End Life Well
Key Passage: Jeremiah 33:3
Date: June 7, 2024
Well, I’m glad I serve a God that can do anything. We don’t have a God whose arm is not slack, and He can do whatever He wants, and whatever we need. He says, “Call on me, and I’ll answer thee, and show you great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” And I’m glad that what I can’t, God can.
You didn’t hear me that whole last song. You were so happy. Try that again. I’ve got nothing to say. Shut up, y’all. All right. You’ve seen the real family now. Let’s try that again. I’ll just start right into it. I can’t calm a raging storm, but God can. Freshness of the morn, but God can.
And I can’t cause the birds to sing or make flowers bloom when it comes spring, or mend the sparrow’s broken wing, but God can. It’s good to know that the stars shine brighter. Good to know He sees the hurt we may not see, but God can. Tomorrow, so I’ll just leave knowing He and God. Good to know the stars end free, but I…
You enjoyed tonight, say amen. And praise the Lord, I appreciate the Walkers and all they do. And it’s a blessing to see the second generation coming up, and even the third generation we got to hear on Sunday night. They did a good job, and we appreciate that. How many of you had one of those days? You’ve just been hustling and bustling, and you finally made it into church and you feel like, whew. How many are like that? Anybody like that? I thought I kind of felt like that a little bit here and there and yonder.
Okay, from everybody pretty much tonight. And that’s all right. You made it, and you’re in God’s house. He’s pleased with you. All your effort to get in this house—He’s very proud. He’s very pleased with that. And I’m thrilled to have you here tonight. Also good to see Patrick and Marlene slipping in. And they just hustled and bustled back from California. And so we’ve got to get all that left-wing stuff off of them and get them all straightened up.
Now, but good to have them back. Good, glad you’re back with us, and missed you when you were gone. And just good to see everyone in God’s house tonight. That’s a blessing. The Walkers have had one of those days, too. They’ve got a vehicle that’s broke down, and they were supposed to get it fixed today, and it’s still broke down. And another vehicle that’s supposed to be fixed today and it’s…
Well, the next day or two, and it’s still broke down. And the insurance issues and all those—all of us got those—but praise God, God can. Amen. And it’s just good to be in His house and just kind of rest in Him a little bit.
And see God work in our lives. I was just looking, ushers, I’m going to give you a heads-up. I didn’t see any offering plates, just so you’d be ready here in a few minutes for that. And we won’t get the prayer requests just because of the second time here tonight, and we’ve got some folks out of time, whatnot, also kind of help us with some of these things. Saturday is going to be a great, great day. It really is. Our folks have just done a super job.
Every Saturday, every week’s been over a thousand door hangers. We’re a little, just a touch ahead of schedule. And we want to stay that way in case we have a rain week or something like that. But I’m excited. This week will put us over halfway. It’ll put us over 5,000. Our goal is 10,000 altogether. Isn’t it amazing since we’ve been doing it every Saturday?
Someone has bowed their head and asked Jesus Christ to be their Savior. And interesting, ever since we’ve been back after that, we’ve had visitors every Sunday also, every single one of them. And it’s not necessarily the ones that we have talked to on that Saturday. But you’re faithful to get the word out: “Jesus saves.” He’s the Messiah. He’s the Savior. You get that message out upon that rock. He builds this church.
That way I can’t say, “Well, that’s mine, that’s mine.” All that is God’s. God gets the credit. He brings them in, but He does bless when we get the message “Jesus saves” out. And so I appreciate you participating, helping us and all that, looking forward to just another great Saturday. This last Saturday, I did not get a total count. I was trying to organize door hangers, got a count of them. But I would push in 40. I would think we had 40 counting all the bus workers and door hangers.
Prayer station people, and it was just a great day, and praise the Lord for… Um, we still need help with breakfast if you would be willing to cook breakfast for our folks on Saturday morning. We need help on that. And I appreciate those that have taken that ministry on. Some just did a super job, and I appreciate it so very, very much. If you can help us on that, the sign-up sheet is on the back table. And I think we’ve still got an open slot on Saturday. So if you can help us with that, that’d be great. 9:30, and we’ll have breakfast and then we’ll divide up and go out. And then October 18th—that’s just going to be a grand day.
Our first day on the new property. And at 10:30, we will not have Sunday school. Everything will be at 10:30. We will have a nursery there on the property. We’re trying to get a camper. I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but if not, we’ve got our shuttle bus.
We’ll use that, and we’re going to take a couple seats out and put some throw rugs down and put a baby bed, a crib, a small one in there, whatnot. We’ll have it ready to go. It’ll be heated and cooled and ready, ready to go for you if we need that. We’ll have children’s church on the property also, junior and primary church, and so I’m excited about that. The whole field is supposed to be bush-hogged this weekend.
So that’s a blessing, and it’ll just look so much different. Now, here’s the exciting thing: Sunday night, we’ll have service back there at 5 o’clock, but we’re going to have where the new building will be. We’ll have that staked off where you can see where the new building will be. We’ll have it where the parking lot will be, and where the future school and gym will be. We’ll have that kind of staked off.
If you’d like to come a little early on Sunday night, we’ll have a wagon, a trailer, and we’ll have it pulling around the property there. If you want to just take a hayride and see the property and see where things will be one day, you can do that, or just to touch after service. But after service—well, by the way, in the morning time, Good Shepherd’s Children’s Home will sing for us. And then Sunday night, we’ll have…
Popcorn preaching. Has anyone ever been in a service where you’ve had popcorn preaching? If you’ve been in that, raise your hand. Some of the Walkers have. Some of the Walkers have. Brother John has. We’ll have several of our men. And men, I would love it if you would participate. But just three to five minutes, just very briefly, and we’re going to be strict about that. But we’re just going to have you pop up and preach.
Just a quick message. I’d love it if we had just, oh, if we had 10 men, 12 men, that’d be great. And we’ll have that. And that’ll be interesting. It’ll be a great service. And then afterwards, we’re going to go around where the new building will be. It’ll be staked off. You’ll be able to see where it is. We’re going to surround that, just that section of the property, and pray over it, and ask God to put His hand and use that…
…location for years and years to come. So it’ll be a special day in a lot of ways, October 18th. And so I’m excited about looking forward to it. And please invite others to come to that. And we’ll have restrooms on the property and whatnot. We’ll have all that taken care of.
So we’ll have flyers for you Sunday to pass out about that. But we’re looking forward to it. If you have a generator or you know someone that would let us use, we need several generators for that Sunday. So if you have—we had one and we don’t have it anymore.
And not the church, but access to one. I believe we’ve got one, but we’ll need a couple. So if you know of, if you have one, let me know about that, that would be helpful. And then I know several Sunday school classes are starting a fall program this Sunday. So let’s jump on more, get involved in your Sunday school class. If you’re seniors, just go ahead and go bananas. And we’ll see if the…
Men or ladies? I don’t know. We’ll just have to find out. Brother Warren’s kind of pointing to themselves. Ms. Sherrod, who do you think is going to win in that thing? She just says all confidently, “The women.” And so that would be good. And then the teens, I don’t think this Sunday, but the next, they’re going to shoot again and break that record—36, 40 is the record. And so pray for them, help them if you would, and that would be great. Then in the couples class, we have a special program starting this Sunday also. And I’d love to have you come to the couple’s class.
Doing just a three-part series also, praying God will use that. So I’d love to have you in that and participate. By the way, if you’re teachers in other classes, I’ve tried to get the flyers out to you; you can participate in that. And part of that is being in Sunday school every Sunday, but you can watch it on Facebook or YouTube. That’ll cover that, so that would be helpful there. Then also, choir practice starts Sunday at 5 o’clock.
They won’t sing for a couple weeks, probably the first Sunday in November. But if you’re willing, or if the Lord just kind of put in a little urge in your heart to sing, don’t turn that away and get up there and sing. If you say you just want to try it out, this would be a perfect time to try it out this Sunday at 5 o’clock, and that would be great. Brother Anthony would be thrilled to have you in there. And then Sunday at 9 after service, we will have a…
Oh, we typically don’t have more than one baby shower for a family once they have one. But they’ve got two girls and now they’ve got a boy—Brother Anthony, Ms. Cotora. Timothy’s on the way, so we’re going to have a church pounding. So if you could bring diapers or boy clothes, that would be so very helpful. Sunday night, we will have that for them. One of the blessings to them. They’re a great…
…blessing to our church, and that’d be wonderful. So if you do that, that’d be great. And for ushers, come for offering tonight. I appreciate your faithfulness in giving and tithes and offering. Someone asked me today, they said, “How’s your church doing financially during COVID?” The first thing is, it’s not my church; it’s the Lord’s.
But the second thing, I said, God’s people have just been amazing. I mean, they’ve just really… I can remember when we were doing online services, just person after person driving through and getting out of the vehicle—me or Brother Anthony—we knew what they were here for, for the most part. We’d hop out and say, “Hey,” and I like to go, I’d go get the offering plate. I like for them just to be able to put it in the offering plate.
But it was great to see person after person drive through just throughout the week. And praise the Lord for God’s people being so faithful. What a blessing that is! Just awesome. Praise the Lord for it. And it was great. I think Brother John Casey prayed for Sunday night, and he only has a couple of prayer cards in his pocket. And I’m teasing with him. His dad’s here, by the way. We’re always glad to have him visiting from West Virginia. And Brother Patterson, will you lead us in a prayer for the offering, please, brother?
Amen. Let’s stand and we’re going to sing page number 389, “Tell It to Jesus.” Page number 389. We’ll sing the first and last verses there. “Tell It to Jesus.” Page 389. “Tell It to Jesus.” Page 389. Sorry about that. What did I say? Oh, I’m sorry. Okay, here we go. Page number 389, “Tell It to Jesus.” I’m sorry, that was my fault. Here we go. Page number 389. Are you weary? Are you heavy-hearted? Tell it to Jesus. Tell it to Jesus. Are you grieving over sins departed? Tell it to Jesus alone.
Tell it to Jesus. Tell it to Jesus. He is a friend that’s well known. You’ve no other such a friend or brother. Tell it to Jesus. On the last verse: Are you troubled at the thought of dying? Tell it to Jesus. Tell it to Jesus. Tell it to Jesus for Christ’s coming king. Are you sighing? Tell it to Jesus alone. Tell it to Jesus. Tell it to Jesus. He is a friend that’s well known. You’ve no other such a friend or brother. Tell it to Jesus alone. Thank you, maybe see.
Praise the Lord, Jesus is listening, amen. And He wants you to tell it to Him. He can handle it. And praise the Lord for that. The Walkers have been such a blessing. And I love to kind of see them work together without Mom and Dad here. That’s always a little interesting thing. And well, they’re great. Doing a great job. I rejoice. They’re raising their children for the Lord.
And that’s exciting. I see them training their children and bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. I love that. That’s just great. Praise the Lord for it. And looking forward to them singing, and then Brother K.W. preaching. I’ve not had the privilege of hearing him preach before. The seniors got to hear him teach in Sunday school, and I think our teens have in the past. But I’ve never had that privilege. How many of you got to hear Brother K.W. before?
Before? So I think just our seniors look like it. And so I’m in for a treat. I’m excited about it and looking forward to them. They’re a blessing too. Let’s do this. We’re not worshipping them and all that, but let them know we appreciate them. How about that? Would you do that in those things? Praise the Lord. Thank you all very much. You all are so kind, and we feel quite at home here. Appreciate your love and prayers and support throughout the years.
Brother Chisgar ain’t heard me preach yet, so I don’t know how much you’re going to look forward to it at the end of this, but no, I’m kidding. All right. But I’m glad that no matter what is going on in this country, no matter what’s going on in our lives, God’s still good. Sunday morning, I talked to the seniors about Psalm 33:5: “The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.” And that full…
Man, it’s all the way to the top. I told them, man, when I go down to Circle K and I get a Diet Coke because I have an addiction—I’m telling you right now, I’m just going to Diet Coke addiction. At least it’s not drugs or alcohol, so praise the Lord for that—but I fill that cup all the way up. When I get that cup, I don’t just put like halfway through it. You know, I fill it all up to the top. I sip off a little bit off the top and fill it up again, you know? I mean, I get it all. That’s how good God is, even out of all that’s going on in this country right now. And the debate last night, you want to get mad and yell things at the TV and get all upset.
You know, God’s still good all the time. Praise the Lord for that. God is still good. As I look back on all of my days, so many times, so many ways I have been blessed, and all I can say is God has been good. God is still good when the waves grow high.
He is still good. Clouds of doubt make dark the way, but showers of blessing will come any day. He’ll bring me through, and I’ll stand and say, “God is still good.” Clouds of doubt make dark the way, but showers of blessing will come. I’ll stand and say, “God is still good.”
Well, have you ever thought about what Jesus was thinking about when He was on the cross? You know, I think the Bible would tell us He was thinking about others. He was thinking about His mother and wanting somebody to take care of her, having John do that. He was wanting God to forgive all the people that were wronging Him, that were wronging God: “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.” And then He was…
…thinking of that man that was next to Him, that thief that was dying, that was cursing Him earlier, and then said, “Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.” And He said, “Today thou shalt be with me in paradise.” And I’m thankful He was thinking of them, and I think He was thinking of all of us when He was on the cross. Well, take your Bibles tonight and turn to the book of 2 Timothy. Second Timothy.
Paul’s last letter that God had him write under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 2 Timothy chapter 4. And may I say, it’s a joy to be with you all here tonight. We are glad the Lord could work it out for us to stay over for a couple of days getting some work done. We’re trying to get some work done. We’ve been having some problems, and if you would pray for us. We’ve been plagued with some breakdowns and things like that and trying to get some vehicles fixed.
And it’s just the devil fighting. A preacher said that tonight to me, and I agreed with him. I just thought, man, it’s the devil fighting. And if you would pray, we’ve got insurance for our motorhomes. That’s a good thing to have when you’re driving down the road and you’re on the road as much as we are, you know, insurance. And our insurance company has flagged us and is not liking us right now. And so they might be dropping us, our insurance. Man, we’ve been on the phone with them today.
And if we don’t have insurance, you can’t move, you know. And so with us being a mobile ministry, you know, we’ve got to have that. And so…
My brother being such a crazy driver. No, I’m kidding. But we’ve got to just, you know, they’ve got to be safe and got to be smart, of course, and got to be legal. And so if you would pray about that, God’s got it all under control. And, you know, we say that’s all God can. God can do anything. God’s still good, and He can fix it. And I just told him today, he said, “Lord, if you want us to keep traveling, you’ve got to fix this.” And I put it all in His lap because He’s the one that can fix the problem. So thankful for that.
We’ve got a God in whom we can do that, and so that’s what we’re doing—just trusting Him. So if you would be praying about that, Lord willing, we’re going to be pulling out Friday, and we’re going to be going up to Union, Missouri, about an hour west of St. Louis, and going to be up in that…
…neck of the woods for about three weeks, then coming back down here. We’re going to be at Shelbyville, Tennessee, at the end of October, and down in Murfreesboro, and then going back home, and then going to go over to Oklahoma City and do a meeting there before Thanksgiving. And so thankful the Lord’s worked out for us to rebook a lot of things that were canceled because of COVID and everything, and thankful to be on the road serving Him, that’s for sure. If you would stand with me for the reading of God’s Word, 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse number five. We’ll read a few verses here and…
…into the message tonight, as Henry the Eighth told his 14th wife, “I won’t keep you long,” that’s for sure. So right here, read along with me. Say, Timothy 4, verse number five: “But watch thou in all things, do thy ministry, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry: For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: And not to me only, but unto all them also that love…”
…His appearing." Let’s have a word of prayer. Dear Jesus, I love You. I thank You for Your Word. Lord, thank You that we have a Bible, a copy of Your Word, in our language, Lord, that we can read and study, and Lord, that You love us enough to give that to us. I thank You, Lord, for this church. It’s been a lighthouse to this community for, Lord, decades now, and I thank You for the ministry here. And, Lord, thank You for the souls that were saved this past weekend, the souls that are going to be saved this upcoming weekend. I beg You, Lord, to help me help these Your people. Lord, I’m nothing; You’re everything. Please, Holy Spirit, fill me…
…me to say exactly what You want me to say, help me to be exactly what You want me to be for these Your people, and get myself out of the way, Jesus. In Your name I pray, amen. You may be seated. I don’t know about you, but I like happy endings. I grew up…
I’m an old soul, I guess you could say. I grew up on old westerns: John Wayne, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry. And, man, I like good endings. I like it when the good guys win and the bad guys lose. And that’s what it’s supposed to be. John Wayne’s not supposed to die. And in all the movies that he died in, it was just like The Cowboys and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. I won’t watch them because, man, John Wayne can’t die. It’s a bad ending, okay? That’s not supposed to happen that way. And I like happy endings, okay? And here, Paul is getting…
…to the end of his life. This is the last epistle that he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He’s getting ready to be beheaded by Nero, we believe. That’s who beheaded him and killed him. And he’s getting ready to die. And if you are looking at the life of Paul from the world’s perspective, from a worldly point of view, you would say, “That guy is a loser.” He’s in prison, afflicted, probably blind.
That’s what a lot of us believe, and I believe from the Bible: blind man in prison, destitute, penniless, friendless, you know, had so many trials, you know, and just what? And he gets beheaded. You know, what a worthless piece of garbage, the world would say that. But in God’s eyes, oh no, my friend, no, no, no, no. In God’s eyes, he was a winner.
In God’s eyes, man, he finished. He ended life well. And in this life that we live, I don’t know about you, but I want to end it well. Not all of us get to decide how our life begins. Not everybody here got to decide where you were, what home you were born into, or your family heritage, your background, whether you grew up in church, whether you got saved later in life, or whatever the case may be, whether your family immigrated here at what point in time.
I don’t know all those details, but I know this: You can decide how your life is going to end. You can decide how, when you’re at death’s door and when you’re taking your final breath, how you’ve run your Christian race, how you lived your life. You can decide that, my friend. Nobody else is going to decide that for you. You’ve got to decide that. You can choose to end life well. Paul…
…did that. I believe that. I believe with all my heart, man, God was proud of Paul. God loved Paul. God ordained Paul, one of the greatest Christians I believe to ever live, was the Apostle Paul. He penned 13, uh, possibly 14 books of the New Testament, started countless churches, helped the modern world of the time hear the gospel. Man, in God’s eyes, he was a winner.
In God’s eyes, he was a success story. In God’s eyes, man, he’s a trophy of grace, being a Christian killer turned into a Christian that is converting others to Christianity. Wow, the Apostle Paul. Man, he gives us, I believe, a little recipe on how to end life well. He’s penning his last words, and he’s getting ready to die here. He’s writing to his son in the faith, Timothy, and he’s coming down to the end. And he gives us a little recipe here, I believe, how we can finish well, how we can end life well. Look with me first now in verse number six.
The first thing here, read right with me in verse number six. He says, “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.” Number one: If you want to end life well, be ready.
Be ready for it to end. Hey, my Bible still says, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1). We don’t know what’s going to happen today. We don’t know what’s going to happen the next minute. We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow or the day after that, but we know that we’ve got this moment…
…to live, and we need to be ready. We need to be ready for Jesus to come. We need to be ready for heaven. Man, if you died today, are you 100% sure without a doubt that you go to heaven? Man, that’s the greatest decision you could ever make: putting your faith and trust in Jesus. You need to have that settled. You need to have that nailed down and be ready for Jesus to come. I was teaching my youngest—my oldest son, Kevin—how to play hide-and-seek…
…and we were doing it in a motorhome, and it’s kind of hard to do that in a motor home, you know, if you think about it. It’s pretty tight. We actually had a fifth wheel at the time, and I was trying to teach him how to play hide-and-seek and trying to get him the concept. He was about two or three years old, and so I was like, “Now, Kevin, that’s what you’re going to do. I’m going to go back in the bathroom. I’m going to shut the door, and I’m going to count. And when I’m done counting, I’m going to come out, and I’m going to try to find you, and you’re going to hide somewhere in the motorhome.”
In the RV. And what the job is, your goal is to get back to the bed, because the bed was right by the bathroom. That was base. That was home base. And you’ve got to get there, you know, trying to teach him how to play hide-and-seek. So he says, “Okay, Daddy, okay, okay.” So he goes off and he runs off, and I go in the bathroom and I start counting: one, three, seven, eleven—I was homeschooled—and uh, seven, nine, ten. Okay?
I come out the door and I’m looking out of the bathroom. Kevin? Where are you? Kevin? I’m hearing this giggling. And how the RV was set up, the kitchen was right here, and his bed was right on the other side of the kitchen. And we had a toddler bed set up there for him.
And that was where the living room was, and we had a couch and a chair, and the dining room table was over here. So it’s got like a buffet kind of a thing there with the sink and the stove. And his was right on the side of the sink. I’m saying, “Kevin, where are you? Kevin!” And all of a sudden he pops up.
On top of that, he was just sitting on top of his bed, laying there, pops up and says, “Here I am!” And I run after him, chasing him, and we run around the RV, and he made it back to base, and he outbeat his daddy and made it back home. You know what? He wanted his daddy to find him.
You know, we ought to want our Heavenly Father to find us doing well. We ought to want our Heavenly Father. When He comes back, when He calls us home—we don’t know what that day and hour might be; the only person that knows is God the Father Himself. But when He calls us home and we’re raptured out of here, when our last breath is taken and we’re ascended up into heaven, I want Him to be looking for Jesus. I want to be ready to see His face. I want to be looking for my Father, not ashamed. “Oh, Lord, I wasn’t ready. Man, I wanted to do this, this, this, this, and this.”
“Man, I’ve got this sin in my life that I was really working on. Lord, man, I had this relationship I really wanted to fix, and we’re not mended there yet. Lord, I needed to witness to my neighbor. I needed to witness to this person. I don’t want to have a bunch of regrets. Man, I don’t want to live my life regretting. Man, I want to be ready. I want to be looking for Jesus to come. Man, I want to be looking for Jesus to come. Man, I want to be looking for Jesus to come.”
This morning when you got up, would you say, “Man, Lord, it would be a great day for You to come back”? Man, after watching that debate, it’d be a great day for You to come back, Lord. And, you know, all this junk that’s going on in this country—man, God’s got it all figured out. God’s got everything under control. But, man, we need to be looking for Jesus. Man, we ought to be watching the signs of the times and saying, “Jesus, could today be the day You come back?”
Every day we ought to wake up thinking, “Lord, man,” and every day I thank God. “Lord, thank You that You’re coming back. Thank You that I ain’t got to live in this sin-sick world for my whole life, and that You’re going to come back, or if I do, man, someday You’re going to come back for my grandkids or great-grandkids or however it’s going to work.” You’ve got it all figured out. You’ve got it planned, but I’m looking for Him. When was the last time I said, “Man, you said, Lord, be sure good if You came back today”? Man, that’s being ready. That’s looking for Jesus to come. That’s being ready for the rapture, ready for that.
Man, and we don’t know what’s going to transpire, what’s going to happen in our lives, but we need to be ready for it. We need to be ready for Jesus to come. Paul, he was ready. And you know what we need to be ready for? Look here with me in Hebrews chapter 13. Very interesting verse. Flip back, flip over there in Hebrews chapter 13, verse number 17.
Why do we need to be ready? Because, hey, we’ve got to—our spiritual authority is going to have to give an account for us whether we were ready or not, how we lived our lives. Hebrews 13, verse number 17. Very familiar verse to a lot of you out here tonight. Hebrews 13, verse number 17.
The Bible says, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account. That they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.” Here, I believe the Apostle Paul wrote the book of Hebrews. I think that we could—not everybody agrees with that totally, but I believe it. And Paul, I believe here is saying to him, and under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he’s talking about the Judgment Seat of Christ.
He’s talking about, hey, we’re going to be up in heaven once the rapture takes place, and we’re up there during the tribulation period. The Judgment Seat of Christ is going to happen. We’re going to have to give an account for everything that we did here on earth or did not do for the Lord. And we’re going to have to give an account for our actions and for what we did and what we did not do for God. And he says here that spiritual authority—rulers, spiritual authorities, what he’s talking about—them that have the rule over you, not talking about governors or presidents or kings, spiritual authority.
Pastors, Sunday school teachers, I believe, people that have a spiritual authority in your life—they’re going to have to give an account for you. Pastor Chisgar is going to have to give an account for Brotherford Baptist Church, Brotherford County Baptist Church, and everything that was said behind this pulpit in every interaction, how he led God’s flock.
He’s going to have to do that someday. And I believe if you have a spiritual authority in your life that God’s giving you—a Sunday school teacher, a bus route, something like that—you’re going to have to give an account for that because you’re going to give account for every action that you do. But here he says, obey them and do what they’re telling you and doing what they’re teaching you, and they ought to be teaching the Bible and teaching you God’s—teaching you God—because they watch for your souls and they must give an account.
They’re going to stand before God. Pastor Chisgar is going to do that. He’s going to tell God everything about you as a church member. He’s going to have to tell them. Now, what do you want, Brother Chisgar, to say about you at the Judgment Seat of Christ? I hope you want him to say positive things. I hope you want him to say good things. He says, they may do it with joy and not with grief.
You know, we could have Brother Chisgar come up here tonight, and he probably could tell a long list of people that used to be sitting where you’re sitting. They used to come on Wednesday nights. They used to be a faithful church member, a faithful soul here, but something happened. They got sideways; life happened, I don’t know. But he’s going to give an account for that person that should be here tonight that’s not. He’s going to have to do that, I believe that. How sad would it be for us, not being ready, standing before God? Man, we’re in the Judgment Seat of Christ line, but the Chisgars are right in front of us. He’s your pastor; he has to give an account for you, the things you didn’t do, and he has to give a grief-
…filled report. That’s what he says. It’s one or two options: either I’m going to do it with joy, or I’m going to do it with grief. I hope we will want him to do it with joy. Man, grief—that’s somebody who’s lost somebody. That’s somebody who’s gone through a death in the family, something like that. Man, church, we need to decide: I’m going to be ready for Jesus to come. I’m going to be doing all that I can for the Lord. Everything that I can be, everything that I need to be, I’m going to be ready for Jesus to come. That was Paul.
Man, he was living his life. He was winning people to Christ in Caesar’s home and in Caesar’s palace. Man, even in that state of being locked up and confined, he was still being a witness. We have the book of Philemon because Onesimus got saved because of Paul’s testimony, because Paul led him to Christ. Wow. Even in that state, we need to be ready for Jesus to come. Are you ready? I hope you’re ready. Man, Paul, he was ready. Look with me now, here, the second thing.
In verse number seven of 2 Timothy chapter 4—you can flip back over there if you want to. Second Timothy chapter 4, he says in verse number seven, “I have fought a good fight.” Number one, you’ve got to be ready. Are you ready for Jesus to come? If Jesus came tonight, would you stand ashamed before Him? Would you stand ready to meet your Savior? Man, I hope that’s the case. Number two, we need to fight the good fight. Verse number seven, “I have fought a good fight.” What is this fight…
…that Paul is speaking of? Take your Bible and flip over to the book of Romans. I believe this is what he’s talking about. Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7, verse number 14. Powerful book, the book of Romans. I love that book. Man, talking about salvation and how we can be redeemed through Jesus. Romans chapter 7 and…
…verse number 14. What is this fight He is speaking of? Follow along with me, Romans 7:14: “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I would I do not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.”
“Now it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.”
Did you ever read something and say, “What did I just read?” I’ve done that before in my Bible. I’m like, “Lord, I’ve got to reread this again because I don’t understand it,” okay? Paul is talking here, basically, “I’m going through a struggle. There’s a war inside of me. And I know what I should do, and I’m not doing it. I know what I shouldn’t do, and that’s what I’m doing.” He’s talking about the fight of the flesh.
Fighting the flesh. Galatians 5:16 and 17: “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”
That flesh is our sinful nature. That’s that part of you that wants to smoke and chew and go with the girls that do. That’s that awful nature that we were born in with sin because of Adam and Eve, and there’s sin in the garden. We’re all born with that, okay? And he says…
…that we’ve got to fight that because once salvation happens, he says in Romans, when salvation happens, the Spirit of God moves in and takes up residence inside of you. But the problem is the flesh doesn’t go anywhere. He ain’t dead.
He’s still living. He’s still breathing. And so that’s where the war takes place. And that’s where the fight takes place, and the struggle takes place. Because he said, if Paul, the greatest Christian that’s ever lived, said, “I know what I should do and I’m not doing it,” and “I know what I shouldn’t do, and that’s what I’m doing”—he’s struggling. Man, how much more are we going to struggle? Man, how much more am I going to struggle? I’m nowhere near—I don’t hold a candle to Paul in his Christianity. Man, how much more are we going to struggle?
We’ve got to realize it’s a fight to fight this old flesh, to fight that sinful nature, to want to give in to temptation, wanting to give in to being angry and mean and hateful, lying, deception—whatever it may be, whatever your vices, whatever thing you struggle with in your life. Hey, you know it, God knows it, and the devil knows it. And you’ve got to decide to fight against it. Paul said, “I’m in a fight. I’m in a fight. I’m in a war, and I fought a good one.” And we don’t win that fight until we ascend up into heaven. We don’t win that fight until we…
…are in the presence of Jesus. Then we’ve got a glorified body. Then we’ve got a perfect body. Then we’ve finished and we fought a good fight against him. While I’m here, I’m going to put up a good fight against this flesh. I’m not going to give in to it. It’s a decision. It’s a choice. Paul said here, it’s a choice to do that. Verse 24 of Romans 7, he says, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Hey, friend, you can have victory tonight. Whatever you’re going through, whatever struggle you’re having going on, problem, situation—it doesn’t matter. God knows about it, and God can fix it. Who can deliver me from this body of flesh? Jesus Christ, our Lord. Hey, the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. Man, He can fix it. He can; He’s the solution to it. We’ve got to get our strength from Him. We’ve got to fight that good fight through Him. How do we do this? How do we fight that good fight?
Hey, we need to ask God for temperance. Temperance is the “no” factor. Temperance is self-control. It’s a fruit of the Spirit, Galatians chapter 5. That helps you stop yourself. It comes to your senses and realizes, “Okay, I shouldn’t do this. I’m about to give in to temptation.” And temperance—the Holy Spirit comes in and says, “Hey, don’t do that. Don’t choose that. Say no to that. Hey, do this.”
That’s temperance. We need to pray, “God, give me temperance.” Specifically pray for that: “God, give me temperance to say no to my flesh. Say yes to God.” Wake up every day and deny the flesh. Man, get up every day and say, “Oh, flesh, hey, I know what I should do and I’m not doing it, and I’m not doing what I shouldn’t do, and that’s what I’m doing. Flesh, you’re not going to win today. You’re not going to win. I’m not going to give in to you.” Make a decision every day. Get up and say, “I’m not going to give in to these temptations.” Say, “God, help me with this. Give me self-control.”
Give me temperance. Help me deny it, and help me by renewing the inward man every day through reading the Bible and prayer. Getting in this book. Man, reading the Bible—daily dose of Vitamin B, the Bible. And get in that book and study it and read and talk to the Lord, cry out to Him. “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” There was a missionary in Alaska several years back who was winning the Native Americans up there, the natives, to the Lord.
One man got saved one Sunday, and the preacher told him after he got saved, he said, “Now listen,” he said, “you’re going to have a struggle inside of you. You’re now that the Holy Spirit lives inside of you. God’s moved in, and you’re going to have a struggle to do right or to do wrong.” The Holy Spirit, man, He’s going to try to help you, to get you to do right. He tried to explain it to him, but the native was having trouble understanding. And so the next week he came back, and he came up to the preacher, and he says, “I understand what you speak of.”
And he said, “Oh, really?” He said, “Yeah, it’s like the man raised dogs for a living. And he said, ‘It’s like there’s two dogs inside of me: a white dog and a black dog. And the white dog wants to do right, the black dog wants to do wrong. And they fight. They fight.’” And the preacher wanted to see what he would say, said, “Okay, well, who wins in that fight?” And the man said, “The one I feed the most.”
How true that is. When all we’re doing is feeding our flesh by sitting in front of the television, by getting on the internet, by getting all depressed, angry, mad, frustrated—whatever may be—we’re feeding our flesh, man, the flesh is going to win. He’s going to win that fight every day, all day long. But hey, if we’re getting into God, getting a hold of God, getting in God’s Word, praying, reading our Bible, being in church, being a witness, hey, hanging out door hangers, being a light for Jesus—man, we’re fighting a good fight.
Then we’re feeding the Holy Spirit. We’re getting Him stronger and the flesh weaker. Man, we need to fight the good fight. Hey, we need to be ready to go. Verse number seven there. He says in 2 Timothy, chapter 4, and verse number two, he says, “I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course.”
That word “finished” in the Greek is, I believe how you pronounce it, teleio. And it means to complete to the end. Paul had a course he was running. 1 Corinthians talks about that, how we’re running a race that is set before us. Paul had a course that he was supposed to run, and he finished his course. He finished God’s will, God’s plan for his life. Hey, we’re all supposed to finish our course. Every one of us has a course that we’re supposed to run.
Every one of us has a job here on earth that God has ordained us from the beginning of time to complete and to finish. And it’s our job to do that. It’s our job to finish the course, finish the race that is set before us. Are you finishing the race? Are you struggling in your race right now? Man, this is not the time to grow weary in well-doing. This is not the time to quit.
Paul said, “I finished it. I completed it. It’s done. I didn’t quit.” I could have thrown in the towel. If anybody had a right to throw in the towel, Paul did. All the times he’d been stoned and killed and persecuted and shipwrecked—man, he had a hard life—but he says God’s still good. He said, “I’m still going to keep on going. I’m still going to fight the good fight, and I’m still going to finish my course,” and he did. He completed it.
Man, as a young person, it was instilled in me that I wasn’t allowed to quit. My dad, he punched that into me. He preached that into me. He pushed that into me. He says, “Son, Walkers don’t quit. You’re a Walker. You’re not allowed to quit.” I’d get frustrated playing an instrument, and he’d say, “Son, you’re not supposed to quit.” Playing that—I play the guitar. Typically, I play the bass.
But tonight I played the guitar a little bit, and I had the hardest time learning that guitar. Man, one string is way easier to play than six, okay? And so, man, I was having—I remember as a teenager, a young teenager, I was trying to learn how to play that guitar, and I’m like, “Can I just go back to the bass? I don’t want to play that stupid guitar.” And he said, “No.” He said, “If you start learning the guitar, you’re going to finish it. You’re going to learn how to do it, son. You’re not going to quit.” Well, finally one day I got tired of all that, and he said to me—I got frustrated, I think it was doing school or something—and he said, “Son, Walkers don’t quit.” And I said, “Dad…”
“…can I change my name because I want to quit?” And that didn’t go over too well, you know. But you know what? It was instilled in me: I’m not going to quit. Paul—there was something inside him; he just couldn’t quit. He couldn’t throw in the towel. He says, “I got to finish.” Hey, Christian, finish your course. Don’t give up.
Don’t throw in the towel. Don’t quit being a witness. Don’t quit that Sunday school class. Don’t quit that bus route. Don’t quit on God. Don’t quit coming to church. Don’t quit reading your Bible. Don’t quit being faithful to Him. Hey, let’s stay the course. Let’s finish it. Let’s not throw in the towel. Let’s not give up yet. Man, man, the finish line is just in sight. Don’t quit. Finish the course. Man, would God we have some Christians decide tonight: “I’m going to finish my course.”
Man, I’ve got a course here to run. I don’t know when it’s going to end. I don’t know what God’s plan is for me. I don’t know all the bumps and hills and valleys and deserts and mountaintops I’m going to face. But guess what? I’ve got God with me, and we’re going to finish the course. Through God’s power, through God’s grace, I’m going to fight the good fight. I’m going to be ready to go. I’m going to finish my course. He says here in verse number seven, “I have kept the faith.” Man, he kept God’s Word close to his heart. He kept the faith.
That word “kept” means to guard or protect. Man, we ought to make this Bible a priority. We ought to make our faith in God a priority. We’re not going to quit believing in God. We’re not going to quit having faith in God. Hey, I’ve got faith in God that He’s going to take care of our situation with both these breakdowns and this insurance. I believe that. I don’t know how, but I told them today, I said, “God, this is Your ministry. If You want us to keep going, You’ve got to provide it, You’ve got to take care of it. It’s in Your lap.” When I try to dwell on it, when I try to fix the problem, when I try to worry about it…
…man, that’s not having faith in God. That’s not keeping the faith. That’s not relying on Him. That’s relying on my power. That’s relying on my strength and my abilities. But when I put it in God’s lap, hey, that’s saying, “God, You’ve got to take care of this.” Having faith in Him. Hey, believe Him. Believe His Word.
Believe His truths. Believe His principles. Don’t quit on that. Joshua 1:8 is still in the Bible: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” We make the Bible a priority. We make heaven, faith in God, a priority. Man, we are more than conquerors.
We can beat anything. The gates of hell can’t prevail against it. I’m telling you, Christian, man, let’s not forget the Bible. Let’s not forget our faith. Let’s not throw in the towel and not finish the course. Let’s decide, “I’m going to fight that good fight. I’m going to stay with it. I’m not going to quit. I’m not going to give up. I’m going to just keep on, keeping on.” Why should we do this? Because of verse number eight. Read with me: “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: And not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.”
Why should we end life well? Because we get to give those rewards. We get rewards, and then we get to give those rewards back to Jesus. Man, that’s one of the things I’m looking forward to in heaven the most, because for all the things that God’s done for me…
…and all the blessings He’s bestowed upon my life and how good God has been to me, man, that I could get rewards down here on earth—not because of anything I’ve done, but because of His goodness, He allows me to win these rewards—and then I just get to turn around and give them right back to Him. I don’t want to stand before God empty-handed. I don’t want to stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, and God goes through my life and says, “Man, you didn’t do much, Walker.” You know, man, all that…
I want Him to say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” I don’t want to stand before God empty-handed. Man, I hope that’s you tonight. There was a famous old hymn, “Must I go on, must I go in empty-handed, must I meet my Savior’s soul? Not one soul with which to greet Him. Must I meet my Savior’s soul?” That song was written because a preacher heard another preacher telling an illustration about a young man that that pastor had led to the Lord.
He had been saved just about a week and a half, two weeks, and he got, I believe it was malaria back in the 1800s, got real sick of some disease and was just bedridden. And that pastor went to his bedside and tried to comfort him and talked to him. And he just was broken-hearted and says, “Pastor, I don’t want to die.” And he says, “Well, you know, are you saved? I witnessed to you.” And he said, “Yes, I’m saved.” But he says, “Must I go on empty-handed and meet my Savior without one soul to reach for Him? I haven’t led one person to Christ. I haven’t got to lead one person to the Lord. I haven’t got to share my faith at all.” And must I meet my Savior? So, man, what a testimony. Man, I don’t want to stand before God empty-handed. I don’t want to stand there. All that He’s done for me, He deserves our love and respect. He deserves us to honor and serve Him, not out of guilt, but because of our love for Him.
Because how much He loves me and how much He loves you, that’s why I want to serve Him. That’s why I want to finish my course. That’s why I want to keep the faith. That’s why I want to fight a good fight. That’s why I want to be ready—because of what Jesus has done for me and what Jesus has done for you. I hope you decide tonight: “Man, I’m going to end life well.” I don’t care what’s going on in my world, and life could be crazy, and I don’t know every situation here tonight. I don’t know what you’re going through, but I know this: Jesus knows, and He can give you the strength that you need to finish well, to end life well on a high note. Man, Paul in the world’s eyes, he’s a loser, but in God’s eyes, he’s a winner, a hero of the faith, I believe the greatest Christian to ever live. Paul ended life well. Let’s decide I want to do that too.
Let’s pray. Dear Jesus, I love You. Thank You for Your Word. God, thank You for being so good to us. God, You loved us so much, and You died for us, and You shed Your blood for us. God, You forgive us of all our sins. Lord, every sin I could ever commit, You’ve already forgiven. God, You love us so much. How could we not decide to end life well? You’ve been so good to us. God, if all You ever did for us was make sure we ain’t got to go to hell by saving us, Lord, that’s so much right there that we could praise You for eternity just for that. And we will.
But God, on top of that, You’ve been so good to us. How can we not decide to serve You? How can we not decide to be a witness? How could we not decide to us? We won’t be ready. Lord, help us to decide to do that. We can’t do it through our own power, God. We can only do it through You. I beg You, Lord, help us to do that.
With heads bowed and eyes closed, is there anyone here tonight to say, “Brother K.W., the Lord spoke to me in some way, shape, or form during the message”? Some way, Lord challenged me, convicted me, maybe encouraged me in some way about ending life well? Would you raise your hand tonight? All over the building. All over the building. Amen. Praise the Lord. In just a moment, we’re going to have a word of invitation, and if God’s spoken to your heart, I challenge you: come down to this old-fashioned altar and pray. Talk to the Lord. He’s there. You have not because you ask not. Let’s call out to Him. Let’s decide tonight, “I want to end life well.”
With every head bowed and every eye closed, let’s all stand together as the instruments begin to play a verse of invitation song. If God’s spoken to your heart, I encourage you to come down here and pray to Him, cry out to Him, talk to the Lord, and ask Him for help. Decide, “I’m going to end life well. I’m going to finish. I’m going to keep the faith, keep my faith strong in God. I’m going to be ready.”
Ready for Jesus to come. Ready for my life to end. Ready to meet my Savior. Oh, that we would all be ready to go. All that we all would decide to be like Paul and say, “I’m going to finish. I fought the good fight. Finished my course. Kept the faith.”
If you could ask Paul, I bet he could say, “Man, Paul, was it hard?” “Yeah, man, it was pretty tough some of those days. Getting beat, getting stoned, all the afflictions I suffered.” But if you asked him, “Was it worth it?” He’d say, “Oh, I’d do it again a thousand times because of what Jesus did for me.” That’s what it’s all about, folks. It’s about Jesus. It’s not about me. It’s not about you. It’s about Jesus. It’s about God. I love what Pastor Chisgar said: “It’s not my church; it’s God’s church.”
That’s true. It’s all about serving Him and finishing for Him. Ending life…
Amen. Take your time. You’re down front here. What a great message. A blessing. And I thought, you know, the Lord has what you need to finish well. And whatever your race is, He’s got what you need to finish well for every mile of it. And so just keep looking to Him and trusting in Him. He’s got it, and He’ll carry you through. I’m so glad you’re here tonight. Did you get a blessing out of tonight? Amen.
And I appreciate it. Thank you so much, Brother K.W. Just a blessing to kind of see the second generation serving the Lord. And in a couple years, maybe Kevin will be up here preaching. Who knows? You know, we’ll just have to see. But that’s exciting. Praise the Lord. Good to see everybody out tonight. Looking forward to a great day Saturday. If you can help us for that breakfast, don’t forget about that. And then another good day in the house of the Lord. God’s so good to us Sunday. Let’s do our best just to keep up this thing and see what the Lord will do.
And excited to see God work. It’s just a blessing. Pray, Lord, we get to serve Him. And good to see everybody out tonight. Brother Trey, back in the back, would you dismiss us with a word of prayer, please?
Original File: End Life Well - Bro Walker