PAUL’S INSTRUCTION ON HOW TO FINISH - In Christian there is joy, but also many trials

WELL that requires endurance (Acts 14:22)

I. Keep on focus on Paul’s view of the present C. “…I have kept the faith”
state
- I have guarded the truth about Christ
(1Tim. 4:6)
(1Tim. 6:20; 2Tim. 1:12-13)
- He is ready to be offered and to die for Christ
- He kept the core doctrine, the truth about the
- He has no regrets in his life while facing his gospel and the salvation
death
“We should know what we believe, to keep it
A. He was ready to be offered because… in guard”
1. He had reproduced himself in others III. Keep on focus on Paul’s view of the Future
- He trained other believers to be leaders in A. He hoped to meet the Lord
his absence
- For it is our blessed hope
“Ministry is a transition, there should
*Tit. 2:15
always be someone to continue the
B. He lived in view of that day
service”
- He was living his life waiting for the Lord
- We ought to have a vision of reproducing while serving Him (v. 8)
ourselves first by being an example to the
Christians and the unbelievers
2. He viewed his life as an offering to God CONCLUSION:
(Rom. 12:1)
- When the day that the Lord Jesus Christ will
- Our life is not ours, for God has already come, can we truly say that we finished the
redeemed us (1Cor. 6:20) race that is set before us?
- He understood that even his death will give - To keep on track on Christian life, we should
glory to God (Phi. 1:21; Acts 20:24) walk worthy on our vocation
3. He viewed his impending death as a Ephesians 4:1 (KJV)
departure (v. 6)
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech
- Death is never cessation of existence, but is you that ye walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith ye are called,
only the beginning of eternity; it is just a
separation of the soul from the body
- It is the end of our labor and pain
- If we view death as a departure, we can
achieve many things without fear
- knowing that to depart is to be with Christ
which is better
II. Keep on focus on Paul’s view of the Past
A. “I have fought a good fight…”
- will we be able to say to ourselves “I have
been involved in the struggle for the cause of
Christ”?
(Phil. 3:10)
- We cannot say if we are living primarily for
your own comfort and affluence
B. “…I have finished the course…”
- He stayed determined to stay on God’s track,
and finish the course until the end
“There’s no such thing easy marathon, and
our Christian life is not easy”