"I Have Finished"

Thursday, September 5, 2024

by Dr. Paul Chappell

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.

2 Timothy 4:6-8

On August 24, 1919, Ray Caldwell took the mound for his first game with his new team, the Cleveland Indians. The pitcher had known success with both the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, but his talent was hampered by a troubled personal life. The fans were unsure what kind of pitcher they would see, but Caldwell dominated the Philadelphia A's, giving up just four hits in eight innings. In the ninth inning a storm rolled in off Lake Erie and Caldwell quickly got two outs. Then a lightning strike hit the stadium. Many of the players were knocked down, but when they got back up, Caldwell who had been hit by the lightning remained on the ground.

The first man who touched him was knocked backward by the shock. Caldwell's uniform was smoldering from the lighting strike. For several minutes the players and umpires thought he was probably dead. Then Caldwell slowly got up. Though everyone insisted he go to the hospital to get checked out, Caldwell said, “I've still got one out to get.” He insisted on continuing to pitch, retiring the final batter on a ground out, finishing the game despite having been struck by lighting.

God has given each of His children work to do for Him, and it is up to us to ensure that nothing keeps us from finishing the job. We may grow tired in the work. We may face opposition and difficulty. We may find that we have few friends or helpers. But if we are faithful to continue, we will enjoy the reward of finishing. “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).

Today's Growth Principle
The commitment to finish the job that God puts before us is one of the most important characteristics we can have.

Old Testament Reading

Psalm 146-147

PSALM 146

¹ Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. ² While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being. ³ Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. ⁴ His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.

⁵ Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God: ⁶ Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever: ⁷ Which executeth judgment for the oppressed: which giveth food to the hungry. The LORD looseth the prisoners: ⁸ The LORD openeth the eyes of the blind: the LORD raiseth them that are bowed down: the LORD loveth the righteous: ⁹ The LORD preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. ¹⁰ The LORD shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations. Praise ye the LORD.

PSALM 147

¹ Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. ² The LORD doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. ³ He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. ⁴ He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. ⁵ Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite. ⁶ The LORD lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground. ⁷ Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God: ⁸ Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. ⁹ He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry. ¹⁰ He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. ¹¹ The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.

¹² Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion. ¹³ For he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee. ¹⁴ He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat. ¹⁵ He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly. ¹⁶ He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like ashes. ¹⁷ He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? ¹⁸ He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow. ¹⁹ He sheweth his word unto Jacob, his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. ²⁰ He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. Praise ye the LORD.

New Testament Reading

1 Corinthians 15:1-28

¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; ² By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. ³ For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; ⁴ And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: ⁵ And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: ⁶ After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. ⁷ After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. ⁸ And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. ¹¹ Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

¹² Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: ¹⁴ And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. ¹⁵ Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. ¹⁶ For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: ¹⁷ And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. ¹⁸ Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. ¹⁹ If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

²⁰ But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. ²¹ For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. ²² For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³ But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. ²⁴ Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. ²⁷ For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. ²⁸ And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all.

Proverbs Reading

Proverbs 5

¹ My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: ² That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. ³ For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: ⁴ But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. ⁵ Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. ⁶ Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them. ⁷ Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. ⁸ Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: ⁹ Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: ¹⁰ Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger; ¹¹ And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, ¹² And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; ¹³ And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! ¹⁴ I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. ¹⁵ Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. ¹⁶ Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. ¹⁷ Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee. ¹⁸ Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. ¹⁹ Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. ²⁰ And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger? ²¹ For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings. ²² His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. ²³ He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.