How Will You Finish?

How Will You Finish? (Acts 7: 54-60)

It is not about where you are now or how you started

It is all about how you finish

Remodeling houses, if you start out all hung ho and burn yourself out and you stop remodeling

The house never gets finished and what good did you do

A lot of us starts out when we get saved, we are on fire

We go hard, we witness to people, we invite people to church, we study our bible every day, we talk about Jesus at home

Then somewhere along the line, we get tired, we get burned out

Next thing you know, you only read your bible a few days a week

Stop inviting people to church

Stop talking about Jesus at home

Find ourselves at a complete standstill and just going through the motions

Only thing we are currently doing is showing up for church

What good are we really doing?

It is never a sprint, turtle and the rabbit, marathon runners

When I was a rookie as a police officer - Running lights and sirens

What good are you if you crash out, how can you help anybody

It is always about how you finish

2 Timothy 4: 7 - I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith

We have all grew up hearing this scripture quoted

It is one of my favorite verses in the whole bible

Paul finished well

Let me tell you about a guy named Stephen who also finished well

Stephen was a deacon in the early church at Jerusalem

He was a fireball preacher

He angered several members of various synagogues by his preaching

He angered them b/c he preached the truth, he did not compromise the truth

He was charged with blasphemy

He was the first Christian Martyr

There are no recorded personal weaknesses of Stephen

His fearless preaching provoked his enemies and lead to his death

However, his boldness was a strength and not a flaw

They brought him forth to defend himself about blasphemy

Instead of defending himself, He preached about God

Knowing what would happen if he did this

This guy didn’t have any quit in him

He was fearless, he was relentless, He preached the truth

51-53) Stephen exposed these people

Just like today, they didn’t take to kind to this

54)They were cut to the heart - they got their feelings hurt

They gnashed on Stephen with their teeth like a pack of wild animals

They was biting Stephen

Listen, these are grown men

Lighter fluid, while squirting in on a fire, the fire comes

Same concept here

We all had to deal with our kids when they went through the biting stage but they was 2 or 3 not 18 and above

Do you hear how silly this is

55) Stephen didn’t bite them back, he didn’t curse them, he didn’t even scream at them

Since he was full of the Holy Ghost

He looked up into heaven and saw the glory of God

He seen Jesus standing on the right hand of God

Talk about anyone who slaps you on the right cheek, give them your other one to a whole new level

What stood out to me is he saw Jesus standing on the right hand of God

Look at Colossians 3:1 and Hebrews 10:12

Talks about sitting at the right hand of God

I don’t know about you but that is pretty fascinating to me

Could you imagine, being that bold, knowing what is coming and you just look up and see Jesus standing

I feel as if Jesus was saying job well done my son

What an honor to be able to see what Stephen saw

56) Stephen said he saw the heavens open and the son of man standing on the right hand of God

The right hand of God is used as a symbol of God’s power, his protection, his presence but also his judgment

It is a symbol of high rank and authority

I believe that Jesus fits that bill to a tee

Can you imagine seeing this

I do believe you would be a loss of words

57) they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears

They screamed, put their fingers in their ears and bull rushed Stephen

I picture a bunch of bullies on the playground in the 5th grade

Talk about just a childish act

They put fingers in ears and started yelling

They didn’t want to hear it and then they started screaming

As if they was pumping each other up

This is how the world operates and we don’t even recgonize it

Someone will do something non christian and the world will cheer them on - Look at Juneteenth, the parade, drive through there with Jesus music playing and see what you are met w/