Paul’s Final Confession of Faith 2 Timothy 4:6-8, NIV For I am already being poured out like a drink offering; and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store 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 longed for his appearing. I would like to share the grace of God under the title, “Paul’s Final Confession of Faith,” which is based on 2Timothy 4:6-8. Please repeat after me, Paul’s Final Confession of Faith. The last words people leave this world with are very important. Just before they die, people leave to those who would listen their most crucial and important words. The second Epistle to Timothy was Paul’s last letter written before he was martyred. This letter to Timothy is like his last will and testament. It is estimated that Paul was beheaded around 67 A.D., during the reign of Nero. In the late autumn before he was martyred, Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, Paul’s beloved disciple and spiritual son. It was one winter day in prison when Paul wrote this letter to Timothy. It must have been very cold in prison; and Paul might have even feared death because he asked Timothy to quickly come to him. He desired to see his beloved disciple before he died, and he reminded Timothy to bring his cloak that he had left with Carpus at Troas. By studying Paul’s final confession of faith written in 2 Timothy, I want to examine our faith. I pray that you will make resolutions to live for the Lord for the rest of your life through today’s message. First, Paul confessed that he would be martyred for the Lord. 2 Timothy 4:6 says, “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.” Through Spirit and prayer Paul knew he was going to die soon because he said that the time had come for his departure. A drink offering was one of the offerings prescribed in the Old Testament. It is the pouring of wine as the final procedure of animal sacrifice. Numbers 15:5 says, “With each lamb for the burnt offering or the sacrifice, prepare a quarter of a hin of wine as a drink offering.” Wine was poured on the sacrifice symbolizing the whole dedication of the sacrifice to the Lord. With a determination to be martyred for the glory of God, Paul used this scriptural reference as an expression of him being poured out like a drink offering unto the Lord, and his blood as sealing that offering. The Apostle Paul, not afraid of death, proclaimed that he would shed his blood of martyrdom with confidence and boldness. Henri Nouwen, a spiritual writer, once said, “The best attitude we can have in preparation for death is that of children.” As children trust their parents and leave all things to them, if we trust in God and leave all things to Him before death, God’s grace will be with us through the process of death. I remember a story about death row inmates in Korea. Authorities never tell these death row prisoners when they would be executed. Even after the execution date is set, these men are left without knowledge of it. As any other morning, a death row man would wake up to go to the dining hall for his breakfast. If he is led to turn right, he will live to eat another meal. If he is led to the left he will be led to his execution. That death row inmate who is led to the left would then realize he is going to his execution. Of course he would be seized with a fear of death; and so he would yell, foam from his mouth as he struggles hard to avoid where he is being taken. However, Christians are not afraid of death. Since death is not the end but a new beginning, we can face death with confidence. As a butterfly flies away, leaving its cocoon behind, we will too leave our flesh behind and live in God’s eternal kingdom of heaven with joy forever in the glory of the Lord. This is why Paul, with boldness and confidence was able to proclaim that he was to soon die. 1 Corinthians 15:55 says, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” Apostle Paul was not afraid to die. He lived with great passion to serve the Lord as if he was being poured like a drink offering right up to the moment he was martyred. Acts 20:24 says, “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” Paul used to persecute Christians. When Stephen was stoned to death by the Jews, he witnessed this death on the Jews’ side. He captured Christians and put them in prison. When Paul had his conversion experience, he was on route to Damascus, with a letter of authority signed by the high priests. He was to take Damascus Christians as prisoners back to Jerusalem for persecution, even to their death. That journey to Damascus changed Paul’s life, and from then onward, he who was changed from a persecutor of Christians to an Apostle of the Lord Jesus. He was then willing to sacrifice his very life for the Lord. Even though Paul had to go through a lot of suffering, he never gave up. He ran the race and kept his faith. As the Apostle of faith, Paul prayed and praised God in times of suffering. We remember the late Rev. Ki-Chul Joo who was martyred during the years under Japanese control. On April 20, 1944, his wife visited him in prison. He left the following parting words with his wife. “Please, instead of me, take good care of my mother. I now would like some warm rice tea. Even in heaven, I will pray for the Korean church. Bury my body in Dolbak Mountain, Pyungyang. I pray the Korean church will stand on the truth.” Leaving this as his last word, he died the following day. Story has it that he left the following written prayer in prison. “Oh, Lord. Do not let me spare my body and disgrace You. Make me keep Your commandments even if my body has to be ground into powder. You were crucified for me. Since You have died for me, how could I deny You with fear of death? I am resolved to die for You.” I pray that we will be faithful servants of the Lord, confessing to Him, “I want to live for the glory of God, sacrificing my life in my service for the Lord,” like Rev. Ki-Chull Choo and the Apostle Paul. A glorious future is being prepared for the children of God. Being overwhelmed by the grace of the Lord, the Apostle Paul, without hesitation, gave his life for the Lord. Second, Paul did his best in devoting his life to serve the Lord. Paul confesses in 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Paul confessed, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. I did my best in serving my Lord.” He fought the good fight. He fought the evil power every day. He fought as best as he could. Paul also urges us to be fully armed to fight the devil. Ephesians 6:11 says, “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” From the time Paul met the Lord to the time he was martyred, he fought the devil, evil spirits, and idol worshippers. Paul fought the legalists, the troublemakers in the church, and he fought those who doubted the Word of God. Paul was in a state of constant, spiritual warfare for the Lord and for the glory of God, even fighting his own flesh which would often try to take him back into his old self. After believing in Jesus, we, too, are in a spiritual warfare. We must fight for the Kingdom of God and for the Glory of God. Firstly we must fight ourselves. Our old self constantly lures us to sin. It prompts us to think about bad things. It leads us to hate others. It makes us fall by reminding us of the wounds from the past. It engulfs us into bottomless rage. We need to fight it. We can lead a victorious spiritual life only as we learn to control ourselves. We must constantly fight to keep our old self under the Word of God so that we can then wage battle against sin itself, and the evils spirits in our lives that would want to hinder us from accomplishing God’s precious work in and through us. Apostle Paul did his best every moment of his life. He fought the good fight. Then he continued to confess, “I have finished the race.” “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race, which was set out for me.” He may have remembered a famous marathon race when he wrote this passage. Marathoners must run 42.195 kilometers for 2 ½ or 3 hours. Regardless of how well a marathoner was running the race, if he did not finish, that race would come to nothing. He had to finish it. Once he started to run, his goal was to reach the finish line. Apostle Paul met Jesus on his way to Damascus and ran the race to the finish line until he was martyred. He fixed his eyes on Jesus and kept on running towards the finish line. He confessed in Acts 20:23-24, “I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me?the task of testifying to the Gospel of God’s Grace.” “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me! I did my best in faithfully serving the Lord.” Hallelujah! We must run the race towards the finish line as best we can. We must march forward with faith to complete the task the Lord Jesus has given us. We should never give up the race. Even if we were the fastest during the race, if we give up in the middle of the race, our race would come to nothing. I urge you to finish your race until you go to heaven with the same passion with which you began your race. Once you have decided to believe in Jesus, do not skip worship services. Worship the Lord as best you can. Preach the Gospel to non-believers. Work and live as diligently as you can to accomplish the task given by God. Then God will bless you. Hee-ah Lee was born with only four fingers not ten. It was not the only peculiar thing that she was born with. She did not have lower legs below her knees. This year she turned twenty-five. Hee-ah’s mother married a disabled veteran, who due to a spinal injury, was paralyzed from his waist down. She was a nurse, and with the Love of Christ in her heart, she married Hee-ah’s father despite all obstacles. When she got pregnant, the supersonic wave showed that the fetus had only four fingers. People suggested she have an abortion because it would be hard to raise a disabled child; but she chose to give birth to the baby because it was given by God. The baby had only two fingers on each hand, so she could not pick up or use anything. However, in love, Hee-ah’s mother began to teach her daughter how to play the piano. Since she had feeble hands with only four fingers, she could not touch the keyboard properly. From seven years old, Hee-ah practiced about ten hours a day. She practiced and practiced whenever she could. She practiced a few measures over and over again-fifty times or even one hundred times. She entered a national piano competition and won the grand prix one and a half years after she had begun to learn to play the piano. Later Hee-ah made the following confession, “I give my thanks to God before giving anybody else who gave me the power to overcome my disability thanks. Then I give my thanks to my mother and my father, who are now in heaven. Next I thank my piano teacher.” Later she graduated from Korea National College of Rehabilitation and Welfare. She won the grand prix at the Students’ National Music Festival, the President’s award for overcoming disabilities, and the Culture and Arts Award. She also met and shook hands with Rev. Yonggi Cho at the Christian Social Security Expo in 2005. Chopin’s Fantasie Impromptuis hard to play even with ten fingers because the left and right fingers playing separate musical time patterns. She plays this hard piece with only four fingers. Can you imagine how much she would have practiced? She tried and tried and tried. She had recitals in Canada and in the United States. When the pianists would have to stand, she was always the shortest because she did not have any lower legs and would have to stand on her knees. However Hee-ah continued to give thanks and glory to God. Even today she is doing her best to fulfill her God-given task through music and praises. She confesses, “I am happy and live a full life even though I was born with only four fingers.” She wrote the following in her diary when she was ten, “I give my thanks to God for giving me two fingers in each hand. My hands are my treasures.” She confesses that she gives glory to God through her life by doing her best each single day. What kind of life are you living now? With ten fingers and healthy limbs, are you doing your best for the glory of God? We have received so many things. However, we often find ourselves aimless and weak, living adrift as we are tossed around by the waves of this world. We live without thanking God, indulging ourselves in whatever we have before us. It is time for us to change. With the New Year just around the corner, we must pray to God, “Heavenly Father, I want to do my best for the rest of my life. I want to serve the Lord and do the task that is given to me as best as I can until I take my last breathe.” I urge each one of us to march forward with faith, fixing our eyes on Jesus, until the day He calls us home. Hebrews 12:1-2 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Let us fix our eyes on Jesus. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus! Jesus is the only goal of our life. We need to march forward with faith, fixing our eyes on nothing but Jesus. Runners in a race cannot look back. They cannot stop running. They cannot idle around. They have to run as fast as they could. We are all runners in the race of our faith. Never look back. Never sit down slumped with the frustration of past wounds. Keep running towards the finish line. Paul said that he kept the faith while marching forward with faith. He said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” God is with those who keep the faith. When we march forward with faith, no matter what happens, without giving up our faith, dedicating our lives for the Lord, God’s marvelous miracles and blessings will follow us. Abraham kept his faith. Joseph kept his faith. Job kept his faith, too. When we keep our faith, God will bless us. Keeping the faith means living in accordance with the will of God. It signifies that players will be disqualified when they foul play. Marathoners will be disqualified if they ride in a car to some spot in the middle of the course and run from that spot. They say there are some people who actually do this. On the other hand, keeping the faith means following the will of God. When we keep the faith, pleasing God and living in accordance with the will of God, He will bless you. Polycarp was a well known Christian leader in the early Church. He was a student of the Apostle John, Jesus’ beloved disciple. He was appointed by Apostle John as the leader of the Church at Smyrna. Because Christians were to be captured and persecuted by the order of the Roman Emperor, Polycarp was brought before the Roman viceroy. Viceroy saw Polycarp was old and didn’t want to kill him. Since he did not want to kill Polycarp, he commanded “Deny Jesus once and you will be free.” Polycarp replied, “For the past 86 years I served Jesus, not once has He forsaken me. How can I say I do not know Him and bring disgrace to Him? I implore you to believe in Jesus and receive salvation.” Furious, the viceroy put Polycarp in a blazing furnace of oil. Polycarp was martyred. He kept his faith to the end. Keep your faith. Never step backward. There are some times when you get disappointed in your Christian life. There are some times when you are hurt. There are some times when you want to leave the church due to conflicts with other Christians. Even in such cases, you should never leave the church. You must keep your place. Why? That is because the Lord is with you. I pray that you will never give up in the Name of the Lord. Third, Apostle Paul confessed that he anticipated a glorious future. 2 Timothy 4:8 says, “Now there is in store 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 longed for his appearing.” Paul said that the Lord would award the crown not only to him but also to all Christians. The crown he was talking about must be the crown made of laurels. The Olympic game winners were crowned with laurels. Since it was the most prestigious award to the Olympic athletes, people cheered for those with crowns of laurels. In honor of our many earthy services, it is important for us to receive crowns in this world; but it is far more important for us to receive the crowns of heaven from our Lord. Apostle Paul knew that he was going to die soon. But he saw the glorious world beyond death with his eyes of faith. Do not despair at the depressing sight of reality. Look at the blessing of God beyond sufferings. I want you to look at the glorious resurrection and the Kingdom of Heaven beyond death. We will all go to heaven one after the other. We will stand before the Lord there. I pray that you will not be ashamed in the last moments of your life. I pray that you will be full of grace as you begin a glorious new life beyond death in the Name of the Lord. Randy Pausch, a professor of Computer and Design at Carnegie Mellon University, delivered his last lecture. This touching and impressive lecture is introduced in his book, The Last Lecture. Pausch had been diagnosed with and his doctor said it was terminal. His last lecture had been already scheduled. His wife said, “Honey, you are getting weaker. We don't know when you will leave us. Wouldn’t it be better for us to spend your time alone with our children?” Randy Pausch replied, “It is good to make good memories with our children. However, after I am gone, I want our children to remember me as a father who did his very best until his last moment. I want my children to grow and to be proud of their father.” On September 18, 2007, he gave his last lecture to a large crowd of over 400 colleagues and students. He gave his lecture with all the strength and passion he had at that moment. During the lecture Pausch was upbeat and humorous, shrugging off the pity often given to patients. His lecture was broadcasted all over the campus. Later it was viewed by people all over the world through You-Tube, touching and inspiring its viewers. Randy Pausch died at the young age of 48, but he will be remembered as a man who was not afraid of death, as a man who talked of hope, even when on the very doors of death. He talked about life instead of death and hope instead of hopelessness. He left people with the valuable lesson of doing their best until the last moment of life. We are all runners in the race of our life. No one really knows when the last moment of their life is. The end will come to everyone. I want you to do your best, as if today might indeed be the last day of your life. What is important is what the goal of our life is. When we put our goals on worldly things, life would indeed be meaningless. However after our race is finished, what is the value of material things? Material things do not mean anything at the time of death. Neither does the power of this world. We can rejoice and give thanks to God in the last moment of our lives because Jesus has always been with us. Our devotion for the Lord Jesus will never be in vain; and this is most meaningful and worthwhile. I pray that you will achieve great works of God by actively doing your best for the Lord in everything you do. Fathers, do your best as fathers. Mothers, do your best as mothers; children, do your best as children. Employers and employees, artists, and professionals, do your best as employers and employees, artists, and professionals wherever you are. I urge you to work for the Glory of God, saying, “May the Lord receive glory through my life in everything I do. I want to do all things for Your Glory and Your joy, and not for my glory, benefit, or joy.” Someday, we will stand before the Lord and will be evaluated for what we have done. There is a parable of talents given to three servants in Matthew 25. The master, going on a journey, called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent. Then he went on his journey without telling them when he would return. One day the master returned. The man who had received the five talents came and said, “Master, you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.” The man with the two talents also came and said, “Master, you entrusted me with two talents. See, I have gained two more.” They used their talents and worked hard to make it twice as much. The man who had received the one talent hid it in the ground. He had been lazy. He dug out the hidden talent and brought it to his master. He said, “I was afraid that I might lose it. So I have kept it in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.” The master praised the two servants who had been given five talents and two talents, respectively, exactly in the same manner. Matthew 25:23 says, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” “Well done, good and faithful servant!” I pray that the Lord will praise you the same way, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” On the other hand, however, the master rebuked the servant who had been given one talent. Matthew 25:30 says, “And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” We will stand before the Lord some day. There are two possible evaluations. Are we going to be praised or rebuked? Let us carefully look back on our lives. Have we thus far lived for the glory of God? Have we fought the good fight? Have we finished the race? Have we kept the faith? Have we lived faithfully enough to be praised by the Lord, “Well done, good and faithful servant?” Look back on your lives now. If you have not done your best so far, then make a resolution before the Lord and pray, “Lord, I want to fight the good fight in the New Year. I want to run the race as best as I can, keeping the faith. I want to be Your faithful servant who deserves Your praise, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!’” It is my earnest prayer for you. Let us pray. Our Father of infinite love, grace, and mercy, we feel so ashamed when we look back on our lives. Forgive all our sins and faults. Forgive us as we have failed to fight the good fight and to keep the faith. Help us to fight the good fight, run the race with our best efforts, and keep the faith as Your precious children. Bless us so that we will be praised by You, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” I pray in the Name of Jesus. Amen.