Ending Well
“A good start need a better ending, and a good ending gives to us a better start.”
This thought came as I was contemplating todays and next week’s messages. And to today, as we’re ending 2015, I’d like to talk to you about ending well. And then next week I’d like to share with you about having a strong beginning as we look at Joshua and their preparation to cross the Jordan River and enter into the Promised Land.
We’re far too often consumed with what has happened in the past, so much so that we make adjustments to our present to compensate, but we never considering what these actions may bring in the future.
Will these actions end up producing godly fruit where in the end we’ll hear, “Well done good and faithful servant,” Matthew 25:23.
Ending well should then be our main objective, our primary goal, and be our top priority. And to accomplish this all our decisions and actions should be directed toward this singular goal of hearing these words from Jesus when our lives have ended and we enter into eternal life.
Today’s message, “Ending Well,” may be viewed by some as focusing upon our past, but it isn’t; rather it’s focusing on our future so we live our lives in such a way that we can end well.
I’d like to take a look at the ending of three people who ended well. These three are King David, and Apostle Paul, and Jesus. I’d like to look at what the Lord says is a good ending.
So let’s begin our study looking first at King David, and the reason His life ended well is because He served God by …
1. Serving Others
The testimony of the Holy Spirit concerning David’s ending says,
“For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell asleep.” (Acts 13:36 NKJV)
Among all of David’s qualities, beyond being a king and soldier, David was a servant. He grew up serving his father and his family. He served King Saul when Saul both loved and hated him. He served the nation of Israel, and he served God all of his life.
When we look at the life of King David, however, it’s his beginnings that we pay the most attention to, like his many victories, like his victory over the giant Goliath, or we pay attention to his many sins, like his adulterous affair with Bathsheba. But little if any attention is given to his end, and mainly because there’s not much that’s written about it.
But what the Holy Spirit said in Acts speaks volumes. David wasn’t perfect; in fact he as far from it, but the Bible says that he was God’s man.
“I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.” (Acts 13:22 NKJV)
David was a man after God’s own heart, because He served God’s purposes by serving others.
I’ve always liked what Chuck Smith, who founded the Calvary Chapel movement, said concerning our service to others. He said, “When you minister to others, God will minister unto you even more so.”
To end well we must serve God by serving others, by serving this present generation.
Hopefully for those of you who have been here for some time, our mission statement has made it’s way into your heart as well, because it’s got this first step written all over it.
“Our mission is to make a difference in our community for Jesus Christ, and to meet life’s difficult challenges with real life solutions.”
David was a servant of the living God.
And so what are we living for? Are we living to serve our own goals or God’s purposes? Do we think we’re here to please ourselves, or are we here to serve God by serving others?
So we need to ask ourselves how can we serve our family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, or those we don’t even know? How can we serve this present generation.
And so we end well by serving God by serving others.
2. Keeping the Faith
In 2003, the Ohio State Buckeyes faced the Miami Hurricanes in the Fiesta Bowl. Right before the game, Ohio State’s coach, Jim Tressel, asked his players one question. “How do you want to be remembered?”
They answered that question because when the game was over, Ohio State had pulled of the greatest upsets in college football history by defeating the Miami Hurricanes and winning the national championship.
Paul answered this question about ending well from a Roman prison cell, and he did so with the knowledge that he could be put to death at any time. And so he wrote his own epitaph with these words.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8a NIV)
By faith we must believe in and follow God’s path, God’s plans and purposes for our lives. We must fight the good fight and run and finish the race that God has set before us, not so much by actions and deeds, but by faith.
We must not allow the problems of this life to dictate our actions; otherwise we won’t have as good as ending as what God has in store.
How can we live a life of faith and end as well as Paul?
First it comes with a disciplined life. Paul said, “I have fought the good fight.”
Paul continued towards that finish line even with everything he went through, which included trouble, distress, tribulation, trials, and hardships beyond what we could even imagine, and he did so, according to his own words, with much patience.
Next it comes with living a directional life. “I have finished the race.”
Paul followed the course laid out for Him by God. Whether in good times or bad times, happy or sad, with pain and suffering, Paul set his sights toward the goal, that is, the high calling of Jesus Christ, and he was always heading towards the finish.
And finally Paul said he kept the faith, that is, he believed and didn’t let the doubts sway or dissuade him from his course. He didn’t back down, he did not compromise, and he wouldn’t preach what people wanted to hear; rather he taught God’s word and shared the gospel message of Jesus Christ.
And so David’s end reveals our need to serve others. Paul’s end shows us that we need to also keep the faith. But there’s one more ending that ties it all together, and that’s Jesus.
3. Fulfilling God’s Will
Jesus, from His birth to His death fulfilled the Father’s will, and this is exactly what we see at His ending. Even in the agony of knowing what lay before Him, how he would be scourged and crucified, but even more agonizing was knowing that for the first time before time even began He would be separated from the Father because of our sins, yet He prayed.
“O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39 NKJV)
Through the leading of the Holy Spirit, David was speaking the heart of the Messiah saying,
“Behold, I come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart.” (Psalm 40:7 NKJV)
And there upon the cross Jesus finished well as He said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing,” and, “Father, into your hands I commit My spirit,” Luke 23:34, 46.
Jesus finished well because He fulfilled His Father’s will. What then is God’s revealed will for you and me, for all of us so that we can finish well? What is God’s will so we can fulfill it?
a. The Great Commandment
Jesus said,
“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39 NKJV)
God created us to have a love relationship with us, and His love for us knows no bounds.
Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 NKJV)
And God wants that same sort of love from us, that is, He wants us to love Him just as unconditionally, to love Him with the whole of our being, just as He loved us by sending His Son to die for us. But how can we show Him this sort of love?
I mean we can’t go up to God and give Him a big old bear hug, but we can give others that big old bear hug. This is what Jesus meant by adding a second command that He said was “like” the first. In other words, we show our love for God by loving others. It’s by loving our neighbors as ourselves.
b. The Great Commission
Jesus also said,
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV)
God not only created us to have this wonderful love relationship with Him, but He also created us with a purpose in mind, and that is to get this same message of His love to as many people as we can, especially to our family and friends.
To fulfill God’s will, to end well, we need to be those sold out witnesses for Jesus Christ, not only in what we say, but in how we live out our lives before others.
There’s a statement that seems to sum up this whole idea, is that the only Bible some people are ever going to read are you and me. Knowing that, what are they reading in our lives, and is it showing them God’s love and forgiveness?
Conclusion
And so the best ending we can have is to hear in our future these words of Jesus, ““Well done good and faithful servant,” Matthew 25:23.
But to hear these words it begins with our faith.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV)
The Apostle Paul then goes on to says that we are God’s workmanship, that we have been created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before time that we should walk in them, Ephesians 2:10.
And so let’s take that walk of faith today as we prepare for this New Year and an ending that is well in the sight of God.
• Let’s begin by serving this present generation by making a difference in our community for Jesus Christ.
• Then let’s by faith fulfill God’s word and will for our lives by faithfully loving Him and others, and then going out and sharing this good news to everyone we meet.
So the question becomes, what kind of legacy do I want to leave behind. In other words, “What would I like on my tombstone.” “How do I want to be remembered?”
• Will it be like King David that says I fulfill my purpose for this generation I went home to be with Jesus?
• Will it say that I loved God with my whole heart, and loved others with that same love?
How we end is then determine by how we use what God has so gracious given to us now.
In His parable of the talents, those that wisely invested what God has given to them are given not only the same back when they meet their master, but more. But for those who hide what God has given, Jesus said that when the master returns He will take what they have, give it to those who have been faithful, and then toss these unfaithful servants into the fire where there’s weeping, wailing, and a gnashing of teeth.
And so let’s end well by beginning strong, which is what we’ll look at next week in our time together.
