Finishing the Course – Acts 20:22-24

Some of you have seen these before, so you know what I’m talking about.

There are several internet sites which give you access to satellite photos of the United States.

You can put your curser on a spot and ask for a photo, and it will give it to you.

Then you can zoom in closer and closer, until you can see actual houses.

I have looked at our house, and Judy’s dad’s house, some of your houses, Aiken, S. Carolina, and so on.

It is amazing.

Last Wednesday we looked at these same three verses, and I used them as an allegory of life.

Life is a “going.”

There are generally things which we know to be before us, but there is a lot of detail which we don’t know.

I concluded with the exhortation that it’s important that we go unhesitatingly, trusting the Lord.

That message was an satellite picture of the entire “region” of Paul’s life,

but as we continue to click on it, zooming in closer and closer,

not only do we find more and more detail, but more and more blessings as well.

For example, I see at least four short sermons from verse 24 alone.

And although we won’t make four messages out of them, I do want to take another, closer look.

This evening let’s think briefly about “finishing the course.”

Life is a course.

There are a number of Greek words which are translated “course.”

One is a technical word which refers to the period of time in which a priest was to serve in the Temple.

While Zacharias finished “his course” in the Temple an angel came and told him about the upcoming birth of his son John.

There are a couple of different words used to describe the journey, or the sailing, of a ship.

There is a word for politely taking turns: “each in his course.”

And there is an interesting word which talks about the spinning of a wheel – James 3:6:

“And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members,

that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the COURSE OF NATURE;

and it is set on fire of hell.”

The word which is translated “course” here in this verse is “dromos,”

and it seems to be the word which WE most commonly picture as a course – like a race course,

but the way that it is used in the Bible, it is definitely talking about a person’s life.

It’s found only three times: here and in …

Acts 13:25 – “And as John fulfilled his COURSE, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.”

II Timothy 4:7 – “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my COURSE, I have kept the faith.”

Immediately after describing the lives, problems and faith of some of the Lord’s great saints,

In Hebrews 12:1 the Holy Spirit exhorted:

“Wherefore seeing WE ALSO are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us,

and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”

It may not appear so to us, but each of our lives is being run over a proscribed course or route.

We believe in the SOVEREIGNTY of God, the PROVIDENCE of God, and the OMNISCIENCE of God.

As I said last week, we only take one step at a time, and we can rarely see more than two steps beyond.

But the Lord not only sees the entire race course, He designed it.

In some ways life is a course to be run.

But what KIND of course is it?

There are dozens and dozens of different kinds of foot races.

Forgetting about motor sports, skiing races, and combination races like the Iron man and biathlons,

the kind of race that best illustrates life is a foot race.

But then again, there are dozens of different varieties of foot races.

Generally speaking, life is not a sprint.

It is not a “run as hard and as fast as you possibly can” kind of race.

A hundred meter sprint is over in a matter of seconds,

and the winner is quicker than the looser by tenths if not hundreds of a second.

No, life is not a sprint.

Neither is it run on a nicely surfaced oval track with lanes for each runner, so they don’t bump into each other.

And it’s not a road race with smooth asphalt all the way from the start to the finish.

It’s not even a steeple-chase with lots of obstacles to jump and water hazzards to cross, but with everyone running the same course side by side.

The race of life is more like a cross-country race with every kind of terrain and test imaginable.

But in this race no two runners have the same course, the same set of problems, the same distance or the same requirements.

Wouldn’t it be interesting if in the Olympics there was an all day race, and the competitors all put their hands in a hat, drawing out a number which indicated the course they would run.

What if each of those fifty courses interlaced a hundred square miles, with every course intersecting every other course at several places.

At times each competitor ran beside other runners,

But then sometimes they crossed other paths,

and someone would have to yield the road or there would be a serious collision.

What if sometimes they were even running directly at one another.

What if the winner was determined by judges rather than the clock.

What if each runner was given a different length of time to run his race and part of his score was based on how closely he came to matching the designated time-of-arrival.

What if the winner was determined not only upon whether he finished the race,

but on how well he helped or hindered his co-runners;

if whether or not he cursed the course designer,

and if he ran with patience the course that was set before him?

Coeur d’Alene may have its world-famous Iron Man competition,

and Deming, N.M. may have it’s world famous duck races,

but perhaps we can create another world-famous race for Post Falls.

Life is a race run on a special course which is unique to every one of us,

but which interlaces with hundreds of other racers’ courses.

So how is it finished with JOY?

Much of the finish is determined by its beginning.

A few minutes ago, I referred to Acts 13:25 where we have one of the uses of the word “dromos.”

Did you notice the particular language in that verse?

“And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he.

But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.”

The word “fulfilled” means “filled up,” “made full,” or “finished” his course.

As John fulfilled, or finished, his course, he said, “Whom think ye that I am?

There cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose”?

But when was it that he asked this question?

This was basically at the beginning of his ministry.

How we “fulfill” our course cannot be separated from how well we start that race.

Unlike us, as far as the Lord is concerned, there isn’t much difference between the beginning and the ending.

He sees the beginning of the parade and end of the parade both at the same time.

He grades not only the ending, but the middle, and the beginning.

As in math, it’s not just about getting the answer correct, it’s about how we reached that answer.

Let’s say that the child of a Christian couple makes a profession of faith at a young age.

But then when that child reaches the age of 14 he begins to rebel.

At 18 he leaves home, and like a prodigal begins to live a very sinful life.

Eventually his wicked friends desert him, he is reduced to eating pigs food, and he comes to his senses.

He humbly returns to his Father and Mother, his church and his God.

But he has AIDS, two children by different mothers, debts beyond repair, and a wasted life.

No matter how well he finishes that life, the early laps of the race were run so terribly that there is little joy at the conclusion.

He was saved, yet so as by fire; or as some might say, “by the skin of his teeth.”

Somewhat surprisingly, Paul uses sports analogies several times in the course of his letters.

And on a couple of occasions he talks about exercise and physical preparation for a race, or a match.

Here in this scripture, as he talks to the pastors from Ephesus, he makes mention of his MINISTRY.

A part of the joy that will come at the conclusion of his race will be how well he carried out his MINISTRY.

Not only is the joy of a well finished race dependent on a good start, but it must be run well throughout its course.

“And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.”

Paul was a minister of the gospel of the grace of God.

And ministries require preparation and diligence.

Just as doctors and nurses minister to their patients,

and those medical ministers must take years of training in order to know how to do their jobs well.

It is no different for the minister of God.

I’m not saying that it can’t be done,

but generally speaking the Lord doesn’t miraculously equip His pastors and missionaries.

Generally speaking, there is very unmiraculous and tedious preparation for this marathon.

But someone says, “But preacher, you’re saying that we are all running this race, and I’m not qualified to be the elder of a church.”

Yes, I am saying that we are all running this race.

And I’ve also often said that we all have our own special ministries.

Yours may not require four years of Bible college and another two years of seminary.

But they all require a lifetime of Bible study in the shade of the pillar and ground of the truth.

They all need the fellowship of the saints which can only be found in the house of the Lord.

They all need the strength that comes with being good stones fitly framed together into one of the Lord’s churches.

Have you ever watched a race and been forced to ask yourself how the competitors know where they are supposed to go to reach their destination?

I’ve seen different kinds of races where the competitors were being asked to do all kinds of difficult things just to keep going, and at the same time they knew when and where to turn.

Maybe it was easy for them, but from my perspective, I was confused just watching them.

It is necessary that racers KNOW the course in order to FOLLOW the course.

And like the slalom ski-racer, if they miss a gate or a turn, they do not get the prize.

IN other words, finishing well, begins long before the end of the race.

It has to start well and legally,

and it has to be run according to the rules,

or it will not end in the kind of joy that the runner would like.

Finally tonight, a potential message which I am not going to preach involves the idea that. . .

“None of these things move me.”

Paul was being told that bonds and afflictions were before him.

He probably didn’t know any of the specifics, but what he did know would have terrified some people.

But these things didn’t deter this runner from completing his race.

There might be a sniper out there on that cross-country course waiting for the favored racer.

But in this case Paul was going to let the Governor of the race take care of all the potential problems.

Isn’t it funny the way that opposite words can mean essentially the same thing.

“None of those things MOVE me” means the same thing as “none of those things will STOP me.”

“None of those things can move me off the course which the Lord has proscribed for me to run.”

And then we can add the ideas of Psalm 1.

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

“I shall not be I shall not be moved.”

This racer, while speeding around the track, is not going to be moved way from the RULES, away from running the PROSCRIBED COURSE, or away from his DESIRE TO PLEASE the course Designer.

We need to have the same basic desire that Paul expresses here:

“I am going to do the Lord’s will in my life.

Nothing will give me greater joy than to know that I have spent my life accomplishing my Saviour’s will.”