Finishing the Race 4

well it's starting to feel a little bit
like a marathon but we are moving along
finishing the race parked for this
morning reading again Acts chapter 20
the verses 22 and 24 Paul is on his
third missionary journey he's on his way
to Jerusalem where trials and suffering
await him
let's read those couple of verses one
more time this morning verse 22 and now
compelled by this spirit I'm going to
Jerusalem not knowing what will happen
to me there I only know that in every
city the Holy Spirit warns me that
prison and hardships are facing me
however I consider my life worth nothing
to me
if only I may finish the race and
complete the task the Lord Jesus has
given me the task of testifying to the
gospel of God's grace I consider my life
worth nothing to me
if only I may finish the race and
complete the task let's pray together
father again were grateful for your word
are grateful for the Ministry of the
Apostle Paul grateful that he valued
your purposes over his own security and
comfort and Lord as we begin to look
this morning at what that might look
like in terms of our own lives we pray
that you will make us so passionately in
love with you and with your purposes
that come hell or high water we want to
be faithful and obedient even to the end
knowing that in the Lord you will grant
us the victory and the kingdom
and the power and the glory so Lord
wherever we find ourselves in life's
journey help us to hear you help us to
lay hold of your grace what we fall down
help us to get back up and help us to
keep running until we stand before you
in that final day and receive the
ultimate prize of the upward call of God
in Christ Jesus so bless me this morning
give me the words that I need and all of
us Lord hearts and minds spirits to
receive what it is that you say to the
church and may this church by your grace
fulfill its destiny and be a redemptive
community a biblically functioning
community to which the redemptive
purposes of God may be made known to the
world we pray it in Jesus name Amen well
so far in our reflections on Paul's
speech to the Ephesian elders here in
Acts chapter 20 we have considered two
of three elements that I believe are
worthy of our note the first one that we
looked at is the fact that Paul was led
by the Holy Spirit to head towards
Jerusalem verse 22 Paul speaking he says
compelled by the Spirit I'm going to
Jerusalem not knowing now what will
happen to me there and we saw together
that under the terms of the New Covenant
God directs his people not only through
the written word which would be the law
of Moses not only through the words of
others which would be the prophetic word
but also through the indwelling Holy
Spirit whom God has given to those who
are his children
Paul says Romans chapter 8
verse 14 all who are led by the spirit
are the sons of God second thing that we
have considered together points to
ponder is that Paul wanted to finish
well verse 24 I consider my life worth
nothing to me
if only I may finish the race and
complete the task the Lord Jesus has
given me the task of testifying to the
gospel of God's grace to finish the race
to complete the task for Paul meant
leaving out his life faithfully before
God completing the job that God had
given him to do which was proclaiming
the gospel to the Gentiles and to do
that despite the opposition or the
obstacles or the difficulties that he
experienced and that brings us then this
morning to still a third point to ponder
in this particular passage and that is
this Paul did not care what the cost
would be to him personally he didn't
care how much obedience to God would
cost him listen again to verse 24 I
consider my life worth nothing to me if
only I may finish the race and complete
the task the Lord Jesus has given me the
task of testifying to the gospel of
God's grace even though Paul did not
have a very clear idea of what awaited
him in Jerusalem we do know that he was
aware that prison and hardships awaited
him every place along the way the Holy
Spirit bore witness to him
that this is what's going to happen and
though all his friends were saying Paul
this is the Holy Spirit telling you do
not go to Jerusalem we don't want you
walking into any traps we don't want you
to get hurt
Paul says I don't care what anybody says
I believe the Lord wants me to go to
Jerusalem and even if it costs me my
life I want to be obedient to God and as
you can imagine there is a powerful
spiritual lesson there for all of us
because if we want to finish well if we
want to come to the end of life's
journey and hear the words well done
good and faithful servant if we want to
be able to say to the Lord here is the
task that you have given me and I have
completed it then you and I need to
overcome whatever the obstacles there
are that will keep us from completing
the race the Apostle Paul writing to the
Galatians says let us not become weary
in doing good for at the proper time we
will reap a harvest if we do not give up
and the writer to the Hebrews he says
don't throw away your confidence it will
be richly rewarded you need to persevere
so that when you have done the will of
God you will receive what he has
promised for in just a little while he
was coming will not he who is coming
will come and will not delay but my
righteous one will live by faith and if
he shrinks back I will not be pleased
with him but we are not of those who
shrink back and are destroyed but of
those who believe and are saved as I've
often said the road to the holy city
Zion is littered with the carcasses of
those who have started on the journey
but somewhere along the line they ran
out of steam the pain became too great
they threw in the towel and they were
not able to complete the journey or to
complete the task God is looking for
people who like the Apostle Paul don't
care what the price is that they have to
pay they will push through every
obstacle so that they can receive the
promised inheritance and the promised
reward in the time that we have this
morning I want to introduce you to to
the three common elements the three
common obstacles that you and I will
surely face in our journey we need to be
able to identify those not only but then
later on Lord willing we will look at
how God in Christ has made the provision
so that like the Apostle Paul we can
push through to the end and we could
receive the promised inheritance that
God has for us all the obstacles that we
encounter in the Christian life and
Christian ministry can always be reduced
to the triad of the three traditional
enemies that God's people face they are
the devil the world and the flesh each
one of these can trip us up all together
they can be a severe undoing of the
Christian life so let me begin this
morning then by talking about the one
that is most closest to home and that
would be what the Bible calls the flesh
now the word flesh in the Bible is used
in a number of different ways it is used
sometimes to describe the fleshly part
of our body
we talked about flesh wounds as opposed
to bone or structure it's also used in
the Bible to describe the whole human
race as in in in the quotation from Joel
on the day of Pentecost I will pour out
my spirit upon all flesh meaning all
people men and women boys and girls
slave and free but in the New Testament
particularly in Paul's writings the word
flesh is most commonly used to describe
our sinful self for our sinful condition
sinful human nature if you will and the
Bible tells us that when God first
created the human race and placed Adam
and Eve in the Garden he created them in
New Testament language with perfect
knowledge righteousness and holiness
that is to say spiritually they were
connected to God the Father they had a
relationship psychologically they were
capable of loving God and loving their
neighbor and physically their bodies
were yielded to the authority of God so
that they were his agents of of doing
his work his kingdom if you will on the
earth along came the serpent you know
this story they were deceived they broke
off their relationship with God and they
fell into sin from that day to this
every last one of us is born into the
world with what the Bible calls a sinful
human nature spiritually we're
disconnected from God psychologically
and emotionally we're more enamored with
ourselves and our own security than we
are with the well-being of God and the
well-being of other people and physical
instead of us ruling our body the lusts
the passions the desires of her body
typically rule us and so for that reason
we are incapable of doing the will of
God listen to how Paul puts it in Romans
chapter 8 the verses seven and eight the
mind that is set on the flesh is hostile
to God it does not submit to God's law
indeed it cannot and those who are in
the flesh cannot please God understand
what he is saying every baby born into
the world apart from the saving grace of
Jesus Christ is described as being in
the flesh alienated from God I'm able to
truly love and incapable of being fully
obedient to the will of God so don't
ever be surprised when in your life you
find it hard to love God hard to obey
Him hard to do his will don't ever be
surprised that rebellion that rises up
inside you against the will of God
because that is the most natural thing
in all of the world we are conceived and
born in sin theologically that's known
in reform circles as thick as the
doctrine of total depravity and total
depravity doesn't mean that we're all as
bad as we could possibly be it just
means that there is no part of our being
that has not been corrupted by sin and
therefore in our journey of running the
race before God outside of and apart
from Jesus guess who
is your number one enemy it is you it is
your own flash your flesh will not
submit to God it doesn't want to submit
to God it needs the saving power of
Jesus that's why we talked about the
need to be born again you can go to
church all your life you can read your
Bible all your life he can make a
thousand new year's resolutions to
become a good godly and only person you
will never succeed unless you truly are
born again by the Spirit of Jesus even
the Apostle Paul now he was a pretty
good dude wouldn't you say I know a lot
of people don't like him but you know
they think he was bossy and but he loved
God remember what he says about himself
in his own journey in Romans chapter
seven these are very familiar words I
know that nothing good lives in me that
is in my sinful nature for I have the
desire to do it as good but I cannot
carry it out for what I do is not the
good I want to do the evil I do not want
to do this I keep on doing that's Paul
that's Paul Paul knew that apart from
the saving grace of Jesus he could not
do what God wanted him to do which is
why he goes on a little bit later in
that same same passage the same verse 24
and 25 of Romans chapter 7 what our
wretched man I am who will rescue me
from this body of death
thanks be to God through Jesus Christ
our Lord now understand that in Christ
were more than conquerors and the Jesus
through our rebirth enables us to put to
death the
so that we can live by the spirit that's
the whole Christian message but that
having been sad we still need to be very
careful about not catering to the flesh
and giving into it because at any moment
our sinful flesh our own rebellious
nough Seguin scored our alienation from
him can pop up and cause us to fail
that's why Paul says concerning himself
in 1 Corinthians 9:27 I beat my body and
make it my slave so that after I have
preached to others i myself will not be
disqualified for the prize see the flesh
surfaces in feelings of inadequacy like
God I can do this the flesh services and
feelings of I'm not being treated fairly
I'm mad at you God the flesh surfaces in
paitent and outright rebellion that says
God you have no business trying to tell
me what to do when you're not even
giving me the help how to do it and
there's the one of us here on the road
of discipleship who won't here in their
encounter that the greatest sabotage to
live in the Christian life lives inside
ourselves isn't that true I mean isn't
it true that sometimes you just want to
be mad at God isn't it true that
sometimes you think he's just treating
you unfairly and isn't it true that
sometimes you just stubbornly set out to
do what you want to do even though you
know God doesn't want you to do it
because you want what you want and you
I mean remember my car in college right
I said I needed Lord said no you don't I
said I'm gonna get it Lord said no you
won't
it was flesh versus spirit I did tell
you how I died I didn't tell you how I
how that story ended some of you know it
I finally had to say Lord you're the
boss and you know I'm not gonna win this
one so I'll yield to you
roll the clock forward next summer I had
to go on a summer assignment to
Fredericton New Brunswick and I remember
I wanted the car to find my girl
remember that that was that was the the
motivation behind it so I go to
Fredericton New Brunswick on my first
summer assignment and I knew that I
would need a vehicle and my family back
in PEI by this time had a car available
that they gave to me for that summer and
for the year following well if you
remember the story of how I met Michelle
she was on a summer workshop in
ministry's team of girls that came to
work with us in Fredericton she came off
the plane and I said there's my wife and
that's exactly how it happened I got my
car and my wife and the Lord provided
and I didn't have to do that's how it
went
so the flesh is the first obstacle that
you will encounter you'll get tired of
running the race you get tired of doing
what God wants you to do and you want to
cater to the flesh and you want to say I
just want to feel good for a while goes
on we not only fight the flesh but we
fight the world and again the word world
is used in different ways in Scripture
and it's very important to keep these
distinctions straight because otherwise
you really get confused on the one hand
the word world
describes the planet the whole earth if
you will it's also used to describe the
nations of the world but in the New
Testament particularly in John's
writings it is used to describe the
system of organized humanity that is at
odds with God and the purposes of God
and when John says do not love the world
or the things of the world that would
that's what he's talking about do not
love the mass of humanity that hates God
that is organized in rebellion against
God and that does not want to do the
will of God and so even if we push
through our own resistance to obedience
pleading for God's grace and mercy to
overcome the flash there's not only the
flesh that we contend with there's also
the world that is to say people around
us who have a vested interest in keeping
us from moving forward with God and if
Paul struggled with his own flash in
being obedient to God and had to pummel
it into obedience and Submission he had
huge opposition as you will recall from
other people particularly
the religious Jews listen to what he
says earlier on in his speech to the
Ephesian elders verse 19 of this chapter
he said I serve the Lord with great
humility and with tears although I was
severely tested by the plots of the
years and if you know his history up to
this of the history beyond this you'll
know that wherever Paul went preaching
the gospel he was followed by Jews who
who took a dislike to his message of
grace and who tried to make his life
impossible and as the passage goes on
beyond Acts chapter 20 as he gets to
Jerusalem guess what happens he's barely
in Jerusalem when the Jews that have
followed him around raise a ruckus
create a citywide riot because they
think he has come into the temple and he
has bought unclean Jews into the temple
which wasn't true at all and as a result
he gets arrested by the Roman soldiers
and that starts his journey towards
imprisonment and trial and eventually
leads him to appealing to the Roman
Emperor and and stating his case there
and the trials and the difficulties that
he talks about were very much the result
of his enemies who did everything they
could to kill him when you read those
stories she asked yourself why in the
world were they so vehement and why does
the world hate the church so much if you
learn nothing else for me in my years of
ministry with you here please learn this
and learn it well why does the world
hate you
why do Christians get persecuted why do
the nation's rage against the Lord and
His anointed it's all
up in how you receive the inheritance
that God has for his people let me try
to explain it to you this way Ephesians
2:8 9 it is by grace you have been saved
through faith and this is not from
yourselves it is the gift of God not by
works so that no one can boast you're
familiar with the story of salvation how
God created us in relationship with him
we loved him and we loved each other
life was paradise we sinned against God
came under Satan's authority we live in
a fallen world and if you don't believe
that we live in a fallen world just
listen to the news a few times and
you'll get an idea of how nasty the
world can get so the big cry of humanity
for generations and generations and
centuries has been how do we get back to
Paradise Lost and this is where the
world's version and the biblical version
are totally at odds with each other the
biblical version says you have brought
this on yourself by sinning against God
putting yourself under Satan's authority
and the way back is to own your sin
return to God have your sins forgiven be
restore to human relationship and trust
him to be your Redeemer that's the
message of the Bible a message that
comes to completion in the person of
Jesus Christ dies on the cross overcomes
death and hell sits at the right hand of
God the Father pours out his holy spirit
so that when by faith we are joined to
Jesus we become the children of God
God becomes our Father he grants us
grace which means he blesses us he
brings us into our inheritance our place
in the world in the year and
now and he guarantees that in Christ we
are co-heirs and heirs of God in the age
that is to come you've heard it many
many times don't ever forget it because
that's the heart of the message how does
the world 1 Paradise Regained how does
the world want to fix things up is it
Jesus no he is the stone by the builders
rejected as he not mention the name of
Jesus and everybody especially in
Western culture today has it is he fed
because we don't want to be a religious
god forbid you'd never know that how
often they take his name in vain but
that's another thing how does the world
solve its problems
well can't call on God because we don't
trust him and we don't know him so we
have to find the resources in here to
try to get back over there and
fundamentally whether it's democracy or
education or science and technology or
sociology or all the clever inventions
of humankind that will ease our pain and
bring us back into the kingdom the
bottom line is always this it depends on
me and so in the world who gets the
Americans people who are smart people
who are strong people who are gifted
people who run the race we admire human
strength and ability and there's nothing
wrong with that if it gives glory to God
but it's always done without God's glory
so here you have a situation where God
says you're saved by grace through faith
it is the the least and the lost and the
least to whom I give my blessing and the
world says why should you get the
blessing when I'm the one who most
deserves it and as you know the clearest
example of that just to really nail that
down is of course the story of the
relationship between the part
son in Luke chapter 15 and the elder
brother from the elder brothers
perspective the return of his prodigal
son and the party that he gets and the
fact that he gets the father's blessing
is totally unjust and unfair is that not
true he hates it why because he's been
there all along he has worked hard and
he's never had the party that he is
longed for and there you have in a
microcosm the difference between those
who live by grace I don't deserve it and
those who think they deserve it and so
whenever the gospel comes and whenever
God is at work among his people and he
saves the last and the lost in the least
and he blesses them those who are not in
relationship with him are offended they
feel and injustice is done they feel
jealous and they feel resentful and
ultimately they become angry to the
point where they want to kill because it
is Satan's anger against God for not
allowing Satan to have the kingdom when
he thought he deserved it and so the
spirit of qiyan is always a spirit of
rejection and it's always a spirit that
wants to kill am I making any sense here
let me put it this way to the degree to
which you follow Jesus and live by grace
and thus experience the favor and the
blessing of God on your life and to the
degree to which the people around you
live by the values of the world do not
receive the favor and the blessing of
God
in the same way that that degree they're
going to hate you and it doesn't matter
how nice the person you are it doesn't
matter because there is a spirit behind
it which comes from Hell itself Jesus
put it this way in John chapter 15 the
verses 18 to 21 he says if the world
hates you keep in mind that it hated me
first if you belong to the world it
would love you as its own as it is you
do not belong to the world but I have
chosen you out of the world that is why
the world hates you remember the words I
spoke to you no servant is greater than
his master if they persecuted me they
will persecute you also if they obeyed
my teaching they will obey yours also
they will treat you this way because of
my name for they do not know the one who
sent me and to the degree our Western
culture is rejecting biblical values to
that degree their anger and their
resentment towards the God's people is
increasing and out of that comes the
kind of persecution that put Jesus on
the cross and that has caused great harm
to the Apostle Paul by the Jews who
prided themselves in keeping the law and
so see if you spent your whole lifetime
keeping the law and thinking that you're
better than the Gentiles and now along
comes this apostle and all these dirty
people come into the kingdom and they
don't have to become as good and clean
as you are that would make you mad too
wouldn't it not fair
grace is never fair because you know
what fair is fair is going to hell
because of all our sin grace says you
don't have to go there
because Jesus took the penalty for you
that's the gospel don't be surprised if
there are people in your life who just
don't like you for no other reason then
that you follow Jesus doesn't mean you
have to go and tagging eyes at them
doesn't mean you have to bring it on
yourself I've often talked about that
but there was nobody better than Jesus
and there was nobody they hated more
because his very presence was a
condemnation of everything they stood
for and everything they valued so
there's the flesh there's the world and
then of course there is the devil
himself Peter talks about him 1 Peter
5:8 your enemy the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion looking for someone
to devour
Paul in Ephesians six classic passage
and spiritual warfare our struggle is
not against flesh and blood but against
the rulers against the authorities
against the powers of this dark world
and against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms Satan is not just
the figment of somebody's imagination
he's just he's not just the collective
awareness of the dark side of the human
race
he is from all appearances in Scripture
a fallen angel who was created as one of
the most powerful of all angels mounted
a palace rebellion against God got cast
out of heaven and hates God passionately
and hates the purposes of God
passionately and if God wants a people
with whom he can have a love
relationship and a people who will do
his will and who will manifest his
character among themselves in his in
their relationships with each other then
Satan wants to do nothing more than to
destroy
life he is passionate about his hatred
and he is resentful and ruthless in
trying to make sure that God does not
build his kingdom and he tries to get
hold of you and me bring us under his
power so that would we can do what he
wants us to do and just really very
quickly he does that in four ways for
our purposes this morning I talked about
this a lot more detail in I believe
chapter 21 of my new book when trouble
strikes handling the losses in your life
but Satan can just go barging into your
life he cannot just go barging into your
world and make you do his thing he's got
to win your approval the gate has to be
opened wide how does he do that one way
in which he does it is deception Paul
writing to the Corinthians second
Corinthians 11:3 but I am afraid that as
Eve was deceived by the Serpent's
cunning your minds may somehow be led
astray from your sincere and pure
devotion to Christ to be deceived as to
be lied to Satan is the great deceiver
and he deceives people about God he
deceives people about themselves he
deceives people about heaven and hell in
eternity and you can see how incredibly
successfully is because you go to the
average North American funeral it
doesn't matter how that person has lived
what he believed or what he practiced
everybody still thinks he's gonna go to
heaven isn't that true that's deception
it's not so only those who are in Christ
are going to be saved
temptation he's not only known as the
deceiver but he also tries to lure us in
to sin I was afraid that in some way
Paul says to the Thessalonians that
emptor might have tempted you and our
efforts might have been used useless to
gain access and again I talked about
this in my book about Satan using bait
to snare God's people he tries to find
what you're hungry for and then he
offers that to you whether that be Fame
or whether that be money or whether that
be a happy life for a good life he
dangles the bait out there he looks like
he's going to supply your need and you
take the bait and you discover it's got
a hook in it because he wants to kill
you that's what he did with Adam and Eve
as God said you shall not eat from any
of the trees of the garden no that's not
what God said at all the implication is
God is holding out on you God doesn't
want you to be like him so here's an
opportunity to have your cake and eat it
too you can have the blessings of
paradise and still be independent you
don't have to submit to God or listen to
his authority you can live your own way
well doesn't that appeal to every human
being you ask any kid can I do what I
want to do you before you know it we're
snared and the result is destruction and
disaster then there's accusation the
book of Revelation 12:10 the accuser of
our brothers who accuses them before our
God day and night has been hurled down
the accuser of our brethren I believe
Satan accuses us at two levels he
accuses us before God every time your
subject and my subject comes up before
God the Father the devil would like to
stay there stand there and he would say
well let I often think of him as a
product or in the court he loves to
remind the judge
all the charges that are against you
because he wants to appeal to the
Justice of God that God can't have the
likes of you and me around him because
we we would spoil his holiness because
the devil is really interested in the
holiness of God if you can imagine see
but he appeals to the holiness of God
the holiness of the angels and the
sinfulness of our condition to say that
we're not worthy to be there good thing
we have an advocate somebody who stands
up to scuse me judge let me tell you I
died for that dude or that dude deaths
and and Satan can't have him and you've
got to let him in because I love him not
only that not only accusing us before
God but he accuses us das have you ever
noticed first attempt you into seeing
gets you to do things that you ought not
to be doing then he'll turn around and
say aha see what kind of Christian do
you think you are do you think God could
ever love you do you think you could
ever have a plan or a purpose in God's
life how do you even dare go to church
lift your head because you are just a
foolish jerk and nothing good will ever
come out here ever hear those words
accusation accusation the accuser of our
brethren has been thrown down one final
one just very quickly and then we'll
wind up this morning
not one that we think of very often but
he's also the agent of destruction
listen to this word verse in Revelation
9:11 talking about the nations of the
world they had as king over them the
Angel of the abyss whose name in Hebrew
is abandoned Abaddon and in Greek is
apollyon and the translation of apollyon
is destroyer Satan is the ultimate
destroyer if God is the ultimate creator
Satan is the ultimate destroyer
he was the Jesus a murderer from the
beginning not holding to the truth for
there is no truth in him when he lies he
speaks his native language for he is a
liar and the father of lies and if God
is pro-life and if God wants to create
life and if God wants to create order
out of chaos and if God wants people to
flourish and to be happy and to receive
the kingdom then Satan wants to do the
opposite and if you ever want to see
what that looks like when it gets full
rein in full power then look at the
nations of the world when evil dictators
take over I've been watching a Netflix
series just the last little while called
world war two in color
I don't know video you've seen it it's a
colorized version of war footage from
the war with a narrative overlay
fascinating but horrifying because war
is a terrible thing and when you see the
violence that is perpetrated the number
of Jews they herded into the gas
chambers and and all that kind of stuff
Stalin doing what he did to the Ukraine
millions upon millions of people
deliberately starved to death you get a
picture of what evil looks like and
that's the evil that is arrayed against
you and me and as I said earlier any one
of those three the flesh the world and
the devil alone is enough to wipe us out
together
humanly speaking insurmountable who in
the world can run the race and remain
faithful and of course the answer is
Jesus and next time when we come back to
this we'll look at that in more detail
how he is the author in the Pioneer the
the author and the finisher of our faith
has made full provision full provision
that we can run the race complete the
task and receive the inheritance and
preparation for that three things of
what he chose to ponder look at your own
life and ask yourself the question where
is my flesh my greatest hindrance what
is there in me body mind or spirit that
makes it so hard for me to love God
above all of my neighbor as myself it'll
be different for each one of us but
there will be similarities secondly ask
yourself the question who is there in my
life in my relationships in the world
around me who keeps me from going all
out with Jesus
Who am I afraid to displease and the
number three where do you encounter
Satan's opposition the most clearly is
it in deception is it in temptation is
it an accusation is it in destruction do
you feel that he's trying to pull the
rug out from underneath you and make a
mess of your life and then when we get
back together let's celebrate the
victory of Jesus in who we are more than
conquerors and God's people agreed and
said amen and amen let's stand for
Thank You Father that Paul when he gets
to the end of his life he's able to say
I have fought the good fight I have run
the race I've completed my journey there
is laid up for me the crown of
righteousness and thank you that history
is filled with men women boys and girls
so when push came to shove overcame the
flesh overcame the world and overcame
the devil
not because they were giants not because
they were good righteous are holy in and
of themselves but because they knew they
weren't and they knew they needed Jesus
and they clung to him with everything
they had oh lord help us to do the same
and help us to run with perseverance the
race that is led before us knowing that
the author and the finisher of our faith
received the inheritance and wants to
share it with each of his children for
God's glory thank you for hearing us we
you