“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.” (Acts 20:22-24 NIV)
“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 4:7-8)
A quick look at the evening news will confirm to you that we are in a spiritual warfare in the day that we are living in. Continual assaults on religion, the battle over abortion, the increasing acceptance of the New Age movement, the push of liberal agendas, the battle over homosexual and lesbian agendas, the battle over gender, it’s as if the pits of darkness are spewing out this filth like a volcano erupts its fiery lava. The reality is that the forces of light and darkness are clashing as never before. In response, God is sounding the battle call. He is calling forth a race of men and women to go all the way with Him. He is making them know and realize that there is a battle going on, and if we intend to finish this Christian race, we had better learn to fight. You see, it isn't the weak soldiers of God who are the most persecuted. It isn't the timid soldiers of God who have the forces of darkness thrown against them. The enemy attacks those who pose a threat to him and his kingdom.
While the enemy isn't as powerful as many people think, the enemy is far more clever, far more organized, and far more persistent than many of us give him credit for. What, then, must we do? We must prepare ourselves in the Lord, voice our battle cry and scale the enemy walls to pull down principalities, thrones, and powers of darkness in active spiritual combat. And we must do it “to the end.” Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death.” In other words, they were willing to put it all on the line. They were willing to give their all. We have to do this, fellow warriors, or will never finish victoriously.
The lines for the final showdown have already been drawn. The days are over for nice little Christians, living some nice little life, going to a nice little church on Sunday mornings only, and not having any apparent struggles with the forces of darkness. The time for casual Christianity is over. You know, the ones, the ones who are only trying to squeak into heaven. These kinds of people will be eaten up by the forces of darkness unleashed in these last days. If we're going to be finishers, we need to be armed in the power of the Holy Ghost.
Remember, the devil has a plan for your life and it's a lousy one. It's one that only leads to despair, death and destruction. You'll either be an overcomer or you'll be overcome. You'll either be in the winner's circle before the throne of God one day, or you'll be utterly destroyed. The time has come to stand tall and move forward and fight the good fight until the end.
The Lord Jesus Christ came to earth obsessed with a burning passion to finish what God gave Him to do. He said in John 4:34, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me and to finish His work.” The final three words Jesus said on the cross was “It is finished.” He accomplished what was set before Him to do. He got the job done. God expects no less from us. He has given us the task to wage warfare on the enemy, and we must do so until the end.
That spirit of a finisher is also something the Apostle Paul had. Paul was obsessed with the desire to finish everything God put before him to do. He wrote to the Philippian Church while he was a prisoner in Rome these words, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Paul had a press forward attitude. It wasn't enough for the Apostle Paul to be saved and just get started in his Christian walk. He had a heart that desired to press on, to go somewhere in his faith, to do everything that he could do to have more of Jesus, to work for the Kingdom and to win spiritual battles for God. Even in his death, we can rest assured that he had finished his race in victory. We need to have the same spirit of a finisher that Paul had.
If there ever was a brave, fearless man, it was Paul. Through every obstacle and through all sorts of trials, Paul always exhibited a courage in his God that should be patterned by every Christian. Paul always kept his eyes focused on the finish line. All throughout the New Testament, it is evident that Paul constantly purposed in his heart to finish the work God had given him to do. If we are to follow Paul's example, then we, too, must purpose in our hearts to finish this Christian race. If we are to finish this race, we must know what to do in order to finish. There are five attributes of a finisher that I have found within the Scriptures.
If you want to be a finisher, the first attribute you must have is that Jesus must be the absolute Lord of your life. Jesus must be top priority, in fact your only priority. He must become and remain your only source of security in this life. That is the supreme mark of the man or woman who has the spirit of a finisher. If Jesus is not the Lord of your life, you're a joke to the devil. You make him laugh when you rebuke him. If Jesus is not the Lord of your life, how can you plead the blood of Jesus against the devil, if the blood is not coursing through your own veins?
The devil knows what's going on. He knows that on one side of the cross lie the kingdom of darkness. There, you'll find the devil and his minions on that side, with all their deceptions, death, hatred, sickness, vileness, evil and wickedness. On the other side of the cross are the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of light and righteousness. That's where you'll find Jesus and the angels of God. On that side are peace, joy, love, power, healing, and purity. In between is the cross, and on the cross it says, “If any man follows after Jesus and believes in Him, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow Jesus.”
Paul wrote to the Galatians, “I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” We don't live for ourselves as spiritual warriors. We don't live for this world. We live for Christ, in Christ, and because of Christ. We live for Christ because Christ lived and died for us. So, the first mark of the person who has the spirit of a finisher, is the mark of total commitment to the lordship of Jesus Christ, and grasping the cross for dear life and trusting Jesus and Him alone to be the Lord of your life.
The second attribute of a finisher is staying in fellowship with believers. No one finishes alone. There will be no Lone Rangers in the Bride of Christ. There are no Rambos in the army of the Lord. Your ability to finish your warfare is rooted in your relationship with others in the body of Christ. People who have the spirit of a finisher also have the spirit of staying power within the body of Christ. They don't give up when things get tough. They don't let disagreements over differences separate them from their church leaders or fellow warriors.
There is entirely too much strife and divisions within local church bodies. It’s time we put our differences behind us and bind together as the Bride of Christ in love and unity. It's just not possible as human beings to reach total agreement, but we can “agree in the Lord.” We can agree on the things that are important: The blood of Jesus, and the Lordship of Jesus, the priority of Jesus in our lives. Stay in fellowship with other Spirit-filled believers. That's the second great hallmark of a person who has the spirit of a finisher.
The third attribute of a finisher is to cast away all your worry. Worry is a completely alien thing to the man or woman of God who bears the spirit of a finisher. 1 Peter 5:7 says, “Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you.” Cast away all of your care, all of your anxiety, all of your worries, all of your concerns, give them all to Jesus. The Word says that Jesus cares for us. In other words, Jesus isn't going to laugh at us or look down on us for casting our cares on Him. It isn't a bother to Him. He wants to help. He loves us. He cares.
The men and women of God who have the spirit of a finisher have their eyes on the goal. They see what God can do, what God wants to do, and what God will do. They don't get bogged down and worry over past or present circumstances. They give them all to the Lord. That's the third hallmark of a finisher.
The fourth attribute of finishers is that they never lose sight of the fact that they're in a war. You are a warrior. The outcome of how you will finish this race depends heavily upon your realization of this fact. The days are long past when we can be casual about the spirit realm. The days are over when we can be casual in our faith. It's time to get serious. We must recognize that we are in a spiritual warfare and our eternal souls are at stake.
Stay on the alert. Always. Be aware that the enemy is coming at you all the time. He's coming to destroy you. Don't give in. Fight him. Put on the whole armor of God every day. Put up your shield of faith to divert his fiery darts. Don't just expect the devil to defeat you. Expect Jesus to be there to fight with you to victory. Expect to win. The fourth great hallmark of men and women with the spirit of a finisher is that they’re on the alert for the enemy, and they're prepared for war.
The fifth attribute of finishers is that they decide every morning, when their feet hit the ground, that they won't settle for second place or mere survival. You must decide that you will win. You must decide that when your life is over, you'll be one who stands before God and says, “I have fought and I have one.” You must decide that even though the battle might be fierce, when the smoke clears away, you'll still be standing for the Lord. We have a battle to win, and if we don't win, we lose. Not just a little bit, but everything, and not just for a little while, but for eternity.
We must get a warrior's mentality. We must fight until the fight is over. We must have the spirit of a finisher, trusting in Jesus fully as our Lord, staying in fellowship with believers, casting all of our worries upon the Lord, and choosing to fight to the death, if that's what it takes. Make that your goal. Make that your top priority. Make that your hearts desire. Write it upon your heart and in your mind. We must be finishers. We must be overcomers. Nothing else should matter to us.
I believe there's something worse than dying for the faith, it's dying without finishing your course. It’s dying with the regret of what “might have been.” What a terrible thing it would be for us to get to the end of our lives and have to say, “I know what you called me to do God, but I didn't do it.” I can't think of anything worse than that. You may wonder whether or not you're able to do it. You may ask yourself whether or not you'll be able to stand strong for the Lord all your life, and to finish your course. Well, let me answer your questions for you. Yes, you can do it. You can and will do it. “For faithful is He that called you who also will do it.” God is faithful to do that work in you. He is faithful to fight by your side. Do you have the heart of a finisher? Do you have the spirit of a finisher? Are you a warrior until the end? Then fight. The battle is for the finish line, and you can make it if you'll just put your trust in the Lord.