father in Heaven.
Jesus died pleasing God and accomplishing all that was necessary to make salvation possible. The most famous last words in history are It is Finished. Jesus was powerful enough to accomplish his task and fulfill his role as Messiah.
Jesus accomplished his work for atoning for the sins of the world.
Our relationship with God was destroyed in a garden when Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden fruit and in another garden full of agony and pain, Jesus obeyed his Father bringing redemption to us from the cross. Jesus said this in the Garden of Gethsemane. Luke 22:42
And he withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down and prayed, saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.
God hates sin and cannot tolerate it in His presence, hence our expulsion from the garden. But in Christ God’s wrath towards our sin is appeased. This is why Paul writes in Romans 5:9
Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
We each owe a debt to God that was fulfilled by His obedience unto death on the cross.He paid the debt of sin on our behalf.
To live like we are dying we must seek to live well, by pleasing God in obedience. No one can do that 100% perfectly we don’t become sinless because of it, but with Christ’s death on that cross it gives us the ability to sin less. How do we please God then? By putting our faith in Jesus Christ. Trusting in Him alone for eternal life.
Back to Paul’s story in the beginning… Midnight had finally arrived for him, there were no more moments to experience on this side of the journey. The pilgrimage had come to an endm but a greater story was just beginning. Paul had finished… Paul would now begin. And there lies the glorious outcome for all believers in Christ wandering their way to the Father’s country, when we finish, it’s really just the beginning.
Let’s Pray.