Finish Well
2 Timothy 4:6-8
6 It will soon be time for me to leave this life. 7 I have fought a good fight. I have finished the work I was to do. I have kept the faith. 8 There is a crown, which comes from being right with God. The Lord, the One Who will judge, will give it to me on that great day when He comes again. I will not be the only one to receive a crown. All those who love to think of His coming and are looking for Him will receive one also.
As we come to the conclusion of the series of sermons about perseverance, I am excited about what God is preparing in us and for us! As you know, we started with ’What you looking at.’. Hebrews 12:1 – speaking on the beginning steps of persevering…focus…fearless. and faithful. We went into detail on how before you start the course you have to be focused on Jesus… not looking at what is going on around you as the source of your salvation or safety, but to the one who has secured both. When you focus on Jesus, you will be fearless about what is going on around you. The distractions, mishaps, trials, tribulations, and stuff will be merely things that will be used as stepping-stones and learning tools, not hindrances. And because we are fearless on who, what, and where that life tosses out, we will become faithful to God. Faithful, because we are focused on nothing but Him, faithful because the only thing we fear is not pleasing Him. Then the next week we talked about You got to go through it to get to it, 1 Cor. 9: 24-25, speaking on the keys of perseverance – petitioning the Holy Ghost so that we know what to say…. Praying the word so that it will hold some power --- and preparing for what God is fitna do in our lives….. Now we come to the final three, and somebody ought to get excited because these final three things will prosper you! There are two scriptures that allow us the understanding that it is more than just finishing… but God desires us to finish well….
Ecl 9:11b The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong,
Matthew 10:22 You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved
Now the keys to reaching this goal of finishing well is this
Broken
Believing
Blessed
Now we all rejoice about being blessed, but we ain’t too keen on being broken….Somebody can witness with me this morning…But there is evidence that personal will is not a good thing, and in order for God to move, He must break our will so that His will can be done. Luke 22:42 – Thy will be done!
When we read in Jeremiah 18:1-6 – we find Jeremiah at a potter’s house. When we do research on what a potter does, we find that he begins his process by breaking up the old pots and vessels that have been chipped and become useless. He breaks them down into a fine powder, adding liquid so that he can make something brand new. Some of us are in the broken stage right now. Crying out OW, I’m through, I quit, and this is too much…. But when God breaks us, it is to fix our brokenness’! Cause the pots that the potter was breaking down, were useless in their current condition, but after being broken down, he was able to build them into something useful and beautiful. God does not need our will, it is in the way, it is a flaw a crack a gaping hole in our vessel. It causes us to have imperfections. It causes the mistakes and mishaps in our lives. Our will is what causes the chaos and confusion in our homes. Our will is what causes unrest on our jobs. Our will is what causes us to flee what we should cling too. Our will is what causes us to go against the will of God…causing us to be useless vessels to God so he has to Break Us Down… When we are broken… God can begin to manipulate us into the thing He had planned from the get go. We can’t get mad at God when He is breaking us down…because we are expecting Him to take us higher. He is trying to get us to the point of Finishing well.
In order to finish well, you got to have a broken will…
What is a broken will…. It is becoming humble. Humble enough to understand that God is in control. Humble enough to allow God to work in your life. Humble enough to ask directions in every aspect of your life, and stop assuming God needs your advice. Humility is a mandate and a characteristic God desires in His children, because then He can operate in their lives.
James 4:1-10
1Why do you fight and argue with each other? Isn’t it because you are full of selfish desires that fight to control your body? 2 You want something you don’t have, and you will do anything to get it. You will even kill! But you still cannot get what you want, and you won’t get it by fighting and arguing. You should pray for it. 3 Yet even when you do pray, your prayers are not answered, because you pray just for selfish reasons.
4 You people aren’t faithful to God! Don’t you know that if you love the world, you are God’s enemies? And if you decide to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. 5 Do you doubt the Scriptures that say, "God truly cares about the Spirit he has put in us"? [a] 6 In fact, God treats us with even greater kindness, just as the Scriptures say, "God opposes everyone who is proud, but he is kind to everyone who is humble."
7 Surrender to God! Resist the devil, and he will run from you. 8 Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Clean up your lives, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you people who can’t make up your mind. 9 Be sad and sorry and weep. Stop laughing and start crying. Be gloomy instead of glad. 10 Be humble in the Lord’s presence, and he will honor you.
When we are trying to get God’s attention, we got to be
serious. It’s ok to laugh and to joke, but when you are about
God’s business you got to take it seriously! Our will is not
broken if we find ourselves laughing during prayer. Our
will is not broken if we find ourselves joking during worship
service. Our will is not broken if we find ourselves giggling
during praise….. And guess what… God will not honor
what you request because there is too much of you in the
way!
Matthew 5:5
God blesses those people who are humble. The earth will belong to them!
Luke 1:52
He drags strong rulers from their thrones and puts humble people in places of power.
Ephesians 4:2
Always be humble and gentle. Patiently put up with each other and love each other.
1 Peter 5:6
Be humble in the presence of God’s mighty power, and he will honor you when the time comes.
So in order to get to the end to see what the end is going to
be, we got to be broken. Now don’t give up during this
period. It may be painful, it may cause you to cry out… but
just hold on and tell yourself… it ain’t over…cuz I am going
to finish well…
Believing
Once we have been broken, we will be humble enough to
believe God Said it, I believe it and that’s enough! Believing
that God can and God will deliver. Believing that even
though you can’t see it, touch it, hear it, or feel it today, that
because we serve a God that is all that, it will come to pass.
Believing that because you have focused on God, you have
been fearless in your quest to seek God, you have been
faithful in your relationship to God, you have petitioned the
Holy Ghost to give you utterance, you have prayed the word
over the stuff, you have prepared yourself to receive what
God is going to do, you have allowed God to break you
down so He can build you up, so now you just believe it is
coming!
When folk try to sway you from your stance with God…Um
excuse me, I believe God… when folk try to deter you from
your goal….Um I don’t think so, I believe God….
Matthew 9:27-29
27As Jesus was walking along, two blind men began following him and shouting, "Son of David, [a] have pity on us!” 28After Jesus had gone indoors, the two blind men came up to him. He asked them, "Do you believe I can make you well?"
"Yes, Lord," they answered.
29Jesus touched their eyes and said, "Because of your faith, you will be healed."
No belief – no power – no power – no holy ghost – no holy
ghost – no salvation – no salvation – no home
Mark 16:16
Anyone who believes me and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe me will be condemned.
God has a reward, but if you don’t believe it will be, it will
not be
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and that he rewards everyone who searches
for him.
You have to believe that God is faithful in order to receive
his faithfulness
You have to believe God is a deliverer, to be delivered out of
your mess
You have to believe God will supply, in order for Him to be
your supplier.
You have to believe God is a way maker, in order for Him to
make a way.
You have to believe He knows the answer, in order for Him
to answer your question!
Than you will be blessed!
Genesis 12:2
"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
Deuteronomy 28:3
3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
We don’t have to wait to see it to know we are blessed but
embrace the blessing now because we know we serve a God
who is in the blessing business
John 20:29
Jesus said, "Thomas, do you have faith because you have seen me? The people who have faith in me without seeing me are the ones who are really blessed!"
You can chose to believe it you can chose not too…but the
outcome of your ability to finish well depends on it
Deuteronomy 11:26
You have a choice--do you want the LORD to bless you, or do you want him to put a curse on you?
No longer bound… but blessed
No longer blamed but blessed
No longer belittled but blessed
Problems don’t determine who I am cuz I am blessed
Situations don’t cause me to become distracted by the mess
because I am blessed
I am not focused on the circumstance, cuz God is going to
take me above it cuz I am blessed
Blessed because I have learned to persevere. Blessed because I am no longer placing my hope and trust on things I see… but instead I am holding to God’s unchanging hand. Building my trust on things eternal…. Not on stuff, folk, or things. Building my trust in the one who has blessed me in abundance… blessed me with what I have today…thankful for where I am, looking forward to where I am going. Because Jesus endured the same things, I have gone through… His body was broken for my iniquities… He offered salvation through the simple step of belief, and He blessed us by saying forgive them Father, for they know not what they do! So Finish Well… Let God Say to you… Sit down my good and faithful servant, you have been faithful over a few things. … . Faithfully saying thank you even when you were struggling…. Faithfully believing I was coming through even when you were down to your last dime. Faithfully asking my instruction even when you were scared to let go of the reigns. Faithfully doing my will even when it seemed like you was going nowhere. Come on …sit down…kick your feet up….you have earned your reward… you have finished WELL!
