FINISH HIS WORK: IN HIS SERVICE
John 4:34
INTRO:
I. IT IS A HIGH CALLING
A. It is a privilege
1. Mat 22:14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
B. It is an honor
1. 1 Tim 5:17 “ The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.”
C. Have their reward
1. Mat 19:29 “ And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother c or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.”
II. THE HINDRANCE OF THIS SERVICE
A. Others will try to stop it
1. Gal.1:6,7 “6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.
B. When you feel incapable
1. Jer 1:6-8 “6 “Ah, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” 7 But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
C. Your humanity will oppose you: Sicknesses, Financial worries and other goals
1. Phil 3:12, 13 “Pressing on Toward the Goal 12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,”
III. FINISH HIS WORK
A. It depends on you
1. Rom 10:14 “14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?”
B. It is demanded of you
1. 1 Cor 9:16 ‘16 Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
C. Brings total satisfaction
1. Psalms 126:4-6 “4 Restore our fortunes, c O Lord, like streams in the Negev. 5 Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. 6 He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him.”
CONCLUSION:
