Finishing Well: Trusting Jesus Beyond Spiritual Experiences
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Bible Study Guide
Sermon Clips
We need to have a genuine a real fear of making a good start in the Christian Life, but failing to finish well. Not everybody who makes a good start finishes well in the end and we need to check we need to assess and we need to say Lord I want to be the kind of person that with you working in me I just don't start well but I finish well. [00:04:01]
Paul brings up the example of Old Testament Israel as God delivered them from their slavery in Egypt and set them on the pathway to the promised land of Canaan and in those years in the wilderness they had amazing spiritual experiences God showed up for them in a mighty and impressive way. [00:05:11]
Friends every morning Israel was fed by a miracle, now I know what we think, we often think if I had those kind of spiritual experiences, if I saw that pillar of cloud every day, if I walk through the Red Sea with the waters on either side, if I ate Manna miraculously provided by God every morning I would be so convinced of who God is and his power in my life that I would never ever sin again. [00:08:22]
You can have remarkable impressive spiritual experiences and still somehow fail to follow through with your walk with Jesus Christ past blessings past spiritual experiences don't make us safe so to speak, every day we need to put our trust in Jesus Christ who he is and what he did for us especially at the cross and in his resurrection we need to trust in that all over again. [00:09:46]
Friends you don't have to learn every personal lesson from your own failure an example do you know you can learn from other people's failures. You don't have to come to spiritual ruin to know it's a bad thing, you can see how it happened with Israel, you don't have to come to the place where you trust in experiences in the past rather than trusting in Jesus Christ today to know that that's what you need to do. [00:10:37]
The key to the Christian life is not found in trying harder it's found in trusting deeper trusting Jesus deeper. Now does God want us to be warned and to avoid all these things absolutely but the power to live that way does not come from my own self-will or looking to myself the power for those things comes from my living active relationship with Jesus Christ. [00:17:29]
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to Mankind and God is faithful he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear but when you are tempted he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. Friends we have these examples, God's given us these many examples of Israel in the wilderness as well as other examples and we need to learn from their failures. [00:19:28]
When Temptation knocks at the door and I send Jesus to answer the door Temptation runs off pray really quick, and so that's the whole key not in trying harder but entrusting deeper and this is all going to play out look at how Paul continues here in verse 11 he says that these things happen to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us. [00:19:59]
In My Own Strength the smallest Temptation might make me fall but in God's strength there is no temptation that I or you or any child of God is not able to Bear he will bear us up under those Temptations as we rely on him. So what do we do well again verse 13 when you're tempted he'll also provide a way out that you can endure it. [00:24:00]
As Believers in Jesus Christ the purpose of our life is not to see how much we can get away with and still be Christians, the purpose of our life is to say how can I bring glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and you should have a real fear of slipping into the place where really the focus of your life is how much can I get away with and still be a Christian. [00:33:56]
We need to help them bear those burdens, we need to care for one another, we need to live and act in such a way that we won't be an occasion of sin to anybody else, we also need to look how we can come alongside our Brothers and Sisters in Christ and pray for them and share with them a Word of Wisdom help them out because friends we all need each other in this battle against sin. [00:34:50]
We want to trust in you Jesus, in who you are and what you did for us especially at the cross and in your Resurrection, Lord as we daily do that as we learn how to trust deeper, we believe that you'll preserve us and that we will Lord you working in us will finish well, help us to heed your warnings and to finish in a way that glorifies you. [00:38:41]
Ask a question about this sermon
Paul brings up the example of Old Testament Israel as God delivered them from their slavery in Egypt and set them on the pathway to the promised land of Canaan and in those years in the wilderness they had amazing spiritual experiences God showed up for them in a mighty and impressive way. [00:05:11]
Friends every morning Israel was fed by a miracle, now I know what we think, we often think if I had those kind of spiritual experiences, if I saw that pillar of cloud every day, if I walk through the Red Sea with the waters on either side, if I ate Manna miraculously provided by God every morning I would be so convinced of who God is and his power in my life that I would never ever sin again. [00:08:22]
You can have remarkable impressive spiritual experiences and still somehow fail to follow through with your walk with Jesus Christ past blessings past spiritual experiences don't make us safe so to speak, every day we need to put our trust in Jesus Christ who he is and what he did for us especially at the cross and in his resurrection we need to trust in that all over again. [00:09:46]
Friends you don't have to learn every personal lesson from your own failure an example do you know you can learn from other people's failures. You don't have to come to spiritual ruin to know it's a bad thing, you can see how it happened with Israel, you don't have to come to the place where you trust in experiences in the past rather than trusting in Jesus Christ today to know that that's what you need to do. [00:10:37]
The key to the Christian life is not found in trying harder it's found in trusting deeper trusting Jesus deeper. Now does God want us to be warned and to avoid all these things absolutely but the power to live that way does not come from my own self-will or looking to myself the power for those things comes from my living active relationship with Jesus Christ. [00:17:29]
No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to Mankind and God is faithful he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear but when you are tempted he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. Friends we have these examples, God's given us these many examples of Israel in the wilderness as well as other examples and we need to learn from their failures. [00:19:28]
When Temptation knocks at the door and I send Jesus to answer the door Temptation runs off pray really quick, and so that's the whole key not in trying harder but entrusting deeper and this is all going to play out look at how Paul continues here in verse 11 he says that these things happen to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us. [00:19:59]
In My Own Strength the smallest Temptation might make me fall but in God's strength there is no temptation that I or you or any child of God is not able to Bear he will bear us up under those Temptations as we rely on him. So what do we do well again verse 13 when you're tempted he'll also provide a way out that you can endure it. [00:24:00]
As Believers in Jesus Christ the purpose of our life is not to see how much we can get away with and still be Christians, the purpose of our life is to say how can I bring glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and you should have a real fear of slipping into the place where really the focus of your life is how much can I get away with and still be a Christian. [00:33:56]
We need to help them bear those burdens, we need to care for one another, we need to live and act in such a way that we won't be an occasion of sin to anybody else, we also need to look how we can come alongside our Brothers and Sisters in Christ and pray for them and share with them a Word of Wisdom help them out because friends we all need each other in this battle against sin. [00:34:50]
We want to trust in you Jesus, in who you are and what you did for us especially at the cross and in your Resurrection, Lord as we daily do that as we learn how to trust deeper, we believe that you'll preserve us and that we will Lord you working in us will finish well, help us to heed your warnings and to finish in a way that glorifies you. [00:38:41]
Chatbot
-
I'm an AI bot trained specifically on the sermon from Aug 13, 2023. Do you have any questions about it?