I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith.I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith:
7 sermons cite this verse
In 2 Timothy 4, 7, as he prepared for his execution, he said to Timothy, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course and I have kept the faith. Finally, to prepare for your journey to heaven, take care of the practical matters before you depart. Take care of practical matters before you depart. One last item to check off on your to-do list before you depart this world is to make sure that those you care about most are adequately provided for. You know, Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah with a sobering message. He said in 2 Kings 20 verse 1, set your house in order Hezekiah for you shall die and not live. That's pretty good advice for all of us. Set your house in order for you are going to die. The fact is just like Isaiah said to Hezekiah, you are going to die. I mean, do you understand that? You are going to die. Why don't you say that with me. I'm going to die. I am going to die. Here's a happy Christmas thought. Let's say it again. I am going to die. Tony Campolo says it well. He said, one day you're going to die. …
… And Paul the apostle, at the end of his life, said, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. So, find out God's call, run your race, and finish well. I just summed up your entire life purpose right there. Find out God's call, run your race, and finish well. find out God's call run your race and finish well I repeat just so you remember I want to help you get there I want to help you do that so I want to close by giving you a few questions to ask yourself to evaluate how you're doing in that and if you're smart you'll write these questions down number one am I going where God has called me simple question Am I going where God has called me? Or you could simply ask the same question by saying, have I discovered my purpose? Am I witnessing right where God has placed me, in my neighborhood, in my family, in my work, in my school? …
… You'll get rewarded. Second Timothy four, last letter Paul ever wrote. He said, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. And finally, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge will give me on that day. And not only to me, but also all those who have loved his appearing. So fruitfulness is consequential. You get on one hand, the reward of seeing people that you have influenced led to Christ, et cetera. And you will get a reward from God himself for being faithful with the opportunities he has presented to you. And get this. According to Paul the Apostle, even those people who partner with those who share the gospel will get a reward in heaven. Paul said that to the Philippian church. Remember he was writing to the Philippians and he said, you know, no other church has shared with me in giving and receiving except you only. You have sponsored me. You have supported my ministry financially. And then he writes this, listen carefully. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. …
… and that's why Paul was saying, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race and I have kept the faith. Because a lot of people cannot comprehend and realize that we are no longer in Jerusalem, the city of peace, but we are in Babylon, the city of war. We don't just go to church now to sing Kumbaya songs on Sunday, to clap, clap, clap, to kiss some hands and shake some nice babies and go home. But we are now literally in a turning moment of war. And some of you, you literally had to watch that spiritual war manifest itself in a physical bullet to kill a young man by the name of Charlie Cook for you to realize and comprehend. Wait, there is a war happening. It's a war between right and wrong, freedom and tyranny, demonic and divine, good and evil. There is a war. That's why Paul said our war, our fight is not against flesh and blood. This is why in the context of 600 years, the whole ancient world went from pagan to Christian. …
… and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will give to me on that day and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. The letter ends. Shortly after it's over the letter is done. He is taken to the Basilica Julia from the Mamertine prison 100 yards away. Thank you. he would stand to hear his death sentence read publicly. And then he was taken out to be executed. I'm going to close by reading to you the words of A.T. Robertson, a great scholar and another one, another author. So I'm borrowing from them of what it would have been like. The crowds flowed into town. some were going out. Paul was only a criminal going to be beheaded. Few, if any, of the crowds would know or care anything about him. At a good place on the road, some miles out, the executioner stopped. The block was laid down. The executioner stood ready, axe in hand, the men stripped Paul, tied him, kneeling upright to the low pillar which exposed his back and his neck. The lictors beat him with rods for the last time. He groaned and bled from his nose and his mouth. And then, without a hint of hesitation, the executioner frowned as he swung the blade down swiftly, hitting its mark with a dull thud, and the head of the greatest preacher of the ages …
… He was in prison and he wrote the last book of the New Testament that he wrote, 2 Timothy, and he said, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith, which I take to mean old men fight to the end and they better not stop. If you think that you can fight for 60 or 80 years and then stop for a year or two, You're crazy. The devil does not sleep. And his fiery darts shoot at old people and young people. We fight to the end, and God has taught us how to do it, and that's what we're talking about. How to fight your way through the slump when you wake up and there's almost no joy in Jesus. so if you have a bible which I hope you do at least on your phone let's go to oh you just turned your phones off how do you do that got print bibles around here that's good let's go to go to the bible however you've got it psalm 40 And we're going to read verses 1 to 3, which are a pattern of how David managed his loss of spiritual dynamic joy. …
… Within stone's throw of his martyrdom, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Now, I think that means to the end. Fought to the end. henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me and not only to me but to all those who have loved his appearing. That's the bucket list. So if you are feeling the creep of comfort like I am, I feel very threatened by this. I am more comfortable, more at ease, less pressure in my life right now than ever, ever before. Pastor is pressure. My job 40-50 hours a week with DG, piece of cake. No pressure. Every night is free. Good night, that's dangerous. So I feel it. I'm preaching to myself here. Turn with me to Philippians chapter 2, please, and let's look at Philippians 2, 17 and 18. This is God's Word to the young, it's God's Word to the middle-aged, it's God's Word to the old. It's an antidote to cowardice, consumption, and comfort, and it is mind-boggling, mind-bogglingly counterintuitive, countercultural, offensive to many people. …