Finishing Strong
I have always been fascinated by the biographies of the Kings of Judah as told in 2 Chronicles chapters ten to thirty-six. The author summarizes each king’s life with a short epitaph and one particular one has been on my mind for a while.
Thus king Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king; and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. His mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And he did evil, because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord. 2 Chronicles 12:13-14 (NKJV)
Rehoboam, the son and successor of King Solomon was the fourth king of Israel: his reign started off with the split of the united monarchy of Israel into the Northern and southern Kingdoms, Israel and Judah respectively as a result of his stubbornness and refusal to receive counsel from the elders. He later on followed God and his kingdom was established, only to abandon God after enjoying great success and prosperity.
The pattern we see in Rehoboam’s life of starting out well (maybe not really well in his case), honoring and depending on God and yet abandoning God in times of great prosperity is not a unique one. We see this same sequence repeated in the lives of almost all the Kings of Judah.
Over the 23 years I have been a Christian, I have met a number of outstanding Christians, people whose faith and character I admired greatly. However, I have also been disturbed whenever I have found out that one of these dear ones had abandoned the faith or had become lukewarm in their walk with God! Perhaps, you too have experienced seasons of apathy towards God or know people who have walked away from the faith; this should humble us knowing that, that could just as well be us a few years down the road.
On the other hand, there are also characters in the Bible who finished really strong despite how they started. Paul, who formerly opposed the gospel and relentlessly persecuted the church, at the end of his life as he sat chained in the Roman prison, well aware of his eminent execution wrote to Timothy:
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:6-8 (NKJV)
Paul, at the end of his life, was confident he had run his race and finished well. Note, that Paul wrote this of himself and not someone else. I often wonder if I will be able to say the same thing about my life in that moment God calls me home! That, my friends, is the challenge I would like to leave us with my message today. What was the difference between characters who finished strong like Paul (2 Tim 4:6-8), and other Biblical characters who abandoned the faith or finished poorly? Well, someone might say, the others were Old Testament characters who did not have the indwelling presence of God, but what about New Testament characters like Demas, one of Paul’s co-workers who Paul writes of in 2 Timothy 4:10: Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.
I believe the answer lies in 2 Chronicles 12:14 – He did evil because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord. The difference between Paul and Rehoboam, I believe, was in the preparation of their hearts to seek the Lord or what we might call a commitment to an ongoing sanctification of their lives to the Lord. 1 Corinthians 10:11 tells us that the things that happened to these Biblical characters took place as examples for us and were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of ages has come. You and I are to learn from those who followed God whole heartedly to the end as well as those who did not – what they did or did not do should serve as a guide for keeping our faith burning in these end times we live in.
Let us see other warnings from scripture about departing from the faith or growing cold towards God:
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron… 1 Timothy 4:1-4 (NKJV)
Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God Hebrews 3:12 (NKJV)
No one in their sound mind ever plans to abandon the faith and yet by not preparing our hearts to seek the Lord on a regular basis, that's exactly what we are doing. Just like water naturally flows toward the path of least resistance, we too will tend to move further from the things of God because it requires no effort. Running the race set before us and keeping the faith to the end will not magically happen, it is going to take effort and continuous preparation on our part. This should be a sobering thought! It is equally important to remember that the grace of God is available for the very purpose of enabling us run well. Titus 2:11-12 states ‘For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age.’ Grace, contrary to some unbiblical teachings out there, is not a license for sin but rather what enables us live godly, and apart from the grace of God, none of us can stand to the end! Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15:10 tells us that the grace of God enabled him to labor abundantly for the kingdom, rather than to slack off!
Let’s look at other scriptures regarding this concept of ongoing sanctification in a believer’s life:
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13 (NKJV)
Steven J Cole in his commentary on this scripture writes: ‘Once we possess salvation,
we must learn to hold in tension these two seemingly contradictory truths that the Bible
clearly affirms: that salvation, from start to finish, is God’s work; but, also, at the same
time, salvation requires diligent effort on our part.’
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear 1 Peter 3:15 (NKJV)
Peter is essentially asking us to set our hearts apart for the Lord Jesus and nothing or no one else. He is also quick to add that in times of adversity, the world will see and ask us about the blessed hope we live with as a result of this sanctification.
Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you … James 4:7-8 (NKJV)
Submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ should be the posture of our hearts 24/7, and it’s from that posture that we are empowered to resist Satan and stay the course.
The writer of Hebrews 12:1-4 instructs us to lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, to run with endurance the race set before us looking unto Jesus. A note on weights – these are not necessarily sinful things but rather things that might slow us down or side track us in our walk with Christ. It could perhaps be the English Premier League for the young men, and that has taken the throne of God in your life or soap operas, or perhaps your jobs!
See also 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (Run in such a way that you receive the prize), Ephesians 6:10-18 (Put on the whole armor of God), 2 Corinthians 7:1 (Cleanse ourselves from filthiness, perfecting holiness in the fear of God)
My purpose in sharing this message is to remind us of Paul’s admonition to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 10:12: Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he falls; and so, I will not labor to tell us what preparing our hearts should look like but rather highlight the importance of communion with God through prayer, meditating on the Word, living out the truth we know, plugging into Christian fellowship and being in accountable relationships with other believers as some of the ways we can pursue daily sanctification, stay the course and finish strong.
Remember, no one wakes up one day and decides they are quitting the faith, but rather it is one thought, one choice, one action at a time as we drift off toward the things of this world, and that is why we are all called to a daily sanctification for as long as we live in this physical body. The song, Slow Fade, by Casting Crowns and particularly the chorus speaks into this:
It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away
It’s a slow fade when black and white have turned to grey
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
I leave you with Paul’s encouragement in 1 Timothy 6:12 – Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (NKJV)
I pray that you will be filled with the knowledge of God’s will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you will walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of Him; that you will be strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and long suffering with joy. Colossians 1:9-11
Question to ponder: How is you heart today? How about your walk with the Lord lately?
Pray for the Church of Christ to stand strong and to have an increasing impact on society in this dark time, not forgetting those among us who are going through trials of all kinds in this season.
