God Finishes What He Starts

Wow, thank you for that. It was very beautiful. Much appreciated.

Get the right glasses on here. Got more than one pair.

The downfalls of getting older.

Well, we, my family and I, have just found Alaska inspiring. Absolutely beautiful. Thanks to all of those who live here, who welcomed the rest of us to come enjoy the beauty that you have. I'm from Texas. I love Texas. But, you know, Alaska is absolutely awe-inspiring, beautiful. And if you live here, and you've grown up here all of your life, you wake up, you probably look out the window and go, yup, those are mountains. But, you know, when you come from Texas and you wake up and you look out the window, you say, wow, those are mountains! They're beautiful! So, it hasn't worn off yet. It's absolutely gorgeous. Welcome you to come to Texas. We love Texas. Some of the best barbecue and some of the best Mexican food on the planet are in Texas. You all are welcome to come, but my cousin grew up here in Alaska and reminds me regularly that if you split Alaska in two, the great state of Texas would be the third largest state in the Union.

Alaska is truly beautiful and huge. We complain about distances in Texas, and then we drive to Denali.

Wow, Alaska is very beautiful.

I want to start the sermon today by reminding us of a story. A story of how ancient Israel started with a promise from God.

Abraham, an elderly gentleman at this point, took his son Isaac up to the mountains, told the men to stay behind, that they would return in a few days, took Isaac up to the mountain. Isaac asked him, Dad, where is the lamb for the sacrifice? And Abraham, out of absolute faith in God, said, Son, God will provide the lamb.

Abraham obeying God, binds Isaac, sets him on the table to sacrifice him, puts his knife to the throat, and as we all know, God stops him and says, Now I know. Now I know. And God said this in Genesis 22, verse 16.

Genesis 22, verse 16, and said, By myself I have sworn, says the Lord. So here, God is going to make a promise to Abraham because of what he just did. Listen to the promise.

Because you have done this thing and 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 their enemies. In your seed all nations of the earth will be blessed. Speaking of Jesus Christ. Because you have obeyed my voice.

God made a promise to Abraham that day and he started something in his son Isaac, a great nation called Israel, Which God would later use to transform the entire world. God later made that same promise to Isaac if you'll drop down to Genesis chapter 26 and verse 4.

God does not get old. God does not get forgetful. And God finishes what he starts. Genesis chapter 26 and verse 4. And I will make your descendants. This is to Isaac. Now this is not Abraham God's talking to. I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven. I will give to your descendants all these lands. And in your seed all nations of the earth will be blessed.

And then God makes the same promise to Isaac's son Jacob. Drop down to chapter 28 and verse 12. Then he dreamed, this is Genesis 28 and verse 12. And then he dreamed, and behold a ladder was set up on earth. And its top reached to heaven and there were angels of God 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 you and your descendants. Also your descendants shall be as the dust of the earth. You shall spread abroad to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. And in your seed all families of the earth will be blessed. Notice how three generations go by and God gives the same exact promise. Sounds like God's going to keep that promise. God said that he would finish what he started. So God gave Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob's descendants a great commission. They were given a job to do. They were supposed to become a model nation.

You and I are supposed to be models. So let's pay attention to what happened to them. Israel, the children of Abraham, were supposed to model God's way of life to the earth. Notice Deuteronomy 4 and verse 5.

God through Moses is giving them the commission. He says, Surely I have taught you statutes and judgments just as the Lord God commanded me, that you should act according to them in the land which you go to possess. Therefore be careful to observe them. For this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear these statutes.

They were supposed to be in the sight of all the nations of the earth. And those other nations were supposed to see the wisdom of God in them.

Surely this, they will say, surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. How'd that work out?

For what great nation is there that God has scott 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 in the laws which I set before you this day? Ancient Israel, before they went to receive the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham, were given a commission. It wasn't just handed to them, here, go play. Do whatever you want to do, and you will receive the promises that I gave to your great-grandfather, Abraham.

No, they had a job to do. But, brethren, Israel failed miserably. First, during the period of the Judges, they would set up a judge to rule over Israel, God being their king. And they would sin against God and look around at all the other nations, at what they did, and how they worshipped their gods. And they would set up idols, and they would go party.

It wasn't much different than today. They had drugs back then, they had alcohol back then, they did pretty much every horrible thing that our society does today. They did. God would send an invading army in, and they would all repent. Oh, forgive us! We're the children of Abraham. We want the promise now. And God would forgive them, set up a new judge, heal the land. Everything would be going well. They'd start looking around, listening with itching ears to what the other nations did. And they would sin over and over and over again. Finally, this cycle happened so often, they thought to themselves, Self, what we need is a king!

So they complained that Samuel, the last judge, wasn't good enough. So, God gave them what they wanted, and gave them a king, King Saul. But, that didn't last very long, and along came a righteous king, King David. And then his line, through his line, comes Jesus Christ. But the point of this is, Israel still continued to do what was right in their own eyes. They continued to fail over and over again.

And finally, God had to wipe them out! They split into two different nations, the northern nation retaining the name Israel, the southern nation keeping the name Judah. Israel gets taken away by an empire called Assyria, never to return! They have never returned since. God hasn't lost track of them. We keep track of them. But most people in the world have no idea who those people are. Judah was taken over by a kingdom called Babylon, but they then returned. At least some of them did. And they at least know who they are. But God's promise that he made to Abraham did not get fulfilled completely.

They do not possess the land that God said they would possess. The Jews have part of it, but God's promise is definitely not fulfilled. The children of Israel, the sons of Abraham, who were supposed to be the recipients of this promise, followed the dictates of their own evil heart. And they failed. But, brethren, God never fails.

He finishes what he starts. There will be a great tribulation, and we learned about that at the Feast of Trumpets. Then God will restore Israel again, pictured on the Day of Atonement. The Day of Atonement does not just picture the removal of Satan. If you read Zechariah 12, you will also add in the restoration of Israel into the Day of Atonement. God will once again set up Israel, but this time a humble Israel, after going through a tribulation of very contrite Israel.

They will come back together, brethren, and they will one day be a model nation. Let's look at the promises that God gives in the prophets of old, that He will bring back His people. He will finish what He starts. It's who He is. God finishes what He starts. Jeremiah 30, verse 10. Therefore, do not fear, O my servant Jacob. Now, Jacob is long dead by this time. Jacob, his servant, are the children of Israel. Do not fear, O my servant Jacob, says the Lord, nor be dismayed.

O Israel, for behold, I will save you from afar. And your seed from the land of their captivity. Jacob shall return, have rest, and be quiet. And no one will make him afraid. God will finish what He starts. What will God do with those survivors? Jeremiah 30, verse 18. Thus says the Lord, Behold, I will bring back the captivity of Jacob's tents, their temporary dwellings, like we are today at the Feast of Tabernacles, temporary dwellings.

God says, and have mercy on His dwelling places, on more permanent dwelling places. They're going to go from tents to a permanent place to live. The city shall be built upon its own mound, and the palace shall remain according to its own plan. In other words, nobody's going to wipe this palace out. Then, out of them, shall proceed what comes out of Israel. Thanksgiving, and the voice of those who will make Mary, I will multiply them. Do you hear in these words that God spoke through Jeremiah, the promise that God gave to Abraham? The people messed up. The people followed their own heart, and God wiped them out. He didn't forget His promise to Abraham, because He finishes what He starts. No matter what we do, He's going to finish what He starts. He says, I will multiply them, and they shall not diminish. I will glorify them, and they shall not be made small. And that's what happened every single generation in ancient Israel. They were made small, because they sinned. Verse 20, their children also shall be before, and their congregation shall be established before Me, and I will punish all who oppress them. They will be defended by God. Their nobles shall come from them. Foreigners will not rule over them anymore.

They will not terrorize them. They will not bomb them. They will not walk onto a bus with a bomb vest and blow themselves up. Not in this day. All their governors shall come from their midst, and then I will cause Him to draw near. And He shall approach me. They will be with God at that time.

For who is this who pledged His heart to approach Me, says the Lord? You shall be My people, and I will be your God. Sounds like the book of Revelation, doesn't it? Then, Israel, once again, will be a model nation. They'll actually fulfill their initial calling that God gave them, all the way back in Deuteronomy, before they went into the Promised Land. They never did fulfill that promise. And if it were up to mankind, brethren, we do not tend to finish what we start. But God does. God made a promise to Abraham, and then He passed it to His son Isaac, and then He passed it to His son Jacob. Let's notice in Isaiah 27, verse 6. Isaiah 27, verse 6. Those who come, He shall cause to take root in Jacob. Now, not too many of them will come. Not many will survive the tribulation. Very few. And only those who are humble and willing to follow God will make it. But those who do come will finally take root. Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the whole world with fruit. Wait a minute! It says, the whole world! God promised them between two rivers, the land.

And now He says, the whole world! We'll learn more about that during the Feast of Tabernacles. But peoples of the world will be grafted into Israel, and we will all be Israel one day. It's not that there will be many nations. There will be one kingdom. There will be one people. The children of Adam and Eve. The sons of God. Israel will finally be that model nation that God intended from the beginning. Because God finishes what He starts.

And the saints will lead. That's you and me. And the generations before us, who suffered during their generation, who were the odd man out all the way back to the first century church as we read with the apostles.

The saints will lead and rule with Jesus Christ on the earth at that time. And that will be a future generation, possibly, if we do not live to see the return of Jesus Christ. Revelation 5, verse 8.

Revelation 5, verse 8.

Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And what are those prayers saying? And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals, for you were slain.

Obviously, talking of our King and our Savior, Jesus the Christ, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God.

And we shall reign on the earth, as we heard yesterday in the sermon.

That we need to learn to follow before we lead. And leadership is going to be placed right on your shoulders. And I don't know about you, but that is not an appealing concept to me.

That leadership is going to be placed on me, and now the buck stops with me. The buck stops with you.

Are you ready for that? What will you need to know for the buck to stop with you? Are you going to need to know how to build new roads? Are you going to need to know sewer systems? Are you going to need to know all kinds of engineering and computer technology? In order for the buck to stop with you, are you ready? You don't need to know those things. You need to know how to love, how to have self-control, and how to follow our King, Jesus the Christ. Are you ready to lead? God will call all people to Jerusalem. And you and I are supposed to be there to help them. Will we be ready?

Jesus Christ will finish what was started in Deuteronomy 4. Deuteronomy 4, telling Israel to be a model nation. Jeremiah 3, verse 17. Jeremiah 3, verse 17. At that time, Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall be gathered to it, and the name of the Lord, the authority of God, to Jerusalem. No more shall they follow the dictates of their evil heart. How will you and I be ready to lead in the kingdom? Brethren, may I suggest that today we do not follow the dictates of our evil heart.

Easier said than done. In Deuteronomy 4, God instructed Israel to be an example to the world. We are supposed to lead that nation. Will we be an example to the world? God will make it happen because He finishes what He starts. Brethren, He has started something in you. He started something in you when you were baptized and received His Holy Spirit. And might I suggest, He started something in you if you are not baptized, but you are here and you understand what I'm saying. And somehow, it pricks your conscience that you know that this applies to you.

And if you feel that way, He has started something in you. Philippians 1 and 6. Philippians 1 and 6. Being confident of this very thing that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Why do things not go your way like you want them to? Why does it feel like you're being pressed and formed? Because you are. Because God is finishing what He started. I appreciated that sermonette not being materialistic. Oh, you can try!

You can try to be materialistic, but I guarantee you. In fact, out of love and concern for you, I warn you. God will finish what He started in you. What, brethren, will we let distract us? What should be our response to what we just read in Philippians? What is our response supposed to be when God thinks we're important enough that He's going to see us all the way through and He will never give up on us? What is your response to that? What is my response supposed to be when God says, I will not quit, but I will finish what I start? I want to answer that question in the remainder of the sermon by recounting an incident where Jesus was interacting with people along the road from one town to another.

I imagine that this happened quite a bit to Jesus as He was walking from town to town. We have recorded for us three men out of probably the thousands of people that came up to Him during His ministry on this earth. And many people paid Him lip service. I suppose it's just human nature. We want to get some immediate gratification, so we go up to somebody that we look up to and we pay lip service to them, but we have no intention of following through on what we just said. We just want some, who knows what it is, acceptance, approval.

They were no different back at that time. God is not looking for lip service. God is looking for something else in return. He's looking for wholehearted commitment. He's not looking for discouragement. He's not looking for us to start something and then get fed up halfway through the journey. He's looking for us to finish and plow that row all the way to the end. Let's look at an example of three men who paid lip service to Jesus in Luke 9. Luke 9 at the end of the chapter, starting in verse 57.

Let's look at three excuses that people gave for why they could defer following Jesus Christ, why they could defer growing in character right now and do it later. The first man said, wherever you go, wherever you go, let's notice Luke 9 in verse 57. Now it happened as they journeyed on the road. So they're walking along the road. That someone said to him, Lord, I will follow you wherever you go. That's a pretty big promise. That's a wholehearted commitment, all in. He's not sticking his toes in the water, like Peter when he saw Jesus walking on the water.

This guy jumps out of the boat, both feet. I will follow you wherever you go. Well, that's not wrong, unless it's lip service. Because listen to what Jesus said to him. It was not an encouraging response. You might think, you know, Jesus being loving, being so considerate, so compassionate that he would heal people, that he would stop and rebuke his disciples from not letting children come to him. That he would love to hear somebody say to him, I will follow you wherever you go. But nay, nay. He said, I will follow you wherever you go.

And Jesus said to him, foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Quoting from Matthew Henry's commentary on the whole Bible, he says this, This must be the resolution of all that will be found, Christ's disciples indeed. They follow the Lamb withsoever he goes, Revelation 14.4, though it be through fire, water, prison, or death. Instead of being encouraging, Jesus Christ gives his followers a warning by being very stern with this man that walks up and was probably just looking for a little acceptance. But Jesus Christ wasn't looking at the here and now.

And so his comment was loving to that man. His comment was compassionate. This is not inconsistent, where he heals one person, but he's mean to another. He was actually being very loving to this man. And he was warning him, You're going to have a rough road to walk down if you follow me. Let's read Revelation 14, verses 3-4, that Matthew Henry referred to, but didn't quote. Who will be the followers of Jesus Christ? This is interesting.

Notice what this says. I'm glad that Matthew Henry found this. Revelation 14, verse 3. This brings this statement that Jesus said to this man in some pretty good clarity here. Revelation 14, verse 3, They sang, as it were, a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn that song except the 144,000. Who are these people? Who were redeemed from the earth?

The Christians could sing this song. Those people that did follow Jesus Christ. And what was that attribute that was given to them? These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins speaking of good moral character. It's not just talking about sexual immorality there. It's talking about greed and lust, lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, as was mentioned in the sermonette.

These are the ones... Notice this next statement. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.

These were redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.

Jesus wasn't contradicting the man who said, I will follow you wherever you go, because that's what He requires. That's what He expects, that you and I follow Him wherever He goes. And what was He warning us? He doesn't even have a place to put His head. Don't live for the here and now. What's discouraging you right now, if anything? What's getting you down?

What are you not getting that you think you deserve?

When you signed up for this, you knew that foxes had holes and birds had nests, but the Son of Man had no place to lay His head. It doesn't mean that everything's going to go bad for you. It doesn't mean that at all.

What was He saying there? Wholehearted commitment. God finishes what He starts. Don't know if I've said that yet or not.

And He expects us to finish what we start.

His answer to the young man, who promised to follow Him anywhere He goes, wasn't encouraging, but a warning. He's looking for people who don't just pay lip service.

So this is a personal parable. This isn't a family parable or a group church parable. This is an individual. Look yourself in the mirror. Kind of a parable.

Why am I here? Kind of a parable.

God is looking for people who will make a total commitment to finish what they start.

Can you remember to say, Oh, yeah. I'm in this for eternity. I'm not in this for the here and now. I'm not in this to become wealthy or popular or whatever you would like.

I am in this for eternity, not just eternal life.

As I said to the teens, I asked them what they thought the greatest reward would be. They said, eternal life. And I don't disagree with that at all.

I agree with that statement. But eternal life of sitting on a cloud plucking a harp. I mean, I could see myself getting bored with eternal life in about five minutes.

But it's going to be beyond our imagination. And people will get along. I love that opening message. What do you look forward to the feast the most? They asked. Most people said, peace! Won't that be wonderful?

Is this your life right now, or is this just the training? Galatians 2, verse 20. I love this statement. One of my favorite teachers back in Ambassador College days, way back in ancient times.

This was his favorite verse, and he would pound this into us as college students. You remember Galatians 2, 20. When things go bad, remember Galatians 2, 20. When things don't go your way, Galatians 2, 20. A better day is coming. This day is not necessarily your day.

He says, I have been crucified with Christ. In other words, when I was baptized, I laid my life down and said, not my life anymore. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live.

But Christ lives in me. You have an eternal purpose. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God. The original King James says, of the Son of God.

I like that interpretation.

No one had greater faith than Jesus Christ, our Lord.

How much faith are we supposed to have? Just faith in Him? No, more than that. We're supposed to have the faith of Him. His level of faith. That's a lot of faith.

The life I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. He was all in. He was wholeheartedly committed. And He asked nothing less of you and me. Nothing less! Not an inch short of 100% commitment.

What is there in this life that's worth more in where we're going? The second man comes along to Jesus Christ in Luke 9. And in verse 59, he says, Let me first go bury. This one can be confusing. I remember one person was a little worried whether or not he should go to his father's funeral after reading this.

And he should have, if going to his father's funeral would keep him from following Jesus Christ, because that's the point here. But if he can follow Jesus Christ and go to his father's funeral, that would have been fine. Luke 9, verse 59. And then another says to him, so he's still walking along the road, and another gentleman walks up to him and says, And Jesus says, Follow me. But he said, Lord, let me first go bury my father. Now at first glance, you would think, well, what's wrong with that? Well, what's wrong with that? Is Jesus Christ, a God-level being, tells him to do something, and he says, but I've got to go do something else first.

What could be more important than listening to God, than following God?

Jesus said to him, Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.

You've got a job to do. You've got work ahead of you. What do you put in front of becoming like God and helping other people, through the preaching of the Gospel, become like God?

Matthew Henry refers to this as deferred discipleship.

It's not wrong to go bury your father, but it is wrong to say, I will follow you later.

And I've seen people do this in the church.

Oh, I'll follow God after, you know, when we're young, it's simple things that when you're old, it bewilders you that these things are priorities over eternal life.

When you wake up and you hurt and you have to stretch just to move, when you have to pick which classes you're going to use before you give a sermon, certain things don't matter as much. I mean, they still matter, but what do you put in front of following God?

So it could be college, it could be career. I need to get married first.

No, you need God first.

And you'll have a much better perspective on college and career and marriage and raising children by putting God first.

The problem with this man wasn't that he was going to go to his father's funeral. The problem with this man is that he didn't want to follow the commands of God immediately, but rather put them off.

But later in life, we can also put God off.

When we get baptized and we make that commitment to God and we follow God, and we go to the Feast of Tabernacles every year, and you know, it's not so difficult after a while to tell your boss, you can't work on the Sabbath, and if he threatens to fire you, you're going to let him fire you, because you know God's going to give you another job, because you've already been down that road.

But something happens along the way called discouragement.

And I've seen a lot of that lately. A lot of discouragement.

You know, the church is split, and they split again, and it gets all confusing.

Pretty soon, we separate ourselves from other people just to protect ourselves and be safe.

We separate from the ministry, we separate from each other, we still go to church, but we're not quite together.

And that can cause us to defer following Jesus Christ, because he told us to love others as we love ourselves.

He told us to put the needs of others above our own needs.

He told us to follow authority, as we learned yesterday.

He told us so many things to do that we can't do if we're an island, if we're just alone, if we keep that buffer between us and the other people in our congregation, or us and the ministry, like there used to be in the old days. Some of you remember, some of you are too young, you have no idea, used to be after the Sabbath, you'd all go to somebody's home, and you'd talk about the sermon, and you'd have a sometimes conversation to midnight about the Kingdom of God or something along those lines.

Now, we go out to a restaurant and we talk about the minister, or somebody else in the congregation we're having a problem with, or the splits, or what this person in this other group is doing or said, and I'm seeing discouragement.

And are we allowing that discouragement to defer us from following God and growing right now?

May I suggest that that is a weakening of our armor.

There's a chink in our armor there, and that is a matter of faith.

What will it take for you to trust God enough to not be an island by yourself and alone, but to actually engage actively in Christianity and be a Christian? What will it take? Well, I answered it in the question. Trust. Faith. Trust God.

That he inspired the Apostle Paul to say, all things will work together for good.

It doesn't mean all things will be good. That scripture, Romans 8, 28, means that when things go bad, trust God enough that they're going to work out.

What will it take for you to actively be a Christian? Faith. Not fear. Fear of another split. Fear of a minister who's too rough or too weak or too whatever complaint you might have.

Don't fear and let that fear turn into deferring, following of Jesus Christ. Faith.

You have priorities in life. You know, when I wake up in the morning, I've got priorities.

My family are thankful for my priorities. My first priority, usually I pray. I'm rather groggy, but before I put my feet on the ground, I usually pray.

I know I need it. I'm not saying I'm righteous. I'm saying I'm desperate.

Second priority, absolutely have to be coffee. If I don't get that, my kids are afraid to ride in the car with me if I have not had a cup of coffee. And for good reason.

As Christians, we have to have priorities. And I just want to remind us, and it was great in the sermonette, he reminded us the same thing.

Let your Christianity be your first priority. And then get a cup of coffee. Matthew 6, verse 33. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Look forward to eternity. Keep that goal in mind and become a better Christian. And all these things will be added to you. It's kind of like Romans 8, 28. All things will work together for good. All things will be added to you.

Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.

I just feel settled when I read that. And I hope you do too. Jesus Christ said, sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Make following God your first priority. Do not let college or career or marriage or whatever it might be.

Come in front of following God. That is your first priority. Do not let discouragement take your eye off the ball of your first priority of following God.

You were called. Jesus Christ promised to finish what was starting in you. Your and my job is to finish!

Until we breathe our last breath and put our head on that pillow and say, good night, we are to work at our Christianity.

The third man comes along in Luke 9. This gentleman, this was the guy who was talked about in the sermonette today.

There were so many things to distract him. The cares of this world. Oh, there are so many things I need to do.

This guy wasn't discouraged. This guy was just self-centered. The universe orbited him.

Luke 9, verse 61. Another also said, Lord, I will follow you, but let me first go and bid farewell to who are in my house.

On the surface, you would think, what's wrong with saying goodbye? That's not the point. He said he would follow, and he let something come in between following God and him.

And that is self-centered.

But Jesus said to him, no one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. There's no such thing as taking a break. Oh, there are wide spaces and calm waters. God does give you periods of peace. It's not all turbulence and bad, but there is no such thing as time out from growing to become like God.

You know, I'll grow to become like God, but I will serve you unless this happens, and then I'll just take a break and I'll be right back, God. I'll be right back. What are those, unless, exceptions that we have? Friends, family, work?

I literally see—to me, this is such a lack of faith—I literally see people say, yeah, you know, I went to the family Christmas. Yeah, we exchanged gifts and whatnot. But, you know, it's family. I believe, but they don't believe. So, you know, no, I don't know what you could possibly be thinking to touch the unclean that God tells you not to do. You make a commitment to God. Is it a halfway commitment? Is there a break in between? No.

Well, it's family. Jesus doesn't want us to offend. Well, He wants you to follow Him. That's what He wants. He wants to know that there are people who are not ashamed of Him.

People that don't say, I will follow you, but what He's looking for is when you put your hand to the plow, that you will plow to the end of the row. He needs that of you. He requires that of all of us. Because Satan will win with anything in between.

And Jesus Christ and God the Father do not want and will not surrender us to Satan.

And what seems like a little thing, oh, I'm just going to take a little diversion here for a moment. Sometimes people leave the church for a little while. They take a diversion. It's not a good idea. Do not let family, friends, or work, the cares of this world, choke you out. It's very dangerous. Luke 14, verse 26. I want to read this from the New Living Translation because the words in English do not translate well from Hebrew.

Even though it's a literal translation in the King James, and a correct one, it misses the meaning. Luke 14, verse 26.

He makes an if-then statement. If this is something you want, this is what you have to do. If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone. What?

No, no, no. The Hebrew word means by comparison. So in the New Living Translation, you must hate everyone else by comparison. Your father, your mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes, even your own life.

Now, we know that we are to honor our father and our mother, so he is not telling us to break one of the great Ten Commandments. So what is he telling us? That above all other people in your heart, if we want to be his disciples, if we want to be the firstfruits, if we want to help him in the millennium and in the White Throne Judgment, we can't say, well, yeah, of course I'm going to compromise my beliefs a little bit for family, friends, work, or whatever. I sympathize, and here's a challenging scenario, and there's a lady in my congregation that has nailed this challenge. And I sympathize with this challenge because this is a hard one. Having a spouse not in the church, or what's very common today, having a spouse in a different branch of the church, that is a real challenge. And I am very sympathetic to that challenge. This lady has my respect. She does a very good job at this. She has a husband who is very active in a more mainstream Christian denomination. It's kind of a big deal in his church, and she was called into the truth, which you can imagine created no shortage of problems in her life. And yet, she made the commitment. Very impressive. How does she balance the two different church lives that she has in her marriage? Well, I'll tell you, it's not easy.

She will not compromise, but she will do as much as she can to be as supportive as she can to her husband. In fact, she will host socials from his church. Because it used to be her church, and she knows all of them. How awkward must that be?

They will come over to her house, and she will feed them, and talk with them, and be as kind to them as she possibly can be.

But she will not go to her husband's church.

She could easily do it, because nobody would find out.

It's on Sunday. Who would know? She doesn't compromise. She refuses. What a tough road.

God called her. Her husband didn't come with her. And she will make no exception to her Christianity.

How about you and me? She will not participate in their Christmas celebrations. Not even at home. And she makes no bones about it.

What will you compromise? Will you say, let me first go bury my father? Or will you say, let me go say goodbye to my family?

Or will you say, I will follow you anywhere unless things get rough?

This is a, yeah, but I have family, I have work, I have friends.

I have friends. I have friends. I have friends. I have friends. I have friends. I have friends.

And that's the cares of this world. Don't let them choke you out. Matthew 13, verse 22.

I'm talking straight without any fluff. So that we are encouraged. So that we do remember the commitment that we made.

Why we came all the way to Alaska. Or if you're from Alaska, why you drove down the road on a Tuesday to be here.

Matthew 13, verse 22.

Now he who receives seed among the thorns is he who hears the word and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word.

What happens to this person? And he becomes unfruitful.

Finish what you start.

God made a promise to Abraham. After Abraham showed incredible faith, the willingness to offer his own son knowing that God would bless the entire earth through that son.

So obviously he knew. I mean, this is the incredible faith. He knew that if God allowed him to kill Isaac, God was going to resurrect him.

That's how much faith Abraham had. Because God had already promised a blessing through this son.

Abraham was so faithful when God told him to sacrifice him. He knew God's going to work this out somehow. Don't exactly know how, but he's going to.

And then God made that promise to him. And even though ancient Israel absolutely messed it up, God is going to bring them back and make it right and fulfill his promise to Abraham.

That not only will all nations of the earth be blessed through Jesus Christ, they will actually have, the world will have a model nation to follow the children of Israel.

Because God finishes what he starts. And he finishes what he starts in you and me.

And even when we mess up, and we do, you do, I do, we all get discouraged, we all make excuses.

Every once in a while we take a break, we get pouty, we think things aren't going my way, we throw a little temper tantrum. There's all kinds of things we do wrong.

And God will bring us back. God will accept our repentance when we repent. And every time he'll bring us back, why? Because he finishes what he starts.

Brethren, I just wanted to remind us of one thing today. You and I made a commitment.

We need to finish what we start. And what is that that we are supposed to do? Hebrews 13 and verse 5-6.

Finish with this, brethren. Hebrews chapter 5 and verse, Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 5.

Let your conduct be without covetousness.

Don't say to yourself, I'm not getting what I deserve, and throw a temper tantrum.

Remember, foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man doesn't have a place to lay his head.

We don't live for this life, so don't live this life with covetousness.

Let your conduct be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have.

How can we be contented by what we have if it's not quite enough?

The next statement tells us how.

Brethren, God finishes what he starts. Let's make sure that we are in the kingdom of God. Let us finish what we have started.