Abundant Life Sermons
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Bishop James Mooney

Today we bring to a close the series entitled "Finding and Fulfilling God's Purpose for Your Life." In our sermon today, we are going to look at finishing the job God has begun in us. How do you finish strong? When you look at the Scriptures you will find that the writers often compare life to a race. Paul used this analogy a lot. In the Scripture passages we read today we find these words, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I can finish the race and complete the task that the Lord Jesus has given me. In II Timothy 4:7 Paul says, I have finished the race. I wonder how many of us will come to the end of our lives and have that said about us? If you have ever watched a marathon, I am sure you will remember that at the beginning of the race there are a lot of runners. But as the race is being run, the racers begin to thin out and very few runners actually finish the race. A similar analogy can be seen in life. Yes, we all finish the race, but how many of us come to the end of life and feel that we have successfully finished the race? The truth is this: It does not matter how you started; what matters most is how you finish. That is what this sermon series has been about. I hope I have shared with you something that either has inspired or encouraged you to finish the race in a way that glorifies God.

HOW DO I FINISH MY MISSION?

In Acts 20:24 Paul's reply to the threat of impending danger was, "None of these things things move me!" What things you might ask. Those things that tried to distract Paul from his mission. Paul was a sold solider of the Lord. His life belonged to the Lord and if it meant dyeing for the cause of God Paul would glad comply. What was it that gave Paul this kind of determination? It was his absolute surrender and commitment to the Lord. Paul had seperated himself from all the things that could be a distraction to him.

If you and I are to going to finish the job assignment God gave us, we will also have to get rid of all the distractions that could hinder us from completing our mission.

In Hebrews 12:1 we read these words, 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. I want you to underline these words in that verse, "The race marked out for us." God has uniquely planned your life. Only you can run that race. The writer of Hebrews tells us that if we are going to successfully run the race, we will have to remove all distractions. Can we be honest with each other? Is there some sin that encumbers you? Your sin may be a sin of commission or it may be a sin of omission. If you don't decide to do something about that sin, nothing will ever be done. The grammar used in the Hebrews passage lets us know that to rid ourselves of a sin takes a deliberate act on our part. If your spouse could do it, it would have been done a long time ago. If your parents could have done it for you, it would have already been done. It can only be done by you. Another fact is this. Only with God's help can you do it successfully. God will not only forgive you of the sin, but He will also give you the power to overcome the sin. You would never run a marathon race in a suit of armor. You also cannot complete the race of life constantly encumbered by sin. What are some of the things that can keep you from completing God's purpose for your life? The list is never-ending. Jesus happens to name some of them in His parable of the soils. He tells us these found in Luke 8:14, The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures and they do not mature. You may be wondering if Jesus has been reading your mail. No, but life does not change much. A lot of you are being kept from fulfilling God's purpose for your life because of sin which encumbers you. Also, I would imagine there are many of us here today who cannot move forward with God's purpose for our lives because we are stuck in our past. By that I mean we are still holding on to hurts and guilt for past sins and failures. You may be sitting there thinking: "God could never use me because of my past." God specializes in failures. The Gospel is a new beginning for any person who comes to God through Jesus Christ. Notice Paul's words found in Philippians 3:13-14, Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize. Paul had a lot in his past to feel guilty about–he was guilty of murder; he was guilty of putting believers in prison, and yet he said, I forget the past and I press on... Paul wants us to know that when you come to God seeking His forgiveness, you can stop rehearsing the past. If you are going to successfully complete God's purpose for your life, you will have to let go of guilt, grief and grudges. Isaiah 43:18 tells us, Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. The movie "Chariots of Fire." Is a story about an Olympic runner named Eric Little. In the early part of the movie, Eric is running in a race and gets intentionally knocked off the track, stumbles and falls to the ground. In a split second, he decides to get up and run his heart out. He eventually won the race. Now, you may have stumbled in life. Correction. All of us have stumbled in life, but the race is not over. One of the things which will better enable you to complete the race is to rid yourself of any distractions.

I believe an appropriate question to ask is "Why do I want to follow God's will for my life?" The answer to that question may seem obvious for most of us, but the truth is if you cannot answer the "Why?" then you will have trouble fulfilling God's purpose. II Corinthians 4:1, Through God's mercy we have this ministry, so we don't become discouraged.

A. A very good reason why we seek to find and finish God's purpose is because God has prepared us for His purpose. God has planned a purpose for each of us. If we do not seek to know and fulfill that purpose then we have to consider our lives to be a failure. This is not a minor issue. God has given each of us a work to do. If we make no effort to know and fulfill that work, then we have missed the point of our lives. Why should you keep on striving toward the prize? Simply because God wants you to.

B. Another reason we continue to fulfill God's purpose is because of the reward. Notice Paul's words found in I Corinthians 9:25-26, Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly. Circle the words "Like a man running aimlessly." Remember, there is no reward for those who run without purpose. Someone asked Mark Spitz after he had won seven gold medals in the Olympics what was the key to his winning? He said it was simple. "I spent seven hours a day in the pool for four solid years. There is no success without sacrifice." I have to be honest with you, fulfilling God's purpose for you will require you to sacrifice. What motivates us to make such a sacrifice? Paul tells us that our motivation is the reward at the end. We must realize that God is going to reward us on the basis of how we fulfill His purpose in our lives. God will reward us on the basis of how we fulfill His life mission for our lives.

Paul reminds us that if we are going to make it over the long haul, we will have to have our batteries recharged. II Corinthians 4:16 it says, For this reason we do not become discouraged... our spiritual being is renewed day by day. I remind you that the Christian experience does not make us immune to problems. It is not a one-time experience that lasts you forever. The Christian experience is a relationship with Jesus Christ. Relationships have to be renewed everyday. Let me give you an example. My wife and I have been married for twenty-one years. During our 21 years of marriage our commitment of marriage has only been worth twenty-four hours at a time. We have had to demonstrate the sincerity of our commitment each day. Each day God has given us together we have had to renew our commitment to each other. If you are going to complete God's purpose for your life, you will have to renew that relationship daily. Fulfilling your life's purpose will not be easy. There may be times when it is not enjoyable. There will be times when you have to ask God to give you a renewed hope. Psalms 94:19 it says, When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. In the Living Bible it says, Lord, when doubts fill my mind, when my heart is in turmoil, quiet me and give me renewed hope and cheer. For you to maintain your focus on what God would have you do with your life, you will have to do three things. You will have to focus on God's goodness to you in the past, His empowering of you in the present and His guidance of you in the future. If you will focus on these three things daily, your life's purpose will be fulfilled.

Galatians 6:9 we read, Let us not become weary in doing good, for in the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Discouragement in the Christian's life is the number one of the tools the devil uses to foil God's purpose. The devil knows that when you get discouraged you become ineffective in your Christian life. One preacher said, "You do not determine a man's greatness by his talent, his wealth, or by his education. You determine a man's greatness by what it takes to discourage him." What does it take to discourage you?

Years ago on October 29, 1941 in the heat of battle during WWII, Prime Minister Winston Churchill  spoke at Harrow Boys School .  I want to share a quote from the speech that he made that day.

"You cannot tell from appearances how things will go. Sometimes imagination makes things out far worse than they are; yet without imagination not much can be done. Those people who are imaginative see many more dangers than perhaps exist; certainly many more than will happen; but then they must also pray to be given that extra courage to carry this far-reaching imagination. But for everyone, surely, what we have gone through in this period - I am addressing myself to the School - surely from this period of ten months this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. We stood all alone a year ago, and to many countries it seemed that our account was closed, we were finished. All this tradition of ours, our songs, our School history, this part of the history of this country, were gone and finished and liquidated." (Quote taken from: http://www.winstonchurchill.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=423)

I want to repeat a portion of this quote for you. "never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."

God may have brought you here today to hear these words, "Never give in! Never give in! Never! Never! Never give in!" We can only imagine how these words touched the hearts of the young men that day, as Sir Winston Churchill spoke them. I believe that these words still speak volumes to those who take the time to read them and mediate upon them. We must never yield or give in to the forces of evil that is trying to take over our world and our lives. We must never surrender or give in to the overwhelming power of the enemy that we are combating.  We must always strive to finish the job that God has given us as a body of believers.

In Hebrews 10:36 we read, you need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. If you persevere, God will fulfill His purpose in your life.

When we think of all of the people who have successfully completed God's call in their lives, probably most of us think of the Apostle Paul. What was the secret of his success? I believe Paul shares with us his secret of success in Philippians 4. In Philippians 4:13 Paul gives us his secret; I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength. He depended on Christ. I believe we will find that to be our secret as well. Paul said, "I can cope because my strength for coping comes from my relationship to Christ." What is your source of strength? Paul was confident that he could handle any situation because of the inner strength of Christ. The word used for strength in the original language is the word "dunamos." It is the root word for our English words "dynamite" and "dynamo." Paul was saying that Christ was his source of strength. He encourages us to let God be our source of strength, too. He would also tell you and me to let God meet our needs. Philippians 4:19, And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. The important word is the word "all." That means everything. It means that God is not somewhere out there. God is involved in every facet of our lives. When I buy insurance, I read through the policy to see all of the things, which are covered, by the policy. Once I know what is covered, I don't worry about it any longer. This Book, the Bible, is God's insurance policy to us. There are over 7000 promises contained in this Book. They serve as a guarantee that God will be involved in our lives to bring about His purpose. I would suggest that you read, study and memorize this Book so you will know what God intends to do for you. Matthew 6:31-33 So do not start worrying: Where will my food come from or my drink or my Clothes? Your heavenly Father knows you need all these things. Instead be concerned above everything else with God's Kingdom... and He will provide you with all these other things. What a promise! Jesus tells us if we put God first, then God will take care of everything else. The primary reason people are unhappy and unfulfilled is because Jesus is not at the center of their lives. They are looking for fulfillment in all of the wrong places. God wants you to have a happy, fulfilled life. Jesus said it in John 10:10, I have come that you might have life, life abundantly. The way you have that abundant life is by finding and fulfilling God's purpose for your life.

Prayer: