Greg Ford - The Finish Well Test
Welcome to the power of one. Today, I wanna continue in our series «The Master’s Degree». We’re looking at how Jesus trained his disciples to ultimately become leaders. They were leaders that would take the work of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit and we contextualize it into their world. And we’re looking closely at their lives because we wanna learn not only how to be better followers, but better leaders. And today, we’re gonna talk about the, «Finish well» test. We’re gonna look directly at the apostle Paul and the last book that he writes, 2 Timothy. He writes it less than a year before he dies and he gives us some gems, some really powerful lessons, how we too can finish well. Let’s dive in together.
I was talking to two mentors in my life, two men, very different men who took different paths, but both respectable men who are in their retirement age, and I asked each of them, «What does finishing well mean to you? What does it mean for you to finish well»? And one of them said, «You know, finishing well for me is, I don’t want to fail in some kind of way at the end of my life that somehow would be subversive or would undermine my life’s work. I spent my life developing a good reputation». It says in Proverbs 22:1, «Choose a good reputation over great riches: being held in high esteem is better than silver or gold».
And so, his attitude toward this was like, «Man, I spent my life developing a good reputation, having a good impact on people’s lives, and what I don’t wanna do is at the end of my life do something that would cost me all that life’s work and watch it crumble. Embarrass and humiliate the people I love the most». The other guy, and of course this is indicative of their different personalities. The other guy was like, he’s like, «You know, finishing well for me,» he goes, «I think I got one more home run in me. I wanna swing for the fence. I wanna go out swinging, okay»? In his mind, he’s still playing offense. One’s thinking defense, «I wanna protect what I’ve done and be wise». The other one is going, «You know what? I don’t ever wanna stop taking risk».
One risk averse, the other is, «I got one more good risk left in me». And so, when we think about finishing well, I think it’s probably a little bit of both. Obviously, man, we want to be wise and protect what God has done in and through our lives, but at the same time, we’re not done living. Let me give you five keys to finishing well. We’re gonna be primarily in the book of 2 Timothy and we’re gonna kind of ping-pong between the 1st and 4th chapter in 2 Timothy which it makes sense 'Cause it’s a four chapter book. Let me give you a little bit of context about this. 2 Timothy’s written by the apostle Paul. He writes it, the date of the book is A.D. 67 which was the same year that he died.
This is the last book that Paul wrote. So, Paul, who’s in his 2nd Roman imprisonment knows that, «This one’s different. I’m probably not going to get out of here». In fact, in 2 Timothy 4:6, he says, «As for me, my life has been poured out as an offering to God». In another version it says, «It’s been poured out like a drink offering». It’s an act of worship. He said, «The time of my death is near». So, he knows that it’s not gonna be long and he’s gonna die. He’s writing now to Timothy, and he identifies Timothy in verse two as, «Timothy, my dear son, I’m writing to my dear son. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace».
I think this is worth thinking about that Paul spent, we’ll say his prime years, like in the middle of his career, writing to cities, writing to the Corinthians. Right? If you read your Bible, you read Romans. It’s written by Paul to the church of Rome. 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, these are all books written to churches, Christians in a city. And so, he spent his life’s work doing that. But at the end of his life, he didn’t write to cities and he didn’t write to churches, he wrote to individuals. He wrote to Timothy and Titus. And it’s interesting in his salutation to each of the churches. He says, «Grace and peace, Corinthians. Grace and peace, Ephesians». But when he writes to Timothy and Titus at the end of his life, he says, «Grace, mercy, and peace».
There’s just something about when you take it from just the Colossians or the Ephesians to Timothy, my dear son, that he adds this dimension of mercy. When you look at the relationship between Paul and Timothy, it’s familial even though it’s not biological. Paul’s not his biological father but we actually see how they ended up meeting up. If you read in the historic narrative of Acts, Paul goes to Timothy’s hometown, and he heals a lame man. And when he heals the lame man, everybody in the town thinks that Paul is a Greek God, so they start, they think he’s from Olympus and they start worshipping him and then Paul is like, corrects 'em. He’s like, «I won’t let them do that. No, I’m not a God. I’m a human. God is God».
And now, he starts to proclaim the gospel. And now, they go from wanting to worship him to dragging him outside the city and killing him. They tried to kill him. They tried to stone him to death but Paul. Paul’s personality, he’s a type a, alpha. He’s intense. He’s passionate. Intense. He was intense before he met Jesus. He was intense for the wrong stuff. Then, he met Jesus, he got intense for the right stuff. And so, he now goes in, and Timothy, by the way, his personality and temperament is he’s timid. He’s a bit shy. And so, Paul, you see in 2 Timothy 1, this last letter he’s writing to Timothy, he’s trying to fan into flame, the lion heart inside of him. Isn’t amazing how God will bring people into your life that will sort of round you out, you know? You got your nature and your nurture.
And so, God will bring nurture into your life to round out your nature. Be careful you don’t reject nurture that’s opposed from your nature. Often, we reject nurture that’s opposite our nature because it feels unnatural. I reject it 'Cause it doesn’t feel natural. Just because it feels unnatural doesn’t mean it’s not good for you. And so, he doesn’t push Paul away and Paul doesn’t push Timothy away. Paul’s intensity and his fervor, and his focus, and his passion, he’s saying to Timothy, «Timothy, don’t let anybody look down on you because you’re young». He said, «God’s not given you a spirit of fear and timidity but power, love. Somebody’s trying to pull that lion out of that timid Timothy because God’s got a big plan for you and you’re gonna have reach into that dimension. It’s in there. I see it. And I’m gonna pull it out».
And yet, Timothy’s tender heart, his tenderness pulled out a layer of Paul who would have a tendency to run people over and to be so focused on a goal, and there was something about Timothy that hit the tender spot in his heart. He traveled together and took him with him. And so, at the end of his life he writes about how much he loves him and «You’re like a tender son to me». And so, Paul’s giving us, really, in some ways, I feel like I’m watching somebody’s Facetime video of kind of at the end of their life and he’s giving him these keys on how to finish well. Let’s look at these five keys. The first one is found in 4:7, «So, my life’s been poured out like a drink offering. The time of my death is near».
Now, look at this. Verse seven, «I fought the good fight, I’ve finished the race, and I have remained faithful». The first key is this, don’t undervalue faithfulness. I told you about the sequence, right, that we tend to have from trying to build something to thinking, «Well, at some point. I’m gonna have to retire. And so, thinking beyond retirement, how am I gonna end well»? We tend to have these different perspectives. Well, throughout our lives we tend to value so much fruitfulness over faithfulness. Fruitfulness. We’re counting the fruit. We’re counting the productivity. We’re doing the math. Why? Because metrics in math give me some sort of clue as to how I’m doing. Are we winning or losing? I don’t wanna play ball not without keeping score. I’ve never done that in my life. We’re not keeping score of that. I ain’t got time for this.
Now, we start keeping score it’s worth my time. Why? I wanna know if I’m winning. I wanna know how we’re doing. What’s the point? Well, faithfulness, faithfulness at the end of Paul’s life, all of a sudden takes precedent over fruitfulness. I wanna encourage you to give yourself a win for your faithfulness. By the way, in a different portion of scripture, Galatians 5, Paul says, «Hey, one of the Fruit of the Spirit is faithfulness. It’s love, joy, peace. We know about those. Faithfulness is, it’s in the list. It made the list also». He said, «I’ve been faithful». And I just know I’m talking to somebody today, you’re in a season of life that you are primarily frustrated by your lack of productivity, by your lack of fruitfulness. You want more fruit. You want more evidence of success. You want more metric. And yet, in the middle of that, God wants to say to you, «Hey, look, one of the keys to a life well lived and to finishing well is being faithful».
There’s something to be said for being faithful. So, he says, «I’ve run the good race. I’ve fought the good fight». All this. «But I have remained faithful». The second, he says in 2 Timothy 1:3, he says, «Timothy, I thank God for you, the God I serve with a clear conscience, the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did». The second thing is, don’t undervalue a clear conscience. How do you get to a clear conscience, okay? 'Cause here’s kinda how we tend to think or I hear this a lot, you hear people say, «I have no regrets. I have no regrets because all my failures and everything I’ve done, you know, it all led to who I am today».
And that’s good. That’s a good attitude. I encourage you to be, I tend think that way as well. But the reality is when you get deep down, even into how you feel about your life, the reality is there’s some things you did that you wouldn’t do again, you do feel bad about. There may be some people in your wake, there may be some decisions, you’re like, «Man, I really hurt some people. I really did something that I really do regret». Like, yes, I know Romans 8:28, «God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose».
So, God worked it out. And I know the last chapter wasn’t written and it was a rebirth and a resurrection, and new life, and new opportunity, and his mercies are new every morning, and I saw waves of his grace that I had never seen before. And that’s all true and that’s all in play, but there is something about the accusation that you can have like the accuser of the brethren, the person that just kind of like, «Yeah but, you know, just something doesn’t sit well. I just still regret that. I wish I hadn’t done this».
Paul who is far from perfect. Paul who had made a lot of mistakes in his life said at the end, «I have a clear conscience». How do you have a clear conscience? It’s because you take everything you have to God and you trust his grace. Like, everything I’m conscience of, I’ve repented of. I’ve brought it to the Lord. I’ve got nothing that I’ve swept under the rug. I know I’m talking to somebody today who maybe you are sweeping something under the rug. You’re sweeping it there. You’re trying to act like it’s not there because of the shame, because of the guilt. And because of that, when you look in the mirror, your conscience is not clear.
Paul says, «No, I got plenty of junk in my past but I’ve dealt with all of it. I’ve repented for all of it. I’ve brought it all to the Lord. And instead of carrying it with me in the future, I have a clear conscience. I did a bunch of dumb stuff but I brought all the stupidity to God, and I trusted his grace, and I learned deeper about his grace. So, when I look in the mirror, I go, 'you know, I did everything I could do. I have nothing I haven’t dealt with'».
So, there’s something to be said for a clear conscience. I believe it’s the key to finishing well. If you got something swept under the rug, pull it back out and give it to the Lord. 2 Timothy 4, this is the last chapter. These are action packed few verses. I wanna start in verse nine, Paul says to Timothy, «Timothy, please come as soon as you can. Come visit me as soon as you can». Now, look at this, verse ten says, «Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life. He’s gone to Thessalonica. And crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus has gone to Dalmatia. And Luke is with me, only Luke, only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he’ll be helpful to me in my ministry».
In verse 12, «I sent Tychicus to Ephesus». Okay. I don’t wanna lose steam here. Hang with me. He mentions a bunch of names which is the third part of a key to finishing well which is do everything you can to put your relationships in order. With all these names he mentions, he mentions a bunch of different people who have come and gone out of his life. Some for good reason and some for bad reasons. And so, he starts with, notice first thing as he says, «Timothy, come visit me as soon as you can,» because there’s something about when you know your time is limited. When you know your time is short. There’s something there that causes you to value just the presence of someone you love. Don’t wait to 'til the end of your life to value the moments, like value them as much as you can. And I know it’s not realistic. We can’t spend 24/7 just looking in each other’s eyes. Like, you have a job to do. You have deadlines. You got stuff you gotta do, like, you gotta make hay. I get it.
So, I’m not saying that but I do think, friends, hear me, in this world, we have so many distractions. We get sucked into the algorithms. We get sucked into the things that aren’t that important. All of a sudden you look up, time’s gone and this person’s in the other, we’re in the same place at the same time but we’re not together. And so, you have Paul at the end of his life that’s going, «Timothy, man, just come to my jail cell and hang out. Come to my jail cell and just be present. Can I be present with you»? I don’t know what you need to do to discipline yourself or to put reminders around your mind. Do what you gotta do. Like, do your thing. Like, do your mission. But don’t miss. Don’t wait 'til the end of your life to all of a sudden start valuing the presence of the important people in your life.
So, at the end, Paul’s not writing anything to the Colossians or the Ephesians. He’s like, «Timothy, come to me as soon as you can». Then, he goes through and he names names, you know. It’s interesting. He names names of different people who kind of did him wrong. And we’re gonna talk about that in just a moment. But he names that. Then, he also talks about Tychicus, and he talks about Titus, and some of these guys that he goes, he sent them out to do work, right? Shared influence. He had spent his life building influence in Ephesus and these different places and now, he’s handing that influence off, so there’s a whole message in shared influence. And then, oh, don’t miss this, you see, he calls for Mark. «Bring Mark with you».
Who’s Mark? Mark’s the guy who wrote Mark. No, he did. The book of Mark, this is Mark here but what else is he known as? He’s known in the Book of Acts as John Mark and if you go read the narrative in Acts 15, John Mark and Paul unfriended each other. Paul was on a missionary journey and John Mark wanted to go home. He missed mama’s cookies. And Paul’s like, «If you leave, I’m not taking you the second time. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I’m telling you, you walk out that door, imma go again. You’re not going». And John Mark’s like, «But you don’t know. They’re chocolate chip». And he goes home. On the second missionary journey, Paul’s mentor, Barnabus is like, «You know, John Mark’s really grown up. I know he ticked you off. I know he did whatever but you’re the grace guy, Paul. We need to give him a second chance». And Paul’s like, «No, no, no, no, no, no, absolutely not».
And they get in such a fight. Paul not only unfriends John Mark, he unfriends Barnabus. «You guys go your way. I’ll go mine. I don’t need you». And he just fractures the relationship, and yet we see here at the end of his life the same guy he fractured a relationship, he’s calling to himself, «I wanna see John Mark one more time». He’s made amends. And so, Paul’s making sure he’s gonna do all that he can, all that he can to put his relationships in order. Look what the book of Romans 12:17, he said, «Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see that you’re honorable». Now, look at this. Verse 18, «Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone».
By the way, sometimes you do all that you can to live in peace with everyone and sometimes everyone won’t live in peace with you. So, what I’m not gonna do is spend my life trying to do more. No, I did all that I can and if you don’t wanna have peace, then we won’t have peace. This is why Paul goes through and names, «Hey, this guy did this. This guy did this». If you wanted to have a fun, little study, look up a guy named Hymenaeus. In 1 and 2 Timothy, Paul names him in both books. First book he says, «Stay away from Hymenaeus. He’s like cancer. He spreads like cancer». He mentions him again in 2 Timothy. Poor Hymenaeus. He’s getting, Paul’s just, you know, he’s telling him «Stay away». Why? He’s not trying to drag, it’s not about being vindictive. It’s not about throwing shade. It’s about warning Timothy. «Gotta be careful».
Do all that you can to live in peace but some of these people oppose everything. These people, they’re not peaceful people. They don’t want peace. And you can’t have peace with somebody that doesn’t want peace. They’re already predetermined that they’re not going to be peaceful. And so, he says, «Instead of killing yourself trying to make peace with somebody who doesn’t want peace, do all that you can. Once you have it, I’m warning you. Be careful of this guy».
And he’s telling this to Timothy because he wants, he knows that Timothy at some point will encounter an Alexander the CopperSmith, somebody who had it out for him, and he’ll encounter a moment where he’s standing up in a lonely place. He’s telling the story, «Hey, I remember that one time I stood up to defend, in my defensive, I was being attacked. I had to defend myself. And I thought for sure, this guy would be there. I thought for sure that person, I thought I would be surrounded by friends. I thought that my loved ones, I thought the people who had sworn allegiance, I thought the people we’d been through thick and thin. I thought that they would be there when I needed them,» he said. «And in my defense, I got up there and no one was there. I was completely alone».
But he doesn’t say, «You know, I hope they feel bad about it. I hope, you know, God smites them for it». No, he says this, he goes, «May it not be held against him. May it not be held against him». Why? He said, «Because in the moment, I thought I was totally alone, God showed up, and I realized I wasn’t alone. I saw a dimension of God when I was defending myself by myself when I realized he was with me the whole time». You learn that God is all you need when God is all you have, he’s saying this because, «It’s inevitable, Timothy. You’re trying to be a good friend. You’re trying to be a good son. You’re trying to do it all. At some point, you’re gonna have to stand there all by yourself». He said, «When you get there, don’t let your heart despair. Don’t grow cold and angry. Don’t become bitter at everybody».
He said, «No, start looking for God. God’s gonna show up for you just like he did for me,» put your relationships in order the best that you can. Alright, I gotta go quick. Number four is this. Value physical and emotional durability. Look what it says in verse 13, it said, «When you come, be sure to being the coat that I left with carpus at Troas. Bring the coat, okay»? This is a verse you just easily, quickly read past but if you read in verse 21, so eight verses later, he says, «Do your best to get here before winter». «Bring my coat before winter. Bring my coat before winter». Paul is in a cold, dank, dark prison cell in Rome on death row. He’s getting cold and here’s what he knows, «If Nero cuts my head off, there’s nothing I can do about that but I’m not going to self-destruct. I loaned my coat out in one season,» and he mentions the guy, you know, in Troas.
«I was Troas». Probably where he got arrested. And he said, «You know, I loaned my coat out but I need my coat now». Paul makes a decision that he’s going to do everything he can to stay as warm as he can because, «If they kill me, they kill me, but it’s not going to be because I didn’t put my coat on and I self destructed. I’ve gotta make it through winter». And what I’m gonna tell you is leaders have to learn how to make it through winter. You gotta make it through winter physically. You gotta be able to make it through winter, emotionally. A key to leadership is being physically and emotionally durable. Paul says, «If I die, it’s not gonna be with my coat off».
I have a mentor in my life, he’s a, when he was a young man, he made a life goal to read a million pages, and he’s telling me about this. He literally when I met him, he read hundreds of thousands of pages. We were getting ready to wrap up the day. He’s like, «Where are you going»? I was like, «I’m going to the gym. I’m going to work out. You wanna come with me»? He’s like, «Oh no. No, I don’t do that». I was like, «Wait a second. Let’s think about this. You’re gonna read a million pages and you’re gonna do all that with your mind and not take care of your body»? Like, how terrible would that be if in your mind you’re in your prime, in your wisdom, you’re in your prime, you’re in your best position you’ve ever been in to be able to help somebody, but you didn’t take care of your body, you just didn’t put your coat on. You gotta put your coat on. You gotta put the right stuff in your mouth. You have to do what you can control.
«I can’t control what Nero does. If Nero comes in here and wants to take me out, he’s gonna take me out. But I’m not gonna take me out». Don’t you take you out. If Nero gets you, whatever. To live as Christ, to die is gain. I’ll go to heaven. But don’t you take you out because you didn’t put your coat on. You gotta make it through winter physically and emotionally. And then, the last thing is this, the last key to finishing well is to never stop learning. Look what he says, he says, «When you come, bring my coat which I left with carpus at Troas,» but he also said, «Bring my books, especially my papers. When you come, bring my books with you,» and he says, «Especialy, the parchments».
And the parchments were excerpts from the Old Testament. Now, then when you think about this in context, he’s less than a year before he’s gonna die. He’s already said, «I’ve been poured like a drink offering. The time of my death is near». And yet, he’s like, «Bring me the word. Bring me that word». I mean, he didn’t know how much time he’s got left. «I know the end is near but, ooh, I just found one. Ooh, I got a new nugget. Ooh, God, may give me one more Revelation I may be able to give as I’m going out. I’m just never gonna stop learning».
Paul recognized up to the very last breath, «You are still a work in progress». «You are still a work in progress». To your last breath, you are a work in progress, so I’m never gonna stop progressing. This week, I would encourage you, make some time. Don’t delay this 'Cause it’s very easy to walk out of a service like this and go, «Yeah, man, I wanna finish well, you know? I wanna think about, you know, the end and all of that,» and to just walk out and get lunch and totally forget about this, I wanna encourage you, make a note to yourself to bring this to the Lord and create some definition in your life of what it means to end well. You’re like, «But pastor, I’m only 20 years old».
Perfect time now to begin thinking about it. «But pastor, I don’t have much time left». That’s alright. It’s not too late. You’re still a work in progress. Articulate it. Sit down. Pray it through. Maybe for you, it has something to do with protecting and defending something. And for you, it may be to swing for the fence or somewhere in the middle. Let the Lord speak to you to create some definition of what it would mean for you to end well so you have a bullseye to shoot for. You have something to calibrate to. You have something to come back when you don’t feel as fruitful as you could be. You don’t feel as successful as you wanna be but to come and say, «Here’s what it means to pass the finish line test».