Following God’s Way: “The Uncommon Epitaph” – 2 Timothy 4:6-8

Did you ever walk through an old cemetery and look at the epitaphs on the grave stones?  Read them closely and you may find one like this one:

Pause now stranger, as you pass by; As you are now, so once was I As I am now, so soon you’ll be. Prepare yourself to follow me.

Next to that marker, it was reported that someone placed a board with the following words:

To follow you, I’m not content; Until I know, which way you went.

Key Principle: The epitaph of a believer is the statement of CERTAINTY.

We are certain that our life will count for something bigger than the century of our life. We are certain that death is a means of conveyance and not an end. We are certain that there is both a purpose to our struggles, and an end point for our pain. We are certain of a real and intimate communion with our Lord – in a reward that is beyond imagination!

Where did we get these ideas? We got them from the Bible in 2 Timothy 4:6-8 (New American Standard Bible)

 6 “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future 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.”

I am not sure if it is better to die suddenly or to have an illness and time to prepare. I think people of good conscience disagree. Yet the real issue is when not if I will die! Human mortality is 100%, yet we act like we are going to be the exception…

You may have heard the story about the three guys discussing their obituaries? One asked, “What would you like folk to say at your wake?” One of his buddies thought for minute, “I’d like them to say ‘He was a great humanitarian who cared about his community.’” The fellow who had initiated the conversation replied, “I’d like them to say ‘He was a great husband and father who was an example for many to follow.’” The two nodded in agreement and looked to the silent buddy. Without hesitation he added, “I’d like them to say ‘Look, he’s moving!’” (sermon central illustrations)

Second Timothy was penned by a man who knew his days were numbered. These words come from the last chapter of the last book written by the Apostle Paul. The Spirit of God used him to tell us some important truths about DEATH:

OUR LIVES COUNT FOR SOMETHING BIGGER: 4:6a “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering…”

The term to “pour out as a drink offering” is one word in Greek – “spen’-domai”: to pour out as a libation, i.e. (figuratively) to devote (one’s life or blood, as a sacrifice) (spend) — (be ready to) be offered. We get the term “to spend” from an indirect source here.

A priest in the Temple would approach the altar of hot coals with a goblet of wine. As a prayer or special vow was spoken the wine would be poured on the coals. The wine instantly evaporated giving off a cloud of smoke and a sweet rich fragrance. Even pagan Romans knew about drink offerings. They often ended a meal or banquet with such an offering. It marked the time to rise and move on as well symbolized the giving of last drop to glory of the gods.

That is how Paul viewed his coming death. William Barclay: “Paul did not think of himself as going to be executed; he thought of himself as going to offer his life to God. His life was not being taken from him; he was laying it down. Ever since his conversion Paul had offered to God, his money, his scholarship, his strength, his time, the vigor of his body, the acuteness of his mind, the devotion of his passionate heart. Only life itself was left to offer, and gladly Paul was going to lay life down.”

DEATH IS A MEANS OF CONVEYANCE, NOT AN END. 4:6b “…and the time of my departure has come.”

Look at the word “departure.” (analusis: departure). That word had various usages:

• Nautical Use: It was a term that sailors used for untying the mooring of a ship. A ship would go out of the harbor as people would stand in that harbor and they would watch that ship sail over the horizon. At another harbor that ship would appear on the horizon.
• Military Use: When soldiers folded their tent to move on to another campaign, they used this term “to depart”.
• Political Use: When a prisoner was released from detention this same word was used, a departure.
• Agricultural Use: When the farmer would unyoke the ox at the end of the day he used this same word.

There is our departure. In Hollywood, there are those who know how to make an entrance… I want you to KNOW HOW TO MAKE AN EXIT!

When we leave this body, Paul says we sail into another port. We pull up the tent pegs. We are a prisoner set free. We lay down the burden of this fallen physical life. We go home with God – untethered, unbound, anticipating our freedom!

THERE IS A PURPOSE TO OUR STRUGGLES. 2 Timothy 4:7 …”I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith”.

Paul is able to face his departure from this life with confidence because he knew he had successfully “finished his race.” (v. 7). Paul looks to the past. This explains his readiness for death. He says, “My life has not been easy, but it has been worth it.” Paul uses three word pictures from the world of the athletic world.

·I have fought the good fight. The term “FOUGHT THE GOOD FIGHT” is “agonizomai”: to struggle to compete for a prize usually by contending with an adversary. We get the term “agonize” from this word! This was the description of a wrestling match, because life can be a battle.Nobody promised it would be easy, but finishing well is worth the effort.

·I have finished the race. The term from the verb “teleo” means to end. When used in commerce it is the word to “pay off the debt” or “make the final payment”. In athletics, it is a racing term for a longer race – like a marathon, not a sprint.

·I have kept the faith. The idea here is probably similar to that of 1 Cor 9:24-27, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. …Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.“ Paul could say he played by the rules. He had finished and finished well.

William Barclay writes: “The one thing necessary for life is staying-power, and that is what so many people lack.”

Paul knew that he was able to finish – and so are you able to finish. HOW? By living INTENTIONAL lives for Jesus – Do you stay at it until it’s done right, or do you settle for “good enough to get by”? Paul could close his eyes in death with a sense of satisfaction at a job well done. He had taken no short cuts, avoided no obstacles. Instead of circumventing the mountains, he climbed them. He weathered the storms faithfully. Moses prayed for God to “teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). Paul did that. We can too.

THERE IS AN END POINT TO OUR PAINS AND A REWARD BEYOND OUR IMAGINATION. 2 Timothy 4:8 “in the future 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.”

Paul then looked at his future and in essence said, “I can’t wait.” He looked forward to his reward, “a crown of righteousness.” The term “stephanos” is a VICTOR crown, not a RULER crown (diadem). It is used of competition and completion, not of ruling over people. In the ancient Olympic style games, a winner received a laurel wreath not a gold medal. The wreath had little value in and of itself. It’s worth came from the occasion and the hand that bequeathed it.

“…the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award…” has an accompanying word in Greek, “monon”: merely — alone, but, only. Paul knows the ONLY real judge of this life is his Master, Jesus.

Heaven is not first about gates of pearl and golden streets. It is about the presence of the Lord. Jesus, “I go to prepare a place for you that where I am there you may be with me.” For the lover of God the presence of God is the ultimate reward. In one of his books, A.M. Hunter, the New Testament scholar, relates the story of a dying man who asked his Christian doctor to tell him something about the place to which he was going. As the doctor fumbled for a reply, he heard a scratching at the door, and he had his answer. “Do you hear that?” he asked his patient. “It’s my dog. I left him downstairs, but he has grown impatient, and has come up and hears my voice. He has no notion what is inside this door, but he knows that I am here. Now then, isn’t it the same with you? Even though you don’t know or understand everything that’s on the other side, you know who’s there. That’s what makes the difference.” (sermon central illustrations)

Paul Azinger was a graduate of Brevard Junior College in Brevard County Florida. He went on to FSU before he turned pro as a golfer in 1981. He was named the PGA player of the year in 1987. Six years later he won the coveted PGA championship (1993). At the age of 33 he had a remarkable ten tournament victories to his credit. The very next year Azinger was diagnosed with cancer. He wrote of his experience. “A feeling of fear came over me. I could die from cancer. Then another reality hit me. I’m going to die anyway, whether from cancer or something else. It’s just a question of when. Golf suddenly became meaningless to me. All I wanted to do was live.” As Azinger faced the possibility of his own death, he remembered something that Larry Moody, a chaplain to the pro golfers, had said to him. “Zinger, we’re not in the land of the living going to the land of the dying. We’re in the land of the dying trying to get to the land of the living.” Azinger beat the cancer. He recovered from chemotherapy and returned to the PGA tour. But Job’s question: “If a man dies, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14) changed his perspective. Azinger wrote, “I’ve made a lot of money since I’ve been on the tour. I’ve won a lot of tournaments. But that happiness is always temporary. The only way I have ever found true contentment is in my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I’m not saying that nothing ever bothers me and I don’t have problems, but now I’ve found the answer—the answer to the six-foot hole.” (sermon central illustrations and PGA website).

Paul said it already in this letter, but in different words…”I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.” (2 Timothy 1:12).

·Death is Inevitable (Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.) One Pastor wrote: “In order to live a life without regrets, we need to know what to live for. The world has it all wrong. They say you only live once so go ahead and grab all the gusto you can. Party hard, live loose because when you die, that’s it. This philosophy teaches that the only thing to live for is immediate satisfaction and gratification. It teaches that the highest purpose in life is to be happy and pain free. But the Bible paints a very different picture of life. In fact, we are warned not to love this world nor the things in this world.”

·Death is impartial–No respecter of persons (The old will die, some young will die). To live a life of no regrets, we must learn what is important in life. We have to learn to trade monuments of man’s achievements for moments in God’s presence. You see, there is a place in God where all this world’s goods lose their luster. Paul kept eternity in view. He wasn’t preoccupied with this temporary life.

·Death is often unexpected – We make material preparation (buy a good insurance benefit for the surviving relatives and sometimes buy a nice burial ground) but we must make a spiritual preparation! Death need not be a mystery or a loss!

What is your spiritual epitaph? IS IT CERTAINTY? IF NOT, WHY NOT? Have you offered every area of your life over to God? What are you holding back? What are you waiting for?

The epitaph of a real believer is the statement of CERTAINTY.