Open your Bible, if you would, to the book of Second Timothy. Second Timothy, chapter four. And we'll read verse six through verse eight. Second Timothy chapter four and beginning at verse six. For I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. And not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. The title of my message this afternoon is Ending Well. Ending Well. By ending well, we simply mean that when we come to the end of our life, we will finish strong. We will finish with spiritual fruits. We will not be ashamed. We will be shown to have started strong. Continued strong and finished strong. The scripture enjoins you that when you come to your last day, you should not be languishing in lukewarmness. Not sinfully slothful. You should have some battle scars and some blood, sweat and tears. You shouldn't come to that day either indifferent or presumptuous. But as a blood bought child of God. Someone that the Scripture says that before time it was ordained that you would walk in or live in good works. We have a life that would exude the fragrance of Christ. When you come to that final day. You will end. You should end well positionally. In Christ. Practically. Victorious. having done all standing, strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, excelling in Christian graces, having borne much fruit, unashamed at His coming, working while you had that day. And even like the Apostle Paul had, a satisfaction, not a boasting, not a carnal boasting, but a Holy Spirit assuring satisfaction that you fought the fight. You stayed on course, you kept the faith, you did what you could do. The Puritan Thomas Watson said, it's not the beginning of the Christian life that gets glory. But the end of it. And he goes on to quote the Proverbs that says the hoary head that is the aged one. The old one, the hoary head is a crown of glory if it is found in the way of righteousness. The excellency of a building is not laying the foundation. The excellency of a building is when it is finished, when it is complete, when it is fitly framed and put together well. And so it is with the Christian life, the glory and the excellency of your individual life. The glory and the excellency of that will be when it is finished, when it is completed as that work of faith that Christ began in you. Now, by way of introduction, let me just say that this is somewhat of a difficult message to bring to you. Not difficult in the sense that it's an unpleasant topic, because we all need to and want to be exhorted to finish well, do we not? We all need to be encouraged in this great Christian race and this journey. but the reason it's a difficult message I sense is that The nature of the topic opens itself up to invite criticism. Criticism that perhaps we are works oriented. Criticism that we are legalistic. Criticism that we have to use scare tactics to get individuals up and active. Criticism that the pastors are frustrated with the progress of the congregation. But, friend, trust me, the impetus of this message is genuinely born out of concern for you individually. It is born out of a responsibility to put you in remembrance of some things, though certainly most of you already know them. It's born out of the realization that it's not Pastor Joe that will be standing over there on that day telling you to telling you, well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of my rest. It's someone else who has the authority to say those words, Jesus Christ alone. Jesus Christ, your master, who put you into the fray, who put you into the battle, who asked, told, beseeched, and commanded you to run the race so as to win. The impetus of this message is born out of a sad realization that the professing Christian landscape is littered with shipwrecked faiths, tarnished and rusty testimonies, lukewarm individuals, ignorantly presumptuous Christians, weak ones, flagging ones, ones who started the race perhaps with much fanfare, zeal. They started with much hope and promise. And now some appear to be on a course of not ending well. I know some. I'm guessing most of you know some as well. The scripture paints many warnings and descriptions of a time when there will not be a few, but many who will jettison the faith. Our Lord himself had some disciples when he began to preach and teach difficult things, the scripture says, they went back and they followed him no more. It's a sad reality, and we would be naive to think. We would be naive to assume that everybody here will automatically end well. We'll finish their life well. We'll be able to have the same confidence that the Apostle Paul had. Will you end well? As I said, we all have to be exhorted. Reminded and encouraged. Because of the weakness of the flesh, because none of us is perfected yet because we live in a fallen world. Because we forget that there is a spiritual warfare going on 24-7. We have to be exhorted to contend for the faith. To make our calling and election sure to examine ourselves to even see whether or not we be in the faith. You know, I feel somewhat comfortable that we could preach a message on that verse in 2nd Corinthians, Chapter 13. And most of you would not be offended, examine yourself. Do you see whether or not you be in the faith or no? Prove your own selves. But, you know, in most churches that message cannot be preached with major repercussions on the preaching ministry. Someone comes to church. Someone is a member. Someone has goes through much duty. And they would not want to have The genuineness of their Christianity tested or tried. But having said that, every one of us needs to be exhorted. We don't want to slip into grace decaying. We do not want to minimize what is at stake. What is at stake? You're never dying soul. Eternity in bliss. We do not want to become presumptuous regarding his promise. His promise that he which began a good work in you will perform it into the day of Jesus Christ. We don't want to slip into the autopilot of God's sovereignty. And just assume all will be well. It's interesting that I know some professing Christians, not in this church, but think about this. They deny the sovereignty of God in salvation, but they quickly latch on to the sovereignty of God concerning their perceived and in glory. Ending well should suggest to you the imagery of a Christian life that is consistent. Progressive, growing, determined and one that you are so carefully guarding and nurturing on an everyday basis over the course of that Christian life in its entirety. that you can immediately, with a clear conscience, identify with the Apostle Paul and say, I have fought the good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept my kept the faith. I'd like to this afternoon just give a brief exposition. It will not actually be exposition, but some thoughts on verse 6, 7, and 8. And then I would like to develop with you five or six remarks and observations on this topic and then leave you with one application. First of all, let's try to understand these verses just a little bit, beginning at verse six and then verse seven and verse eight. The Apostle Paul is someone who, you know, has endured so much in this life, in his ministry, and the context of these verses is he's now ready to depart this life. The Apostle Paul has not become a superstar televangelist. He's not seen autographing his latest book at the Christian bookstore. He's not being thronged by admirers. He's not seen as giving an invocation at a presidential inauguration. Rather, he is in prison in Rome awaiting probable decapitation. Scripture says he's being kept in close confines as a evildoer. As a malfactor, when he first appeared before the court, he escaped immediate condemnation. But now in writing to Timothy, he actually has no hope of release. He understands that the time of his departure is at hand. God's choices vessel. Not being carried to the skies on beds of ease. Not with pomp and circumstance. Nevertheless, despite the outward appearance, he has this quiet confidence that he is ending well. And in light of his departure, he has given Timothy instructions and spiritual guidance relative to Timothy's ministry. And this guidance and these instructions take on, I think, a special import because of his status as being on death row soon. To be executed. But regardless of what others think, Paul reflects by the Holy Spirit and sums up his life in the present, in the past, and in the future. In verse 6 is the present, I am, Currently, verse seven, I have done all these things in the past. Verse eight, the future. Look at verse six and we'll deal with his present. Verse six says, for I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. Paul could finish well because he viewed his entire life as an offering unto God. Paul did not see his upcoming execution as a tragedy or an unfair treatment or even outside of the will of God. He saw it in view of his many years of dedicated service, almost as though it's the culmination of his life, which was poured out as a drink offering. He lived a sacrificial life. It's almost as though he saw this end as the culminating high point. And he could end well because he understood it was the time of his departure. The word means release or to be loose. Linguists tell us that it's the same word that describes an animal being unyoked from a plow or a cart. Paul understood that his labor, his service, his toil, his work, was now being loosed so he could return to the Lord. It's a word that is translated in passages where it describes the loosening of the bonds of a prisoner. Paul was going to be loosed from the bonds of this corruptible body that he lamented against so often. It's a word used in the context of taking off the ropes of a soldier's tent You take off the ropes of your tent when you pack it up and you go home. The victory has been done. Paul had this view of death as a departure. And he was able to face death without fear. Without dreadful anticipation, because he knew that to depart and to be with the Lord was far better For him to live was Christ and to die was gain. But this view, this reality in his life did not come by osmosis, it was not theological truth. He had already been living in this context for his entire service and ministry of Christian life. Please do not assume on that final day of your life that you will theologically or by way of knowledge, just automatically have this view woven into the to the to the warp and the wolf of your life. The Holy Spirit. Worked it into the fabric of his being every day. That's why he could say this tremendous confidence when he was ready to depart. He didn't gain it by being negligent in spiritual duties. He didn't gain it by being negligent in spiritual duties. It wasn't the present that he gave himself at the pity party he threw for himself when people in the church didn't take care of him as he thought he should be taken care of. As he rose up, as he walked by the way. As he performed spiritual duties. As he was a blessing to others, as he saw God working, as he saw the short term tactical, as he saw the long term strategic through it all, the Holy Spirit was building this up. So on that final day, Paul could rejoice. My friend, if you were to die tomorrow, would you be able to rejoice and understand this spiritual truth that Paul had his hands around? It was inculcated by the Holy Spirit. I like that word inculcate because it means to impress and to fix upon the mind by frequent and forceful repetition. frequent and forceful repetition, this divine truth found its home in his heart. Would be difficult to say that Paul or anyone ended well if at the end of their life they did not believe or know in their heart what was out there on the other side, or if they were fearful Or if they were terrified at the realization that they had lived their whole life in a religious way, but at the end of the day, they were not sure why they live that way, why they went along with the crowd doing religious things. Unsure if the root of the matter was really there. Again, the Holy Spirit wove this into his life in the pathway of duty. There's the D word that we recoil against duty. This is the presence. In verse six, I am now ready to be offered. Verse seven, he talks about the past. I have fought the good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Had there been mistakes? Undoubtedly. Had there been some failures? Of course. Paul was not infallible. Paul was not perfect. But Paul could say these three highlights characterize summarized his entire Christian life. He says, I have fought the good fight. Paul is always using these athletic metaphors, whether it's wrestling, whether it's struggling, whether it's boxing, whether it's battling, because he understood that the Christian life involves self-denial. It involves pain. It involves ongoing discipline and training. It involves expending energy. That's the life of an athlete. Paul uses this in a similar text saying, don't you know that those who run in a race, everybody runs, but only one receives the prize. So run that you might obtain. And then he says, and everyone who is striving for the mastery is temperate in all things. In other words, even those things on the periphery that may not come in here. All those things are kept in a temperate environment, so they do not hinder him when he comes in here. They are doing it for a corruptible crown, we an incorruptible crown. Do you ever stop to think about that the incorruptible crown that Christ will give his own? When you get a corruptible one, one in the world that day or that week. It's shiny and you have those feelings of being victorious. But in heaven, in this incorruptible crown, it's new every day. It's living every day. The victory and the fruits of that victory are new every single day. Paul says, I run, I fight, not uncertainly. I keep under my body, I bring it under subjection, thus by any mean, any means when I preach to others. I myself should be a castaway. Paul wasn't saying that he could lose his salvation. What concerned him, what motivated him to keep going every day was not wanting to be disqualified or disapproved. He wanted to be approved unto God, he wanted to glorify God, he did not want to lose his ministry. He delighted in serving God, God's way. He understood he must run lawfully. He should expend energy so as to win. He understood that. Distractions, self-indulgences, times of laziness, indolence, lukewarmness, worldliness distracted him from the course. He understood the inviolable spiritual principle of sowing and reaping. Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap. That's a creation ordinance that is inviolable, but you cannot break that. And it's to be understood in the spiritual realm primarily. Whatever you sow, that is what you will reap. If you sow nothing. That is what you will reap. I have fought the good fight, he says. Secondly, I have finished the course. I haven't dropped out. It's a long race. We all know Christians that began with a flourish of activity, perhaps an enthusiasm They might have even gone into ministry. They might have taken on a special activities. But after time, perhaps when disappointments or difficulties came, they dropped out. They caved in. Paul ended well because he stayed on track. Obstacles, hardship, Barriers were simply something to overcome. If you're a Christian, you are called, you're supposed to be called an overcomer because overcomers get over obstacles, barriers, problems, difficulties. Every one of us has some obstacles in common. Every one of us has some individual obstacles and barriers that we have to personally overcome. Paul said he finished the course. He got over all of those. He's not living in the past because these are not a few disparate, isolated cases, he's looking at his whole life. His whole life, his entire Christian experience, the culmination of which he finished. And then he says, I've kept the faith. I've guarded the truth about Christ. Several times in these letters to Timothy, he talks about the deposit of truth. Had to be guarded. This is not a passive activity. It's not as though you put something in a safe and you spin the dial and you leave it there and it's safe. That's like the individual who buried the talents and the Lord didn't even get interest on it. It's a passive activity to guard the truth. Keeping the faith implies developing, honing, further thinking, developed understanding, taking out the weeds when they sprout up, growing in the truth. When Paul says that he kept the faith, he meant that he was carefully guarding that truth about everything, about the word of God that was entrusted to him. It's not simply staying away from the errors and the winds of doctrine. But he kept that truth that those essentials, the doctrine, the theology and how it was worked out. In Paul's day. The truth was under attack. Is it under attack today? It's definitely under attack and not just by a godless society. There's a lot of. Those in the religious crowd who would attack the truth as well. You should be, to some degree, a systematic theologian. You should have deep roots in sound doctrine. You should know what you believe and why you believe it. You should be able to articulate the gospel. You should be able to articulate what you believe. If somebody asks you a question about this or that. Are you studying? To show yourself approved unto God, a work, there's that word again, a work man. That needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. That's an individual activity. That's a corporate activity when we assemble for worship here, when the word is preached normally by Pastor Joe. Maybe some of you take notes, maybe some of you have good memories, that word preached should be remembered. It should be rehearsed throughout the week. It should have an application in our life where it changes us, it moves us in a better direction. It fills in gaps. It starts to plant seeds that are going to yield fruit today, tomorrow, next year, 10 years from now. It's a building process. Same with the Bible studies in those geographical locations where we have them. It's not because we have nothing better to do. The word of God and joins us to, as he was, keep the faith. Develop the truth, grow in your understanding, become knowledgeable. Apostle Paul was able to do this, and he did not have Bible soft software. He did not have electric lights. that aided him while he read the Scriptures. And then in verse eight, very quickly, he talks about the future. He talked about the present, then he went to the past and then the future. Henceforth, there is laid up for him a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give. To him at that day and not to me only, but unto all those that love his appearing. He contended lawfully. He bore about in his body the dying of the Lord Jesus. He says, I have a right to expect the prize based on the promise of God's word. The implication of what he says, though, perhaps escaped you. He's confident he's going to get a crown because he fought the fight. He stayed on course, kept the faith. Notice he says he's not the only one that gets a crown. It's everybody else who loves his appearing. The implication is all of us are doing what Paul did, fighting the fight, staying on course, keeping the faith. If Paul was here to spend the last week with you by way of, let's say, hidden camera. Follow you throughout the day, Monday through Sunday. Could he come alongside of you and put his arm around you and say, we fought the good fight this week. We finished our course, we've kept the faith. You and I, we're going to get this crown of righteousness. Of course, the only fault with that imagery is Paul is not the righteous judge, is he? It's Christ himself. Paul was able to understand the blessedness of ending well. Coming to the end of his life. A life that was consistent, progressive, growing, determined, so carefully guarded and nurtured over the everyday basis of his entire life that he was able to expand, expound this summary about his life. Will you end well? Like to spend now the remainder of our time with a few observations and remarks about this theme, this topic of ending well. Number one, the scripture exhorts you to end well, despite the fact that the Christian life is a difficult life. The Scriptures exhort you to end well, despite the fact that the Christian life is a difficult life. I see many participants on the course wandering around, bouncing from here to there. That don't seem to be pressing towards that mark of the prize of the high calling of Christ. And very often when you engage them in discussion. It's the difficulties, it's the hardships of the Christian life. That they react against. The difficult Christian life is a difficult life, as depicted in scripture as warfare, strenuous athletic competition, husband men or farmer farmer when it used to be hard work before the days of the air conditioner, laser guided John Deere tractor. The Christian life is accompanied with tribulations, afflictions, pain, being misunderstood, temptation, trials, seeming work that has no immediate fruit that we can relish in. But regardless of that fact, You are encouraged from Scripture to end well despite the difficulties. It is a difficult life, is it not? It's wonderful also, but there are difficulties with it. It's withering to our Adamic nature. Think about it. You were transformed from a kingdom of darkness into a kingdom of light. You are being conformed to the image of God's son. It's a difficult life. Think about Paul. Now, none of us would say that we have had a life like Paul, but I know there's some aspects in your life that there's some identification with the Apostle Paul. Paul, was your life difficult? Was it hard with their obstacles, Paul? Paul would say, my conversion was very difficult. I thought I was doing God a service. I was in a religious stream flowing out to the ocean. I did many things for God. I was learned. And God knocked me off my high horse of religiosity, of self-righteousness, of pride. I was brought up short. I had to unlearn a bunch of stuff. Up to that point in my life, all that religiosity that I had learned was wrong. I know some of you were brought up in other religions and had to unlearn, had to try to forget some of those tenets of that system you were taught. That's difficult. That's hard. Paul had to unlearn. Then Paul had to go into the school of Christ, getting alone in the desert in Arabia, trying to harmonize the Old Testament with the New Testament, trying to think through arguments, trying to understand. Then he had to go through actual physical trials, stripes. Imprisonments, deprivation, weariness. Some of you, I know, can get weary, weary in well-doing, weary in service, weary in perseverance. He says, I was in pain, hunger and thirst. I was in multiple perils. Oh, and then when I tried to share the truth with. Brethren, they turned out to be false brethren. When I tried to be involved in missionary endeavors, some were unsuccessful. There were strifes and heresies and seditions. People followed me around to dog me, I was called names, I was given a bad reputation. All I was trying to do was share the truth with them and they misunderstood me. That's difficult. That's hard. Those of you who have shared the word with your family, with neighbors, with coworkers, with friends. Nobody likes to be rejected. He was thwarted. There were those who did not learn the lessons he was trying to teach years in prison, faithful friends departing him. You know what Paul said near the end of his life is in another place. He said, bonds and afflictions abide in me, they live in me, nevertheless, none of these things move me. And I don't even count my own life dear unto myself. so that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify of the gospel of grace. He saw these difficulties, these obstacles, these trials. He saw them for what they really were. Do you know why there are obstacles? Do you know why there are difficulties in your Christian life? They are there to empty you of you. They are there to finally, ultimately empty you of you. They are not there to provide excuses. They are not there to provide excuses of why you did not do this or you can't do the other thing or why your your ministry or your service or your involvement is at the 33 percent level. They are not haphazard, they are purposeful. The scriptures exhort you to end well. Despite the fact that the Christian life has difficulties. Secondly, grace bestowed yields abundant laboring. Grace bestowed yields abundant laboring. Ending well is characterized by a life that has spiritual accomplishments, spiritual fruit, spiritual vitality. After all, you are his workmanship ordained unto good works. Of the saints in heaven, when they rest from their labors, it says their works do follow them. This might seem self-contradictory, but follow Paul's line of reasoning in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 10. He says, by the grace of God, you know the verse, I am what I am, and his grace which was bestowed upon me was, note, not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all. Yet not I, but the grace of God which was in me. Grace bestowed yields abundant laboring. Paul traces his ministry, his labors, his spiritual fruit, his preaching opportunities and abilities. Everything he traces it back to the grace of God, and because the grace of God is divine, because it is operative. Because it is fueled by the Holy Spirit, one would expect the Christian life to be characterized exactly as Paul does. Labor, grace in action, grace working, grace begetting and bringing forth fruit. All hard work. The Bible's view of the Christian life is never, ever characterized as inactivity. It is never, ever characterized as haphazard or intermittent occurrences of apparent grace. It's not characterized as leisure. It's not characterized as as as as selections from the hometown buffet where you go in and you say at this time I will have that or I will have the other thing. Grace bestowed, think about this grace bestowed, Paul says, yields abundant laboring and that laboring is not fleshly, it's not carnal. Paul traced it back to the grace that was working in him. like a dynamo, so that when Paul got to the end of his life, he realized he was ending well. All along, grace was churning and begetting and doing and adding and active and serving and giving and ministering It was grace. It was almost like he had an out of body experience and looked at his life and said, by the grace of God, I was what I was. I am what I am. Again, the scripture paints the Christian life as. Fighting, racing, warfare, laboring, spending and being spent. After all, you are a servant, you belong to somebody, you belong to the one who bought you, who bought you with his precious blood. Not to be like the fig tree that had no fruit kind of down. It's taken up space. Not to be a bump on a log. Not to be a paper mache Christian, where it looks real on the outside and then you poke it and there's a hole in there. And kids, you know what a piñata is? A paper mache thing filled with candy. There's no even candy in there. It's empty. It's mirage. That's not what the Christian life is all about. Let me ask you a question. Is grace working in you? Is grace working in you? Now, I know that there is a tension between God's sovereignty. And man's responsibility. But that tension. Does not allow for indolence or cavalier spirit or presumption. Let me say that again, there is a tension that exists between the sovereignty of God. And man's responsibility relative to our service in our ministry and our Christian life. But the fact that that tension is there does not allow for indolence. or a cavalier spirit or presumption or Doris Day theology. Do you remember Doris Day? Que sera, sera. Whatever will be, will be. Would you entrust your Christian life to be governed and vouchsafed by such a cavalier attitude? Or are you working out your salvation with fear and with trembling? Because God is working in you to will and to do of his good pleasure. You see, all of these things clicked for Paul. And that's why he was ending well. Again, we would be naive to assume everybody will automatically end well without ever being exhorted. Without ever being pushed or nudged. Sometimes chided, sometimes talked to. We want you to end well. To know that blessedness, to bring that glory to God himself. Grace bestowed yields abundant labor. He did purchase you and purify unto himself a peculiar people who are zealous for good works, he says earlier in the same book. So it begs the question, was God's grace bestowed upon you in vain? Was it vain this past week, but your resolve that it will not be in vain anymore? We don't have time to consider Tabitha in the Book of Acts, Dorcas, some call her, but you know, when she died. There was an immediate corporate acknowledgement of her works that she did. And she was not in the preaching ministry or the teaching ministry. You'll recall that she made cloaks and coats and stuff that people needed. And because it was for the saints, she just didn't slap something together. She made something of quality and gave of herself alms deeds and good works. And that immediately rose up. As her eulogy of what she had done. Laboring because of grace, I know it's a labor to attend prayer meeting. Some of you, because our prayer meeting is at the office. It's actually worse than you think, because you actually have to drive out of the way and then double back here for church has gas money. That's waking up early. Some of you, most of you probably travel at least 30 miles. That's a labor. I know it's a labor. Grace works. It's a labor to attend the worship service. It should not be a labor, really. And it's only one service. For Sunday. It's a labor to go street preaching or to hand out tracks or to go to the Richmond rescue mission way up in Richmond or to go to the prison ministry. It's a labor. I know some who go to the to the prison and they go there and the gate pass wasn't put together. So they've gone all the way up there for nothing and they have to come back empty handed. That's a labor. It's a labor to serve in whatsoever capacity you were called in. But if all these are not done in the flesh, but powered by divine grace, again, as Paul said, these things will not move me. Neither do I count my own life dear to myself. Thirdly, ending well does not allow for an abridged or an incomplete Christian life. Ending well does not allow for an abridged or an incomplete Christian life. Let me explain. Notice how Paul's summation of his life included these three things. He fought the fight and he finished the course and he kept the faith. Paul was invested in the Christian life. He was invested into whatever the Lord would have for him. He was consumed by it. He fought the fight, the good fight, the right fight. He finished the course. He didn't look for shortcuts. He didn't leave off. He didn't pick and choose portions so he could finish in an easier way. He was accepting and obedient to the course that God had for him. If you go on the course. Without fighting the fight. That doesn't count for ending well. If you begin to fight the fight, but then you leave the course. Not good. If the only thing you are doing is keeping the faith, trying to become a theoretical theologian, but you're not out there living the fight on the course, not good. It was very difficult for Paul, you know. Paul even despaired of life. Remember that in 2 Corinthians. He despaired of life. God taking him to the extreme, the sentence of death in him that he should trust in God. But he kept the faith. He defended the truth, even when it was unpopular. He glorified God for it. He shared it with everybody he could. He spoke before kings. Again, these three have to be taken collectively. Fighting the fight on the course. Have you ever seen anybody on the course? Someone who's a professing Christian. And there's no history, there's no evidence of them bearing in their body the dying of the Lord Jesus, no growth in grace, no victories. This is one of the travesties of easy belief, easy believism, because it proposes not only does it cost you nothing to become a Christian, but then the rest of your Christian life is easy as well. You cannot start and then not complete the course. Again, we've all heard of Christians who supposedly come into the faith with dramatic testimonies, maybe newspaper headlines, fanfare. And when trials come, they disappear, they get off the course or the cares or riches of this life choke out the word. You have to keep the faith. That tremendous goal is that you would come unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. That is a high calling. Ending well does not allow for an abridged or an incomplete Christian life, it must be fully orbed When you read in the pages of Scripture the descriptions of the Christian life, you get this fully orbed picture, do you not? It's growing in grace and knowledge. It's bearing spiritual fruit. It's ministry. It's serving others. It's all these things. Number four. Run so as to win. Run so as to win. Let me remind you that you had an appointed time to be born. And you already have an appointed time to die. Whatever your lifespan is, you do not know it, but there is this fixed time. And it's presumptuous for anyone to think they can squander time, they can waste time and make it up at the end. Because you do not know when the end will come. You cannot promise yourself that you will end with the flourish, that you will end well when that time comes, if you are not running so as to win now. Some of you know that I'm a runner. I run to get exercise because I'm at the computer all day, I go out at lunchtime and I go jogging. And years ago, I used to run in organized races, 10 kilometer races, 6.242 miles. There's something about competition that makes you better. And I always used to like just get my time. How well am I doing? I can guarantee you. As sure as I am standing here. When I was running those races, if I started out very well for that first mile or two, And then I decided to walk. For the next two, three, four miles, take my time, look at the scenery, think about my aches and pains. And then try to run that last mile. I guarantee you, I will not win. I guarantee you, I will not finish first. I may finish. But I'll be at the back of the pack. So it is with the Christian life. So it is in the Christian life. Time lost, time squandered, time wasted is. Time lost, time squandered, time wasted. Even though you're instructed to work while it is day, because there is a time coming when no man can work. Our nature, because of the fall, is laziness, is self-indulgence, and you must overcome that tendency. All of us must overcome that tendency and gird up the loins of your mind and quit yourself like men and be strong and put your hand at the plow and do not look back. Cannot squander time. The Christian life is like a marathon, very long race. I would never tell anybody in a physical, actual marathon. To start that race as though they're running 100 yard dash. Because, you know, it would happen very soon, they would burn out. But I dare you, I dare you in a spiritual marathon to run, to sprint. And I'll bet you, you will not burn out. Because God promises the supply of the spirits. God promises ongoing fuel, efficacious power, strengthening faith, to run that race. Run so as to win. Fifthly, to end well, you must start well. To end well, you have to start well. Kids, I know that you know the gospel. The gospel portrays our desperate plight of being sinners, of being lost, of being undone. Because we're human. We were born in Adam's race. Christ came to solve that problem. Jesus came to this life, to this earth, To do something for us over there on our behalf. And to make it available, to give it, to bestow it upon all those who would take him at his word. He said, come unto me. All you that labor, all you who are weary, all you that are heavy laden. I'll give you rest. I've taken care of that problem. He tells us that there is this controversy between us and his heavenly father because of our sin. He comes to us and tells us, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be safe. I've taken care of the sin problem. He tells us things like repentance, that is, turning and going the other way from our known sins. He tells us that he gives that grace of repentance to us. Remember who he came to save? He came to save every single one that would put their trust in him. The word of God tells us that very same thing today. Do you want to end? Well, you're young, you're going to live a thousand years. I know that I was young once. And then you start to reach middle age and you understand. I'm not going to live forever. Scripture says he's put eternity in your heart. You know, there's something out there, something more than this life. Your parents have have something that although you don't understand it or know it completely. There's some little inkling in your heart that there is some something to it, it's not a fable. There is something there that they believe. that I currently don't disbelieve, but I don't believe it either. The Bible talks about starting well in the sense of beginning with Jesus Christ, trusting in him, believing upon him. Believing what the Bible says about him, that he came to seek and to save that which was lost. For those who come to the end of their life with not starting with Christ, it will be a very bad day. It will be a very bad eternity. But you need not face that. He encourages, he beseeches you to start well, to believe in him, to trust in him. Doesn't it make sense, kids, that if you were to run a race, you can't just walk on the sidelines and then jump onto the track and cross the finish line. You have to start at the beginning. So it is with the gospel. The beginning is Christ trusting him. Believing upon him. Your belief, your trust, your understanding does not have to be perfect. It's a matter of giving your life to him. To end well, you have to start well. So the scriptures, friends, exhort you to end well, despite the fact that the Christian life is a difficult life. The scriptures remind us that you should end well because grace bestowed yields abundant laboring. Ending well does not allow for an abridged, a truncated and incomplete Christian life. Are there any shortcomings in your Christian life? You should work on those. You should develop those. You should practice those. You should ask God to help you in those short coming areas. You have to run so as to win. And to end well, you have to start well. I'm going to close with a brief application and I'm going to put it in the form of a question. But before I do, I want to tell you a story. A story that you might know. It's a story about a missionary, William Borden. William Borden was a young man from Chicago. He went to Moody Church, graduated high school in 1904 or 1905. William Borden. The name Borden might ring a bell with you, Borden Dairy, Borden Dairy Products. He was the heir for the Borden Dairy fortune. And even in 1904 or 1905, he was worth millions. Well, as I said, he graduated in 1904, 1905, and his parents gave him as a high school graduation gift a cruise around the world. So he set off, he went to Hong Kong, he went to Asia, he went to Egypt, he went to the Middle East, he went to Europe. He literally went all around this world and he would write letters home to his mother specifically. And she noticed the tone of his letters started to change. He began to accumulate this this burden, this compassion for lost people. Even though he was seeing these amazing sights around the world. His eye was drawn to the mass of people that were lost without Christ. One letter to his mom said, I think maybe God is calling me to be a missionary. Few letters later, a letter said, I'm sure God is calling me to be a missionary. And when I come home, I'm going to give my life to prepare myself for the mission field. You can imagine that a family business that is worth millions and millions of dollars in 1905 had a different plan for William. William was the one who had been gifted and designated to to take over the family business, to run it. But after he came home from that cruise, he went to Yale and he spent four years preparing for the mission field. And right away, he started to do things that would tell us that, in fact, he was very missionary minded. He organized prayer breakfasts. Because he saw that people would come for breakfast. But then he would get them to pray and then they started to come because they were interested in prayer. He had Bible studies, he visited the elderly and rest homes, his preparation for the mission field did not include only the theory or the theological, but the practical, the experimental. After Yale, he went to seminary for three years, seven years he spent to prepare himself. For the mission field. During the time he was in school, he actually gave away. His part of the fortune that he was going to inherit. And he took his Bible and he opened it up to the back flyleaf and he wrote in two words. No reserves. No reserves. In other words, I'm going to trust God explicitly. I gave away my reserves and I'm going to go to the mission field on faith, trusting God alone. He wanted to live by faith. And then he started to pray about where would God want to send him? And he felt led to go to China, a particular group of Muslims who were living in China, and he told his family that he would sail soon for China. And right before he left, his father became gravely ill. And they begged him one more time. You have to stay. There is nobody else who can run this business. It's worth millions of dollars. The family said we will pay you. An incredible amount of money. You could have your father's office, you could have this, you could have the other things. His brothers and sisters pleaded with him. And he says, at this point, I cannot do it because I have committed my life now. And again, he opened up his Bible and on the back fly leaf, he wrote two more words. No retreat. No reserves. No retreat. He said God called him to China and he sailed to China. On the way to China, he stopped in Egypt. He had to go to Egypt first because he had to learn Arabic. Remember, he was going to minister to some Muslims in China, and he wanted to stop and pick up the Arabic language as much as he could. But while he was in Egypt. He contacted meningitis and he died within one month. He never reached China. He never reached the mission field. His heart was set on ministering to this group of people. All that preparation, all that self-denial, all that effort. And he's dead within one month of beginning his language study. When his body was shipped home and his effects with him, he found his Bible and they opened it up to the back and they found these words written. No reserves. No retreat. And evidently, just before he died, he wrote two more words. No regrets. No regrets. My question for you as you sit here today. When you die, will you have regrets that you didn't end well? The question is not, do you want to have regrets? Nobody wants to have regrets. Question is, will you have regrets? Or we could flip the question over, will you end well? Will you end well? I trust by God's grace that every one of you will end well, but it does not happen by inactivity. God tells us to put our hand to the plow. He tells us grace labors abundantly. Ending well. It's a great theme for a sermon, but it will be very hollow, very empty if you every one of you does not end well. I ask you by the mercies of Christ to consider this topic. and resolve by his grace to end well. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word and the exhortation. Father, we confess we sometimes are so weak, halting, fallible. But Father, we know that. Your grace, your Holy Spirit. that you can so overrule our old nature. Father, we confess those weaknesses, those sins which do so easily beset us. We ask that there might be a renewed zeal within each one of us to end well, to be like the Apostle Paul. Father, we desire this for thy glory. Oh, we do not want to be a vessel unto dishonor, but a vessel unto honor. Those who, in fact, were ordained unto good works, that we should live in them. Oh, my Christ Bible Church, be that kind of a church to the praise of the glory of thy grace, we ask in Jesus name. Amen.