In his sermon, 'Finishing Your Ministry Well,' Tom Ascol discusses the importance of completing one's ministerial journey with integrity and faithfulness. He introduces the Founders Seminary, dedicated to training elder-qualified men under the 1689 Second London Confession of Faith. Ascol draws inspiration from Vance Havner, a Baptist evangelist, emphasizing the need for pastors to avoid significant errors in the latter part of their careers. The sermon revolves around the Apostle Paul's final words to Timothy, highlighting four lessons: the value and limitations of human relationships, the necessity of maintaining physical and spiritual health, the unwavering faithfulness of Christ, and the imperative to commend Jesus to others until the end. Ascol stresses that ministers should be realistic about their vulnerabilities, rely on friendships but ultimately depend on Christ, and continue studying and growing spiritually. In conclusion, he encourages pastors to live and finish their ministries well, grounded in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Scott encouraged me to take a few minutes and just say a word or two about the new Founders Seminary in Cape Coral, Florida. We've just completed our second semester. God's given us a total of 41 students, including 11 that are foreign missionaries around the world, and all but two of the rest are residential students. It's a seminary that's based on a confessional commitment to the 1689 Second London Confession of Faith that is committed to training elder qualified men exclusively. And so we expect churches who would want to have members, men of their church, to come and study with us to be able to affirm that those men are qualified for eldership.

They may not be elders, but that they would be considered as prospective elders before they arrive to us. And so we're looking to assist churches in training churchmen, those that have already proven themselves to be faithful in their local church context and who have the character qualifications that show prospect for the ministry. So if you have men like that, if that interests you at all, I'd be delighted to talk more with you. We'll have a booth set up as well with Founders Ministries over in the other larger conference. Well, I feel almost redundant at this point with everything that we've heard.

We've feasted these last couple of days with the messages that have been brought to us. And I actually thought about just taking the notes that I've made from what I've heard and underscoring certain things and saying amen to this, amen to this, amen to this, amen let's go home. Because much of what I'm going to say has already been touched on in various ways by the other speakers. But I was reminded recently of a comment that the fiery 20th century Baptist evangelist by the name of Vance Habner once made. If you don't know Vance Habner, I encourage you to look him up and he's a was an incredible preacher, a man greatly used of God across a variety of contexts, but especially in Baptist circles.

And late in his life, he made this statement. He said, I stood at the grave of many a preacher who should have died 10 years earlier. And all of us probably could say the same thing because we all know pastors who did so well and were on a good track and then just crashed at the end. And they didn't make it. And it would have been good for them and for the cause of Christ and for their families had they died sooner.

In a sermon that Habner preached when he was in his early 80s, just a year or two before he died, the sermon was called Home Before Dark. He told about his own testimony and kind of a long and winding road that the Lord took him down, getting him to the place where he was, putting him into the gospel ministry as a young man, and then turning him into an evangelist in circles. Many of times those circles did not appreciate him or even want him in there at all. But in that sermon that he preached, Home Before Dark, he made this statement about how he prays in the last years of his life. He said, I say, Lord, I'd like to get home before I make some big blunder the last mile of the way.

That's a great prayer. My stage of life, I've been thinking about finishing well and not making a blunder at this stage of my life. And as Vance Habner says in that sermon, as long as you're on the road down here, there are trials, there are temptations, there are pitfalls. My funeral hymn is, O sacred head now wounded, and it has a line in there that is my prayer, O make me thine forever, and should I fainting be, Lord let me never, never outlive my love for thee. No pastor starts out as ministry with thoughts of not finishing well, but time and experience have a way of beginning to weigh upon us with a growing awareness, not only of the experiences of other men that we see who do not finish well, but of our own innate weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

Recognizing the strategies of the devil, some of which have been effective in causing us to fall into times of doubt and despair and temptation. We recognize that there are dangers even at the last stage of life for making big blunders on the road. And we all pray that God would spare us of that. The Christian life itself is a race. It's a race that is to be run all the way to the finish line.

And starting obviously is vital and so much of our ministry is taken up with encouraging people to enter that race, to come to know Jesus Christ, to begin the life of faith and repentance by closing with him and trusting him as Lord and Savior. But we also must encourage others, even as we encourage ourselves, to press on to finish well. We want to finish well as Christians. We want those under our care to finish well as Christians. And whenever you have the privilege of officiating a funeral of a saint that has run the course well and finished well, it's a glorious thing in the midst of the sorrow.

There's such Glory to Jesus Christ that emanates from that life that has lived in faith in Him. In Matthew 24 our Lord says, many will fall away and betray me and will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold, but the one who endures to the end will be saved." Well, that was one of the great concerns of the Apostle Paul in his last letter to his young colleague, Timothy. He wanted Timothy to finish well, and so he fills this last letter with exhortations and charges to Timothy, like guard the gospel, suffer for the gospel, continue in the work of the gospel personally, and continue to preach the gospel publicly.

And then as he comes to the end of that letter, near the end in the last chapter he writes in verse 5, as for you always be sober minded, endure suffering, do the work an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. He wants Timothy to finish his pastoral work well. And in his final words to Timothy in that letter, we gained some real insight into Paul's own approach to finishing his ministry well. And it is those words that I want to direct to our attention this morning as we come to a close of this pre-conference. So I want to read 2nd Timothy chapter 4 beginning in verse 9 and just read down to the end and Note the way that Paul closes his letter, the things that he says, the things he wants Timothy to remember in this last letter to him.

2nd Timothy chapter 4 verse 9, Do your best to come to me soon, for Demas, in love with his present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. 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. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I 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. At 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 me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Great Prisca and Aquila and the household of Inesophorus. Erastus remained at Corinth and I left Trophimus who was ill at Miletus. Do your best to come before winter. Eublius sends greetings to you as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers. The Lord be with your spirit.

Grace be with you. These final words of the apostle Paul are filled with pathos and filled with grace. He's sitting in a dungeon in Rome waiting for his execution. He's been deserted by friends and he wants to see Timothy whom he called in the opening chapter, the second verse, my beloved child. He wants to see him one more time before he dies.

And as I've meditated on these verses, I've been struck by the realism that they exude. There's certainly other characteristics on display in what Paul says, but all of what he says is characterized by a lack of unreality. And by that I mean he's not writing with rose-colored glasses on. There's no pretense in what he says. He's not putting on a front with Timothy.

He's staring at death and what's left of his life, and he's looking at it squarely in the face. He's looking at it realistically. And in one significant way, that's what Christianity is. It's Realism. It's coming to terms with this world as it actually is.

What is true? God has created this world. And until people come to know the God who has created them and everything in this world. They are living in unreality. As Paul puts it in Romans 11 36, for from him and through him and to him are all things.

Well, if that's true, then nothing can be rightly understood or appreciated until it is seen in the light of the knowledge of God. And that's true of death. It's true of dying. Faith in Christ helps us to face death and dying realistically. Well, I want to point out just four lessons from what the apostle Paul writes in these closing verses of 2nd Timothy.

They are lessons that I trust will underscore much of what we've already heard, but will help us as pastors to think about finishing well. The first lesson is this. Be realistic about the value and the limitations of human relationships. The value and the limitations of human relationships. Paul mentioned 17 people in these closing verses and what he says about several of them remind us that relationships are always, even at their best, challenging.

And the reason for that is because everybody, including us, we're all mixed bags. We all have our issues. We all have our strengths, our weaknesses, our desires. And sin has affected even the closest and the most precious of our relationships. And failure to recognize that, to acknowledge that reality, to respond Christianly to it, it can knock you off track.

There are several valuable relationships that Paul mentions here. He mentions Timothy and John Mark, Luke, Crescens, Titus, Tychicus. These are all people that were dear to him and people that he drew strength from. Timothy, it's interesting, he asked for him to come twice. Come see me.

Do your best to come to me soon in verse 9 and verse 21. Do your best to come before winter. Paul had invested deeply in Timothy. He was his closest compatriot, the closest of his fellow workers. In Philippians 2 20, as we've already heard, he says about Timothy, he didn't have a soulmate like Timothy.

Timothy was kindred spirit to him. And even now, he is writing to encourage Timothy. But in doing so, he can't help but encourage Timothy to come and to come quickly. In verse 4 of chapter 1, he says, I long to see you that I may be filled with joy." Oh, to have a good friend. Have somebody like that in your life will encourage you and he can strengthen you on your way and if you have such a relationship at the end of your journey, he can strengthen you to help finish well.

But he mentions Crescens as well in verse 10. He's gone to Galatia. We don't know anything more about him, but he was a fellow worker with Paul. Titus has gone to Dalmatia probably after meeting Paul in Nicopolis according to Titus 312. He went north to Dalmatia before he returned to Crete to carry out the mandate the Apostle had given him for that island.

In verse 12, Tychicus, he says, I've sent to Ephesus, most likely to replace Timothy, to take up the responsibility that Timothy had there so that Timothy could travel to Rome to see Paul. Verse 11, he says, Luke alone is with me. Luke, the beloved physician, the one who traveled much with Paul and recorded much of the journeys that he had with Paul. Mark, he says, verse 11, bring him with you for he's very useful to me in ministry. You remember Mark went with Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey and then he bailed out on them at Cyprus and when it came time to take a second missionary journey Barnabas said let me get Mark we'll go.

Paul said Mark's not going with me, and he didn't trust him. But now, years later, we see that God has obviously worked in Mark and worked in Paul, and now he wants to see him because his relationship has been restored to him. What great hope there is in having broken relationships restored, in seeing God come and do that which at the moment of tension in a relationship you think simply cannot be done. Verse 19, greet Prisca and Aquila, the household of Anesiphorus. Aquila and Priscilla, those traveling couple, husband and wife team that traveled with Paul, served with him at Ephesus, encouraged him along the way in his tent making.

And then Inesophores, go back and read the first chapter, verses 16 through 19. He said that he'd encouraged him, refreshed him many times, And when he came to Rome, evidently, he couldn't find Paul, but he didn't stop. He just kept searching until he found where Paul was being held so that he could minister to him. Paul was an apostle of Jesus Christ. He'd seen visions.

Revelation had been given to him directly by Jesus. He knew how to live with abundance, and he knew how to live with very little, as he writes to the church at Philippi. Christ for Paul was his life, and yet he understood the value of friendship. And as he comes near the end of his life, he misses his close friends, and he wants Timothy, his closest friend, to make every effort to come see him. Brothers, I just want to encourage each one of us to take to heart the things that Brian Borgman taught us yesterday about friendship.

We must never allow ourselves to fall into the wrong way of thinking that because we have faith in Christ, even experienced and strong faith in Christ, that means that we don't need the presence, the encouragement of friends. Paul needed it. He saw the value of relationships and he was realistic about his need and so he asks Timothy repeatedly, Come to me. I want to see you. But he was also realistic about the limitations of relationships, even with close friends.

Verse 10, Demas has deserted me. In fact, he says, for Demas has deserted me, which means that's the reason, one of the reasons, he wants Timothy to come quickly. Perhaps he's still stinging from the loss and the betrayal of Demas. Who is Demas? Colossians 4.14, Paul calls him a fellow worker.

Flaman 24 identifies him in the similar way, and Yet he walked away. He deserted and abandoned Paul. Why? Verse 10 tells us, because he was in love with this present world. Paul knew the pain of betrayal.

It was costly to associate with Paul. Nero was on a tirade against Christians. He was blaming Christians for the burning of Rome. And Paul was an outspoken, unwavering Christian leader. And he was suffering for the cause of Christ.

And for demons, that was too high a price to pay and so he walked away from him because he loved the world more than he loved Christ and more than he loved Paul. Paul mentions Alexander in verses 14 and 15, the coppersmith, a man he said did me great harm. The Lord will repay him according to his deeds. And then he warns Timothy, beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. We can't be sure exactly who this man was, but Paul and Timothy both were aware of who he was, and Paul says he greatly harmed Paul, and he strongly opposed our message.

That's why he harmed Paul, was because he opposed the gospel that Paul preached. You know, it'd be nice to go through life without enemies, without critics, but brothers we must remember that our Lord, our Savior, was crucified. And He told us that in this world we will have tribulations. It's a promise. If the world hated him, it will hate us as his followers and certainly us as his undershepherds.

It does no good to pretend otherwise or to wish that this weren't so, because This is simply a part of this real world in which we live. And if you don't acknowledge this reality and steal yourself for it, then you can set yourself up to be seriously disillusioned when you discover that there are people who simply will not like you, who will even hate you because of the gospel that you preach. Verse 16, Paul says, no one, no one stood with him. In my first defense, no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. He had had a preliminary hearing before his final judgment and execution, and at that hearing, there was nobody to comfort him, nobody to stand with him, Nobody to testify on his behalf.

Demas had deserted him. Maybe Luke hadn't arrived yet, or he might have been on some kind of temporary assignment. Crescens, Titus, Tychicus, they were all on another types of assignment. But what about the members of the Church of Rome? Where were they?

They didn't show up. Paul knew what it was like to be let down by friends during a time of great need. He was realistic about the frailty of his fellow Christians, even good friends. In chapter 1 verse 15 He says all in Asia had turned away from him. And even now, as he's entering these last months of his life, there's no one that stands by him.

When he was going through that initial trial, no one came to him. Woody Allen famously said that showing up is 80% of life, And he has a point. We all can find right criticisms to give to Job's friends and their faulty theology, but at least they showed up. At least they were there. Brian spoke yesterday about being betrayed by your friends, and it hurts.

If you don't remember the fact that your best of friends are still mere men, and that they can and perhaps will sometimes fail you, and some may even completely walk away from you. If you don't remember that, you will set yourself up to become disillusioned and in disillusionment, perhaps even bitter. And if you fall into the trap of bitterness or self-pity, you can feel very justified. And you can go even further down that trap by becoming cynical of ever trusting people again, and eventually, cynical of trusting your good and faithful and gracious and loving God. Paul was deserted, but he didn't let his experience of desertion devastate him.

Why? Because he understood the frailty of people, even good people. He remembered that even his Lord was deserted in his hour of greatest need. And what did Jesus do? On the cross, he prayed, Father forgive them.

And so Paul prays just like Jesus, may it not be charged against them. In verse 21, Paul sends greetings to Timothy from Ubulus and Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers. Well, who were these people? They're members of the Church of Rome, undoubtedly, and probably leaders from the Church of Rome. Well, I want to ask, where were they?

Where were they at his first defense? Where are they now? And they're AWOL. They deserted him. And now that they hear that he's writing a letter to Timothy, Well, they want Paul to add their names to the letter.

Send our greetings to Timothy. I don't know about you, but I think of people that have betrayed me or just failed me, came and said, hey, look, I hear you're writing a letter. Can you put my name in the letter too? I'm not sure I would have done it. You know, I probably would say write your own letter.

Where were you? That's not what Paul did. Showing up is important and offering support to those who are suffering and in need can be a great encouragement, but sometimes we fail. We all fail. As pastors we fail.

I mean Joel said it yesterday that he kind of lives with a low level of guilt because all of his relationships he feels like you know there's more that he could do to nurture them and he's just speaking for all of us. I mean there's not any relationship that we have that you feel like you've done everything that you would like to do and could do to nurture them. But just as we need grace for our failures in relationships and friendships, so we must show grace to those who are our friends who don't always show up for us. If you think with Christian realism, you won't hold it against your friends when they let you down. You'll value your friendships, but you won't be devastated when they don't come through.

And you won't let the failures of relationships, either those who fail you or when you fail others, keep you from pressing on to the finish line and to realize that we have a Savior who shed His blood for every last one of our sins, even the sins that are entangled in our failure in relationships. Well, human relationships are valuable, but they're limited. And to consider pursuing Christ and finishing well, we need to keep that perspective. But secondly, to finish well, we need to continue to care for our physical and spiritual life to the very end. Look at verse 13.

Paul says, "'When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus and Troas and also the books and above all the parchments. Why does Paul ask for his coat? He's gonna be dead in a few months. He's very sure that his death is impending. Why?

Well, because winter is coming. Finishing well doesn't mean that you just ignore practical needs. Paul knows it's gonna get cold, and he knows that he needs to take care of his body. And one of the challenges, as Joel just mentioned, of old age is diminishing physical strength, diminishing capacities. And too many pastors neglect our physical health.

And we can justify neglecting physical health because after all, 1st Timothy 4.8 says, for bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promised for the life that now is and the life which is to come. And so training yourself for godliness is far more important than training yourself for physical strength. And that's true. But brothers, bodily exercise does profit a little. And we must not miss that point.

The older that I've grown, the more that I realize I need more rest, less food, and I need to exercise. I mean, my metabolism simply isn't what it was when I was a young man. And it occurred to me many years ago, many pounds ago, that if I continued to eat the way I formerly ate, that I was not going to be in the kind of shape I need to be in if I genuinely want to try to finish well. So we need to take care of our bodies, especially as you sense more and more your body is wearing out. Paul asks for his coat because he knows it's going to get cold.

And if he makes it to winter, he at least wants to be warm. But he didn't only ask for his cloak, he also asks for his books and his parchments. I mean, why? Why ask for books and parchments? Paul's an apostle.

Paul was personally taught by Jesus. He wrote about half of the New Testament. He's facing death. Why does he want his books? We don't know exactly what these books and parchments were.

The books were probably papyrus scrolls, maybe correspondence or other official documents. The parchments well have been Greek translations of part of the Old Testament, but Paul wanted them. Paul needed them. No doubt he wanted to study. He wanted to read.

Spurgeon preached on that verse one time, and this is what he said. Even an apostle must read. How rebuked we are by the apostle. He is inspired, yet he wants books. He has been preaching at least for 30 years, yet he wants books.

He has seen the Lord, and yet he wants books. He had a wider experience than most men, and yet he wants books. He has been caught up into the third heavens and has heard things which is unlawful for a man to utter, and yet he wants books. He had written the major part of the New Testament, and yet he wants books. The apostle says to Timothy, and so he says to every creature, give thyself unto reading.

Brethren, what is true of ministers is true of all our people. You need to read. Renounce as much as you will of all light literature, but study as much as possible sound theological works, especially the Puritan writers and expositions of scripture, were quite persuaded that the very best way for you to be spending your leisure is either be reading or praying. You may get much instruction from books, which afterward you may use as a true weapon in your Lord and Master's service." Paul cries, bring the books, join the cry. In verse 6, Paul says that he was already being poured out as a drink offering.

He knew that the time of death, he said, is upon me. And yet he asks for materials to study. Isn't that interesting? Paul's study at this stage of his life is not likely to benefit anybody else. His study at this stage of his life is not likely to benefit anybody else.

His study at this stage of his life is going to benefit only his own spiritual health. Brothers, to finish well, we must never stop feeding our souls. We must do, as we've already been exhorted in this conference, to read the Bible regularly, systematically. Do all that you can in order to keep God's word coming into your life. If you get to a point where you can't read, listen to the word.

Praise God for all the technology we have available today to have God's word read aloud in our hearing. Well consider that human relationships are valuable but limited. Continue to care for your physical and your spiritual life to the very end. And then thirdly, count on Jesus Christ never failing you. Christ will never fail you.

Paul says in verse 16, in my first defense, no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. But then he adds in 17, but the Lord stood by me and strengthened me." Jesus is truly a faithful friend to every one of his disciples. Proverbs 18, 24, a man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. That friend is Jesus. His promises, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

That is a promise and it's to be received by faith. And in those times and those moments where it seems like even Jesus has deserted you, it seems like the heavens are brass, it seems like there's no favoring presence of the Lord in your life, Know that your feelings are lying to you because Jesus has promised. And believe what Jesus has promised. Take Him at His word. Fight that fight of faith and assure yourself that though friend and family may fail you, Jesus Christ will never fail you.

He always is with his people. He always empowers his people to do his will. That's what Paul says in verse 17. The Lord was with me so that through me the message might be proclaimed fully and all the Gentiles might hear it. When Paul was converted on the road to Damascus, the Lord came to Ananias and he told Ananias that Paul is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before Gentiles and kings." And we know from the book of Acts that when Paul had the responsibility and the privilege to stand before Agrippa and Felix that when called upon to testify, he preached the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Verse 17 he says that's why he was rescued from the lion's mouth and he can confidently go on to say in verse 18 the Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom." What does he mean by the lion's mouth and every evil deed? What would he be worried about as he faces Nero's court all alone? I think that what Paul's concerned about here is the temptation that he faces to deny Christ and to compromise the gospel. I mean, Satan is the roaring lion. He's always seeking those whom he may devour.

And when Jesus warned Peter that Satan had desired him and wanted to sift him like wheat, you remember what He said by way of assuring Peter, but I have prayed for you that your faith not fail. That's an insight into the strategy and tactics of the devil. He wants our faith to fail. He wants us to live by sight to not take God at His Word. Peter's faith almost did fail.

He got so scared that he denied even knowing Jesus to a little servant girl. Well, Paul didn't want his faith to fail. That would have been an evil deed, but the Lord delivered him from that temptation of the devil, and so he was confident the Lord would deliver him again and enable him to fulfill his calling to the end of his life. Brothers, if we finish well, it will be through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, leaning on him, trusting that he will do what he has promised to do. When you feel weak, when you feel unable to withstand the fiery darts of the evil one, you feel yourself becoming jaded and hardened or spiritually apathetic because friends let you down because your circumstances are hard, your prospects are bleak.

Remember this, the Lord Jesus Christ will never Fail you. What he's begun in us he will bring to completion. He will not let you go. He will not let you go. Paul knew this.

He understood this. He'd come to experience the love of Jesus. And as he considered again all that Jesus has done in him and for him by his life and death and resurrection, he could say as he writes in Galatians 2 20, Jesus loved me and he gave himself for me. Listen to the last words that Charles Spurgeon said at the end of the last sermon that he ever preached on June 7th 1891 about six months or so before his death. He said there never was his like among the choices to Princess.

He is always to be found in the thickest part of the battle. When the wind blows cold, he always takes the bleak side of the hill. The heaviest end of the cross lies ever on his shoulders. If he bids us carry a burden, he carries it also. If there's anything that is gracious, generous, kind, and tender, yea lavish, and super abundant in love, you will always find it in him.

These 40 years and more I have served and blessed to be his name, and I have had nothing but love from him. I would be glad to continue yet another 40 years in the same dear service here below if it so pleased him. His service is life, peace, joy. Oh, that you would enter it at once. God help you to enlist under the banner of Jesus even this day.

Brothers, we have entered under the banner of Jesus Christ. We are foot soldiers in His army and we should consider him. We should think on him. He's the eternal Son of God who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. But he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even the death of the cross.

Think of this, God who did not spare his only begotten son, but delivered him up for us all. How will he not also with him freely give us all things? What do we need? What are the uncertainties are in front of us that we see no way in the resources that we have available to us right now will be able to get through. God's given us His Son.

He will give us everything in His Son through His Son to get us safely all the way home. So remember Jesus Christ. Paul remembered him. It helped him to finish well. The final lesson I want to call to our attention This morning is found in verse 22, his very final words.

Resolve to commend Jesus and his grace until your dying breath. I love this. The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Paul commends the Lord to Timothy personally, your spirit, that singular.

Christ had proved himself faithful to Paul, and as such, Paul heartily commends Christ to Timothy, commends Christ to his internal personal awareness, to Timothy's spirit, to his heart and mind. For Timothy to carry on after Paul's death, to stand firm in guarding the gospel, to proclaim the gospel in season and out, he will need the presence of Christ ministering to his Spirit. But Paul doesn't just commend Christ to Timothy. He commends Christ to the whole church there in Ephesus. He says, and to you, which is plural.

Plural. The Christian life is a life of grace and the way to finish well is to stand firm in that grace, confident in that grace, so much so that you can commend Christ to your closest friends. You can commend Christ to everyone. Brothers, when God called us to faith in Christ, he put us on a course to follow Him to the end. And when He called us to be ministers of the gospel of His grace, He didn't call us merely to start the race, but He called us to finish the work, to finish the race, and to finish it well.

And you can, and by God's grace, you will finish well. Think realistically about yourself and the world around you and your Savior. Enjoy the friendships that God brings into your life, but don't expect your friends to do for you what only Jesus Christ can do for you. Keep studying the ways of God, growing in the grace and knowledge of Christ. Put all your faith in Christ.

Lean hard upon Christ with confidence and believe that he never will forsake you. He will never fail you. And commend his grace to others out of your own experience and your conviction of the truth of God's Word. Yesterday, Brian mentioned Mr. Valiant for Truth from part two of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress.

And Valiant for Truth is my favorite of all Bunyan's characters. I love the scene where Great Heart first meets him and they discuss the battle that he's just fought and I commend you to go back and read that scene and realize the three enemies that he's describing are enemies in his own soul. That everyone who would be valiant for truth must be willing to take up the Word of God and put to death. But I also love the scene where this faithful soldier of Christ receives his summons and has to cross that river of death that has no bridge. Listen to the way Bunyan puts it.

When he understood it, when he understood what the summons was, he called for his friends and he told them of it. And then said he, I'm going to my father's, and though with great difficulty I'm God-hither, yet now I do not repent me of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it, my marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have fought his battles, who now will be my rewarder. When the day that he must go hence was come, many accompanied him to the riverside, into which as he went he said, Death, where is thy sting? And as he went down deeper he said, Grave, where is thy victory?

So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side. Oh, may the Lord grant to each one of us such a wonderful death that is the culmination of a life well lived and of a ministry that perseveres to the end and finishes well. Let's pray. Our Father, We thank you for the incredible privilege that it is to be stewards of the mysteries of your grace, to be given the high calling of handling your word in such a way that you would use us to feed your people, your sheep, those for whom Jesus shed his blood. That you would grant it to us such a life where it is not only our privilege, but our responsibility to spend time in your Word, to study, to think, to learn, so that we can teach and that you would use us to see others come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and to see them grow in the grace of Christ and to see them represent our Lord Jesus well in the world.

It's astonishing to us. It's amazing to us. Father, our hearts desires that we would be found faithful as stewards And we cannot do this apart from your spirit and we pray that your spirit would come to us and help us and strengthen us and that you would so fill us with the Lord Jesus that we would consider him we would remember him and we would be full of hope and joy even in our darkest days knowing that He is with us. He will never leave us. So help each one of us here today to take to heart the truth of your Word that we have been considering these last two days.

Seal those things to our hearts. Enable us by your grace to live holy for Christ while we live and to finish our course with joy. For we pray in his name, amen. Thanks for watching!