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The Finished Work

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 19, 1909

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 86, No. 33.

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The Finished Work

By I. H. Evans

It was the apostle Paul who wrote, “I have finished my course.” This statement has in it the shout of victory, the crowning after the battle. It is the glorious triumph of a long life-struggle.
It is a wonderful thing for a man to finish his course. To prepare for the race, to endure the long hardships necessary in securing the course of training requisite for the successful contest, to toil and drill when others have leisure and rest, to be abstemious when others are living in abundance and luxury, to strive in the arena for the prize, and then to sense the flush of victory, to be conscious of winning the prize,—this means much.
All this, in the spiritual warfare, Paul had done, and, as he took a retrospective view of his life, he could say, “I have finished my course.” From that eventful day when, on his way, to Damascus, he heard the voice from heaven saying to him, “Saul, Saul, . . . it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks,” Paul had been an earnest disciple of the Master.
It was then he entered the race for eternal life, and from that day he seems to have never lost sight of the prize. It was no Olympic contest in which he was engaged. It was no Marathon race which he was running. It was for no perishable crown that he was contending, but for a crown of immortality, the crown of eternal life, which he was to receive by faith in Jesus Christ. Not only did Paul bring his whole being into subjection to the will of God so that he was obedient to God’s requirements, but he also freely gave his life in carrying the gospel to the kingdoms of this world.
It was this same zealous disciple who carried the standard of the cross into the regions beyond his native land. In many of the countries of Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece, Italy, and in the islands of the Great Sea, we find this ardent disciple of Christ preaching the crucified and risen Saviour. No daring explorer ever showed greater zeal in acquiring new territory for his sovereign lord than did this apostle in planting the banner of Prince Emmanuel in “the regions beyond.”
In recounting some of his experiences he says: “Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.”
All these things were a part of the apostle’s experience. For more than thirty long years this man of God bore the toil and labor incident to one who had pressed the battle against the bitterest opposition, and had contended for the cross of Christ against all oncomers. In heat and cold, in the home land and in fields far remote, this same ardent disciple had preached the gospel of the kingdom of God.
But now his labors are over. He is a prisoner, and his life is demanded by those in authority. He is under the sentence of death, and knows that at the pleasure of the emperor he will give his life for the truth which he has taught; but as he views his life’s work, he is content. Within his heart Paul had the assurance that he had run his race well, and that God had accepted his life through Jesus Christ. He said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” No man could ever have come from the field of conquest with greater triumph than this. “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.” Surely he had not run in vain, nor labored in vain. He had won the prize.
Is not such a life worth living? To come down to life’s close, and find in one’s heart no bitter regrets, but to be conscious that one has, in the fear of God, done his best, is certainly most satisfying. Why should not Paul’s experience be the experience of every Christian? It is true all can not travel by the same road, nor need they expect to meet the same trials as those through which Paul passed, but one thing is the privilege of every Christian, and that is to have faith in God, and to know that he has done his best, and is accepted in Jesus Christ.
No man can say, I have finished my course, until he has reached the end of the race. These words can not apply to any one who falls out by the way now. We are nearly home. It is only a little farther to the promised Canaan. As we look forward we can almost see the end. To have shared in the work of the Lord, to have stood shoulder to shoulder with those who have borne the heat of the battle, to continue in the warfare till we almost hear the shout of victory, and then to fall by the way, seems too sad for contemplation.
These words of the apostle should be the inspiration of all our lives at the present time. It is for each one to decide whether he will finish his work, or fail. It is our privilege to wear the victor’s crown. The prize of eternal life is for those who continue to the end. It is the Word of God that gives us the promise, and it is the privilege of each of us to say with the apostle, “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.”
I. H. EVANS.