Will You Finish Well?

Will You Finish Well?

Pastor Vincent - 4 June 2015

Doing Nothing, Yet Believing Everything

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. (1 Corinthians 1:17 NIV) In life, we are subjected to various circumstances and decision points that propel us to mobilize our human wits to do something, find something, or solve something right away. Our human nature always draws us to focus on the signs and outcomes of things, and thus it activates our big self easily, causing the big self to drive us. Yet, the big irony is, it's also this big self that hinder us from magnifying Christ, ie the biggest victory before we ever activate anything. When Christ sent His disciples to preach the gospel, those who were sent included people like Peter who was a mere fisherman, lowly educated he was. But God has a message for us -- a lot of times, we focus a lot on the outcomes eg whether one will believe in Christ, whether our family will be saved, can we fulfil our key performance indicators at work etc etc... But when Christ commissioned His people to preach the gospel, it's because the gospel itself is all that we ever need in evangelism, not our eloquence nor human wits. The gospel, in its inherent nature, has all its power to effect the outcome God has intended to bring on. But it's only when man looks upon God with a believing heart can he participate in the glorious fulfilment of God's work. As we continue on our pilgrim's journey, God wants us to do nothing out of our human nature, but believe in everything because we genuinely and sincerely hold onto God's promises. When we rest ourselves on the right platform (eg the unchanging promise of God), it will activate all our spiritual senses and propel us to live by faith.

Download Video     View Notes

 

More From "All English Service"

Powered by Series Engine

Are we doing well?

1) Am I closer to God than half a year ago?

2) Have I allowed any weakness or sin to fester without dealing with it?

3) How have I stretched my faith this year?

4) How about my relationships with others?

 

Obstacles to finishing well:

  • <Heb 12:1> “…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us”

1) Sin.

  • “Fruitfulness” ≠ Holiness
  • Holiness > Outcomes
  • Battle sin
  • Don’t hide

2) “Everything that hinders”.

  • May not be outright sin
  • Complacency
  • Indifference
  • Laziness

 

How can we finish well then?

1) The grace of God above all else.

  • <1 Co 15:10> But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

2) Daily “uncompromised” time with God.

  • Usually fall not suddenly but bit by bit.
  • Daily doses of God’s word and intimate prayers.

3) Offer ourselves as daily living sacrifices to God.

  • The power to do so comes from remembering God’s mercy on us.

4) The support of the body of Christ. 

  • <2 Ti 2:22> “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”

5) Always carry an eternal perspective.

  • Learn to number our days <Ps 90:12>, so that we can live wisely.

Two Sauls: 
King Saul- Started well, ended bad
Saul/Paul-Bad start, finished well

“It is more important to finish well than to start well.”

“No one finishes well by accident, it comes with prayerful, deliberate efforts.”

Avatar
Preacher Hui Jun
[email protected]

Huijun serves as Secretary of The Blessed RUN Ministries. She is also the Preacher at The Life Church and Missions (Singapore). She graduated from Singapore Bible College and currently lives in Singapore with her husband, Chengji.

No Comments