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If there is one prayer that I have consistently prayed all of my life it is "Lord, give me wisdom beyond my years." I don't know where that phrase came from but I do not remember a time in my life when I have not prayed it. From my earlier years I have uttered these words and I still regularly utter them today -- not as vain repetition, but as a sincere plea to God. Now, more than ever, I need wisdom beyond my years. James said:

And if there is anything we need in this world, it is Godly wisdom and the ability to do the right thing at the right time and to apply God's Word to our lives. It was said of the men of the tribe of Issachar that they were "men who had understanding to know what Israel ought to do" (1 Chronicles 12:32) and I have desired that I be such a person in God's kingdom. To, with Godly wisdom and knowledge, have a scriptural response for everything that life throws at you is something we all should covet earnestly, because to live with and according to Godly wisdom is to make it spiritually!

In our short text, Job proclaimed:

I do not pretend to think that all old people are wise or that no young people are, but there is something to be learned from people who have lived for God all of their life and, now in the twilight years of their life, they are able to look back on life with the wisdom that only years of serving God can bring. There is simply no substitute for gaining wisdom from someone who has been there and been through it and made it through to the other side. If you are new to the Lord and do not have decades of Spirit-filled living behind you, then it would be good to glean Godly wisdom from someone who has made it through the years to end their life in faithful service to the Lord. To glean from them will give us wisdom beyond our spiritual years and enable us to duplicate a faithful life lived for our great Savior! I don't know about you, but I fully plan to stay in this for the long haul! And so I want as much Godly wisdom now as I can possibly receive! I'm not yet an old man, but I want to preach to you tonight, an old man's sermon. Let me traverse the time span and speak to you as if it were the other end of both mine own life and yours.

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We read a lengthy text from Paul's last writing, the book of 2 Timothy. From the text, it is obvious that Paul is aware that this could possibly be his last book to write. In it we find his final words and discourse and what a great exclamation these final words are, one that we all desire to be our own epitaph one day:

What a blessing to have this testimony at the end of his life! And so we see Paul not as the young man of the book of Acts and not as the middle aged missionary but rather, as he himself wrote in Philemon, as "Paul the aged." He's been through much. He's endured much. He's seen much. And he stands at the end of his life not with bitterness but with faith and assurance and with expectation. If you've got to grow old and die, then this is certainly how to do so! His physical strength may be diminished but his spiritual strength is stronger than it ever was. He is about to face his enemies and judgment with a quiet and unwavering trust in the Lord and he will face death with great joy knowing that it simply hastens his being in the presence of his blessed Savior. This is not a man with regrets, but one who ends his life with joy at what has been accomplished and what is yet to come. He has fulfilled his calling. He has left no stone unturned and no commandment unheeded. He has lived his spiritual life to the fullest taking nothing for granted. He has had life and that much more abundantly! Life's storms and the devil have both done all they can and yet he stands strong with just as much faith in Jesus Christ as ever before. And so I say it again: if you've got to grow old and die, then this is how to do it! Die like Paul the aged!

But we tend to forget that, after stating his epitaph, Paul does not end the letter there but as was his custom, he extended greetings to friends and various people that were important to him and yet I cannot help but notice that the ending of this final letter is vastly different than all of the other Epistles. It is different because this is not just recognizing friends in a particular town but as Paul faces death, the people mentioned are the people that figure most prominently in his mind as he writes. They are not of one town or of one era of his life, but rather these are the reflections of a man at the end looking back and reminiscing on a lifetime. And the people mentioned here are very revealing to how Paul has gotten to where he is spiritually in life.

If you think with me for a few moments about your own life, you will agree that your greatest joy and pain has both come from the influence or the lack of influence of other human beings in your life. The quality and results of your life have been most influenced by the people that you have lived it with. And such is true in our spiritual walks as well. And as Paul begins to mention the people that are foremost on his mind at the end of his life, he blesses us by revealing to us in very practical terms what it means to endure until the end and "fight the good fight of faith." And so here is the message of the old man of God:

It is my hope that the revelation and realization that Paul the Apostle faced and overcame and endured and lived through these things will encourage you to likewise face such situations with confidence and faith!

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If you have your Bibles, look with me back to our text in the final chapter of 2 Timothy and discover an old man of God's message with me:

Timothy is the first person addressed and is mentioned indirectly in verse 9. It is to Timothy that Paul is writing the letter. In verse 9, Paul writes:

Timothy was the pride and of joy of Paul's ministry. He had been a young man that, although not blood kin, became the son of the Apostle. Paul had taken Timothy "under his wing" as a young man and poured his wisdom and knowledge and love of the Word of God into the young preacher. And now Timothy is a pastor at Ephesus and is posed to take the reigns of the early Apostolic church after the death of the Apostles. Not only had Paul won Timothy to God and prayed him through to the baptism of the Holy Ghost, but they had journeyed on missions trips and endured much together for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. And doing so had formed a bond between them that was much stronger than a natural father and son relationship.

The Apostle John later wrote in the itty-bitty book of 3 John:

Because he never married, the Apostle John was not talking about natural children, but rather spiritual children whom he had brought to the Savior! There is no greater joy than bringing someone to the foot of the cross and see them respond with a life as dedicated and as full of the Spirit as your own. There is no greater joy than to see someone whom you were instrumental in bringing to God, sensitive to the things of God and walking in the truth!

And so let the old man's message speak to us who might be younger in our years of serving God! Just as natural children grow up to be influenced by the gentle touches of many people, so are people who come to God influenced by everyone in the church that they contact. We must never forget that our actions and decisions today are shaping the very people around us and that if we are to one day look back with joy at the fellowship of someone we helped to come to Christ, then we must impact their lives positively and with faith and great grace! Simply put, if you are to one day look with joy upon someone who received the same faith and joy and hope and truth that you had received, then you must begin to pour such things into other people! Such was the passion of Jesus: training and helping and teaching others and so should it be our desire. Every believer, no matter how great or small, is instrumental in shaping someone else's life. Let us take care that we do so with honesty and passion, filled with the Spirit and with God's truth!

Timothy was Paul's greatest joy in life and it is remarkable that immediately after mentioning the young man who was the greatest joy to him, that he immediately in this final section turns and mentions in the next verse:

Demas was another young man whom Paul loved dearly and had no doubt won to God. Demas was another person into whom Paul had poured his energies and time and passion into with reckless abandon. And yet the ending and response in Demas' life had been vastly different than what Timothy had done. We find that Paul wrote:

Demas is "in love with this present world." Demas "has deserted me." Demas has gone elsewhere from the will of God. Demas was not like Timothy and with the same teaching, did not receive the same love of the things of God. And as much as joy and Godly pride swelled up in Paul at the thought of Timothy, so did hurt and pain come at the thought of Demas. This is a young man whom the Apostle has poured his ministry and anointing into. A young man who has received the finest teaching from the preacher who wrote two-thirds of the New Testament. And yet he has loved the things of this world more than the things of God. And as such, Demas brought much pain and still -- at the end of Paul's life -- remained in the forefront of the aged Apostle's thoughts.

Hear the message of the old man of God today: Not everybody that you reach out to will receive the truth. Not everyone will "get it" and love the things of God as you do. Not everyone will sell out to Jesus Christ and when they turn away, these people for whom you care so deeply, it will hurt and be painful. But whatever you do, don't let it stop you from reaching out to another and pouring yourself out again into someone! Don't let the one cause your faith to waver and your spirits to stay down. Because there is someone else that will take their place! There is a Titus and a Timothy in the wings who will receive a genuine love for the things of God. By including Demas here, Paul was saying "I am hurt that he backslid, but I have still fought the good fight of faith and been faithful!" "And let me move on and tell you about some of the ones that made it! There will be some in your life that turn away after initially seeming to share the same calling and love that you have, but whatever you do keep on serving God no matter what they do! Be faithful to the end and keep your eyes on the prize!

As Paul continues to write in verse 10, he mentions:

Crescens and Titus, both whom have also gone away from where Paul is but not because of spiritual failure. Rather Crescens and Titus were friends whom had been separated from Paul by circumstances and life. They were friends whom the Apostle had had to bid farewell although he would have enjoyed their company if things would have worked out differently.

I am not yet an old man, but I know sort of how Paul feels in this area. There have been friends in my life that are not close friends anymore simply because life and time has separated us. I would love to see them more often. I would love to live in the same town with them and have their constant fellowship through life, but it is not to be. And so I enjoy the brief moments when our paths cross in life and yet I still remain faithful to God Almighty, knowing that one day, if we all stay faithful, we will be reunited in glory to spend eternity in fellowship with God and one another! Even when I say goodbye with regret, I must stay faithful to the things of God!

In verse 11 we find that Paul says:

Luke "is with me," Paul first says. He is careful to note that he has a close friend who has been faithful even into the later years. Many scholars think that Luke wrote down this letter as Paul vocalized it and that Luke was someone who became the closest friend of the Apostle from the middle years of his life to the end. Demas may have forsaken Paul and Titus and Crescens may have been separated by circumstance, but God ensured that Paul found, in Luke, a faithful friend.

How odd it is that the best and closest companion of Paul would be someone so vastly different! Paul, the Jew who was raised as a Pharisees of Pharisees, and yet he finds his closest companionship with a Grecian man who was a physician by trade. But their common love was for Jesus and the lost. No doubt that Paul had different friends before he was won to God -- friends among the Pharisees and the Jews -- but all of them turned from his side when he professed Jesus as Lord. But the friends that he had given up for the sake of Christ have been more than replaced within the kingdom of God, and the friends that God has placed within his life are much more loyal and sure than those of old.

Hear the old man's message today: it could be that your conversion has also brought a severance between you and friends of old. Do not think for a minute that as you persevere and continue serving God that God will not replace those friends! Not only will God put more and closer friends in your life, but He will do so from unexpected sources and in the end they will be much better friends than any you had "B.C." If you are in that transition stage today between old friends and Godly friends, stay faithful to God, because He will ensure that you cross paths with people with the same passions toward Christ and the kingdom of God!

And after Luke, Paul mentions:

Mark. This is John Mark, who wrote the Gospel of Mark but who as a young man had traveled with Paul and Barnabas on a missionary journey only to have a severe personality clash with Paul and leave the trip on bad terms. Later, when Paul and Barnabas had been about to begin a second missionary trip, Paul refused to travel with John Mark and the disagreement was so strong that Barnabas took Mark and embarked on his own trip while Paul took another companion, Silas.

That was earlier in Paul's life, but now the years have gone by and we find that Paul is asking Timothy to:

Mark is now "very useful to me for the ministry." Such a request speaks volumes with very few words. It speaks of a reconciliation between Paul and Mark. Somewhere they have gotten together and made some things right with each other. They have forgiven each other for their stormy clash. They have moved on without holding each other hostage to the mistakes and argument of the past. Mark has grown up a bit and Paul has mellowed. The past behind them, they are now working together for the sake of Christ. And these words also speak of the need that Paul has for Mark's talents. Paul said "he is very useful to me." In other words, "I need him."

Hear the old man's message today: in working for God and within His kingdom, there will be inevitable personality conflicts and clashes with other individuals. But if we are to make it to the end as strong in the faith as Paul was, there must be some reconciliation made. We must be willing to forgive and release others from the past. We must be willing to get things right with each other and then put our hands on the plow together and work for a common goal again. Forgiveness is the only alternative to bitterness when dealing with the past!

And hear this young preacher who is preaching an old preacher's sermon: the very people that you have conflicts with in the past will one day be the very people that you need the most in living for God. That is the way God works. The tables will always be turned. Perhaps today you have all of the answers and you are the one that is strong and praying for everyone else and the encourager. But one day you will find yourself on the other side of the spectrum and those who were being encouraged by you will not be the encourager and the strong one and the friend that you desperately need. If you have given mercy, then you will receive mercy. If you have forgiven and been a friend then you will receive likewise, but if you have held bitterness against others in your moment on top, then do not be surprised if you receive what you dished out while on the bottom! Hear the old man's message today and glean from his wisdom: the one that I used to think was completely useless to me is not the one that I need the most! Time will turn the tables -- be willing to forgive!

As we move on in this old man of God's message, we find that he mentions:

Tychicus. The word "sent" here literally means "to have set at liberty." Paul is referring to someone who has been sent and loosed from his ministry to fulfill their own. We have loosed some Tychicus' from our own church and lives. The Gillis' who were such an instrumental part of this church, are now blessing another church. The Tannehills who grew so much in their time here have not moved on to do the work of God somewhere else. Jordon is as Bible college; Daniel has been away. No doubt in the future others will be "sent" from among us. We will miss them, but we must set them at liberty so that God's will is done in their lives! Having to loose others to the will of God is part of living for God!

And then Paul mentions another man in his instructions to Timothy:

Carpus is never mentioned in scripture as a minister, but he ministered to Paul by opening his home for the Apostle to stay there. He was someone who out of kindness and friendliness ministered to the very practical needs of Paul, even keeping his winter coat and books and writings safe for him as he traveled. Let us thank God for the Carpus' in our life and let us strive to also be as this man was! How important the smallest kindness are when you look back throughout your life!

As we hasten on through the old man's message, we find an enemy:

Alexander had withstood Paul's preaching and missionary efforts in Ephesus and seemed to take it as a personal challenge to do everything that he could to come against the Apostle! And yet Paul never tried to get the best of him knowing that "the Lord will repay him according to his deeds."

Just because you live for God doesn't mean that you will not have enemies. Indeed, the more adamant that you are about serving God and the more you do for Christ, the more likely that you will have an Alexander who seems to so oppose truth that they take it upon themselves to fight against you. The message of the old man here is "keep doing what is right and know that God will repay the enemies of the truth for their deeds." You don't have to attack or retaliate. Rather keep your focus on Jesus Christ and remember that when you are so focused and upset about the Alexanders in your life, that you are not focused on Jesus! Take care of God's business and He'll take care of yours! Keep you eyes on God rather than the opposition that God tries to bring in your life!

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Beginning in verse 19, Paul begins a new block of people, whom I will only briefly mention, but who are a vital part of the old man of God's message:

Priscilla and Aquila, with whom Paul lived and worked for several years. They are fellow workers in God and Paul's contemporaries. They won the great preacher Apollos to the Lord and on several times literally risked their lives to help Paul. In all ways, they seem to have been just as devoted and anointed in their ministry and missionary pursuits as Paul was. But there is no jealousy from the aged Apostle, but rather sincere greetings and thankfulness that he is not the only one bearing the burden of Christ.

If you do anything in the will of God, you will eventually find someone with the same calling and talents and abilities also doing the will of God. Take care that you not be given to jealously or envy or fall into the trap of having to deride them or belittle them to keep your sense of purpose. Instead, we should embrace them as fellow workers and join with them in unity for the same purpose. It is not "my accomplishments" versus "their accomplishments" but rather "His accomplishments!"

Household of Onesiphorus, and such wording seems to indicate in the Greek that Onesiphorus had died and Paul is greeting his family. Paul knew what it was like to preach and stand at a funeral of a beloved friend. In living for God, you will also at times stand beside the graveside of friends and their deaths may even seem premature and not "make sense" according to your thoughts. But if you are to "fight the good fight of faith," you must keep trusting God and doing His will even when you must do so through great grief! Keep on trusting God!

Erastus, in verse 20, was a friend of Paul's that we find in history later became the city treasurer of all of Corinth and became very successful financially and politically all while being a Christian. What a contrast between Paul who ends his life with only a "cloak, some parchments, and some books" to his name! And yet Paul still greets him and there is no envy or jealousy in Paul's voice or letters. He understand that in life some believers will be better off financially than others and some will end their life in poverty. But in the end, whose shoes would you rather stand within in judgment: Paul's or Erastus'? We must learn to serve God in our circumstances no matter how our state of blessing compares with others!

And then we come to this in the old man of God's message:

Trophimus was sick and had to be left behind on the Apostle's journey. Paul, who preached and saw many mighty miracles and healings and the manifest power of God, had to leave a beloved friend unhealed even though the Apostle had no doubt prayed for his healing. And so we find that even the Apostles had to sometimes endure sickness and could not just do miracles at will, but understood that all of their prayers were subject to the perfect will of God.

As you live for God, you will have some "Trophimus-like situations" in your life. Times where you stood on the Word of God and prayed the prayer of faith and yet God decided that His will was other than what you claimed. Hear the message of the old man of God, today: if you are to make it faithful to the end, then you must learn to stay faithful to God even when you do not understand His ways and even when it seems that the answer to your prayers has been "no." Keep trusting in Him and trust that He knows best! Even at the sick bedside of your Trophimus!

Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, and Claudia. Of the last four names mentioned by Paul in this passage we know nothing more except that history records that Pudens and Claudia were young people that eventually married. Contrast that with Paul's calling to remain unmarried for the work of his ministry and we find that in life we must not compare ourselves with the calling and ministries of others must be true to what God has called us to do, regardless of what anyone else does!

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I have preached to you tonight about "life." About the things that people face in the normal course of just living. And we have discussed good friends and enemies and poor friends and death and life and yet we have learned that the message of Paul the aged is this: keep fighting your fight of faith and no matter what life throws at you, keep serving God!

And so I close by going back to the portion of these verses that we skipped, where Paul said:

When Paul was first arrested, nobody stood with him! He had to go through one of the darkest moments of his life with nobody beside him for strength. And we too may endure a time where it seems that everyone has deserted you and all of your friends have failed you, but Paul said in the next verse:

"The Lord stood by me and strengthened me!" And so hear one last time the old man of God's message: when everybody else deserts you, there is a friend who sticketh closer than a brother who will never leave you nor forsake you! Jesus will be there with you! And He will rescue you from the lion of persecution and He will strengthen you so that you do not fall! No matter what other people may do to you, you can know that God will be faithful and like Paul you will be able to say:

This ought to become your refrain of life! If you will trust in Him, the Lord will rescue you and stand with you even when all others leave! No matter where you are; no matter what you are going through; no matter how others treat you and the circumstances of life. Hear the old man's message today and keep on keeping on! Fight the good fight of faith! And trust in God with all of your heart! If you do, then you will make it to the place where you can receive your eternal crown! If you trust in Him, the Lord will come and strengthen you and fight your battles for you! And He will bring you one day safely into His heavenly kingdom. Young or old, hear the message of the aged today: Keep serving God no matter what! The end result at the end of your life will be well worth it!