Starting Is One Thing
Finishing Is Another!
Part Two
8/14/05
I've
been really crying out to the Lord about what I'm sharing. This lays heavy on my heart.
I
love gathering together on Sunday morning and experiencing genuine worship,
being encouraged by the Word of God and leaving energized!
If
that doesn’t happen each Sunday there are those who are ready to look someplace
else.
Every
day since last Sunday this has burdened me.
I take very serious what I share with you.
Do
we measure the presence of God being in something by the excitement we get out
of it?
"My Utmost For His
Highest" Oswald Chambers, August 14.
It is very easy to grieve the
Spirit of God; we do it by despising the discipline of the Lord, or by becoming
discouraged when He rebukes us. If our experience of being set apart from sin
and being made holy through the process of sanctification is still very
shallow, we tend to mistake the reality of God for something else. And when the
Spirit of God gives us a sense of warning or restraint, we are apt to say
mistakenly, “Oh, that must be from the devil.”
“Do not quench the Spirit” (1
Thessalonians 5:19), and do not despise Him when He says to you, in effect,
“Don’t be blind on this point anymore—you are not as far along spiritually as
you thought you were. Until now I have not been able to reveal this to you, but
I’m revealing it to you right now.” When the Lord disciplines you like that,
let Him have His way with you. Allow Him to put you into a right-standing
relationship before God.
“… nor be discouraged when
you are rebuked by Him.” We begin to pout, become irritated with God, and then
say, “Oh well, I can’t help it. I prayed and things didn’t turn out right
anyway. So I’m simply going to give up on everything.” Just think what would
happen if we acted like this in any other area of our lives!
Am
I fully prepared to allow God to grip me by His power and do a work in me that
is truly worthy of Himself? Sanctification is not my idea of what I want God to
do for me—sanctification is God’s idea of what He wants to do for me. But He
has to get me into the state of mind and spirit where I will allow Him to
sanctify me completely, whatever the cost (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23–24).
Someone
asked me this past week, “Todd, is there a balance to all this?” Yes there is.
There
is a balance between “Benefits and Responsibilities” and between our personal
relationship with Jesus and our community relationship with Jesus.
People
love to hear about their benefits in Christ but not their responsibilities.
Likewise,
Christians want to hear about their personal relationship with Jesus but not
about community responsibility.
Todd,
what in the world are you talking about?
Let me make it crystal clear.
The
balance between our benefits and responsibilities...
Ps. 103:1 Praise the LORD, O
my soul;
all my inmost
being, praise his holy name.
2Praise the LORD, O my soul,
and forget not
all his benefits—
3who forgives all your sins
and heals all
your diseases,
4who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you
with love and compassion,
5who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your
youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Eph. 4:11 It was he who gave
some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to
be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God’s people for works
of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until
we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and
become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed
back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching
and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. 15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up
into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. 16From him the whole
body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds
itself up in love, as each part does its work.
In
Jesus we have our personal benefits and then our community responsibility.
My
personal relationship with Jesus means that He truly cares about me. How many times have I from this pulpit made
the statement that there is no one else God loves more than you? Which is absolutely true!
But
I can’t be a lone ranger! Even though I
am loved so much it’s not just about me.
The Bible says that “God so loved the world...”
There
have been thousands of books written on the subject of our benefits in
Christ. How many books have been
written about our responsibility as a Christian and our responsibility to the
community of Christ?
Acts
2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching
and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and
miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44All the believers were together and had everything in
common. 45Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone
as he had need. 46Every day they
continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their
homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And
the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Acts 4:32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one
claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything
they had. 33With great power the
apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much
grace was upon them all. 34There
were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands
or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to
anyone as he had need.
The
question comes, are we suppose to do the same exact thing? I don’t think so, but we need to have to
same exact spirit.
Our
private lives are very precious to each one of us!
We
have to be open to what God want to do in us personally and with us as a
church!
Last
week we established the fact that each one of us has a task...
Starting
is one thing--finishing is another!
A person's
success is not measured by what he starts but by what he finishes!
Mat. 22:14 “For many are
called, but few are chosen.”
Another way this could be said is... “Many start but few finish!”
The Word of God has much to
say about how we finish.
Lk. 14:25 Large crowds were
traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26“If anyone
comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his
brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And
anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he
not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to
complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish
it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, ‘This fellow
began to build and was not able to finish.’
31“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against
another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with
ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If
he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way
off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, any of you
who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
34“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how
can it be made salty again? 35It is fit neither for the soil nor for
the manure pile; it is thrown out.
“He who has ears to hear, let
him hear.”
Mat. 13:1 That same day Jesus
went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2Such large crowds
gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people
stood on the shore. 3Then he told them many things in parables,
saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering
the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some
fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly,
because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants
were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other
seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8Still
other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or
thirty times what was sown. 9He who has ears, let him hear.”
18“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19When
anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil
one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown
along the path. 20The one who received the seed that fell on rocky
places is the man who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21But
since he has no root, he lasts only a short time. When trouble or persecution
comes because of the word, he quickly falls away. 22The one who
received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but
the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it
unfruitful. 23But the one who received the seed that fell on good
soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop,
yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Jesus
never for a moment veered from the mission set before Him.
Lk. 2:41 Every year his
parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. 42When he
was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. 43After
the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed
behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44Thinking he was
in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him
among their relatives and friends. 45When they did not find him,
they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46After three days they
found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them
and asking them questions. 47Everyone who heard him was amazed at
his understanding and his answers. 48When his parents saw him, they
were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like
this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
49“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you
know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50But they did not
understand what he was saying to them.
Jo.
4:34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish
his work.
Jo. 19:28 Later, knowing that
all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus
said, “I am thirsty.” 29A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they
soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and
lifted it to Jesus’ lips. 30When he had received the drink, Jesus
said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
The
apostle Paul never looked back from the calling he received.
Acts 20:22 “And now,
compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen
to me there. 23I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns
me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24However, I consider my
life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task
the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s
grace.
2 Tim. 4:6 For I am already
being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.
7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept
the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only
to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Jesus
expressed clearly the seriousness of completing the task we are called to--and
He said it like this.....
Lk. 9:57 As they were walking
along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
58Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air
have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
59He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But the man replied, “Lord,
first let me go and bury my father.”
60Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead,
but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
61Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but
first let me go back and say good-by to my family.”
62Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the
plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”