By Jonathan Brentner
We often look for gems of wisdom in someone’s last words, especially if it’s a person that we admire. As the Apostle Paul neared the end of his life, he penned these words in 2 Timothy 4:7-8 as he sat in a Roman prison cell awaiting his beheading:
Instead, Paul focused on qualities that enabled him to endure in a ministry beset with a persecutions, hardships, and deadly perils. The amazing aspect of his final message is that it applies to all of us regardless of our spiritual gifts or calling in the body of Christ.
To what did the apostle attribute his endurance during a ministry beset with much affliction, suffering, and persecution?
His words remind us that as New Testament saints, we live in the midst of a war. The battle scenes differs widely among the saints, but there’s a similarity to the attacks we must fend off on a daily basis.
The conflict that all believers experience is internal, between the Holy Spirit and our flesh (Galatians 5:16-17). The New Testament also warns us about the devil’s opposition and the demonic forces that attack us (Ephesians 6:10-12; 1 Peter 5:8-9). As born-again believers, we live in a war zone. Our enemy will oppose all our efforts to live for and serve the Lord.
Along with these unseen forces, we encounter various levels of opposition and persecution from others. We endure scoffing from fellow Christians who laugh at our hope in Jesus’ soon appearing.
As I write, I’m riveted to the news coming from Israel’s war with Iran. Is it not a demonstration of Satan’s eagerness to attack anything and everything that furthers God’s purposes whether it be His plans for restoring a glorious kingdom to Israel or His calling upon our lives?
The current war reminds us that though the Lord may allow the devil to inflict pain, the Lord’s purposes will most certainly prevail. He will surely bring us safely to glory with incorruptible and immortal bodies; all our battles will forever end. As for Israel, the Lord will save a remnant who will someday welcome His future rule over them. Count on it! He will not fail!
The picture of finishing “the race” reminds us that there is a finish line when the many battles of this life will end. We endure the hardships of life knowing that a much better day awaits us.
Regardless of our gifts or calling, we can apply the apostle’s mindset to our walk with the Lord. Serving Him doesn’t get easier at the end, especially as we age. The picture of a runner in a long race, a marathon, reminds us to stay in the game as Jesus gives us the strength to remain faithful to the tasks He calls us to.
We can only endure through our continual reliance on Him and His power working through us.
Today, many Christian leaders tell us that there’s no a thing as the Rapture and that Jesus will not return until He comes to establish the eternal state. That is not “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints,” which the apostles recorded for us in the New Testament.
“The faith” handed down to us on the pages of our Bibles most certainly includes our hope of eternal life in resurrected, immortal bodies as Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 15:47-55.
Of all the accomplishments that the apostle might have listed as a reason for expecting a reward, this “crown of righteousness,” he chose that of loving Jesus’ appearing. Does that not speak volumes?
Take a few moments to ponder his words. Despite taking the Gospel to much of the known world, starting many churches, leading a great many people to saving faith in the Savior, and writing much of the New Testament, in his last recorded words Paul connects loving Jesus’ appearing to his anticipation of receiving a “crown of righteousness.” Wow!
This is so rich in application for us today:
First, this is something all believers can imitate regardless of age, spiritual giftedness, calling, infirmities, disabilities, persecution, or location. We can all long for Jesus’ appearing and receive the same reward that Paul looked forward to.
Second, this reward doesn’t depend on being alive when the Rapture occurs. At the beginning of his ministry, Paul included himself in those who might be alive at Jesus’ appearing (see 1 Thessalonians 4:17; 1 Corinthians 15:52). The fact that he knew Nero would soon behead him didn’t mitigate the blessing of living with the imminent expectation of Jesus’ appearing. The apostle clung to the reward for cherishing it even though he knew he would die before it occurred.
Third, the importance Paul assigns to his love of Jesus’ appearing at the end of his life speaks volumes to us living during the time when the convergence of a great many signs point to the rapidly approaching Tribulation period and thus to the Jesus’ soon appearing that happens before it starts. If loving Jesus’ appearing mattered so much to the apostle two thousand years ago, how much more should this same attitude impact our lives today?
I don’t know exactly how the current Middle East war will shape Israel’s future in the months ahead, but I am certain that in the end it will bring the nation and the world closer to the start of the seven-year Tribulation and thus to our home-going, and it may be sooner than most people expect.
If Paul were alive today, what might he say about the lack of interest in the Rapture in many churches and among so many believers? What might he say to pastors who say there’s no such thing as the event he wrote about in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, Philippians 3:20-21, and in several other passages?
We can learn a lot from Paul’s last recorded words. They lead us away from focusing on our accomplishments to the things that matter:
www.jonathanbrentner.com
We often look for gems of wisdom in someone’s last words, especially if it’s a person that we admire. As the Apostle Paul neared the end of his life, he penned these words in 2 Timothy 4:7-8 as he sat in a Roman prison cell awaiting his beheading:
Besides the personal instructions and final greetings that follow, these verses represent his last recorded words. As he looked back on his life, we might have expected him to list his many accomplishments in spreading the Gospel throughout the Roman Empire.
Instead, Paul focused on qualities that enabled him to endure in a ministry beset with a persecutions, hardships, and deadly perils. The amazing aspect of his final message is that it applies to all of us regardless of our spiritual gifts or calling in the body of Christ.
To what did the apostle attribute his endurance during a ministry beset with much affliction, suffering, and persecution?
Fighting the War
The apostle begins his assessment with these words, “I have fought the good fight.” Paul struggled against many foes in his quest to spread the Gospel throughout the Roman Empire. Many of Jews bitterly opposed him and from inside the churches he started, false teachers rose up to discredit him.His words remind us that as New Testament saints, we live in the midst of a war. The battle scenes differs widely among the saints, but there’s a similarity to the attacks we must fend off on a daily basis.
The conflict that all believers experience is internal, between the Holy Spirit and our flesh (Galatians 5:16-17). The New Testament also warns us about the devil’s opposition and the demonic forces that attack us (Ephesians 6:10-12; 1 Peter 5:8-9). As born-again believers, we live in a war zone. Our enemy will oppose all our efforts to live for and serve the Lord.
Along with these unseen forces, we encounter various levels of opposition and persecution from others. We endure scoffing from fellow Christians who laugh at our hope in Jesus’ soon appearing.
As I write, I’m riveted to the news coming from Israel’s war with Iran. Is it not a demonstration of Satan’s eagerness to attack anything and everything that furthers God’s purposes whether it be His plans for restoring a glorious kingdom to Israel or His calling upon our lives?
The current war reminds us that though the Lord may allow the devil to inflict pain, the Lord’s purposes will most certainly prevail. He will surely bring us safely to glory with incorruptible and immortal bodies; all our battles will forever end. As for Israel, the Lord will save a remnant who will someday welcome His future rule over them. Count on it! He will not fail!
Enduring to the End
Next, the apostle used an athletic contest, a race, to illustrate his endurance throughout the time of his apostolic ministry. Marathon races were popular in Paul’s day and it’s likely he may have witnessed such contests. I never ran in a race that long, but I know from those who have that it requires much stamina and determination to finish the course.The picture of finishing “the race” reminds us that there is a finish line when the many battles of this life will end. We endure the hardships of life knowing that a much better day awaits us.
Regardless of our gifts or calling, we can apply the apostle’s mindset to our walk with the Lord. Serving Him doesn’t get easier at the end, especially as we age. The picture of a runner in a long race, a marathon, reminds us to stay in the game as Jesus gives us the strength to remain faithful to the tasks He calls us to.
We can only endure through our continual reliance on Him and His power working through us.
Keeping the Faith
Paul’s next assertion, “I have kept the faith,” illuminates an area where many Christian leaders and pastors have failed in recent years. Jude wrote about this matter in his short epistle:I believe this is more than just remaining true to saving message of Gospel as Paul wrote about in Ephesians 2:1-10, though many have sadly failed in this critical area. “The faith” includes all that the Lord revealed to His apostles about our “blessed hope” of meeting Jesus in the air. In Romans 8:23-25 the apostle links “the redemption of our bodies” (the Rapture) to the hope in which “we were saved.”
Today, many Christian leaders tell us that there’s no a thing as the Rapture and that Jesus will not return until He comes to establish the eternal state. That is not “the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints,” which the apostles recorded for us in the New Testament.
“The faith” handed down to us on the pages of our Bibles most certainly includes our hope of eternal life in resurrected, immortal bodies as Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 15:47-55.
Loving Jesus’ Appearing
Why is it so important that we include our expectation of the Rapture in what we regard as “the faith?” Because such watchfulness is not only an essential part of enduring the battles, sorrows, and many hardships of this life, but Paul informs us that there’s a reward for “all who have loved his [Jesus] appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8).Of all the accomplishments that the apostle might have listed as a reason for expecting a reward, this “crown of righteousness,” he chose that of loving Jesus’ appearing. Does that not speak volumes?
Take a few moments to ponder his words. Despite taking the Gospel to much of the known world, starting many churches, leading a great many people to saving faith in the Savior, and writing much of the New Testament, in his last recorded words Paul connects loving Jesus’ appearing to his anticipation of receiving a “crown of righteousness.” Wow!
This is so rich in application for us today:
First, this is something all believers can imitate regardless of age, spiritual giftedness, calling, infirmities, disabilities, persecution, or location. We can all long for Jesus’ appearing and receive the same reward that Paul looked forward to.
Second, this reward doesn’t depend on being alive when the Rapture occurs. At the beginning of his ministry, Paul included himself in those who might be alive at Jesus’ appearing (see 1 Thessalonians 4:17; 1 Corinthians 15:52). The fact that he knew Nero would soon behead him didn’t mitigate the blessing of living with the imminent expectation of Jesus’ appearing. The apostle clung to the reward for cherishing it even though he knew he would die before it occurred.
Third, the importance Paul assigns to his love of Jesus’ appearing at the end of his life speaks volumes to us living during the time when the convergence of a great many signs point to the rapidly approaching Tribulation period and thus to the Jesus’ soon appearing that happens before it starts. If loving Jesus’ appearing mattered so much to the apostle two thousand years ago, how much more should this same attitude impact our lives today?
I don’t know exactly how the current Middle East war will shape Israel’s future in the months ahead, but I am certain that in the end it will bring the nation and the world closer to the start of the seven-year Tribulation and thus to our home-going, and it may be sooner than most people expect.
If Paul were alive today, what might he say about the lack of interest in the Rapture in many churches and among so many believers? What might he say to pastors who say there’s no such thing as the event he wrote about in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11, Philippians 3:20-21, and in several other passages?
We can learn a lot from Paul’s last recorded words. They lead us away from focusing on our accomplishments to the things that matter:
- Fighting the war that’s already upon us.
- Remaining faithful to our gifting and calling.
- Holding fast to the faith revealed through the apostles.
- Loving Jesus’ appearing.
The War, the Rapture, and Paul’s Last Words — Jonathan Brentner
As the Apostle Paul looked back on his life, we might have expected him to list his many accomplishments in spreading the Gospel throughout the Roman Empire. Instead, Paul focused on qualities that enabled him to endure in a ministry beset with a persecutions, hardships, and deadly perils.
www.jonathanbrentner.com
