Part I
A Strong Faith
2 Timothy
4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the
faith:
Intro: Paul the
Apostle is an excellent example of what it means to finish strong.
He started out strong. He started out with power and
might. Notice his beginning.
·
Acts 9:22 But
Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at
Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.
He got saved and was baptized in verse 18, and in verse 20,
he’s preaching Christ.
In verse 22, he increased in strength.
To say that Saul started out strong is an understatement!
How was he able to finish as strong as he started?
He had a strong faith.
A. Faith
in God’s Path – I have finished my
course vs. 7
His first words as a believer were, “Lord, what wilt thou
have me to do?”
His last words were, “I have finished my course.”
Paul was fully persuaded that God had a specific plan for
his life.
He trusted God completely with that plan.
That plan involved: (II Cor. 11)
·
labours more abundant,
·
stripes above measure
·
in prisons more frequent,
·
in deaths oft.
·
of the
Jews five times received I forty stripes save one.
·
thrice was I beaten with rods
·
once was I stoned
·
thrice I suffered shipwreck
·
a night and a day I have been in the deep
·
In
journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine
own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in
the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren;
·
In weariness and painfulness,
·
in watchings often
·
in hunger and thirst
·
in fastings often
·
in cold and nakedness.
Yet Paul never lost faith in the fact that God had a very
specific plan for his life.
He was able to finish strong because he maintained a strong
faith in God’s Plan for his life!
B. Faith
in God’s Precepts
Paul’s reaction to God’s first command to him was simple,
obedience.
He stumbled, and needed a hand to guide him, but he made it
his priority to do exactly what God told him to.
Acts 9:8 And
Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man: but
they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
He learned from day one NOT TO WALK BY SIGHT; but by faith.
NOTE: Saul
couldn’t SEE WHERE HE WAS GOING, but he KNEW where he was going!
Saul said to his servants, “I can’t SEE where I’m going, and
I need all the help you can give me, but I know EXACTLY where I’m supposed to
be!”
Saul placed much importance on the commands and precepts of
God from DAY ONE.
Notice his letter to Timothy near the end of his ministry.
He’s expressing a desire for the companion of his books,
especially the parchments in verse 13.
The emphasis was on the WORD OF GOD!
SEE II Tim. 3:15-17,
II Tim. 4:2-4
C. Faith
in God’s Person – Notwithstanding,
the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me.
Paul spent his entire life trying to please ONE – his Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ.
·
II Tim.
2:3 Thou therefore endure hardness,
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with
the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a
soldier.
His first effort to join the church was met with rejection
and fear.
In this letter (II Timothy 5), Paul made multiple references
to the loneliness that comes with discipleship.
He’s begging for company in verse 9.
He’s naming those that had forsaken him in verse 10.
He’s asking for assistance in verse 11.
He exposes the troublemakers in verse 14 and 15.
He confesses the pain he endured at being abandoned by
everybody in verse 16.
But in verse 17, he reveals the source of his faith and his
ability to continue on.
He was serving GOD.
He was preaching Christ.
He was confident that God would deliver him and preserve
Him.
Conclusion:
Paul wasn’t able to finish strong because he had hooked his
wagon to a man, or a movement.
He hooked his wagon up to the Person of God, the Precepts of
God and the Plan of God, and that was how he finished strong!!!
