Sermon Tone Analysis
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At the End
There’s a question about life that often keeps me awake at night.
It frequently plagues my mind during the day.
It’s a question only one who knows all things and sees all things can truly answer.
And try as I might to avoid thinking about it, it’s something I always come back to.
But it’s a good thing to think about regardless.
The question is this:
Have I done my best?
Have I done my best to live life well?
I’ve found my birthday to be a helpful marker in the year to spend time reflecting upon this question.
For me, each birthday is another year of life that God hasn’t promised, but has given to me nonetheless.
And I am speechless for it.
I know my own sinfulness, and how I do not deserve life.
Yet he has placed me on earth for a reason, and a purpose.
And every year on my birthday I think back through the year prior.
What all has happened since my last birthday.
The people who I’ve interacted with.
The places I’ve been.
The things I’ve done.
And I am brought back to the question of whether I’m living for God’s purpose, or whether I have squandered my time.
In a way, you could say that every year at my birthday, I rehearse my death.
At 11:59pm on August 4th, I picture myself taking my final breath here in this world, and as soon as 12:00 in the morning of August 5th hits, my life has passed.
At 12:01 I stand face to face with the Lord.
There, he requires an account of my life, for all that I have ever thought, said, or done.
And I’m left with the question: Will I be found to be faithful on that day?
To be found in Christ? a faithful believer to whom God will say “Well done, good and faithful servant?” or will I be found unfaithful, a deserter, a fraud?
It’s a question all of us must face.
This question becomes especially significant when we know the end of our life is near.
It’s a question Paul has thought through and grappled with before writing this second letter to Timothy.
In our passage today, he reveals a few key takeaways from the wisdom of thinking through death and how we live our life.
2 Timothy is Paul’s reflection on the end of his life.
It’s one of the saddest books in the Bible.
The whole letter is Paul’s swan song.
His wick is about to be snuffed out.
The end of his life is near.
And as he’s thinking and reflecting, on all of those thoughts about life, purpose, mission, and hope.
From a worldly standpoint, Paul has much to despair over.
His life did not end in glamour.
He did not retire to a mansion in the woods.
To our knowledge, he left behind no heirs or descendants.
He had no wealth, no connections, no societal honor.
In all the world’s accounts, Paul was just to be another nobody, forgotten to the annals of history.
But Paul doesn’t look at his life and define his success in the same way someone of this world would.
Instead, he looks back at the years spent for the ministry of God’s kingdom.
He thinks back to the people he’s encountered, whom he had a life impact upon.
Many of them have wandered away or abandoned him.
Others he has launched into ministry.
But in all things, he is able to say that he ran the race faithfully.
He lived life well.
Those are the same words we want to be able to say when we face the Lord.
And looking over our passage today, we can see three principles that will help us in our quest to finish our life well.
Live for God (v.5)
Hold Firm (vv.6-8)
Trust God (vv.9-22)
Let’s read the entire passage together and then jump in to the text.
Let’s pray.
1. Live for God
As Paul is reflecting on the end of his life, these are the final words that he gives to possibly the one who he was closest with.
The one who he considered his own son.
So they are important, and concise.
All of these things are directed toward a life lived for God.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these specific instructions.
A. Live for God by being Sober-minded
What is the difference between someone who is drunk and someone who is sober?
A sober person remains in control, while someone who is drunk loses control.
When you live for God, you want to keep a clear focus.
Don’t let anything distract you.
Because when you have lost focus, your ministry is hindered.
If you’ve lived at all in this world and come to recognize your own sin, you know That’s easier said than done.
It’s a fight.
It’s a test of endurance that we must train ourselves for.
We need the renewing of our minds, each and every day, in order to help us to be sober-minded, not distracted by other things.
Paul gives an example of someone who did not remain sober-minded:
Demas let himself become distracted.
He chased after the things of the world and left the ministry to pursue his own interests.
As a result, he has not been able to join in the work and the ministry that Paul is conducting.
Consequently, his actions are now recorded in God’s divinely inspired word which will never fade or be forgotten.
He was sidelined from the mission that God gave to those who know and follow him.
There is a mission and a purpose for Christians here in this life.
We have been given instructions by the master.
Let us seek to be a faithful servant who does what the master says.
B. Live for God by Enduring Suffering
Paul sets up his life as an example here:
Paul suffered.
He was abandoned.
He faced hardship.
This is yet again another repeated theme: that when you follow Christ, there will be hardships and challenges.
You will be faced by many difficult things: whether it’s a lifelong illness, a difficult family life, or increased hardship from the world around you.
And if you picture the end of your life, you will think about these things.
You may wonder, “Why didn’t God step in?” “Why did God allow me to suffer?” “Why was it necessary to endure hardship?”
The answer is, “It’s because God requires faith rather than sight.”
God requires faith for salvation.
We have many examples of faith in scripture.
Jesus being our primary example, but also of others.
I think of Hebrews chapter 11, which reads:
God worked mighty things through those who had faith in his name.
It didn’t meant that they were excused from suffering and hardships.
Yet God was faithful to deliver what he had promised to them.
If you are questioning why God has sent something into your life, do you see it as a testing for your faith?
Of your endurance?
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