Word of Salvation – January 2025

 

AGEING WELL GOD’S WAY (5): HAVING A PURPOSE (Paul)

 

Sermon by Rev. Steve Voorwinde on 2Timothy 4:7

 

Scripture Readings:

    2 Timothy 2:1-7; 4:1-8

 

Introduction

It was the middle of a hot Mediterranean summer. 18 July turned out to be a scorcher of a day. Everyone was relieved when dusk finally arrived, and the fiery, glowing, red ball that was the sun had at last sunk in the West. But for the city of Rome, the worst was yet to come.

That night a fire started in some of the cluttered shops near the chariot stadium, the famous Circus Maximus. It was an area where flammable goods were stored. Fanned by a strong wind, the fire quickly spread to other parts of the city. It raged through an area of narrow, twisting streets and tightly squeezed apartment blocks. Rome’s water supply was brought in by nine large aqueducts, but none of them were set up with equipment to fight large fires. All that the fire brigade could do was to try and stop the flames by pouring buckets of water into buildings, by moving flammable materials away from the fire’s path, and even by demolishing buildings to try and create a firebreak.

To make matters worse, arsonists were on the loose and looters were out in force. At first people fled to parts of the city unaffected by the fire, but as the fire spread, they fled to open fields and country roads outside the city. It took almost a week before the fire was brought under control. But then it flared up again and burned for another three days. By the time it was finally extinguished, around 70% of Rome, the largest city in the ancient world with a population of about a million people, had been destroyed. Of the fourteen city districts, only four were spared. Three of the districts were totally reduced to ash and rubble. In the seven other districts many of the oldest buildings and monuments were destroyed or seriously damaged. The fire later became known as the “Great Fire of Rome” in 64 AD.

To make matters even worse, in 64AD the Roman Empire was governed by one of its most cruel and notorious emperors, and that of course was Nero. But it must be said that Nero’s response to the fire was quite sensible in many ways. The old saying that “Nero fiddled while Rome burned” was probably based on no more than a rumour. In the aftermath of the fire, he did his level best to help the homeless and the injured. He lowered the price of grain to provide food for the impoverished. He then embarked on a program of urban renewal. He cleared the slums. He widened the streets. He provided new parks. He also insisted that in future all buildings should be constructed with fireproof material such as brick or stone.

But try as he might, Nero could not allay the suspicion felt by many people that he had instigated the fire, and they resented him for it. So Nero needed someone else to blame. He needed scapegoats. For this he turned on the Christians in Rome. He had them dressed in animal skins and torn to pieces by hunting dogs. Others were crucified. Still others were made into torches and set alight at night, as entertainment at his wild parties. Some of the women were raped and tortured and then martyred. Nero’s cruelty and brutality cost the church in Rome about a thousand lives. Nero introduced the Gentile church to martyrdom.

It was most likely during these events that Paul was enduring his second imprisonment in Rome. He had been imprisoned there before, but this time it was worse, much worse. A few years earlier he had been under house arrest. Now he was in the two-storey, high security Mamertine prison in Rome. Once Nero started turning against the Christians, Paul knew that his days were numbered. As he wrote to Timothy, “I am already being poured out like a drink offering” (2 Tim 4:6a). In other words, his blood was about to be shed in martyrdom. “And the time for my departure has come” (2 Tim 4:6a). He is about to leave this world. He knows he will soon die as a martyr, and that’s how it turned out. But the thought doesn’t crush him. It doesn’t frighten him. It doesn’t distress him.

Listen to what he says next, and these are the words I want to focus on this morning:

• “I have fought the good fight.”
• “I have finished the race.”
• “I have kept the faith.”

What powerful and punchy language this is!

1. But let’s begin where Paul begins: “I have fought the good fight.”

What do you think of when you hear of a fight? Maybe you think of boxers in the ring, slugging it out with one another. The one has a black eye. The other has a badly bruised lip. But they keep going till one of them is knocked out and the other is declared the winner. Or maybe you think of a wrestling match. The wrestlers grab each other in headlocks and throw each other to the floor, and they keep battling it out till the ref declares the winner. In Paul’s day they could have come up with even more graphic examples. The Romans loved their blood sports. Think of the gladiators in the stadium. They would fight to the death either against wild animals or against one another. It was terrifying stuff. But Paul is not thinking about boxers or wrestlers or gladiators. As far as he was concerned, all these were involved in “bad fights”. He had fought the “good fight”. What did he mean?

He means that the Christian life was never meant to be easy. It can be tough sometimes, as Paul knew only too well. It can be a struggle. It can be a battle. That’s why Paul had told Timothy earlier in this letter to endure hardship like a good soldier of Christ Jesus (2 Tim 2:3). And then he says in the next verse: “No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs – he wants to please his commanding officer” (2 Tim 2:4). Now I’m not sure that this would be true of every soldier all the time. Some may be cursing under their breath when they see their commanding officer. But Timothy is no ordinary soldier, and he’s not out to please just any commanding officer. The one that soldier Timothy wants to please is none other than Jesus Christ. Jesus is the commanding officer, and Timothy is his loyal military recruit. This is an army where morale is high.

2. But exactly how has Paul fought the good fight? In some of his other letters, he tells us precisely:

• He suffered for the sake of Christ (Phil 1:29-30). In one town where he preached, he was chained and locked up for the night (1 Thess 2:1-2).
• He wrestled in prayer for those who were new to the faith, even those he had never met personally (Col 2:1).
• By God’s power he strove to preach the gospel to the gentiles, admonishing them and teaching them so that he might present them mature in Christ (Col 1:28-29).
• Paul was an old warrior for Christ. He had fought the good fight ever since he had met the risen Christ on the Damascus Road some thirty years earlier. But now his fighting days are nearly over. He has one more court appearance before the emperor, but he already knows what the result will be. He also knows that the Lord will bring him safely to his heavenly kingdom (2 Tim 4:18).

3. Now how does all of this apply to us? My mother always used to tell me that the Christian life is a battle. But when I was young, my Christian life was made up of camps, conferences, beach missions, and lots of good company. So, I didn’t believe my Mum. But as life went on, I realised she was right – and so was the Apostle Paul. As Christians we are foot soldiers in the Lord’s army. As kids we used to sing the chorus “I’m in the Lord’s army. Yes, Sir!” As adults we sang that great battle hymn, “Onward, Christian soldiers.” And we sang it with gusto. But now you seldom hear these songs being sung anymore. Have we become soft? Have we forgotten that the Christian life is a hard slog? What about it is really easy?

• Is it easy to always love other people, especially the ones that annoy you?
• Is it easy to pray every day, or to concentrate as you pray, or to pray faithfully for someone who has ongoing problems and needs?
• Is it easy to read the Bible every day or to regularly memorise parts of Scripture?
• Is it easy in this day and age to raise a Christian family?
• Is it easy to give to the poor? It’s exciting at first, but there are so many poor people in the world, they never seem to go away. How easy it is to give in to compassion fatigue even in the face of crying need!
• Or since when has it been easy to have faith in God when you are always in pain or suffering from an incurable disease?
• All these things are difficult, and there are many more besides.

The Christian life is hard. It is a battle. It’s a constant struggle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. That’s why we are called soldiers. That’s why Paul could say, “I have fought the good fight.” Notice that he didn’t say that he had won the good fight. There were times when he lost his temper. There were times when he had to apologise. He didn’t win every battle, but he endured to the end. He knew that his fighting days were nearly done.

1. Then he goes on to say something very similar, “I have finished the race.” As a soldier he had “fought the good fight.” Now as an athlete, he has “finished the race.” The Christian life is a battle, but it is also a race – a good race.

 

1. I wonder when you watched the Olympics in Paris last year, what was your favourite event? Some of you might have been glued to the swimming because the Aussies won so much gold in that sport. There may be others here who enjoyed the equestrian events or the gymnastics or figure skating. But what I always find particularly fascinating is the marathon. Have you ever watched Olympic athletes enter the main stadium at the end of a marathon? Often there is an invincible leader who is way ahead of the pack. He runs in triumphantly to win the race. But then there are other times when it’s neck and neck. These athletes strain every muscle and use every last drop of energy in an effort to win. Then there are some who come stumbling and staggering into the stadium. They can barely stay upright. They almost fall over. But they finish! And for Paul, that’s all that matters. “I have finished the race,” he writes. Anyone who finishes a marathon has our deepest respect. Paul doesn’t say whether he won the race or whether he lost the race. Frankly, that doesn’t matter. All that matters is that he crossed the finishing line.
2. Let me tell you a personal story. It’s about my late father. By looking at me you might never guess that my Dad was a great sportsman. But he was. He won awards in cycling, fishing, and water polo. But his best performances were in swimming. Back in 1935, at the age of 21, he was Holland’s long-distance swimming champion.

Many years later, when our family was travelling in Europe, we were crossing this huge waterway by ferry. When we were halfway, we could barely make out the shoreline on either side. And then he said rather casually, “I swam this once.” I was quite impressed. Then he explained that you couldn’t simply swim straight across this river. Because it was tidal you had to go with the flow. When the tide came in you would swim upstream. Then when the tide went out you swam downstream. The art was to make it to the middle of this vast estuary before the tide turned. He made it to the halfway point just in time, but it was still a tough swim.

When he finally got to the other side, he staggered up the shore. Then he collapsed. The next thing he remembered was being in hospital. But the great thing was that he finished the race. He never told me whether he came first, second or last. For him that wasn’t important. What was important was that he made it. The same is true in the Christian life. At the end of our days, we should be able to say with confidence, “I have finished the race.”

1. Finally, Paul also says, “I have kept the faith.” This saying can be understood in two ways:

 

1. Firstly, he means that he has kept on believing. He has persevered in his faith. You can’t always take that for granted. Paul has already mentioned to Timothy by name some of those who have not kept on believing. There were Hymenaeus and Alexander “who have shipwrecked their faith” (1 Tim 1:19-20). Then there were Hymenaeus and Philetus “who have gone astray from the truth” (2 Tim 2:17). And he is yet to mention Demas who “loved this present world and has deserted me” (2 Tim 4:10). For various reasons, these people did not keep on believing. They did not persevere in their faith. It was true then. And, sadly, it is still true today. O, may it never be true of any of us.

2. Secondly, in all his ministry, in all his preaching and teaching and evangelism over the past thirty years, he has kept the faith intact. He is passing on the gospel just as he has received it. No more. No less. He hasn’t added to it or taken away from it. He hasn’t diluted it. And what is the heart of that gospel that Paul had received? I’ll let him tell you in his own words:

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:3-4). That was what he believed. That was his gospel. That was the heart of his message.

And how do we make that message our own? Again, I’ll let Paul speak for himself:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Eph 2:8-10).

We are not saved by good works. We do good works because we are saved. And we are saved through faith by God’s grace. When Paul declared, “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith,” he wasn’t bragging. He was putting it all down to God’s grace.

• By God’s grace he fought the good fight.
• By God’s grace he finished the race.
• By God’s grace he kept the faith.

Conclusion

In closing, let me remind you that in these messages we are still looking at what the Bible says about ageing well. What qualities does it look for in older people like ourselves? From Abraham we learned about faith. From Samuel we learned about a good conscience. The Proverbs taught us wisdom. Simeon and Anna had hope. And what do we learn now from Paul? When towards the end of his life he said, “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith,” it showed he had a purpose. Nothing could sway him from that purpose – not imprisonments, not shipwrecks, not even the great fire of Rome. In spite of everything, he aged well because he had a purpose.

Do you have a purpose? If not, let me suggest one. One of the great catechisms of the church is the Westminster Shorter Catechism. It begins with this question: “What is the chief end of man?” In other words, what is the main purpose of your life?

And then comes the answer: “To glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”

And that’s a great way to live, both in this life and throughout all eternity!