Finishing Well
Download MP3If you have a Bible, I invite you to turn to second Timothy, chapter 4. We're gonna take a little break from our study in Romans, to look at 2nd Timothy, Chapter 4. I was reading through this text as part of my yearly Bible reading plan. So perhaps some of you were there as well. And, I really felt, I I thought was just an impulse of the spirit to, to take a break from Romans, and to preach on this text for this morning.
Jeffrey Heine:And as you're turning there in your Bibles, let me just set the context for you, where we are when you hit 2nd Timothy chapter 4. Paul is writing this letter from prison in Rome. It's the last letter he will ever write. At this point Paul is an old man. He has repeatedly had his body broken, through the constant beatings, the lashings, the stonings, being shipwrecked a time or 2.
Jeffrey Heine:I've mentioned this when we were going through the book of Acts, but when you picture Paul at this point in his life, picture a walking scar. Missing a lot of teeth. I mean you don't get beaten with rods or stoned, and and not have a few teeth knocked out. This is a man who is, who's been through war. And he's now coming to the end.
Jeffrey Heine:But I don't want you to picture Paul as, you know, crawling across the finish line as he's coming towards the end of his life. No, he's actually finishing the Christian race stronger and more joyful than ever. Wouldn't you like to do that? Finish this life with more faith and more joy than ever. As people are reentering into the the world after, you know, a year and a half of isolation, I've noticed that a lot of people are reexamining their lives.
Jeffrey Heine:Perhaps you're one of these people re examining, is this the way you want to live your life moving forward? Perhaps the pandemic forcibly removed some things from your life that you're glad are gone now. You really don't want them back. You don't want the crazy schedule that you had before. You don't want the super late hours you were putting in at work.
Jeffrey Heine:And so there's some of those things that you're you're glad the pandemic has stripped away from you. And then there's also some things that, well, you got some bad habits that you wish those would go away. Perhaps, with all of your free time, you began to drink too much, watch Netflix way, way too much. Perhaps the desire to read the Word has waned. Perhaps going to church has become hit or miss.
Jeffrey Heine:But now as you're coming out of that, you know, post kind of pandemic fog here, you're thinking, what is my life supposed to look like now? And more importantly, what are the choices I'm going to make to ensure that I finish well, that I finish with joy? And I think in these final words that we have from Paul, they give us an insight into what allowed him to not just crawl across the finish line, but to finish with such a joyful faith. And so read with me 2nd Timothy 4. We're gonna read the first 18 verses.
Jeffrey Heine:I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead. And by His appearing in His kingdom, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching. But the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but will have itching ears.
Jeffrey Heine:They will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, Fulfill your ministry. It wasn't perfect timing like every time. I was just It's like, amen. Amen.
Jeffrey Heine:Amen. I'm with you. 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.
Jeffrey Heine:I have kept the faith. 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. Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me.
Jeffrey Heine:And he's gone to Thesalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia. Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring Him with you for He is useful to me for ministry.
Jeffrey Heine:Tychicus, I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I have left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.
Jeffrey Heine:In my first defense, no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me. So that through my message might be through me, the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.
Jeffrey Heine:The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. This is the word of the lord. Thanks be to God.
Jeffrey Heine:You would pray with me. Father, I pray that you would open up your word to us, That we would not just hear from Paul, but we would hear the word you would have for us, that you would speak to us in this place. Lord, I want us as a congregation, as a as your church to finish well. Would you show us how we can do that? So, Lord, I pray that during this time, my words would fall to the ground and blow away and not be remembered anymore.
Jeffrey Heine:But, Lord, may your words remain and may they change us. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen. So like I mentioned before, this is Paul's last letter that he will ever write. He is awaiting execution.
Jeffrey Heine:He describes his life to be like a drink offering that is it's being poured out. He says the time of his departure, the time of his release has finally come. And he says he has fought the good fight. He has finished the race. He has kept the faith.
Jeffrey Heine:He has fought. He has finished, and he has kept. There's actually an entire sermon to be found if you just look at each one of those three verbs, But we're not gonna look at those 3 verbs. Instead, I want us to look at 3 nouns. I want us to look at 3 things that Paul asked for at the end of his life.
Jeffrey Heine:He asked for a cloak. He asked for some friends, and he asked for the parchments. And I want us to take time to look at each of these three things, because I think here, when you examine those things, you see how it is that Paul got to end his life so well. So in verse 13, we'll look at the cloak first. Paul says, When you come bring the cloak that I had left with Carpus at Troas.
Jeffrey Heine:Now Now we're not gonna spend that much time on this first request, but it is worth taking a little bit of time. Paul here makes a practical request. He needs his cloak, and we would probably be best thinking of this as more of his winter's coat. He's in a dark damp prison. Winter is coming.
Jeffrey Heine:Paul is cold. It's just a request. He he doesn't want to be cold when winter gets here, so he asked for this coat. I'm sure there are other things that Paul could have also requested, asked for, to give him maybe some comfort during these final days. Perhaps he could have asked for some money.
Jeffrey Heine:Could he give me some money so I could buy some different food than what the the prisoner food is here? He could have asked for, you know, a deck of cards, you know, a checkerboard, some kind of games to pass the time. He could have asked for different things, but instead he just asked for this very practical thing. I need a coat. It's getting cold.
Jeffrey Heine:And this might have been the only thing that Paul even owned. This might have been his only possession. We really don't know. What we do know is this. As you get older, as there are less days in front of you than behind you, you know, I'm I'm I'm mentioned this before.
Jeffrey Heine:I'm 48 and people are like, Are you in middle age? I'm like, I'm not living till I'm 96. I'm like, I'm past middle age. Alright? There are less days in front of me than behind me.
Jeffrey Heine:And when that becomes true of you, you realize you don't really care about things as much. Stuff is not that important to you anymore. I mean, Paul here, of course, he had some physical needs that needed to be met, but all the other things seem to have lost their value to him. And the sooner we can actually learn that in this life, the earlier we can learn that, the more joyful we will become. For those of you who have aging parents, think about that as Christmas is coming.
Jeffrey Heine:Can I just let you in on a little insight here? If you have aging parents, they don't want a bunch of useless stuff from you. That's not what they want. And you know why? It's because they are wiser than you.
Jeffrey Heine:They are wiser than you, and and they realize that is not going to add to their happiness. They have actually lived life. They have seen what matters, and it's not possessions. Just because you might still be a little materialistic, don't push that on them. That's not what they want.
Jeffrey Heine:And you can learn from their wisdom. As a matter of fact, before we move on, let me tell you what your parents would probably like. They would probably like for you to tell them what they mean to you. For you to speak those words of encouragement into them. Write them a letter.
Jeffrey Heine:My mom's last birthday, I didn't send her a card or a present. I know terrible son. I didn't do that. But, I mean, I could've sent her a card with, like, $81 bills on it. If my mom's listening, that's 81 is just, you know, that's not how old you are.
Jeffrey Heine:I know. I mentioned one time her age, and I immediately had a phone call when I got home. Supposed 80 81 years old. Instead, all I did is I wrote her a note thanking her for my inheritance. As you get older, I know that you're thinking a lot if you have children what inheritance you're gonna leave them.
Jeffrey Heine:And I wanted my mom to know, hey. You've already given me my inheritance, and it hasn't been money. You I learned hospitality through your gift of hospitality. I learned the importance of going to church every single Sunday. I learned the importance of tithing as an act of worship.
Jeffrey Heine:I learned what a good healthy marriage is to look like. You have given me, mom, an amazing inheritance. And I just walked through those things. I promise you that was worth more than any gift I could give her. It wasn't any less costly, because it's easier just to buy something.
Jeffrey Heine:This took time. It took thought. But at the end, you don't want more stuff. And this simple request we have here from Paul, he he lets you know. He's like, just bring my coat.
Jeffrey Heine:That's all I want. I just don't wanna be cold. Alright. So moving on. Friends.
Jeffrey Heine:The next request that we see from Paul is he desires face to face time with friends. Paul didn't just want to have friends, nor did he want to just keep writing letters. He wanted face to face time with friends. If a picture is worth a 1,000 words, then a hug is worth a 1,000 zooms. There is something about being physically present with someone.
Jeffrey Heine:And this is why it's one of Paul's urgent requests here at the end. Look at verse 9 again. Says do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me. He's gone to Thesalonica.
Jeffrey Heine:Crescens has gone to Galatia. Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you for he is very useful to me for ministry. Now Paul used to have friends present all around him, but now everyone but Luke is left.
Jeffrey Heine:I mean, some left for good reasons that Paul has sent away for various missions. 1, however, left for a bad reason, Demas. If you actually wanna know how not to finish well, just look at Demas. I think it's one of the reasons that Paul includes him in here. Demas is actually mentioned several times throughout the New Testament.
Jeffrey Heine:He's always mentioned positively. He's a friend of Paul. He's a partner in ministry of Paul, but he deserted Paul. Do not think of Demas as the villain though. Paul writes us in this letter because he wants us to think of him as a mirror.
Jeffrey Heine:He wants us to hold up the life of Demas to ourself. There's no suggestion here whatsoever that Demas gave up the faith, that he became a heretic, that he gave himself over to some form of ungodliness. That's not there. We we don't read about, you know, Demas going making TikTok videos about how he is now an agnostic. Alright?
Jeffrey Heine:He doesn't have that kind of rebellion. He just loves this present world. When things got hard, he chose comfort over faithfulness. But he's he's not the demon here. 2 weeks ago, I was in New York City.
Jeffrey Heine:And, I got to see a friend of mine who pastors a church there. And so we're just talking about ministry and how things have changed over the last couple of years. And I asked him, I said, okay. So moving forward, what would advice would you give me? How have You know, New York's usually just a little bit ahead of the curve.
Jeffrey Heine:How have you seen things change in the way you have to do ministry? And I have been chewing on his words ever since that conversation. He said, Joel, I'm now preparing my people to be hated. I'm preparing my people to be hated. He said, it used to be even in New York, being a pastor had some kind of, you know, people thought was a position of some kind of esteem.
Jeffrey Heine:You know, I would walk in the room. And if they found I was a pastor, there was the assumption like, oh, this is a pretty good guy. He's a pretty moral person. He said, now it's the opposite. He walks in and if he's a pastor, he's actually seen as immoral.
Jeffrey Heine:He is seen as part of the problem, not part of the solution. And he says I need to prepare my people for this. I need to prepare them to be hated. Because the cultural tides have shifted. I mean the Christian views on marriage, divorce, sexuality, gender, life in the womb, the reality of sin, the exclusivity of Jesus being the only way to God, these things used to be readily accepted by many.
Jeffrey Heine:Now are they not only readily accepted, they're seen as immoral, evil to hold to those truths. So can you see the temptation of Demas here? Can you see it? I mean, would it be easier just to try and blend in, to give up, to blend in with the rest of the world? Not rock the boat, hold to some more vague form of Christianity, just kind of ignore some of the clear teachings of scripture.
Jeffrey Heine:You know, most of the Bible is not hard to understand. It's just hard to obey. And perhaps you just, like, just kind of jump over those parts, so you could be accepted by the world. There's a temptation to fall in love with the present world, to avoid suffering. That's certainly what Demas thought.
Jeffrey Heine:And can I be honest? Demas scares me. He scares me. I kinda wish he was the villain like he was. It was just purely evil guy.
Jeffrey Heine:But he's just a guy who grew up in church, Christian, but he loved the world a little too much. And so Paul mentions Demas here to serve as a warning to us. Don't be like Demas. Stand firm. And do you wanna know how you stand firm?
Jeffrey Heine:One of the ways you can stand firm, one of the ways that you can endure the hate that is surely coming your way as part of God's people, will surround yourself with friends who love Jesus. That's what Paul does. Surround yourself with friends who love Jesus. In contrast to Demas, there was Luke. Good Luke who stood beside Paul.
Jeffrey Heine:And Paul wants more than just Luke, he wants additional friends as well and so he asked Timothy and Mark to come to him. Now to ask Timothy and Mark to come to him was a huge ask. This it wasn't like, you know, you just calling up a friend and they could get in a car and drive over or even fly over. In order for Timothy and Mark to come to him, that was a 4 to 6 month journey. One way.
Jeffrey Heine:Paul is asking for no less than 1 year of their life just so he could be with them. This is an enormous ask. And Timothy was the pastor of the church at Ephesus. He was doing very important work. I mean, this was a church that he was doing his absolute best to keep together.
Jeffrey Heine:It was a strategic church crucial to the mission of the church. And Paul was asking him to give that up. To come and to be with him. Let's you know the value of friendship. Doesn't it?
Jeffrey Heine:Give up that enormously important work. Give up an entire year of your life. Why? Because I need you at the end. Will you be with me?
Jeffrey Heine:He doesn't need a letter. He needs face to face. And as I am getting older and my body's beginning to break down, and an empty nest is actually not many years away from me, people keep telling me. It's like, you know, you need a hobby. You need you need some kind of hobby.
Jeffrey Heine:You know? I need to start playing golf. Or I need to, you know, like drink the Kool Aid with everyone else and start playing pickleball. Or like when my body really breaks down, start playing baseball. I have to put that out there.
Jeffrey Heine:I can't. I mean, I've had 10 shoulder surgeries. I can't throw a wiffle ball to you guys. But but people keep saying like, you know, get a hobby. I'm like, I I don't want hobbies.
Jeffrey Heine:I want friends. That's that's what I wanna spend my time pursuing. That's what that's gonna keep me to the end. Now if I could do a hobby with a friend and cultivate a friendship, I'm all for it. But I don't need hobbies.
Jeffrey Heine:I need friends. Especially as there's less days in front of me than behind me. I need face to face time with godly friends. And confession, I don't have as many of those as I need. This is a statement that's probably true of most pastors.
Jeffrey Heine:Most pastors that I know are lonely. They don't have the friendships that they need for the work before them or just to end well. It's hard being a pastor. It's hard to be vulnerable to cultivate those friendships. People have a really hard time being vulnerable to you.
Jeffrey Heine:I mean, you're a pastor, like, instantly. You know, smile. Everything's perfect, like, when they're around you. So it's hard to cultivate those friendships. Plus, there's the enormously important work that pastors have to give themselves to.
Jeffrey Heine:I just gotta keep doing this. I gotta keep doing this. Paul said, drop that. Pursue friendships. You need friends.
Jeffrey Heine:And actually have lived long enough to see many of my friends who are in pastoral ministry fall. They've not ended well. And one of the common characteristics that I have seen of those people who have not ended well is they didn't cultivate true friendships. They gave themselves to a work. They were always too busy for it.
Jeffrey Heine:So this is one of the things, even as I was studying this, I was convicted I need to pursue more friendships. Can you sense the urgency in Paul's request here? He tells Timothy, come quickly. Come quickly. Get here before winter if it's possible.
Jeffrey Heine:And I don't think he's just talking about when it gets cold. I think he's talking about his winter. Get here before I die. I mean, don't you think it's a little odd that Paul would write Timothy this one letter and he gives them all of these instructions. I mean, there's lots of instructions in 2nd Timothy.
Jeffrey Heine:And yet, at the very end of his letter, he's like, but drop all of that and get here. I mean, Timothy's reading this letter. He won't have any time to implement any of the instructions that Paul just gave him. The the only thing I can infer from this is Paul didn't know if Timothy would get to him in time, so he had to go ahead and put it in writing. He couldn't just assume he would be to meet with Timothy and tell these things to him in person.
Jeffrey Heine:So he writes all this out, but his hope is that Timothy will read it, drop it, and come. Then he says, and when you come, don't come by yourself. Bring Mark with you. Says that Mark is useful to him in ministry. You could actually translate this as Mark is a handy guy to have around.
Jeffrey Heine:Great description. It's an odd request to bring Mark. This is the same mark that Paul and Barnabas got in a very heated argument over back in acts, acts 15. If if you remember, at one point, Paul's going on a missionary journey. Barnabas is like, yes.
Jeffrey Heine:I'm gonna go, and we're gonna bring Mark with us. And Paul says, absolutely not. There is no way I'm bringing that kid with me. Mark was younger. Because Mark had abandoned him in the past.
Jeffrey Heine:And Barnabas and Paul got in such a heated argument. They actually split ways. They never did ministry together again. I can imagine that Paul probably said some pretty harsh things to Mark. But now, Paul wants Mark with him at the end.
Jeffrey Heine:I mean, think of that. Of all the people that Paul could have asked Timothy to bring, he has him bring someone who has seen him at his absolute worst. Bring the person who saw me at the absolute worst, my worst. Bring him. And I think it'd be wise to learn from Paul in this.
Jeffrey Heine:In order for him to finish strong, he needed to surround himself self with people who didn't just know his beauty, but knew his ugliness. Who has seen him at his worse. There's a temptation for us to bail on friendships when they get hard. Boy, I've seen that over and over during this pandemic. Haven't you?
Jeffrey Heine:I mean, lifelong friendships gone like that because of politics, because of some social media post, because of a stance on mask. I mean, silly things, lifelong friendships gone because of some disagreements here. Don't allow that to happen. You need the people in your life who have seen you at your worst, who have seen your ugliness, but still love you. Those are the friendships that will help you finish well.
Jeffrey Heine:And I would have loved, just kind of as a side note, to have been a fly on the wall, you know, just in that cell room when Timothy and Mark and Paul are there in Luke. I mean, how the Lord used that friendship. You realize over half of the New Testament is there in that cell? Over half of the New Testament. You have Luke who writes Luke in Acts.
Jeffrey Heine:You have Mark who writes the gospel of Mark immediately after he returns home. He's with Paul. I I mean, I don't know what they were doing. He immediately comes home, begins writing the the gospel of Mark. And then you have Paul, over half of the new testament in that room.
Jeffrey Heine:I I would've I would've loved to listen to their conversation, but the lord used their friendship. Alright. Let's look at the books and the parchments. Verse 13. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books and above all the parchments.
Jeffrey Heine:You could actually say the books, that is the parchments. You could translate it either way. Pretty much every scholar here, every commentator is gonna tell you that, this is most certainly a reference to what we would know as the Hebrew Bible, the Old Testament scriptures. Perhaps with some of Paul's notes. Maybe in even some Included in there will be some of the sayings of Jesus that were certainly written down and floating around at this time.
Jeffrey Heine:But I find this last request utterly fascinating. Absolutely fascinating that Paul would write this. Why would Paul want to continue his scriptural studies when he's just about to die? Why? I mean, he's not gonna write any more letters.
Jeffrey Heine:He's not preaching any more sermons here. It's not like he's learning any new theology. He's already written Romans. He's hammered out his theology by this point. He has written on sanctification, glorification, election, spiritual gifts, adoption, resurrection, justification.
Jeffrey Heine:He has written on all of those things. There's not really anything else to add there. If it were me and it was coming to the end of my life, I would not get out my Greek new testament and begin parsing verbs. I wouldn't begin studying like that. I would think, what is the point?
Jeffrey Heine:Why study when I'm no longer gonna preach? Why memorize scripture? When maybe just a few weeks, I'm gonna see the living word face to face. I mean, part of me just wants to say, Paul, I mean, the end is near. Get your coat.
Jeffrey Heine:Get comfortable. Get your friends around you. Have some good laughs. Talk about the old times. Maybe spend some time in prayer.
Jeffrey Heine:Go be with Jesus. I mean, he spent his whole life studying. Certainly, he could relax for just a little bit. That's that's my impulse. My impulse when I read this is like, Paul, don't waste your precious few moments that you have left with your head buried in a book.
Jeffrey Heine:And when I have those impulses, I hear the whisper of the Holy Spirit saying, you just don't get it, do you? You just don't get it. Why did Paul think it's so urgent to spend his final day studying the Bible? Because that's how he got to know God. That's how God spoke to him.
Jeffrey Heine:God's word word is life to him. To to cut off the Bible would be like cutting off air into his lungs. It's how he lived. It's how he was so joyful. I mean, this was life to Paul.
Jeffrey Heine:Bring it. Bring me the books. Bring me the parchments when you come. I don't wanna be denied those things. I mean, yes.
Jeffrey Heine:I I know I know we're saved by the gospel. Absolutely. We're saved by the gospel, not by the study of God's word. We're saved by the gospel. But do you know how you get to understand the gospel?
Jeffrey Heine:By studying his word. By listening to Jesus speak to us through his word. If you want to be a Christian who doesn't fade away, if you wanna be a Christian full of joy, faithful to the end, even in the darkest times, you must give yourself to the study of God's word. God has not called any of you to be a casual reader of his word. He's not given you his word in order for you to merely try to squeeze in a few minutes before breakfast, maybe squeeze in a few minutes before you go to bed.
Jeffrey Heine:He's given you his word to pour over, to listen to him. His word is for us to be to be savored, to be studied, to be meditated on. His word is our life. And it certainly was for Paul. Do you wanna be a person who finishes well?
Jeffrey Heine:Who finishes with both faith and joy? Do you want to say at the end of your life, the words of Paul here says, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. These things don't just happen.
Jeffrey Heine:Pursue friendships, godly friendships and not things. Pour yourself into God's word and listen to him, and you will finish well. Pray with me. Lord Jesus, we wanna finish well, not not out of a sense of duty, but because finishing well is a call to a joyful life. It's a call to live the life that you have created us to live.
Jeffrey Heine:So father, I pray that we would realize what really matters. And that all the other things would grow strangely dim. But, Lord, that you would continually draw us to yourself. Lord, for those here who are lonely, they don't have the friendships that they need. Lord, I pray that you would surround them with friends, that they would pursue the friendships that can stir them up and encourage them in the faith.
Jeffrey Heine:For those of you who have, for those here who have really grown lazy in regards to your word, would you stir in them in affection once again to pour over your word and to listen to you? Jesus, we love you. Thank you for saving us. We pray this in your name. Amen.
