Go ahead and take your Bibles and turn with me to 2 Timothy 4:6–15. What does it mean to finish well? What does it mean to fight the good fight of faith and finish the race of the Christian life? This passage, if you heed it, will teach you how to die well as a Christian. And more importantly it’ll teach you how to live a life that’s worth living, a life that’s pleasing and acceptable before the Lord. 

In 1977, the famous musical artist Billy Joel wrote a song entitled “Only the Good Die Young.” And the song is basically about a young man trying to deflower a Catholic girl by convincing her that her faith is meaningless. And part of his argument in this song is, 

You Catholic girls start much too late 

but sooner or later it comes down to fate.

I might as well be the one.

They say there's a heaven for those who will wait

Some say it's better but I say it ain't

I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints 

The sinners are much more fun

Similarly Willie Nelson sings a song entitled “Live Fast, Love Hard, Die Young.” Which is kind of ironic because Willie Nelson is like a hundred years old. 

In recent years I’ve heard a rash of songs on the radio that basically boil down to the same ethic – “live hard, sin well, die young.” For example, Pop-singer Kesha sings a song entitled “Die Young” where she sings,

Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young.

I hear your heart beat to the beat of the drums

Oh, what a shame that you came here with someone

So while you're here in my arms 

Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young 

Similarly in a song called, “If I Die Young,” Kimberly Perry writes, 

If I die young, bury me in satin 

Lay me down on a bed of roses

Sink me in the river at dawn 

Send me away with the words of a love song

The sharp knife of a short life

Now I’m all for “The sharp knife of a short life,” if an early death is thrust upon us. But how do we get there? How do we impact eternity, live a meaningful life, and finish well even if finishing means 20 or 30 years instead of 80 or 90 years? How does a person finish life well and not get sucked into the black-hole of meaninglessness and worldliness that is so prevalent in our day? Well you need to be tethered to something. And you need to know what it means to fear God, obey his Word, and finish this life in faith. 

The reality is that the Apostle Paul probably died in his sixties, but his words are just as true for Stephen and James who died as young men, probably in their twenties. The reality is that finishing the race isn’t about longevity, really, it’s about faithfulness. It’s about clinging to Jesus as tightly as you can as long as God gives you life on planet earth, and clinging even tighter to him as you die.  

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So how do we finish well? Let me give you five answers to that question. Here’s the first.  

Those who finish life well must...

1) Live their lives in sacrificial obedience to God (4:6–7)

The world will tell you to live your life in sacrificial obedience to your own carnal desires, but that will only lead you to despair. The only sacrifice that brings real, lasting satisfaction is Romans 12:1–2: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” 

Paul says similarly in this passage, 

6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

Paul says, “my life is a drink offering before the Lord.” This is what’s called a libation. It was a glass of wine or water that was poured out on the altar before the Lord. 

If you remember from the OT, there was that scene when David yearned for a drink of water from the springs of Bethlehem, and some of his Mighty Men broke through the armies of Saul to get that drink for their king (see 2 Sam 23:13–17). And David was so moved by their bravery and their love for him that he said, “I can’t drink this.” He decided instead to pour it out before the Lord as an act of worship. That’s a libation. 

And that was one of the many sacrifices that the priests offered regularly in the temple in Israel. And that’s the image that Paul uses for his life. My life blood is a libation before the Lord, and the cup is almost empty. I’m spent. I’ve been poured out as act of worship before God.

And then Paul uses three perfect verbs in Greek and three wonderful images to describe this pouring out. 

7 I have fought the good fight, 

This is the language of a boxer. I’ve boxed against my flesh. I’ve battled the devil. I’ve delivered some blows against him and his kingdom, and he’s delivered some blows back on me. I’ve taken it on the chin for my faith in Christ. I’ve been beaten and bloodied and bruised as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 

And then Paul says,

I have finished the race, 

Not “I’ve won the race.” The goal is not to win. The goal is not to outpace your other brothers and sisters in Christ. That of course would be a sinful and self-inflating mindset. The goal is to finish. The goal is to break the tape.

In the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, there was this Swiss Marathoner named Gabriela Andersen-Schiess. And the world watched in horror as she collapsed just a few yards from the finish line. It’s one of the most famous moments in sports history. The world looked on with mouths agape as this woman staggered and limped and hobbled and crawled her way to the finish line. And the crowd watched this with horror as she struggled to the end (they thought she was going to die). And they erupted with cheers when she finally fell across the finish line. 

And that’s what life is like for us. That’s how it feels. That’s Paul right there who has endured much for the sake of Christ and he has been poured out as a living sacrifice. And now exhausted, he’s about to cross the finish line.

Let me say this, church. If you finish like you started you probably didn’t race as hard as you should have. Do you feel me? Do you understand what I’m saying? If you finish the race of life unwearied and unscathed by the battles of life, you probably didn’t race as hard as you should have. You probably didn’t box as much as you should have. 

This racing analogy here is great. Whenever I jump on a treadmill, this is typically how it goes. For the first quarter mile or so I feel like Secretariat. I feel like Usain Bolt. I feel like I’m eighteen again. My knees are high in the air. My arms are straight. “I’m the king of the world.” But then just a few moments later, I’m like, “Kill me, Lord. I’m ready to die. This is the worst pain possible.” 

And it’s always embarrassing for me because I have that person running next to me that runs like 10 miles on the treadmill and doesn’t even break a sweat. And yet I’m sweating like crazy after just a few minutes. 

And there are some parallels there for the Christian life. When you first get saved, you’re like, “This is awesome, Lord. My sins are forgiven. I’m so happy. My prayers are being answered. Life couldn’t get better.” And you’re telling all your friends about Jesus. And you come to church with your Bible open hungry. 

And then you get hit with that first big punch to the gut: “A personal betrayal. A doctor’s diagnosis. A struggle to get pregnant. A bout with sin. Or a time of acute loneliness or depression.” And you realize that life is hard, and life is a battle. And you realize that life is a marathon not a sprint. 

Listen, God has called you not to ease and comfort and self-indulgent tranquility. But God has called you to box. He has called you to fight the good fight of faith all the way to the end. 

You see God doesn’t just want you to live a life of anxious anticipation for heaven. He wants you to live a life of righteousness and godliness in such a way that it would point others to the glories of heaven even as you struggle towards death. That is a life well-lived. That’s what Paul offered to Timothy. 

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 

Paul is implicitly saying here, “Now you, Timothy, go and do likewise.”

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Write this down as #2 in your notes:

Those who finish life well must...

2. Keep their eyes on the endgame (4:8)

Let me say it this way—you run the earth and watch the sky. That’s the nature of the Christian life. Paul alludes to this in verse 8, he says,

"8 Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing."

Let’s just be real about the Apostle Paul here. Paul has nothing in prison. He has nothing! He is cold. He is abandoned. He is moments from death. He has no possessions. He has no material wealth. He has to humbly ask Timothy later to bring him a cloak. Why? Because he’s got nothing. He has very literally suffered the loss of all things and counted them as rubbish, in order that he may gain Christ (Phil 3:8). And when Christ comes, when he returns on that Day, Paul says, “I will receive the crown of righteousness.” 

And notice what he says at the end of verse 8. He says essentially “This is not something that is exclusive to me, Timothy.” In other words Paul’s not saying, “Let me just tell you about how great I’m going to have it in heaven, Timothy.” Paul says, “and not only to me but also to all who [love Christ’s] appearing” … there will be a crown of righteousness.

Now what does that mean to love Christ’s appearing? You might say, “I want a crown of righteousness, Pastor Tony.” Well let me ask you, “Do you love Christ’s appearing? Are you anxiously awaiting that Day when Christ will return and put an end to this world and reward his faithful servants?” 

Let’s just stop and talk about this “appearing” for a minute. Because it’s important that we understand what Paul means by that. There’s actually some debate here whether Paul is speaking of Christ’s first appearing (or advent) or his second appearing (or advent). Which is it? Well because this verse is cast in the future tense, speaking of “The Day” of Christ return, I think the “appearing” that Paul speaks of is that future appearing. In other words, all true believers have set their heart on the return of Christ, and all true believers will be rewarded with the crown of righteousness when he returns. I think that’s what Paul is saying. 

But even if that’s the case, I just want to be clear about this… there is no hope in the future “appearing,” if there isn’t faith in the past “appearing!” Do you feel me? Do you understand what I’m saying? In other words, your confidence and hope in the second coming of Christ is based upon your faith in his first coming, when God himself came to earth, was born of a virgin, lived, suffered, and died a gruesome death upon the cross for your sins and was raised from the dead. 

If you believe that… If you have been born again… if you have been given new life in Christ then you can’t wait for Jesus to come back. You are going to say, like Paul, “Maranatha, Come, Lord Jesus.” “I love your appearing.” “I live for your appearing.” I can’t wait until you come back and bring justice and peace and stability to this world.

And by the way, let me just say something about this crown. I don’t view this “crown” as some kind of exemplary treasure in heaven. I do believe in heavenly rewards, but I don’t think this is a reference to that. I believe that the “crown of righteousness” is metaphorically the righteousness that we are clothed in, Christ’s righteousness, when we enter eternity. And you either have it or you don’t. Those who finish well in faith will receive it, and those who don’t finish well and don’t love his coming and don’t have saving faith won’t receive it. Those who die without faith in Christ are cast into the lake of fire forever. There’s no purgatory where you can work those things out. You either have a faith that finishes or you don’t.  

Listen church, there is a false doctrine that circulates in our world, and it circulates in our churches. And it goes something like this, “If you pray a prayer of faith and make a decision to follow Christ, then you can live like hell all the days of your life and claim heaven all along the way.” You need to know that the NT knows nothing of that kind of faith. Real faith in Christ, real love for his appearing encapsulates this idea that “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” Not perfectly. Not without a few bumps and bruises along the way. Not without a few missteps. But with my eyes on my savior and a love for his return, I have fought the good fight of faith to the end.

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So if we’re going to finish well this race called life we need to first of all 1) live our lives in sacrificial obedience to God and secondly we need to 

2) Keep our eyes on the endgame.  

Now 2 Timothy 4:6–8 is an epic passage of Scripture. This is a passage that, quite honestly, I could spend weeks preaching on. And in many ways, this is the last will and testament of Paul. These are his final words and you could easily see these words etched on Paul’s tombstone. If he ended this letter to Timothy here, and if these were the last words Paul ever wrote, you might say, “What a noble and majestic and grandiose way to finish the last letter of his life!”

But here’s what I find interesting. Paul doesn’t end there. In fact he writes another (what?) fifteen verses of Scripture. And if the previous statements were magnificent and grandiose, then what follows is honestly a little mundane. In fact, his next instructions to Timothy… in verse 9 and following… they honestly sound like a checklist. 

Here’s what I mean. Paul writes, “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race.” And then he writes, “Oh and by the way, Timothy can you bring me my coat when you come to visit me?”

Paul writes, “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day.” And then in the next section he writes, “Oh and by the way Timothy, just an FYI, Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.” Timothy’s like, “Um Okay, thanks for that information, Paul. That’s good to know.”

 It’d be like me calling my wife and saying, “Sanja darling, I love you more than life itself. You are my precious jewel. You are my inspiration for everything. And oh, by the way, did you remember to pick up milk at the grocery store this morning? Could you please throw my socks in the next load of wash? I’m all out of socks.” I joke, but that’s actually pretty close to the way our conversations go. 

That’s kind of how this section of Scripture reads. The epic is put side by side with the mundane. Paul’s awesome declaration of a life well-lived is juxtaposed to some very simple and practical statements about life lived in the here and now. And here’s what I love about this. Paul could never be accused of “being so heavenly minded that he is of no earthly good.” Paul could never be accused of having his head in the clouds and forgetting about the practical outworkings of life. Even when he’s about to die… even when his head is about to be removed from his body, he’s still living out the practical realities of life. 

I love that about Paul. I love the way that this book ends. And here’s another thing I love about how this book ends. Paul is not just an overeducated idea-machine. Paul is not an ivory-tower professor. Paul is a people-person. And in these last few verses, in addition to Timothy, Paul mentions seventeen other people that he has contact with. And this book doesn’t close with epic theological profundities; it closes with personal greetings and warnings and relational discourse. Because Paul, at his core, loved God and he loved people. 

Now I’m going to give you three more things in verses 9–15 that are necessary for finishing well. But I want you to see before we do that, that part of finishing well means building relationships with other people. Do you understand what I mean by that? In other words, if you think, “You know, Pastor Tony, I’m just going to move out to the middle of nowhere and live my life in total isolation from other people, and that’s how I’ll finish well.” Listen, that is not God’s desire for your life. God wants you to be an ambassador. God wants you to be a representative for him both inside and outside the church. God wants you to be invested in relationships, even when that inevitably involves a little messiness. 

We’re going to see some messiness in just a second. Paul and Timothy had to deal with messiness that had seriously threatened the church. Even so, God has called us to relationships with other people, and living in relationship with others is part of finishing well.

Write this down under #3. Talk about messiness.

Those who finish life well must...

3. Deal with relational disappointments (4:9–10a)

We’ll talk positively in a second, but first let’s talk negatively. Paul writes,  

9 Do your best to come to me soon. 

Why Paul? Why do you want me to come right now? Well, because…

10 … Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. 

Here’s the thing about finishing well. For every Timothy in your life, you’re going to have a Demas. For every Luke or Mark or Priscilla and Aquilla in your life, you’re going to have a Phygelus and Hermogenes. You’re going to have a Hymenaeus and Philetus and even an Alexander. We’ll get to him later. 

And if you’re going to finish life well you can’t say, “I give up on people! I’m tired of the church. I quit!” You can’t do that. Jesus had his Judas. Paul had his Demas. Timothy had his Alexander or whoever else. You will experience relational disappointments too. It’ll happen.  

By the way, Demas was a great friend to Paul at one time. Demas was an apostolic superstar. Paul mentions Demas at the end of Philemon as a fellow worker, a συνεργός in the Greek. That is a precious designation. He was one of Paul’s fellow workers, one of his trusted helpers in the preaching of the gospel. And he just threw it all away, because according to Paul, he loved the world. 

Paul said in the previous verse that a crown of righteousness awaits those who love Christ’s appearing, but in contrast to that Demas loved the present world. He literally loved “the now era” rather than the “future era.”

Church, if you’re going to finish well, you’re going to have to run the race of faith all the way to the finish. And you’re going to have to deal with the disappointments that come when other people that you love dearly, don’t finish. And you can’t let them steer you off course. 

Sometimes that’s a close friend which is painful. Sometimes that’s a family member, which is incredibly painful. And for every Timothy and Titus and Luke and Mark in your life, there will be a Demas. And what’s interesting is you don’t always know who the Demases are going to be. Sometimes it surprises you. Does that mean that you just disconnect from everyone relationally? Does that mean that you just kind of circle the wagons, so to speak, and make yourself emotionally impervious to anyone else in the church? No. You can’t do that. And if you do that, if you try to safeguard yourself from the Demases of this world, then you’ll miss out on the Timothys and the Tituses and the Lukes and the Marks in this life… those precious friends that help you finish life well.   

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Write this down under #4:

Those who finish life well must...

4. Find tough-minded friends for tough times (4:10b–12)

Paul writes in verse 9, 

9 Do your best to come to me soon. 

“I’m about to die, Timothy. I need you at my side when I get sentenced to death.” Then Paul says in verse 10, 

10b Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 

11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 

“I’ve sent Crescens to Galatia; he’s got work to do there. I’ve sent Titus to Dalmatia; he can’t be with me right now. Luke’s with me now. But I need you, Timothy. And bring Mark while you’re at it!” 

And notice what Paul says in verse 12.  

12 Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.

That’s not a throw away sentence. Because you might say, “Well why does Paul want Timothy to come to Rome? Doesn’t he have work to do in Ephesus? Shouldn’t he stay there and protect the church?” Well Paul has sent Tychicus probably with this very letter (2 Timothy) to Ephesus to spell Timothy while he goes to Rome. 

And you might ask, “Why does Paul want Timothy in Rome before he dies?” The reason theologically speaking is because… Paul emotionally wants him to be there when he dies. Timothy is more than just a co-laborer of Paul’s; he’s his spiritual son. And I don’t know about you, but I would want my son and my family close to me if I was about to die. And that’s what Paul desires. 

And curiously, Paul says in verse 11.

 11 Luke alone is with me. 

Now that part doesn’t really surprise us. Luke is Paul’s most trusted companion, and possibly his personal doctor. The fact that he is with Paul doesn’t surprise us. But Paul’s next statement does. He tells Timothy…

Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.

Mark, if you remember is the guy who abandoned Paul and Barnabas on their First Missionary Journey (see Acts 13:13; 15:36–41). Mark is the guy who Paul and Barnabas got into a heated disagreement over on their Second Missionary Journey, because Barnabas, “the son of encouragement” said, “Let’s give him a second chance, even though he deserted us last time.” And Paul was like, “No way. That guy is a deserter. That guy is weak. He quit on me.” 

But now an older, softer Paul could say about, probably, an older stronger Mark, “He is very useful to me for ministry.” God is the God of second chances. And who knows, maybe in time Demas or Phygelus or Hermogenes came to their senses and was reconciled to the church after a season of faithlessness.

Look, here’s the point. The Bible says that, “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother” (Prov 18:24). You’re going to have a few Demases in your life. But then there’s going to be a Luke. There’s going to be a Mark. There’s going to be a Timothy and a Titus and a Crescens and a Tychicus. And if you’re not willing to open yourself to others because of the Demases out there, you won’t get the joy and the privilege of experiencing the Timothys. 

My advice to you church is find some tough-minded men, find some tough-minded women in your life… not fair-weather friends but real friends… and you lean into them for the strength to finish this race called life. We need that. Don’t we? We need each other? You don’t have to finish the race alone!  

Coincidently, how amazing was it… if Timothy actually made it to Rome before Paul’s execution… how amazing was it that Paul had Timothy and Luke and Mark with him at his execution. Luke wrote the gospel of Luke, and then also Acts. Mark wrote the gospel of Mark. Those are some pretty significant people to have around you at your death. 

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And then Paul closes this section by saying, 

13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, 

Why does Paul want a cloak? The answer is because he’s cold. He’s cold and he has nothing! He’s stuck in a dark, dank, dungeon of a prison, and he just wants to be a little warmer. Actually this word for cloak in Greek, it simply means a blanket with a hole cut out of the middle for the head, like a Mexican Poncho. “Bring my poncho, would you, Timothy?” 

also the books, and above all the parchments. 

Paul’s about to die, and so he wants some reading material, right? And I don’t know about you, but if I was about to die, I’d want my books brought to me. This reference to “parchments” is most-likely the OT Scriptures. It may have also included some written testimonies about Jesus that weren’t yet copied down by Mark and Luke as gospels. And if so (this is a bit of conjecture), maybe Mark and Luke used those afterwards to write their gospels.

And then Paul utters one final warning. And it’s a very grave warning. It’s actually kind of a sad way to end this passage. He says in verse 14,   

14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. 

Write this down as the fifth and final point.

Those who finish well must… 

5. Overcome inconvenience, heartache, and personal betrayal (4:13–15)

“Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm.” I’ve already talked at length about Demas and his betrayal of Paul. And whatever I’ve said about Demas probably applies to an even greater degree with Alexander. Paul says very pointedly that that “coppersmith did me great harm.” I have no idea what this evil is that Paul is talking about. But I could guess. 

It doesn’t surprise me. I hear people say all the time, “I don’t go to church, because I got hurt there.” “I got church-hurt!” Whenever I hear people say that I just want to say in response, “Get in line, man. Get in line and take a number. We’ve all been hurt at church.” We’ve all been the recipients and at times the cause of great hurt to other people. That can’t keep you from finishing well. That can’t keep you from personal investment in other people. That can’t keep you from church. 

I’ll say this as well. Paul mentions Alexander by name. That’s pretty remarkable. Alexander is forever immortalized in the Scriptures as the enemy of the Apostle Paul. That’s not a great claim to fame. And I just want you to see that Paul, even in death had people who opposed his message. Some of you, I fear, might be holding out for a life and a death where everyone is your friend and everyone loves you. And I would present this passage to you as a test case that if you aren’t on the best of terms with all people when you’re about to die, that may be a good thing. Maybe that’s because you’ve stood up for something in your life. That’s not an excuse to be ugly and mean-spirited when you die, but it’s a caution to watch out for an overindulgence of your desire to be liked by everyone.

When John Wycliffe died, people hated him so much that they went and dug up his bones and burned them in an effort to disgrace him. When Martin Luther died, his Catholic enemies said that the earth opened up and the devils of hell took his body down to hell and left a filthy stink behind. I heard once that in Geneva, where John Calvin ministered, that whenever you would call out the name Calvin all the dogs would respond. And that wasn’t a complement. The people called their dogs Calvin because they hated him so much. And you might say “O yeah Luther, he was an ornery piece of work. I bet everyone hated him.” But you know what, that wasn’t true of Calvin. Calvin was a meek and mild-mannered guy, and they still hated him. Because they opposed his message. I’ve heard it said before that “the measure of a man is often shown in the vehemence of his enemies.” Jesus said himself, “Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26). 

Here’s the point if you finish this life well, you’re going to go out with some Alexanders in your rear view mirror. You’re going to experience opposition. You’re going to experience heartache. You’re going to experience personal betrayal. Jesus experienced it. Paul experienced it. Paul warned Timothy that he would experience it. And you’ll experience it too.

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So let’s pull this all together. Let me ask you, church. How y’all doing with this? Are you prepared to finish well? Are you living your life as a pleasing aroma before the Lord and being poured out as a drink offering? Or are you wasting it? Are you frittering away the most precious thing that God has entrusted to you, your life? Or are you making the most of it? How y’all doing with these things? 

Are you letting relational difficulties keep you from faithfulness to God? Are you keeping your mind on the prize and staying away from a love for this present age? Are you gathering around yourself faithful, tough-minded friends that can help you to finish life well?  I’ll tell you this much, “Finishing well is not for the faint of heart.” I get the impression that many Christians would prefer to just coast on into eternity than really fight the good fight of faith all the way to the end.

Oh that God would make us soldiers and boxers and fighters that will fight the good fight of faith all the way to the end. And then we, like Paul, exhausted on the battlefield, spent of all our strength, poured out like a drink offering before the Lord, we expire into the hands of our Lord and Savior. That is a life well-lived, church. That’s what we should be aiming for.