God Finishes What He Starts

You know, in an act of incredible faith, Abraham, at God's direction, put a knife to his son Isaac's throat to offer him as a sacrifice. And we know the story. God stopped him and said, now I know. And Abraham was then the father of the faithful. God makes this promise to Abraham after that event. Genesis 22, verse 16. Genesis 22, verse 16, and said, By myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, that you have not withheld your son, your only son.

Blessings I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore, and your descendants shall possess the gates of your enemies. And we are on the seashore today. If you look out that back window, it's gorgeous out there. And there's no way we could count the sand just on this little section of beach alone. And yet, God made this huge promise to Abraham. And that promise, God did not forget.

He passed it on to Abraham's son Isaac. In Genesis, chapter 26, God tells the same thing to Isaac. Genesis, chapter 26, remembering his word to Abraham, God says Genesis, chapter 26, and verse 4, and I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven. I will give your descendants all these lands and your seed in your seed.

Sorry. All nations of the earth shall be blessed. And God did not forget his promise yet again to Isaac's son Jacob. Jacob goes to sleep one night, and he has a dream. And God talks to him in this dream. And down in chapter 28, and verse 12, Genesis 28, and verse 12, Jacob now the grandson of Abraham, who God gave the original promise that in him all nations would be blessed. Genesis 28, and verse 12, then he dreamed, and behold a ladder was set up on the earth.

And its top reached to heaven, and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham, your father, and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to your descendants.

Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad the west to the west and to the east to the north and to the south. And in you in your seed all families of the earth shall be blessed. Generations later, God remembers his promise. But then in verse 15, he says, Behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. An interesting statement. For telling that they're going to go away from this land, and then God is going to bring them back.

For I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you. God said right there to Jacob that he finishes what he starts. That's the kind of God we serve. If he says he's going to do it, he's going to do it.

He said that he was going to bless the entire earth with the descendants of Abraham. Now we heard this morning from Mr. Beamer the main blessing that came from Abraham, which was Jesus the Christ. The cure to our heart problem. But he's not finished with the rest of the descendants of Abraham. God finishes what he starts. I might have said that already. You'll hear it again. So God gave Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob's descendants a great commission. And they were to start fulfilling this when they came out of slavery to enter into the promised land.

Now you'll remember that the book of Deuteronomy was not written, was not spoken and recorded to those that came out of Egypt. The book of Deuteronomy was spoken to their children. They had already wandered through the desert for 40 years, and all of those people who were 20 years and older that passed through the Red Sea were dead and gone.

And that's the setting of the book of Deuteronomy. They're getting ready to go into the promised land. Moses is about to die, and Joshua is about to take over. And they're getting ready to go in, and God gives them, through Moses, their commission, their orders. Deuteronomy 4 and 5. God remembering his promise to Abraham tells Israel to do this.

Deuteronomy 4 and 5, surely I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you possess. So God tells them, when you're going to go in there, you need to behave yourselves. And you need to behave yourselves according to what I tell you to do.

Verse 6 of Deuteronomy chapter 4. Therefore, be careful to observe them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding how in the sight of the peoples who will hear these statutes. God told Israel to behave themselves so that they would be a model nation to all of the other nations that heard about them. It was their commission. It was their job to be a blessing to all peoples on the earth, just as God had promised to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. He now gives Israel their orders to be a blessing. You go be that blessing. And how? By doing every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, being careful to observe them.

They will say, Surely this is a great nation, is wise and an understanding people. For what great nation is there that has God so near to it? As the Lord our God is to us, for whatever reason we may call upon him. And what great nation is there that has such statutes and righteous judgments as are all the law which I set before you this day? The nation of Israel was given a great commission. They were to become a model nation. And they were to be very careful to observe it. And did they do it?

No. They failed miserably. And yet God finishes what he starts. People might fail. God never fails. For the most part, they were not careful to follow God's statutes. Now every once in a while they did. And they had some good kings and they had some good eras. But for the most part, they did not. They followed the dictates of their own evil hearts. They didn't follow God and therefore they failed. But God had started to work in them and he had made a promise.

And God has not forgotten that promise and he will bring them back. And we'll read that in Jeremiah. Let's go there. Jeremiah chapter 30. Jeremiah chapter 30 and verse 10.

Therefore, Jeremiah says, Jeremiah 30 and verse 10, do not fear, O my servants of Jacob, says the Lord, nor be dismayed, O Israel. For behold, I will save you from afar. Do you remember what we just read? What God said to Jacob? Do you remember? He said, When you go, I will bring you back. God knew. He knew they were going to mess up. He knew what kind of heart they and we have in us. The heart that Mr. Beamer spoke about this morning. So do not be dismayed. I will save you from afar, remembering his promise. And your seed from the land of their captivity, Jacob shall return, have rest, and be quiet, and no one shall make him afraid. We just celebrated the Feast of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement, a time picturing the terrible tribulation and the great day of the Lord, the judgment of God, and then the restoration of God's people, the people of Israel. After the world tribulation and the great and terrible day of the Lord, there will be a few survivors, a few survivors of Israel, and God will not lose them. They may have forgotten who they are, but God has not forgotten who they are. And God will bring them back to the Promised Land. What will God do with those survivors? Interesting when we look at it from God's point of view and from His promises. What He told Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, and what He told to the children of Israel before they went into the Promised Land for the first time. Jeremiah chapter 30, let's skip down to verse 18. Jeremiah 30 and verse 18, Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring back the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places. The city shall be built upon the mound, and the palace shall remain according to its own plan. Then out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and a voice of those who will make merry. I will multiply them, and they shall not diminish. And I will glorify them, and they shall not be small. Their children also shall be before Me, and their congregation shall establish before Me. And I will punish all who oppress them. Their nobles shall be from among them, and their governor shall come from the midst. And then I will cause them to draw near. And they shall approach Me. For who is this who pledged his heart to approach Me, says the Lord, You shall be My people, and once again I will be your God. Then Israel will once again become a model nation who has God as their center. Just like Moses told them back in Deuteronomy 4, when God gave them the Great Commission, that they were to be careful to do everything that God told them to do. And He would make them a model nation, and all people on the earth would look at that and go, Wow! We want to have a God like that. And yet they failed. But God finishes what He starts.

Israel will once again become a model nation. They will fulfill what God intended them to do. Under the direction of Jesus Christ and His saints, the firstfruits, those who are in this room and around the world right now who have the Spirit of God, will lead them to become a model nation. Zechariah 14. And all nations will follow the nation of Israel. Zechariah 14. It shall come to pass that everyone who is left from all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and keep the Feast of Tabernacles. Why?

Ezekiel 36. Ezekiel 36. Starting in verse 10. Why do they come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles? Why do all the nations flow to Israel, this model nation?

Ezekiel 36, verses 10-11. I will multiply men upon you. All the house of Israel, all of it, and the cities shall be inhabited, and the ruins rebuilt. This is Ezekiel 36, verses 10-11. I will multiply upon you man and beast, and they shall increase and bear young, and I will make you inhabited as in the former times, and do better for you than at your beginnings. Why? Then you shall know that I am the Lord. Is God going to bring Israel back because there are great people? Because they're better than other people? No! Why is God going to use Israel as a model nation? To show the world that He is the Lord, that He finishes what He starts. If He starts a work, He'll finish it. If He gives His word, He'll keep it. And Israel will come back in that day, and they will become a model nation. And all nations will flow to Jerusalem, and they will keep the Feast of Tabernacles, and know that God is the Lord. God made a promise to Abraham, and He passed that to His son Isaac, and He passed that to His son Jacob. That promise will be kept. Isaiah 27, verse 6.

And that promise will bear fruit around the world, as we heard yesterday in both sermons. Isaiah 27, verse 6.

What kind of fruit? Apples? I like apples. No. The kind of fruit that Dr. Ward talked about on the opening day. Not the high moral ground of political issues like global warming, but the healing of human relationships. And God will start bearing fruit all over the world. Israel will finally be that model nation that God intended from the beginning. God finishes what He starts. The saints will lead. You and I have a job to do, which is why I'm giving this sermon today. This isn't just a history lesson or a prophecy lesson. There's actually something we have to do. We're involved in this process of God keeping His word. You and I. The saints will lead with Christ at the time of the end. Revelation chapter 5. Revelation chapter 5, verse 8.

We'll read through verse 10. Now, when He had taken the scroll, Revelation chapter 5 and verse 8.

And they sang a new song, saying, God will call His people back to Jerusalem, and He will finish what He started back in Deuteronomy chapter 4. When He gave Israel a commission, He told them, You be careful to do everything I tell you to do, and all other nations will see that I'm the Lord. And they didn't do it! In the millennium, God will make that happen, finishing what He starts. You know, brethren, sometimes we can get discouraged. And I know we can, because I've heard the discouragement. And most of the time, a lot of the time, the discouragement comes from our own mistakes and our own shortcomings. And we fall down, and we mess up, and we get into trouble, and we get down and discouraged. And maybe we forget that we have a God who finishes what He starts. And when we made a commitment to Him, and when we were baptized to Him, we said, We'll go with you all of our life. And He said, I will take you, and I will finish you, and I will make you what you need to become. And God finishes what He starts. And when you fall down, and you repent, He picks us back up. Philippians 1. Philippians 1, verse 6, don't take my word for it. Take His.

Philippians 1, verse 6, Being confident of this very thing that He who begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. And since God finishes what He starts, He's going to finish what He started in me and in you. We're not perfect. We make all kinds of mistakes. God finishes what He starts. So the trials that we're going through, we heard from both sermon speakers yesterday. But be thankful for them. Mr. DeMoure said even be quiet. And listen to what God's trying to tell you through them. Because God finishes what He starts. And for getting a trial, He's just fixing us. He's just finishing what He started. So what should be our response in return?

Well, I want to answer that by recounting an incident where Jesus was interacting with people along the road from one town to another. Now, we have record of thousands of people following Jesus Christ, and many of them paid lip service to Him. Just paid lip service to Him. And that's not what God's looking for. God's looking for something wholehearted and committed. And that is a response that we're supposed to have to when God says He will finish your work in us. We say, then we will finish that work that you gave us to do also. He's looking for a wholehearted commitment. Let's look at some examples of three men who paid lip service to Jesus Christ. And let's take a lesson during this Feast of Tabernacles from these three men. And the three things that they said to Jesus Christ that were nothing more than lip service. And make sure that we are not those Christians. Because each one of these men tell Jesus Christ they will follow Him. And that's what we told Him too, isn't it? When we were baptized, we said, I will follow you. Wherever you take me, whatever you want me to go through, my life is yours. I will follow you. That's what we said, isn't it? Well, many men have said that. But not all of them had the wholehearted commitment that God is looking for. Lip service doesn't cut it. Luke 9. Three men meet Him along the way. Three men have three different ways of paying Jesus Christ lip service. But not one of them was committed to Him. Luke 9.

Verse 57. Man number one. Wherever you go. Man number one. Luke 9 verse 57. Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, Lord, I will follow you wherever you go. Hey, that sounds familiar. We said that, didn't we? I will be your disciple. You will be my Lord. And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes and birds of the air have a nest, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. Wherever you go, the man said. Sounds like a wholehearted commitment to me. Why do you think Jesus answered that man so sternly? He warned him. He warned him that Christianity is not easy. Why did He give the man a warning when the man gave him the words of a wholehearted commitment? Right? Wherever you go, those are easy words to say. When we were baptized, we made that commitment, and we said, My life is yours. Wherever you go, I will follow you. You know what? That is the only way to please God. But is that a whimsical impulse? Or is it a wholehearted commitment? I was just talking to a gentleman before service, been in the church years and years and years, told me something that I have experienced myself. He told me that He has met more people in this church who are no longer in the faith than who actually are still in the faith. More people have come through these doors than are still here. We recounted the number just in his city alone. It was three to one. Three to one! And you know what? We were counting all the groups that we could think of that are part of the churches of God. And we don't know where the rest of them went. Three to one! A whimsical commitment! I will follow you wherever you go until things get hard! And off we go. Brethren, it cannot be a whimsical impulse, but rather must be a wholehearted commitment. When you committed your life to God, you ceased to be your own person. Do you remember the word, duelos, that Mr. DeBoer mentioned yesterday? We were once slaves to sin, but now we serve Jesus Christ. Galatians 2, verse 20, where Paul says, I am crucified with Christ. I'm going to read this from the Old King James because it reads more accurately. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I. It's not my life, Paul said. It's not your life.

The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, the same faith that Jesus Christ had we are supposed to have. Well, what kind of faith did Jesus Christ have? Enough faith to say, wherever you go. Didn't he? That's the kind of faith he had. He was the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and yet he let a council of men mock him, ridicule him, spit on him, and flap him. Turn him over to the Romans, scourge him, put a crown of thorns on him, ridicule him again, beat him, spit on him, and slap him. Nail him to a tree, throw a spear in his side. Absolute faith in God. Paul says in Galatians 2, verse 20, I live by the faith of the Son of God. That's the kind of faith we're supposed to have wherever you go. Why did Jesus Christ give that man along the way such a stern warning? Because he knew what it would take.

It's not a whimsical commitment. So, I'm not just talking to the baptized, but also those who have yet to make that commitment. Oh, I encourage you to do so. You know why? Whatever God starts, he will finish. He will finish it in you. All it requires from you is everything.

Our promise to God cannot be a whimsical impulse. Wherever you go, Lord, I will follow must be a genuine, wholehearted commitment. So, that man was paying him lip service, and he gave him a warning. You're giving it all, buddy. You're giving it all. The second man comes up to him in Luke 9, verse 59.

What was this man's lip service? And then he said to another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. So, by implication, he said, you know what? I am going to follow you. You betcha. I'm right there with you. You betcha. I'm going to follow you. But, and he had an excuse. But it wasn't a lightweight excuse, was it? Let me go bury my father. His father was dead. Now, some of the commentaries say his father wasn't dead. Most of the commentaries say his father was actually dead. All he wanted to do was go bury his father. And yet, Jesus Christ rejected this as well. Why would he do that? I didn't understand this when I was a kid. I didn't understand Jesus Christ's objection to this one. I didn't think I knew more than him. I just didn't understand it. Why couldn't the guy go bury his father? Was Jesus saying, don't go to funerals? No, he wasn't. So, what was the big deal? I'd like to read from John Gill, John Gill's commentary. And, quote, And though this man was called to preach the gospel, yet he might think he would be easily excused. For the present on this account, since according to Jewish canons, according to human tradition, such whose dead lay before them, who were as yet unburied, were excused. Listen to what they were excused from. Listen to what this guy assumed he was excused from, because human tradition told him he could be excused. God, you have to wait. I have an excuse. Listen to all the things. According to Jewish tradition, this guy assumed he could put Jesus Christ off for. When you're burying the dead, they were excused from reading the Shema, the Word of God. Here, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one. They consider that the most important Scripture. You don't have to read that. You don't have to. That's the one day you need to read that when you've lost your father. Nope. You have an excuse. They were free from performing duty of prayer. Oh, yeah. You don't need to pray on the day of your father's funeral. You have an excuse, don't you? And they were not obliged to wear the phylactries. And you don't have to preach the gospel. You don't have to tell other people that you keep the law of God, because you have an excuse. Jesus Christ knew Jewish tradition very well, and he knew what this guy was saying. He was saying, yeah, you know what? I'll follow you. Just not today. Why? Oh, I've got an excuse. Oh, I've got a good excuse. Jesus said to him, Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God. Nothing comes before God. This commitment is not a whimsical impulse. If you're going to take it, if we're going to be the firstfruits, if you and I are going to be the ones that lead the world to follow God, to not divorce each other, like Doc Ward said at the beginning, to not treat each other badly. Brethren, we have to be wholeheartedly committed.

He wasn't saying, Jesus Christ wasn't saying, Don't go to a funeral. He was saying, Don't make excuses that put human tradition over your commitment to God. Nothing comes before God. You know, brethren, we do that. Don't point your finger at the Jews, because I'm not talking to the Jews today. I'm talking to you and to me. We make excuses. Oh, do we make excuses. We need to shore this one up. We need to tighten our belts. We've got gobs of excuses. Why we don't follow God. Right here in 2015, in the house of God. Really?

Do you easily make exceptions? Do you skip church for family gatherings? Oh, it only happens once a year. God will understand if I choose to not follow Him just this once in a year. Really? You have an excuse because of human tradition? Well, we only see them once a year. And they planned it on the Sabbath. Well, tell them you're going to miss a couple hours of the picnic. You've got to go to church. We did that one time. Hadn't seen family members in years. Not just eight years. Years. Drove halfway across the United States to see them. Sabbath came up, looked on the internet where the nearest church was, said, we've got to go to church. Sabbath. They objected. City? We don't see them. It's only a couple of hours. We'll be right back. And we went to church. We didn't even know them. We never met the church before. It was a city we'd never been to. I still remember the sermon that day. It was a good sermon. Glad I went. Brethren, if God said it's a commanded assembly, there are very few reasons why we should not go to church. Human tradition? Not one of those reasons why. I mean, this guy just wanted to bury his father, but he thought it was an excuse. Nothing comes before God. Hey, you may think that's stern, but bad times are coming, brethren, and we need to be committed so we don't fall away. Stay connected to that vine. So it's not a whimsical impulse, and we cannot make excuses. I've seen people skip church because they needed to travel to the feast. It's a commanded assembly!

Book your airplane on Friday! Oh, can't skip work! I'll skip church! Well, I have to pack, and I don't have time during the week, so honestly, there's no legitimate excuse. What about tithing? Brethren, tithing is a matter of faith, not a matter of income. It's that simple. What excuse do you have when you pray to God who gave His only Son in the name of Jesus Christ, who gave His life for you, and you won't put a couple of bucks aside to go to the feast? It's not a matter of income. Hey, I've been there. I've made that mistake, so I'm not judging you. It's not a chew-out. Okay, it's a chew-out, but it is. I'm chewing myself out, too. Oh, some might say, it's just an end-of-the-year party. It's not really Christmas. Come on. Short it up. No excuses. It's not what God's looking for. Okay, so the third man comes walking along. What's his problem? Luke 9, verse 61. Luke 9, verse 61. And another also said, Lord, I will follow you. Oh, here we go again. But let me first go and bid them farewell, who are at my house. Now, this guy didn't want to just say goodbye. That's not what he meant. And Jesus understood exactly what he meant. And we do this one, too. We do. And this one gets a lot of us. And it shouldn't. Back to John Gill's commentary. Quote, this phrase not only signifies that he desired to take leave of his friends, but to compose and set and order his family affairs, and to dispose of his worldly effects among his domestics, relations and friends in the best manner he could. And then he should have leisure and be at liberty to follow Christ and attend his service. Oh, you know what? I will follow you when it's convenient for me. When it works out for me, I will follow you. But if it's difficult, I'm going to go make some money. I'm going to go fix my house. I'm going to go get a better car. I've got to work on these things first. Then I'll follow you, God. Then I'll follow you. When it's convenient for me to do so, Jesus said, no one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom. Wow! That is a huge statement. This guy just wanted to go make some money, make sure that his life was pushy. I'm going to follow you, but I'm going to make sure it's a nice soft path first. And Jesus' response was, you do that, you're not fit for the kingdom. You're out. You're not committed. Finish what you start. Seems we've heard that somewhere.

You see, brethren, God is a God who finishes what he starts. And he's in the business of making children. And we happen to be first-girts. So we're pilgrims, as Mr. Erickson said the other day. We're walking through wilderness, and it's a little bit more rugged this particular walk. And it can be discouraging. But the one thing that we have to hang on to is that God finishes what he starts. And he expects us to do the same. He expects us to have that same exact character. And we finish what we start. I will follow you wherever you go, and we mean it. Let's not have every excuse in the book to find an exception to follow God. And let's not just seek the good life now, follow God later. God is so faithful and true. He finishes what he starts. How do we respond in kind? The same way he responds to us. Be committed to God and to Jesus Christ. Never leave them. Never forsake them. Did you ever put it that way in your mind? He'll never leave us and never forsake us, right? Do you ever say that back? You should. I will never leave you and never forsake you. Oh, and we'll fall down. And he'll pick us back up. And don't get discouraged. And don't forget, he'll never leave us and never forsake us. He told ancient Israel to conduct themselves well. And they failed. So he'll bring them back later. But he's brought us here now.

Hebrews 13. This was read yesterday. It's good to read things twice.

Hebrews 13.

Verses 5 and 6. Good old New King James Version. Hebrews 13. Verse 5. Let your conduct be without covetousness. Don't let this world choke you out. Be content with such things as you have. For he himself said, Why should we be content with where we're sitting right now?

He said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. Don't be discouraged. Don't fear. Don't fear anything.

What can man do to me? Brethren, God finishes what he starts, and he started something in you and me. And what he asks in return is a wholehearted commitment that we say back to him, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. Let's keep that commitment. Let's remember, going forward, that we are not to be whimsical in our word to God. We are never to make an excuse to God. And we are not to seek the good life, but we are to seek him. Let's keep that commitment.