Finishing What We Begin: April 19, 2009

All Saints Community Church, Quincy MA

 James Njuguna

I would like to talk to you this morning about our journey of faith or our Christian race.

The Bible is full of encouragement for us to run the full race!

2 Timothy 4:6-7:   For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Paul here is writing to young Timothy about the time of his departure. I guess he is talking about the end of his ministry and life.  He is describing conditions at the finishing line.  He uses three words:

• FOUGHT: FINISHING: KEPT:

   

• Paul finished his race.

   

There is always a lot of funfair at the beginning of all endeavors but our life as Christians is more than just beginning there has to be a finishing of what we start.

Colossians 4:17

16 After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.

 17 Tell Archippus: "See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord."

Even though Paul wrote this letter from prison he has not lost focus on the finish line. He knows every assignment we receive from God must be completed. In this general letter to the church in Colossae he reminds one brother called there: Archippus: "See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord."

I checked this verse in my Kiswahili Bibilia and this is what it says: Hakikisha kuwa unakamilisha ile huduma ambayo umeipokea katika Bwana.''  Mtu anapokwambia uhakikishe ndugu ni heri kuhakikisha!!!!!!!

Take heed to the ministry: KJV: thou FULFIL IT. Make sure you complete: Do not distracted by anything.

Pay attention to the call.  We have a lot of distractions on the way between where we start and where we are supposed to end. 

The children of Israel were distracted on their way from Egypt to Canaan and never made it.

1 Corinthians 10:1, 6, 12:  KJV: Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea ... [6] Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.... [12] Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

How do we ensure we do not get distracted??

 

q       Focusing on JESUS

Hebrews 12:2 

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross...

KJV: Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith

•• Fix your eyes on Jesus. If you lose focus on Him, you’ll lose focus, period!

Ox plow: look at something and focus on it!!!

 

When the farmer came back – he was shocked the plowing was all crocked.

 

The cow kept moving!!!!!!!!

 

Let us not focus on things that change; people, churches, money, programs, fame.

What happens when we focus on these other things?

q       We lose our way

q       Conflict results

q       We grow weary

q       We get out of God’s will – our message is lost – because JESUS is the “The Author and FINISHER of our faith” —

Jesus does not just start/initiate/begin our mission he desires we bring it to a completion!

Finishing is as important as starting. Why because you can start and fail to finish but you cannot finish unless you start.

But you know many people who started this journey with us who are no longer here. 

This year’s Boston Marathon takes place tomorrow!!! I am told in 1996 - 38, 000 people started the marathon but very few get to finish.

1 Timothy 4:1: The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

It says here some NOT all but SOME. I have a few examples of people who stood firm and walked till old age despite the passage of time.

Let’s look at Caleb. He was 40 years old when Moses sent him as a spy to Canaan.  There was a promise given by God through Moses that wherever their feet trod the Lord would give them as an inheritance.

45 years later he remembered that promise and reminds Joshua!!  Listen to what he says:

Joshua 14: 6 - 14

10 "Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old!

 11 I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. (NIV)

 12 Now therefore give me this mountain, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.

 13 And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance. (KJV)

Here is an 85-year-old guka telling Joshua he is a strong as he when he was 40!!!

I look around and see most of us here are not even 40 years old yet you often hear people saying how old and tired they are.

Caleb knew this race was not to the swift. He would have given up waiting after all those years.

I have met people who have given up on God after 1, 5, 10 or 15 years.  God never promises us a quick fix. We are in this for the long haul.

I am sure you have met some Christians who attend a fellowship, bible study, prayer meeting or church and when things don’t go their way they run to the next place.

That would be fine if that was the only thing they did – just run to the next place – church, fellowship etc.

Unfortunately in most cases before they leave they are responsible for  lots of trouble, strife, infighting, breakups. They cause pain and headaches to church leaders and other members as well.  When they finally leave they say bad things about the church and its leadership!!!

God never intended for us to be forever attending training. Just like you cannot be a student forever – at some time you have to start teaching others what you have learnt. 

You cannot be a baby forever.  After sometimes you grow up, marry and have your own children.

¹Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,^[a] and of faith in God, ²instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. ³And God permitting, we will do so. Heb 6

If you remained a baby too long someone will stir your nest!!!!!!!!!

Stirring Nest

When a mother eagle builds her nest she starts with thorns, broken branches, sharp rocks, and a number of other items that seem entirely unsuitable for the project. But then she lines the nest with a thick padding of wool, feathers, and fur from animals she has killed, making it soft and comfortable for the eggs. By the time the growing birds reach flying age, the comfort of the nest and the luxury of free meals make them quite reluctant to leave. That's when the mother eagle begins 'stirring up the nest? With her strong talons she begins pulling up the thick carpet of fur and feathers, bringing the sharp rocks and branches to the surface. As more of the bedding gets plucked up, the nest becomes more uncomfortable for the young eagles. Eventually, this and other urgings prompt the growing eagles to leave their once-comfortable abode and move on to more mature behavior.

If you reside with your parents and all over a sudden they start asking you to pay rent or pay for food – stop being clueless!!!! They are stirring the nest – they are telling by now you should have your own apartment.  Another way of knowing the nest is being stirred is when your friends disconnects the TV cable, phone, or stop buying food or they buy food and put their initials on it.  They are telling you its time to move on. 

Do you need to be kicked like Chicken??

When I was growing up it was very common to get the gift of a chicken when you went to visit your relatives in distant places. They used to tie the legs of the chicken to prevent it from causing a disturbance in the matatu on your way back home.  But after you got home and untied the legs, the chicken remained motionless especially after a long journey. The only way to inform the chicken it was now free to wonder around was to kick it. Are you sitting in your church motionless waiting for the “kick”?

The bible gives us many reasons why we should never give up. Despite all the challenges we face on the journey we should fight to the end.
22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases;his mercies never come to an end;

23 they are new every morning;

   great is your faithfulness. (ESV) Lam 3

According to v 23, God makes a deposit into your account every morning!!!!!!!!!!

He puts in his mercies, his steadfast love – daily! Long before you get up to start your day God already provided you with all the tools you need to face the day – not for the year, not for the month, not for the week but for the day. But you have to make a withdrawal. Money deposited in your account is useless unless you go to the bank for it, write a check or visit an ATM!!

God does not have rollover/expired minutes (mercies). His mercies are new every morning.

Psalm 30:5 (Amplified Bible)

 

5 For His anger is but for a moment, but His favor is for a lifetime or in His favor is life.

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

Sometimes we come across people who are about to give up because they think God has been unfair to them. They say the Lord has dealt them bitter blows.  They question the goodness of God if not the very existence of God. 

Tell them to go lie down and wait for the morning light – there will indeed be joy and a brand new/fresh deposit of mercies and God’s goodness.  And that should be sufficient for all our needs!!!!!!!!!!

Matthew 10:22 ...he that endureth to the END shall be saved.

We must continue on despite hardship, opposition and persecution.

Continue on in the work of God and finish well.

Your Victory as a Believer

By James Njuguna

As Christians, we fight and struggle with the devil every time.  Satan is a powerful enemy of God, of God’s work and of his people.  He desires to destroy everything God created and thwarts every plan God has for his people and his church.  He does these mostly through deception.  He is the “father of lies” (John 8:44)

But, with God’s help the Christian can overcome him.  The Bible describes our position as “more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Rom 8:37

God never intended for you to fight the enemy on your own.  It’s impossible because the devil is older and more experienced than you are.

The Bible says: "Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." (Jas. 4:7).

The word "resist" means "to withstand, to be firm against someone or something."

The word resist also implies that we are NOT to flee from this enemy.  We must have courage.

As Christians we must stand and maintaining our ground.  This is the goal in this battle (Eph. 6:13).  In Ephesians: 1:19, we read of the "exceeding greatness of His power to us ward who believe."  

The armor of God described in Ephesians 6 verses 13 talks about protection for the front parts of our body.  None of it is meant to protect us from our back.  Do not show the devil your back.  Do not run away from him.  He will eat you for lunch.

When I was growing up, there a Mzungu lady who lived near our village and who owned several fierce dogs.  She lived alone in a big house with a huge beautiful yard and the dogs were her only company.  Once in a while we jumped over her fence and strolled in her compound just to enjoy the beauty of it all.  We wondered why she had all those acres of land full of flowers and grass instead of growing maize and beans like the rest of us!!  Whenever she saw us she quickly released the dogs and ordered them to run after us.  We would all run in different directions and as long we were running the dogs would come after us.  If they caught you they were capable of inflicting some considerable injuries.  After some times we discovered that the dogs loved it when we ran and showed them our backs.  If you stopped and faced the dogs, they normally would stop, make a quick about turn and start running back to their owner.  Of course none of us wanted to test that theory at first but some of the older bolder boys used it and we found that it actually worked.  Now I know that once we turned and faced the dogs they assumed we were now on the attack and they became the victims.  The devil behaves exactly like those dogs, as long us we are running away from him he will pursue us but if we stand against him and resist him he will flee from us.  Amen.

We must always remember that our help lies in God and not in ourselves.  Humble yourselves under God’s hand, and He will exalt you (1 Pet. 5:6).  With infinite power on our side, Satan cannot stand against us.

"Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. (1 Pet. 5:8-9).

For a longtime I thought this verse was suggesting that the devil is a roaring lion.  And I took him for one.  But it actually says he prowls around “like” one.  Today I know he is not a lion.  There is only one Lion of the tribe of Judah!!  Jesus.

It is not your power, your skills, your abilities, your money or your prayers.  Neither is it your background, social status, or training that makes you an overcomer.  It is God’s mighty power that makes you and I overcome.

God does not want us to do things for Him because we can.  Rather he desires that we do them because He asks us to!!  Otherwise we may be tempted to take the glory.

How Do We get the Victory

Jesus today channels His victory through the members of His Body.  You and me.

Jesus is the Head of the Church, and we, being members of His Body, carry out His will.  He is the Mind for the Body, and the Planner.

He comes up with the plan (blue print) and we as his BODY have to carry it out.

Jesus won the victory at Calvary but he left it to us to enforce it.

It’s our responsibility to remind the devil that Jesus defeated him on the cross.  If the devil talks to you, talk back to him – if he reminds you about your past remind him of his future.  I have heard over the years people tell me how the devil made them do or say certain things.  And I have always wondered when the devil spoke to them asking them to do those things – did they just sit there, and listen?? Surely if he spoke to you, you are capable of speaking back to him.  It should be a two way communication!! 

If you cannot speak back to him my advice is that you stop listening to his lies.

When Jesus wants something done, He does it through us – the members of his body.  If he wants to raise the dead, heal the sick, comfort the afflicted, or rebuke someone – he has to use you and me.  On the cross he said “it is finished”.  He meant he had won the victory but you and I must enforce it as members of his body.

How do you mow grass on your lawn?  You put your hands on the lawnmower and push it.  Right??  You cannot sit in your living room, look through the window and see the tall grass and wish or pray the lawn is mowed.  Your head decides it is time to mow the lawn and your feet and hands have to get out and actually to do it.

 The same thing is true in the Body of Jesus Christ.

I once read a story of man who went for fellowship regularly but with only one prayer request.  Week after week he asked the brethren in the fellowship to pray for him for God to remove the cobwebs in his life.  One brother in that fellowship got sick and tired of praying the same defeatist prayer every time and decided to ask the brother to kill the spider instead. 

Stop telling God to do what he asked you to do.  In the Great Commission (Mark 16: 15) we are commanded to “Go ye and preach the gospel”.  Do not send God where he sends you!  It is very rude if someone asks you to do something and then you turn around and tell him to do the exact same thing. Yet we do that to God every day!!!

God’s plan is to use us as channels (tools or instruments) through which His power can flow to resist and cast down the enemy of our souls.  That strength does not lie in us; it lies in Christ, but He accomplishes this victory through us.