Dave Hentschel: For all of us, please turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Timothy chapter 4.
Dave Hentschel: Flip over to the last page of that book.
Dave Hentschel: We're coming today to the last word, to the last word of this series, to the last words of this letter, really the concluding words of the Apostle Paul's whole life.
Dave Hentschel: And so today we're going to talk about finishing well.
Dave Hentschel: As you're turning there, I do a lot of hospital visitations as a pastor, and one particular visitation sticks out in my memory forever.
Dave Hentschel: I was doing a hospital visitation for a man who was near the end of his life.
Dave Hentschel: He was on hospice care, and the situation was very sad.
Dave Hentschel: It was clear as I was visiting that his family relationships were fractured.
Dave Hentschel: It was clear that there was tension with his wife and with his children.
Dave Hentschel: It was clear that there was years of unresolved conflict.
Dave Hentschel: It was clear that there was addiction issues that had left some deep wounds in this family.
Dave Hentschel: And as I prayed and then walked out of the hospital doors that day and walked over to my car, I started crying.
Dave Hentschel: I started weeping, and I remember praying this prayer to God that day.
Dave Hentschel: Lord, I give you permission to do whatever it takes in my life so that when I come to the end, it doesn't look anything like this.
Dave Hentschel: That moment stays with me.
Dave Hentschel: That moment confronted me with this reality that it is possible to waste years.
Dave Hentschel: It is possible to damage relationships irreparably.
Dave Hentschel: It's possible to get to the end and have some deep regrets.
Dave Hentschel: This is why the Bible repeatedly calls us not just to begin well, but to finish well.
Dave Hentschel: And so that leads us to a really important, sobering question for all of us today.
Dave Hentschel: How will you finish?
Dave Hentschel: If you do a study on the characters of the Bible, on the leaders of the Bible, many of them did not finish well.
Dave Hentschel: Only about a third of them finished well.
Dave Hentschel: One example that comes to mind is King Saul.
Dave Hentschel: Some of the last words of King Saul's life were, I have played the fool.
Dave Hentschel: I have erred exceedingly.
Dave Hentschel: There's a poem that I heard years ago.
Dave Hentschel: It was simple but incisive.
Dave Hentschel: The poem was called The Night They Burned Shanghai.
Dave Hentschel: It was written during the Japanese invasion of China during World War II, and it contrasts people who were playing bridge in Philadelphia while terrible events were happening on the other side of the world.
Dave Hentschel: And the end of the poem goes like this: For some men die in shrapnel, and some go down in flames, but most men die inch by inch playing silly little games.
Dave Hentschel: How will you die?
Dave Hentschel: Everybody's gonna finish somehow.
Dave Hentschel: Some will drift away, some will burn out, some will finish well.
Dave Hentschel: In today's passage, what you're gonna see is two men, one who finishes well, one who doesn't finish well.
Dave Hentschel: And it's in the contrast that we find a great lesson for us.
Dave Hentschel: Now, to the naked eye, the one man looks like a total failure.
Dave Hentschel: By human standing, this guy has been rejected by his own people, he's been rejected by his friends, he's been abandoned by his friends at the end, he's he's been rejected certainly by the Roman Empire, and he's spending the last few days of his life in a hole in the ground called the Maritime Prison.
Dave Hentschel: But there's more than meets the eye.
Dave Hentschel: That's just the visible eye.
Dave Hentschel: To the invisible eye, there's this great hope, there's this reward he talks about, there's this crown laid up for him, and we're gonna learn from him.
Dave Hentschel: So, today's message will be about six principles for finishing well.
Dave Hentschel: The title of my message is You Pass the Faith by Finishing Well.
Dave Hentschel: That's what this whole series is about, passing the faith to the next generation.
Dave Hentschel: One of the components of that is finishing well as individuals.
Dave Hentschel: I want to read the text in its entirety.
Dave Hentschel: We'll pray and then we'll look at the details.
Dave Hentschel: So uh, if you're able, I would invite you to stand at this time in honor of God's word as we read it together.
Dave Hentschel: I'll read it, you listen.
Dave Hentschel: Verse 6, we'll go to all the way to verse 22.
Dave Hentschel: 2 Timothy 4, 6 to 22.
Dave Hentschel: Hear the word of the Lord.
Dave Hentschel: For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
Dave Hentschel: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
Dave Hentschel: Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.
Dave Hentschel: Do your best to come to me soon.
Dave Hentschel: For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.
Dave Hentschel: Crescins has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia, Luke alone is with me.
Dave Hentschel: Get Mark and bring him with you.
Dave Hentschel: He's very useful for me for ministry.
Dave Hentschel: Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.
Dave Hentschel: When you come, bring the cloak that I have left with Carpus at Troaz, also the books and above all the parchments.
Dave Hentschel: Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm.
Dave Hentschel: The Lord will repay him according to his deeds.
Dave Hentschel: Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.
Dave Hentschel: At my first defense, no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me.
Dave Hentschel: May it not be charged against them.
Dave Hentschel: But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed, and all the Gentiles might hear it.
Dave Hentschel: So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.
Dave Hentschel: The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.
Dave Hentschel: To him be the glory forever and ever.
Dave Hentschel: Amen.
Dave Hentschel: Greet Prisca and Aquila and the household of Onecephorus.
Dave Hentschel: Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill at Miletus.
Dave Hentschel: Do your best to come before winter.
Dave Hentschel: Ubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.
Dave Hentschel: The Lord be with your spirit.
Dave Hentschel: Grace be with you.
Dave Hentschel: The word of the Lord.
Dave Hentschel: Thanks be to God.
Dave Hentschel: Heavenly Father, we come before you as we stand this morning grateful for your grace, your mercy, your sustaining power.
Dave Hentschel: You are the God who not only calls, you are the God who keeps, you are the God who strengthens, you're the God who promises never to leave or forsake your people.
Dave Hentschel: As we look at your word today, we ask that you would give us attentive eyes, ears, most of all hearts, humble spirits.
Dave Hentschel: Help us to be willing, to be obedient.
Dave Hentschel: Teach us through the example of your servant Paul here what it means to finish well.
Dave Hentschel: Strengthen those who are weary, encourage those who are suffering.
Dave Hentschel: Correct those of us who may be drifting.
Dave Hentschel: Anchor all of us more deeply in Christ, for we want to finish well for Him.
Dave Hentschel: And we ask it all in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Dave Hentschel: And everyone said, Amen.
Dave Hentschel: You may be seated.
Dave Hentschel: Six principles for finishing well.
Dave Hentschel: Principle number one, you finish well by seeing your life as an offering to God.
Dave Hentschel: I'd like to say these together.
Dave Hentschel: Would you say that with me if you would?
Dave Hentschel: You finish well by seeing.
Dave Hentschel: Amen.
Dave Hentschel: For this, take a look at verse six.
Dave Hentschel: Paul begins this passage by saying this for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
Dave Hentschel: The word departure there is fascinating.
Dave Hentschel: It means to untie.
Dave Hentschel: It was used to untie a ship before you had set it out on its voyage.
Dave Hentschel: This is how Paul views death.
Dave Hentschel: This is how Christians view death, not as the end, but as being set off on a voyage.
Dave Hentschel: Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was in prison for conspiring to kill Hitler, described it this way.
Dave Hentschel: He said, Quote, Death is the supreme festival on the road to freedom.
Dave Hentschel: This is what Paul is thinking about.
Dave Hentschel: This is what Paul is living for.
Dave Hentschel: He says this elsewhere, Philippians chapter 1.
Dave Hentschel: If I stay here and live, good, let's get to work.
Dave Hentschel: But if I die, that's actually better by far.
Dave Hentschel: For to me to live is Christ, and to die is game.
Dave Hentschel: The term already here, I want you to notice that.
Dave Hentschel: What that means is he's speaking in the present.
Dave Hentschel: This is something happening.
Dave Hentschel: This is something happening right now.
Dave Hentschel: He is a drink offering.
Dave Hentschel: A drink offering is a technical term from Numbers chapter 15.
Dave Hentschel: It was called a libation offering.
Dave Hentschel: Next to the altar, there was a pitcher.
Dave Hentschel: And inside of that pitcher there would be fluid, such as water or wine.
Dave Hentschel: And the purpose of that symbolic offering was you take something that would be yours, that was something you need or something you enjoyed, and you would pour that out on the altar as a pleasing aroma to God.
Dave Hentschel: So what's happening here is Paul is interpreting his whole life and his death as a drink offering.
Dave Hentschel: Think about this.
Dave Hentschel: This is Saul of Tarsus, the one who was, humanly speaking, opposed to the Lord Jesus and all of his disciples, in fact, overseeing the persecution of Stephen.
Dave Hentschel: And this man who was knocked off his horse by Jesus himself has now completely turned his life around.
Dave Hentschel: And in Acts chapter 9, he was told all the way back there by Ananias, I will show Paul, God speaking through Ananias in chapter, Acts chapter 9, verse 16, I will show Paul how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.
Dave Hentschel: Did he have any idea that he would end up here?
Dave Hentschel: This was Christ's design for Paul the Apostle to lay down his life.
Dave Hentschel: And Paul saw his life as a sacrifice, as a drink offering.
Dave Hentschel: And brothers and sisters, that is how you and I need to see our lives as well.
Dave Hentschel: Our lives are offerings to God Himself.
Dave Hentschel: You are pouring yourself out.
Dave Hentschel: You're pouring yourself out to the very last drop.
Dave Hentschel: Your life is not your own.
Dave Hentschel: It's an offering that you give to God.
Dave Hentschel: That's how you finish well.
Dave Hentschel: You finish well by seeing your life that way, as an offering to God.
Dave Hentschel: Point number two.
Dave Hentschel: You finish well by remaining faithful through the entire race.
Dave Hentschel: Let's say that.
Dave Hentschel: You finish well by faithful.
Dave Hentschel: Yeah.
Dave Hentschel: Here, instead of in the present tense, he's gonna change to the past tense.
Dave Hentschel: Look at verse seven.
Dave Hentschel: Verse seven, looking backwards now, Paul looks at his life and he says, This I have fought the good fight.
Dave Hentschel: I have finished the race.
Dave Hentschel: I have kept the faith.
Dave Hentschel: There are three verbs here that are all in what's called the Greek perfect tense.
Dave Hentschel: That's a past tense that has a permanent sense to it with ongoing effect into the future.
Dave Hentschel: Thought, finished, kept.
Dave Hentschel: Really, the order of the sentence is this: the good fight, I have fought, the race, I have finished, the faith, I have kept.
Dave Hentschel: So he uses three different images here to describe what it means to be a Christian.
Dave Hentschel: Being a Christian is like a fight.
Dave Hentschel: It's like a boxing match.
Dave Hentschel: It's like it's like a wrestling match that has been fought, and Paul has fought the fight, and he calls it a good fight, meaning he's fighting for the right thing and he's fighting in the right way.
Dave Hentschel: Secondly, he says it's also like a race, like a marathon.
Dave Hentschel: I'm running, and I'm running this race.
Dave Hentschel: You may remember 2 Timothy 2, 4 to 7 says to be a Christian is like being an athlete who gets crowned as long as they compete according to the rules.
Dave Hentschel: So this refers to running the race with a certain kind of integrity about your life.
Dave Hentschel: And thirdly, there's a faith that has been kept.
Dave Hentschel: The faith here is a technical term that refers to the totality of Christian doctrine.
Dave Hentschel: He has kept the faith intact.
Dave Hentschel: I think about the apostles' creed.
Dave Hentschel: I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
Dave Hentschel: That whole creed, that's the faith that he has kept intact.
Dave Hentschel: He has not compromised on the faith, one iota, despite much pressure to do so.
Dave Hentschel: He has not defected, he has stayed true to his Lord Jesus Christ and to the Bible and to its teachings all the way to the end.
Dave Hentschel: This is important because elsewhere Paul talks about people who did the opposite of that.
Dave Hentschel: 1 Timothy chapter 1 says, There are some who made shipwreck of their faith.
Dave Hentschel: Paul says, I didn't do that.
Dave Hentschel: I kept the faith.
Dave Hentschel: I have fought this good fight.
Dave Hentschel: I have finished the race.
Dave Hentschel: I have kept the faith, which is amazing.
Dave Hentschel: In short, what you're looking at here in verse 7 is faithfulness.
Dave Hentschel: You're looking at perseverance, you're looking at tenacity.
Dave Hentschel: This is a beautiful thing when you see someone, by God's grace, finishing in this way.
Dave Hentschel: We love stories of tenacity, we love stories of perseverance.
Dave Hentschel: This is why the greatest movie in all of the world, Rocky Balboa, won Best Picture in 1977, because he was faithful to the very end of that match.
Dave Hentschel: This is why people watch that Muhammad Ali Joe Fraser fight over and over and over, because Joe Frazier took a beating again and again and again, and he kept coming at Muhammad Ali till both of his eyes were blind, and his trainer had to hold him back and throw in the towel, and Frazier still wanted to keep going against Ali.
Dave Hentschel: He had tenacity, he had perseverance.
Dave Hentschel: We love these kind of stories.
Dave Hentschel: This is why we love Chariots of Fire and watching Eric Little run with all of his might because when he ran, he felt God's pleasure.
Dave Hentschel: This is what we're talking about here.
Dave Hentschel: We love the movie Rudy from the 1990s.
Dave Hentschel: That's about a kid who wanted to play Notre Dame football and would not give up.
Dave Hentschel: He was persevering.
Dave Hentschel: He had tenacity.
Dave Hentschel: He wanted to finish.
Dave Hentschel: Have you ever seen a couple that's been married for like 75 years?
Dave Hentschel: And it's so beautiful to see that perseverance, that tenacity, like wow.
Dave Hentschel: There's something awesome about a human being, by God's grace, who doesn't quit and perseveres to the end.
Dave Hentschel: But this is Paul.
Dave Hentschel: He's a finisher.
Dave Hentschel: So how about me?
Dave Hentschel: How about us?
Dave Hentschel: How about you?
Dave Hentschel: Will you be a finisher?
Dave Hentschel: When that day comes, when you grow old, when you're on your hospital bed or when you're on hospice care, can you say something like verse seven?
Dave Hentschel: Can you say that?
Dave Hentschel: Will you be able to say that?
Dave Hentschel: If that is your heart's desire, my encouragement to you is to ask yourself, what is that work that God has called me to do?
Dave Hentschel: Is there any unfinished business or unfinished work in my life right now?
Dave Hentschel: Has God told you to do something, but you've been resisting it and you haven't yet done that thing?
Dave Hentschel: My dear brother and my sister, opportunities pass.
Dave Hentschel: I encourage you to obey and finish the work God has for you to do.
Dave Hentschel: Because you finish well by remaining faithful through the entire race.
Dave Hentschel: Number three.
Dave Hentschel: The third principle of finishing well is this you finish well by living for eternal reward, not present comfort.
Dave Hentschel: Let's say that.
Dave Hentschel: You finish well.
Dave Hentschel: All right, you guys gotta do better.
Dave Hentschel: Are you awake?
Dave Hentschel: This is 11 o'clock service.
Dave Hentschel: We've seen the present, we've seen the past.
Dave Hentschel: Now we're gonna fast forward to the future.
Dave Hentschel: Look at verse 8.
Dave Hentschel: Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who loved his appearing.
Dave Hentschel: The word appearing there is fascinating.
Dave Hentschel: What is it?
Dave Hentschel: The answer is it's the appearing of Christ.
Dave Hentschel: And there's a debate because there are two appearings of Christ.
Dave Hentschel: There was a first appearing, and there was a second appearing.
Dave Hentschel: So some scholars say this is referring to the first appearing of Christ, whereas other scholars say this is referring to the second appearing of Christ.
Dave Hentschel: And for me, I am persuaded by the latter.
Dave Hentschel: And the reason is because the term in there, that day, speaks about a future day that is not yet come.
Dave Hentschel: And the context of all of chapter four of 2 Timothy also is speaking about the second coming.
Dave Hentschel: If you have your Bible, look back at verse 1 of chapter 4, or I'll put it on the screen for you, where Paul says this I charge you in the presence of God and in Christ Jesus, who's to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom.
Dave Hentschel: Here we're talking about the future, right?
Dave Hentschel: The future judgment of the living and the dead.
Dave Hentschel: This is talking about the second coming of Christ, when he will return to judge the earth, and he is the righteous judge.
Dave Hentschel: Contrast that with Nero, the unrighteous judge that Paul is standing before today.
Dave Hentschel: Paul's standing before the unrighteous judge, Nero, but while standing before Nero, Paul also knows, and Paul confesses, there is a higher judge, there is a higher throne, and one day true justice will flow from that throne, from the throne of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of Lords, and the Judge of all the earth.
Dave Hentschel: I trust him, because he's the judge of all the earth.
Dave Hentschel: May I ask you, are you prepared to meet the judge of all of the earth?
Dave Hentschel: When you stand before him, the Bible teaches that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
Dave Hentschel: But the good news of the gospel of Jesus is that the judge took off his robe and took on the penalty of the sinner and took the sentence of the sinner on behalf of those who had sinned against him.
Dave Hentschel: And if we place our faith in the Lord Jesus as Savior, then one day we have nothing to worry about when we face him as judge.
Dave Hentschel: I urge you, my brother and sister, if you have never said yes to the Lord Jesus Christ, may today be the day.
Dave Hentschel: If you want to finish well, or if you want to run your race, that is step one for running this race.
Dave Hentschel: Next question about that verse, go back to that.
Dave Hentschel: What is this crown of righteousness being referred to here?
Dave Hentschel: Is it that some Christians get a crown and other Christians don't get a crown?
Dave Hentschel: I don't think so.
Dave Hentschel: I would say if you don't get this crown, you don't get life.
Dave Hentschel: You don't go to heaven.
Dave Hentschel: There's a parallel in James 1:12, he speaks of the crown of life given to those who love God.
Dave Hentschel: And the term righteousness means in this letter, real lived out righteousness in your life, not imputed righteousness.
Dave Hentschel: All the places where righteousness is used in 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy always refers to lived out righteousness.
Dave Hentschel: So the crown of righteousness is a reward for you living out righteousness, confirming the fact that you have been imputed with righteousness from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dave Hentschel: Another way to say that is 2 Thessalonians 2.13, where he says, We are saved through sanctification.
Dave Hentschel: If there's no sanctification, then we are not saved.
Dave Hentschel: Or 2 Peter 1.10 says this be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities, you will never fall.
Dave Hentschel: So, to get to receive the crown of righteousness, we are to live out righteousness.
Dave Hentschel: And this is given to Paul, but it is also given to more people.
Dave Hentschel: Notice to all who love his appearing.
Dave Hentschel: In verse 8, it says, the Lord Himself will award him this crown.
Dave Hentschel: The Lord Himself.
Dave Hentschel: Now, could you just imagine this for a second?
Dave Hentschel: Imagine receiving this award, the crown of righteousness, you, from the Lord Jesus Himself one day.
Dave Hentschel: Just imagine that day.
Dave Hentschel: I don't know about you, but maybe you're a parent out there, it's graduation season, you're you're in this situation where you got this crowd, and maybe you're there at a school or a sports banquet or somebody like that, and somebody in the crowd gets publicly honored.
Dave Hentschel: And you have this whole audience, and nobody knows who's gonna win the trophy or who's gonna win the award or the plaque, and then somebody's name gets called, and then they get called up to the front, and then that person shakes their hand, and the audience applauds for them, and they get recognized in front of all of their peers or their whole school or the whole graduating class, and it's a wonderful experience for that person who has worked so hard and who has earned this reward.
Dave Hentschel: But as wonderful as those kinds of earthly experiences are, again, can you imagine the Lord of glory calling your name, your name, and saying, Here's your crown.
Dave Hentschel: Well done, good and faithful.
Dave Hentschel: Paul says, I am so looking forward to that day.
Dave Hentschel: I'm obsessed with it.
Dave Hentschel: It's all I can think about.
Dave Hentschel: I'm living for that day.
Dave Hentschel: I'm looking forward to that day.
Dave Hentschel: And brothers and sisters, we ought to live for that day too.
Dave Hentschel: It's not just for Paul, it's for all who love his appearing.
Dave Hentschel: And on that day, all your sacrifices will be worth it.
Dave Hentschel: Every ounce of effort you put in will be worth it.
Dave Hentschel: Every trial, every tear you've cried, everything you've ever done will be worth it on that day.
Dave Hentschel: Paul says these light and momentary afflictions are not even worthy to be compared with the glory that is to come.
Dave Hentschel: Here's Paul in prison in this dark, dank hole in the ground in Rome, and he's not fixated on the chains or what's going on in the present.
Dave Hentschel: He's fixated on the future.
Dave Hentschel: And so that's how you finish well.
Dave Hentschel: You finish well by living for eternal reward, not present comfort.
Dave Hentschel: Now, not everyone chooses to live like this.
Dave Hentschel: Not everyone chooses to live for eternal rewards.
Dave Hentschel: And we'll see that in the next verse.
Dave Hentschel: Look at verse 10.
Dave Hentschel: For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.
Dave Hentschel: Notice that term, this present world.
Dave Hentschel: There's a contrast here in those who live for this present world compared to those who live for the world to come.
Dave Hentschel: And there's a man named Demas who's receiving some stern words here because Demas was in love with this present world.
Dave Hentschel: There's a doctrine in theology called the perseverance of the saints.
Dave Hentschel: And what that doctrine teaches is that you're not saved because you bowed your head when you were six years old at VBS and asked Jesus into your heart, and then you went out to live like hell the rest of your life.
Dave Hentschel: What that doctrine actually teaches is that God, the Trinitarian God, has made a covenant of grace to redeem for himself a people.
Dave Hentschel: And then in time, he sends his Holy Spirit to create that people for himself and regenerate individuals unto life.
Dave Hentschel: And then he places those individuals into the body of Christ, where they will learn and where they will give and where they will serve and where they will grow.
Dave Hentschel: Now they may stumble and they may fall, but they always get back up and continue that process of growth and sanctification and transformation until the very end.
Dave Hentschel: He who endures to the end will be saved, Jesus said.
Dave Hentschel: This is why the book of Hebrews says in chapter three, for we have become partakers of Christ if we keep the beginning of our commitment till the end.
Dave Hentschel: Back to verse 10.
Dave Hentschel: I want you to see a key contrast going on in this verse.
Dave Hentschel: There is one who loves Christ's appearing, and then there is one who loves this present world.
Dave Hentschel: See the difference?
Dave Hentschel: There is one who's finishing his race, and then there is one who has deserted the race halfway through the marathon.
Dave Hentschel: There is one who is going to receive a crown, and there is one who's going to receive condemnation if he does not turn things around.
Dave Hentschel: And there is only one who has kept the faith.
Dave Hentschel: The other one has abandoned the faith.
Dave Hentschel: What is the difference between these two individuals?
Dave Hentschel: The difference is what they love.
Dave Hentschel: Notice, you have two loves here: one who loves Christ's appearing, and one who loves this present world.
Dave Hentschel: And so here's what we learn from this verse.
Dave Hentschel: How you finish is determined by what you love.
Dave Hentschel: Is that you?
Dave Hentschel: What do you love?
Dave Hentschel: Do you love this present world or do you love his appearing?
Dave Hentschel: I'm not talking about how you love to study eschatology.
Dave Hentschel: There's a difference between loving the teaching about the coming of Christ and loving the Christ who's coming.
Dave Hentschel: Those who pursue and persevere in sanctification and who pursue righteousness and love his appearing, they will receive this crown.
Dave Hentschel: And this is the crown that Paul is focused on right here while he's in prison.
Dave Hentschel: Can you see that?
Dave Hentschel: One of my professors, Dr.
Dave Hentschel: Jeff Bingham, who was teaching us about this, said, You have to see this with Michelangelo eyes.
Dave Hentschel: Michelangelo eyes.
Dave Hentschel: One time he said I was visiting Rome and he went to go visit that jail cell where Paul stayed.
Dave Hentschel: You can go there today, where he wrote this letter, and it's just a dungeon.
Dave Hentschel: And he said, You look at this dungeon and you have to see that dungeon with Michelangelo eyes.
Dave Hentschel: Eyes to see what's really going on here.
Dave Hentschel: Here's what he meant.
Dave Hentschel: If you go to Florence, Italy, there's a magnificent museum there named the Academia.
Dave Hentschel: And when you enter into that museum, there are several unfinished statues there by Michelangelo that have not yet been completed, and they were not completed, and then Michelangelo died, and he never finished those four statues.
Dave Hentschel: We call them the four slaves because they're half finished.
Dave Hentschel: There's torsos sticking out of the marble and there's heads sticking out of the marble, but they have not yet been finished.
Dave Hentschel: From those blocks, you can see emerging these figures, but you can't tell exactly what's going on.
Dave Hentschel: So you pass by the four slaves and you continue down that hallway, if you will, and you'll find a large room in the center of that museum.
Dave Hentschel: And once you enter that large room, you will see this lovely, brilliant white statue of King David, Michelangelo's David.
Dave Hentschel: The perfect Renaissance expression of the human being.
Dave Hentschel: Every muscle in David is perfectly formed.
Dave Hentschel: He is ruddy and he is handsome.
Dave Hentschel: And as you go in there, every man who sees that statue of David hangs his head in shame and runs out of the museum only to discover his wife is not with him.
Dave Hentschel: He has to run back to get her.
Dave Hentschel: She's still in there staring at that statue.
Dave Hentschel: And he has to pull his wife away from that statue.
Dave Hentschel: And every man leaves that museum promising never to eat a piece of pizza again.
Dave Hentschel: So in that museum, you have the four slaves because Michelangelo sees the majestic form in the marble.
Dave Hentschel: He sees what you and I cannot see.
Dave Hentschel: When I look at a marble slab, I see a marble slab.
Dave Hentschel: But Michelangelo saw within the confining, within the restricting, within the bland block of marble, he sees a form of freedom.
Dave Hentschel: He's able to somehow see David.
Dave Hentschel: And so as we look at this prison, as we look at the end of Paul's life and we see him sitting here in this prison, do you have Michelangelo's eyes?
Dave Hentschel: Because sometimes jail cells are not jail cells at all.
Dave Hentschel: They're castles.
Dave Hentschel: And sometimes crowns of gold end up looking like crowns of thorns.
Dave Hentschel: And sometimes chains are not really chains, they're actually freedom.
Dave Hentschel: And sometimes liberty appears like captivity.
Dave Hentschel: And sometimes princes appear as criminals.
Dave Hentschel: And sometimes true freedom looks like bondage.
Dave Hentschel: Can you see with Michelangelo's eyes?
Dave Hentschel: Can you see beyond the hardship of this age for the eternal blessed freedom which is to come?
Dave Hentschel: Can you see what Paul saw?
Dave Hentschel: Can you see?
Dave Hentschel: You finish well by learning to see and living for eternal rewards, not present comfort.
Dave Hentschel: Number four.
Dave Hentschel: You finish well by continuing ministry until the end.
Dave Hentschel: Can we say that?
Dave Hentschel: You finish well.
Dave Hentschel: Continue with me, if you will, with verse 10.
Dave Hentschel: Creskins has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia, Luke alone is with me.
Dave Hentschel: Get Mark, bring him with you.
Dave Hentschel: He's very useful to me for ministry.
Dave Hentschel: Tychicus, I've sent to Ephesus.
Dave Hentschel: When you come, bring the cloak that I left with carpis, the troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.
Dave Hentschel: What's going on here?
Dave Hentschel: What's going on here in this section is Paul, at the end of his life, is concerned with the things of this world that will carry on for eternity.
Dave Hentschel: And there's only two things.
Dave Hentschel: There's only two things in this world that will carry on forever: the word of God and the people of God.
Dave Hentschel: And these are the two things that Paul is consumed with.
Dave Hentschel: Because the trappings of this world will one day melt with fervent heat, but these two things, the word of God and the people of God, will endure forever.
Dave Hentschel: So notice with the word of God, Paul wants his Bible.
Dave Hentschel: He wants the scrolls, he wants the parchments, he wants the books, he wants to study this book right up until the end, my friend.
Dave Hentschel: There's no other book that you can do this with.
Dave Hentschel: Paul goes back to the Bible, and you, my friend, can go back to the Bible no matter how old you are.
Dave Hentschel: You'll never exhaust the infinite treasure that's inside of that book.
Dave Hentschel: You'll keep digging and digging and digging, and you'll find new treasures and new treasures right up until the end.
Dave Hentschel: Paul loves the word of God.
Dave Hentschel: Number two, Paul loves the people of God.
Dave Hentschel: Look at what he's concerned with.
Dave Hentschel: He's dispatching workmen all over Galatia, Dalmatia, Ephesus.
Dave Hentschel: Even though he's in prison, he's like running the show.
Dave Hentschel: We have the fulfillment of what was said earlier in this letter, right?
Dave Hentschel: I'm bound, but the word of God is not bound.
Dave Hentschel: He's got this guy, Kreskins, he's got Titus, he's got Luke, a doctor, probably taking care of his old beat-up body.
Dave Hentschel: He's got Tychicus, and of course we know he's got Timothy.
Dave Hentschel: Notice he says, bring Mark, which is super interesting because he had a falling out with Mark in Acts 15.
Dave Hentschel: Mark was a problem.
Dave Hentschel: Mark abandoned that first missionary journey.
Dave Hentschel: He withdrew, but then something happened.
Dave Hentschel: He recovered.
Dave Hentschel: Many people say he wrote the gospel of Mark, and Paul wants him to come because Paul is giving him grace, new grace.
Dave Hentschel: Paul wants Mark.
Dave Hentschel: Paul has grace for restored servants.
Dave Hentschel: He's got evangelism going in this section on like five fronts, if you count it.
Dave Hentschel: This guy's busy.
Dave Hentschel: Think of it.
Dave Hentschel: Here's a man at the end.
Dave Hentschel: And he's still dispatching workers, he still wants his books, he still wants to write some more.
Dave Hentschel: My friend, the lesson that we learn from this verse is that you might retire from your job, but retiring from faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ does not exist.
Dave Hentschel: What you want is you want death to interrupt your ministry.
Dave Hentschel: One of my professors at Dallas, Howard Hendricks, said there's a great lie in American culture today.
Dave Hentschel: It's the lie about the myth of retirement.
Dave Hentschel: Now he doesn't mean the idea of no longer taking a paycheck, no longer clocking in and out.
Dave Hentschel: That's not what he means.
Dave Hentschel: He means the idea that you go get a Winnebago and you travel between Montana and Florida and you play dominoes and you collect seashells every day, and that's all you do, that's it.
Dave Hentschel: That idea is not in the Bible.
Dave Hentschel: It runs counter to the Bible.
Dave Hentschel: It runs counter to how God made you.
Dave Hentschel: You never, Hendrix said, you never retire from serving Jesus.
Dave Hentschel: You run your race to the end.
Dave Hentschel: You can retire from a job.
Dave Hentschel: You do not retire from the Christian life.
Dave Hentschel: In fact, if you do a study on sociologically how quickly people die after retirement, the statistics are jarring.
Dave Hentschel: Once that person loses their sense of purpose and they lose their sense of what am I going to do today, it's amazing how quickly they begin to fade.
Dave Hentschel: Hendrix said they blow out their aorta on the way to Sarasota.
Dave Hentschel: That's not what you want.
Dave Hentschel: You want to keep going.
Dave Hentschel: If you ever study Caleb in the Old Testament, at the end of his life, this guy's 80 years old.
Dave Hentschel: 80 years old.
Dave Hentschel: And he goes, Give me this mountain.
Dave Hentschel: It was like the hardest mountain for them to take.
Dave Hentschel: This guy's 80 years old.
Dave Hentschel: He's like, I could take this.
Dave Hentschel: He's finishing well.
Dave Hentschel: Psalm 71 is the psalm for the aged.
Dave Hentschel: You should read that later on today.
Dave Hentschel: I'll just read one verse, verse 18.
Dave Hentschel: The psalmist praised this.
Dave Hentschel: He says, Even when I'm old and gray, do not forsake me, my God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your mighty acts to all who are to come.
Dave Hentschel: This is what the psalmist wants to do.
Dave Hentschel: This is what the whole series has been about.
Dave Hentschel: 2 Timothy passing on the faith to the next generation.
Dave Hentschel: That's what you want to do.
Dave Hentschel: You want to invest in the next generation and teach them what you know.
Dave Hentschel: I saw a quote one time, Alex Haley.
Dave Hentschel: He said, The death of an old person is like the burning of a library.
Dave Hentschel: You know things.
Dave Hentschel: You have a wealth of knowledge.
Dave Hentschel: You need to pass it along.
Dave Hentschel: You want to be like this psalmist, investing in younger people, depositing in them what you know and what you've learned, especially what you've learned about Jesus.
Dave Hentschel: You finish ministry, you finish well by continuing ministry all the way to the end.
Dave Hentschel: Verse uh point five.
Dave Hentschel: Point five.
Dave Hentschel: The fifth principle for finishing well is this you finish well by trusting Christ when people fail you.
Dave Hentschel: This is a hard one.
Dave Hentschel: Let's say this together.
Dave Hentschel: You finish.
Dave Hentschel: Yeah.
Dave Hentschel: I learned this the hard way.
Dave Hentschel: Verse 14.
Dave Hentschel: Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm.
Dave Hentschel: The Lord will repay him according to his deeds.
Dave Hentschel: Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.
Dave Hentschel: Alexander the coppersmith, jot down in your margin, Acts 19, 33 to 34.
Dave Hentschel: He's probably the guy from Ephesus, along with the silversmiths in Ephesus, who hated Paul.
Dave Hentschel: You know why they hated Paul?
Dave Hentschel: It's because they had a trade, and their trade was crafting idols.
Dave Hentschel: And Paul came in and spread the gospel and said, You shouldn't be worshiping these idols anymore.
Dave Hentschel: And that had a monetary impact on their lives.
Dave Hentschel: And so evidently this guy, Alexander, never, never let Paul get away with that.
Dave Hentschel: He did Paul much harm.
Dave Hentschel: We're not exactly sure what he did, but here's Paul referring to him, saying, Hey, watch out for this guy.
Dave Hentschel: And what I get from this verse is a little bit counterintuitive, but I think it's a good principle.
Dave Hentschel: Paul was hated by the right people.
Dave Hentschel: You don't want everyone to love you.
Dave Hentschel: Jesus said, Woe unto those who are well spoken of by all men.
Dave Hentschel: That's not what you want.
Dave Hentschel: Paul has enemies.
Dave Hentschel: You know why?
Dave Hentschel: Because God has enemies.
Dave Hentschel: But Paul is not bitter.
Dave Hentschel: This is the trick.
Dave Hentschel: Yeah, he's got some critiques for this guy, but somehow Paul is at peace.
Dave Hentschel: How?
Dave Hentschel: Because he's entrusting him to the Lord's hands.
Dave Hentschel: Not my problem.
Dave Hentschel: Above my pay grade.
Dave Hentschel: The Lord will take care of him.
Dave Hentschel: I want to drop anchor for just a second.
Dave Hentschel: Have you guys ever talked to an older person who's consumed with bitterness?
Dave Hentschel: You ever talk to or hang around an older person?
Dave Hentschel: And all they want to talk about is how they were wronged in their life, and they have so much resentment, they have so much unforgiveness, they have so much anger, they have so much bitterness that they can't move forward, they're stuck.
Dave Hentschel: Do not do that.
Dave Hentschel: Paul says, Don't instead trust God with that.
Dave Hentschel: God's going to take care of them.
Dave Hentschel: And as a result, Paul gets to have peace.
Dave Hentschel: The section continues with verse 16 as Paul says this.
Dave Hentschel: May it not be charged against them.
Dave Hentschel: But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.
Dave Hentschel: What's going on here is that there was some kind of tribunal.
Dave Hentschel: Paul was brought before to have a hearing, and he had a test, he had to testify on his own behalf.
Dave Hentschel: And I want you to notice Paul saw that as an opportunity to proclaim the gospel.
Dave Hentschel: If that was me, if that was you, if that was our situation, if we were in prison for being a Christian, we would probably think, oh, my opportunities are being lost because of this situation that I'm in.
Dave Hentschel: My opportunities are being taken away because of this.
Dave Hentschel: That's not how Paul saw it.
Dave Hentschel: And that's not what Jesus said.
Dave Hentschel: Jesus actually said in chapter 21 of the Gospel of Luke, he had a prediction saying, one day you're going to be brought before kings and governors, and that's going to be your opportunity to witness.
Dave Hentschel: So Paul says, This is my opportunity.
Dave Hentschel: I'm going to proclaim to the Gentiles the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory.
Dave Hentschel: That was my first defense.
Dave Hentschel: We're not exactly sure when this occurred.
Dave Hentschel: We do know no one stood by him.
Dave Hentschel: And the reason is because Nero, the Caesar, was collecting the Christians, lighting them on fire, and using them as torches in his garden.
Dave Hentschel: Are you going to that court case with Paul?
Dave Hentschel: No one came.
Dave Hentschel: He was alone.
Dave Hentschel: And yet he doesn't hold that against them.
Dave Hentschel: You know why?
Dave Hentschel: Because God was right by his side.
Dave Hentschel: Notice the contrast.
Dave Hentschel: All deserted me, but the Lord stood by me.
Dave Hentschel: See it?
Dave Hentschel: Brothers and sisters, people may fail you.
Dave Hentschel: People may not come through.
Dave Hentschel: But the book of Proverbs says there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
Dave Hentschel: In those moments when people fail you, when people fail us, we can be strengthened by the Lord.
Dave Hentschel: I think there's a special grace for this.
Dave Hentschel: Jesus promised us in Matthew 28, I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.
Dave Hentschel: In those moments where you feel alone, where you feel deserted, where you feel forsaken, claim Hebrews 13, 5.
Dave Hentschel: I will never leave you nor forsake you, so we can confidently say, the Lord is my helper.
Dave Hentschel: What can man do to me?
Dave Hentschel: God is there, right by his side, standing with Paul.
Dave Hentschel: So there's never a moment, God says, when I'm not with you.
Dave Hentschel: Here's the principle here.
Dave Hentschel: Human abandonment does not mean divine abandonment.
Dave Hentschel: No way.
Dave Hentschel: Now I want to say something.
Dave Hentschel: Today, so many people, when human beings in the church let them down, even fellow Christians, they leave the church.
Dave Hentschel: That is not, they turn on Jesus.
Dave Hentschel: That is not the response of Paul here.
Dave Hentschel: He does not hold that against them.
Dave Hentschel: Humans have let him down.
Dave Hentschel: But he perseveres, and God stands with him.
Dave Hentschel: May we follow in his steps.
Dave Hentschel: The text continues.
Dave Hentschel: Paul says this so I was rescued from the lion's mouth.
Dave Hentschel: 18.
Dave Hentschel: The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom.
Dave Hentschel: To him be the glory forever and ever.
Dave Hentschel: Amen.
Dave Hentschel: What was Paul rescued from?
Dave Hentschel: What will he be rescued from?
Dave Hentschel: What exactly is the lion's mouth?
Dave Hentschel: There's tons of debate about this.
Dave Hentschel: Could be the Colosseum, could be Nero Circus, could be death, it could be Satan.
Dave Hentschel: 1 Peter 5 says, the devil, your adversary, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Dave Hentschel: We're not sure.
Dave Hentschel: But Paul says, God has rescued me from the lion's mouth.
Dave Hentschel: He will sustain me.
Dave Hentschel: And brothers and sisters, he will sustain you and rescue you from the lion's mouth as well.
Dave Hentschel: Daniel 6, God rescues Daniel from the lion's mouth.
Dave Hentschel: Paul is standing in that line.
Dave Hentschel: There's a beautiful benediction about God's ability to keep us in those dark moments in the book of Jude.
Dave Hentschel: I'll just read it for you.
Dave Hentschel: It says this to him who's able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, be glory, majesty, power, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord before all ages, now and forevermore.
Dave Hentschel: Amen.
Dave Hentschel: God is keeping you as his child till the very end.
Dave Hentschel: We're talking today about how we need to finish, and that's true.
Dave Hentschel: But there's a promise, a foundational promise, underneath of that exhortation.
Dave Hentschel: Underneath of the imperative is an indicative.
Dave Hentschel: Underneath of that command is a promise from God to you that before you are expected to finish for him, he finished for you.
Dave Hentschel: The Bible says, He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.
Dave Hentschel: There's only one other person in the New Testament that uses this word finish.
Dave Hentschel: Jesus.
Dave Hentschel: Do you remember what he said on the cross?
Dave Hentschel: It is finished.
Dave Hentschel: He said, I have finished the work that my Father had for me to do.
Dave Hentschel: Jesus finished that work on Paul's behalf, and as a result, Paul can now finish the work that God gave him to do.
Dave Hentschel: Underneath of our ability to finish well is our trust in our sovereign God who already finished well for us.
Dave Hentschel: Jesus laid down his life for Paul, and only now How can Paul lay down his life for Jesus?
Dave Hentschel: After we first embrace the finished work of the Lord on our behalf, then by the power of his spirit, living on the inside of us, we can follow him, and there is grace for these moments, and we can finish the work he's given us to do.
Dave Hentschel: So, brothers and sisters, hold fast to him who holds fast to you.
Dave Hentschel: You have the best of all advocates and the best of all generals in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dave Hentschel: Say with Paul, having received mercy, we faint not.
Dave Hentschel: Lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees and make straight paths for your feet.
Dave Hentschel: Your sender will not desert you.
Dave Hentschel: Put your hand to the plow.
Dave Hentschel: No weapon formed against you will prosper, and every tongue that lines up against you will fall.
Dave Hentschel: God keeps his people.
Dave Hentschel: You finish well by trusting Christ when people fail you.
Dave Hentschel: Let's look at the final words again.
Dave Hentschel: 19.
Dave Hentschel: He finishes by offering some greetings to some friends.
Dave Hentschel: Greet Prisca and Aquila and the household of Onecephorus, Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill at Miletus.
Dave Hentschel: Do your best to come before winter.
Dave Hentschel: Ubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.
Dave Hentschel: Look at verse 22.
Dave Hentschel: The Lord be with your spirit.
Dave Hentschel: Grace be with you.
Dave Hentschel: I think right there in verse 22 is the whole point of the letter.
Dave Hentschel: I think right here in verse 22 is what Paul has been concerned with this entire letter.
Dave Hentschel: I think this is what Paul is worried about.
Dave Hentschel: He knows he's about to go.
Dave Hentschel: And he's starting to be concerned about what?
Dave Hentschel: Like a succession plan.
Dave Hentschel: He's worried about what's going to happen after I'm gone.
Dave Hentschel: This is why he writes this letter to his protege, Timothy, that his spirit would be strengthened so that this Christian movement would endure long after he is gone.
Dave Hentschel: So in verse 22, when he says, May the Lord be with your spirit, I take that to be the human spirit.
Dave Hentschel: This is the main point of the whole book.
Dave Hentschel: This is why he picked up his pen, grabbed parchment, and started writing to this guy.
Dave Hentschel: Look at what he said in chapter one.
Dave Hentschel: Let me remind you.
Dave Hentschel: Chapter 1, verses 6 through 8.
Dave Hentschel: For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
Dave Hentschel: Timothy, for God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but of power and love and self-control.
Dave Hentschel: Therefore, Timothy, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.
Dave Hentschel: May the Lord be with your spirit.
Dave Hentschel: May you be strengthened, Timothy, to do this, to fan into flame the gift of God that is in you, to have this fearless spirit, to be unashamed of the testimony of our Lord, to embrace your gift, fulfill your calling, and preach the word.
Dave Hentschel: That's the whole point of this book.
Dave Hentschel: May the Lord be with your spirit.
Dave Hentschel: So that Timothy will guard the good deposit and teach it to others who will be able to teach others and to preach the word.
Dave Hentschel: May the Lord be with your spirit.
Dave Hentschel: Paul is praying at the very end that God Almighty will take that mantle, that anointing, like Elijah to Elisha, and empower his disciple, his protege, Timothy, with a spirit of fearlessness that serves the living God.
Dave Hentschel: And it's not just for Timothy, it's for anyone who reads this letter.
Dave Hentschel: That benediction there, grace be with you.
Dave Hentschel: You can't tell in English, but that word you is plural.
Dave Hentschel: Grace be with you all in the church who read this letter.
Dave Hentschel: May the Lord strengthen all of your spirits.
Dave Hentschel: This is a charge, not just for Timothy, but for the whole church who will hear this letter, to be strengthened in their spirit, to be able to pass on the faith to the next generation.
Dave Hentschel: This is our sixth principle.
Dave Hentschel: You finish well by passing the faith forward.
Dave Hentschel: Can we say that together?
Dave Hentschel: You finish a faithful finish includes a faithful transmission.
Dave Hentschel: You need a succession plan at the end of his life.
Dave Hentschel: Paul's concerned with what matters most, and it's not his comfort, and it's not applause or wealth or anything.
Dave Hentschel: He's saying, My main concern is that this movement continues.
Dave Hentschel: So, church, as we finish this series by grace, let us not merely begin well, let us finish well individually and corporately.
Dave Hentschel: And so we've come to the end of the letter.
Dave Hentschel: He's in this dungeon.
Dave Hentschel: Paul finishes this letter, sends it off just before he dies, and not long after he sent this letter, one morning, they killed him.
Dave Hentschel: They took him to be executed, and that would be the last day of Paul on this planet.
Dave Hentschel: I wonder what was going through his mind on that day.
Dave Hentschel: Was he thinking, was it worth it?
Dave Hentschel: I mean, here I am.
Dave Hentschel: They're gonna kill me.
Dave Hentschel: Are they gonna do this to all of us?
Dave Hentschel: Was I crazy to think this thing would work?
Dave Hentschel: Was I crazy to think we could survive the Roman Empire?
Dave Hentschel: Were we crazy to think we could make a difference?
Dave Hentschel: Were we crazy to think that this movement had any staying power?
Dave Hentschel: Perhaps there he sat in that dark tank dungeon wondering what would happen after he's gone.
Dave Hentschel: Now, I want you to do a little creative exercise for me for one second.
Dave Hentschel: I want you to put on your thinking cap and your imagination, and I want you to get into a DeLorean and get that thing up to 88 miles an hour and go back with me to 63 AD, where you can visit Paul in this dungeon right before they execute him, and your job is to encourage him.
Dave Hentschel: What would you say?
Dave Hentschel: Maybe you say, Paul, Paul, before you go, do not be discouraged.
Dave Hentschel: I I know what's gonna happen.
Dave Hentschel: I'm from the future.
Dave Hentschel: Paul, I've seen it with my own eyes, Paul.
Dave Hentschel: I know this is hard for you to imagine, but one day in this city, this Roman city, everywhere that I can see, you'll see crosses.
Dave Hentschel: Crosses everywhere in Rome.
Dave Hentschel: It's gonna take over this whole city, Paul.
Dave Hentschel: One day, Paul, no one will ever again say, Caesar is Lord.
Dave Hentschel: But Paul, what's gonna happen is there's gonna be churches all over the world filled with people who proudly proclaim, Jesus is Lord.
Dave Hentschel: Could Paul even imagine such a thing?
Dave Hentschel: Paul, look over there.
Dave Hentschel: Do you see Nero's circus right over there?
Dave Hentschel: See that, Paul?
Dave Hentschel: I want you to look over there.
Dave Hentschel: You know where they persecute the Christians, where they throw them before the wild animals, and where the Christians are getting torn apart, right over there where Nero's circus is, Paul, they're gonna tear that thing down and they're gonna build a building.
Dave Hentschel: It's gonna be one of the most beautiful buildings in the whole world, dedicated to your friend Peter.
Dave Hentschel: Paul, look around this city.
Dave Hentschel: One day, millions of people will come to this city from all over the world, tourists.
Dave Hentschel: And they will say, they will not say, please take me to see where Julius Caesar is buried.
Dave Hentschel: And they will not say, take me to see where Nero is buried.
Dave Hentschel: You know what they're gonna say?
Dave Hentschel: Take me to where the apostle Paul was in prison.
Dave Hentschel: This is gonna happen, Paul.
Dave Hentschel: And you know all those letters you wrote, 2 Timothy, as well as all the other stuff, all that stuff, we translated it into thousands of languages, and people all over the world read your letters and get encouraged by your letters for centuries and centuries and centuries reading the words that you wrote because you were not ashamed of the gospel, the very power of God for salvation.
Dave Hentschel: Paul, one day there will come a time where fathers and mothers they will name their sons Paul and Peter, and they will name their dogs Nero and Caesar.
Dave Hentschel: Could Paul have even imagined such a world?
Dave Hentschel: I don't know, but neither do you know how God's gonna use you when you go.
Dave Hentschel: So you stay faithful and you finish well.
Dave Hentschel: I want you to look at the screen there.
Dave Hentschel: Maybe you take a picture with your phone, and maybe you take a three by five card this week and you just write those out and you put that on your mirror or you put that on the visor of your car, just to remind you of these six principles in this chapter that help us learn how to finish well.
Dave Hentschel: Because this is how we do it.
Dave Hentschel: You finish well by seeing your life as an offering.
Dave Hentschel: You finish well by remaining faithful through your entire race.
Dave Hentschel: You finish well by living for eternal rewards, not present comfort.
Dave Hentschel: You finish well by continuing ministry all the way to the end, you finish well by trusting Christ when people fail you, and you finish well by passing the faith forward.
Dave Hentschel: I say this all the time.
Dave Hentschel: But can you imagine a church full of men and women who are committed to these principles?
Dave Hentschel: Can you imagine a church full of teens and kids who are totally committed to finishing in this way?
Dave Hentschel: Let's be that church.
Dave Hentschel: I want to invite the worship team to come and lead us in one more song.
Dave Hentschel: And as they come, I want to close with a prayer.
Dave Hentschel: It's a prayer that has meant a whole lot to me.
Dave Hentschel: It's a prayer that's to be read at the end of your life.
Dave Hentschel: It's a prayer that's written by a Puritan named Richard Baxter.
Dave Hentschel: And it is his dying prayer.
Dave Hentschel: And one day when I'm dying, I would like somebody to read this prayer at my bedside.
Dave Hentschel: One day as I finish, I would like to be reminded of these words, because this prayer shows you how a Christian dies.
Dave Hentschel: And so here is Richard Baxter's dying prayer.
Dave Hentschel: Listen to these words.
Dave Hentschel: Lord, it belongs not to my care.
Dave Hentschel: Whether I die or live, to love and serve thee is my share, and this thy grace must give.
Dave Hentschel: If life be long, I will be glad that I may long obey.
Dave Hentschel: If short, yet why should I be sad to welcome endless day?
Dave Hentschel: Christ leads me through no darker rooms than he went through before.
Dave Hentschel: He that unto God's kingdom comes must enter by this door.
Dave Hentschel: Come, Lord, when grace hath made me meet thy blessed face to see.
Dave Hentschel: For if thy work on earth be sweet, what will thy glory be?
Dave Hentschel: Then I shall end my sad complaints and weary sinful days and join with the triumphant saints that sing my Savior's praise.
Dave Hentschel: My knowledge of that life is small.
Dave Hentschel: The eye of faith is dim.
Dave Hentschel: But 'tis enough that Christ knows all, that I shall be with him.
Dave Hentschel: In Jesus' name, amen.
Dave Hentschel: Would you stand as we pray together?
Dave Hentschel: Father, thank you for your holy word, for this powerful testimony of Paul and his faithful endurance.
Dave Hentschel: We confess that apart from your grace, we can't do this.
Dave Hentschel: We're prone to wander, prone to leave the God we love.
Dave Hentschel: We're prone to be honest, Lord.
Dave Hentschel: I'm prone to love this present world.
Dave Hentschel: But thank you that you are able to keep us from stumbling and to present us blameless before your presence with great joy.
Dave Hentschel: We trust you.
Dave Hentschel: So strengthen us, Lord, to be faithful and help us here as a church to be faithful, to guard this gospel and entrust it to the next generation for the next 175 years.
Dave Hentschel: When trials come, would you stand by us?
Dave Hentschel: When others fail us, would you remind us you never fail us?
Dave Hentschel: And when our race grows difficult, we want you to sustain us by your grace.
Dave Hentschel: And may we, by your power, be found faithful on that final day.
Dave Hentschel: Keep us until your heavenly kingdom, we pray.
Dave Hentschel: Through Jesus Christ our Savior.
Dave Hentschel: And everyone said, Amen.
Dave Hentschel: Let's sing together.