Work While It Is Still Day | John 9:4-5

If you would, at this time, take your copy of the Scriptures and turn to the

Gospel of John, chapter 9. The Gospel of John, chapter 9.

We will consider verses 4 and 5. Let me open this up in prayer.

Oh God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Lord, we acknowledge that you are the creator of all things and that you hold all things together.

Lord, we look to you for our source of comfort, rescue, provider, protector.

Lord, as Christians, you are everything to us.

And God, we know that we fail you. It is apparent in our life.

God, we pray that you will allow us to look to Christ in our failure, that you will remind us that you will send someone to us, that you will cause us to open your word for us to see our need to look to Christ and not to focus on our own past mistakes.

Lord, please, in Jesus' name, feed your people today through the preaching of your word.

Amen. Let's begin with the text,

John, chapter 9, verse 4 and verse 5. This is one that we've already expositioned, and I'll make clear the point of this momentarily.

Verse 4, we must work the works of him who sent me while it is day.

Night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world,

I am the light of the world. For this

Lord's day, our theme is work while it is still day. Work while it is still day.

And my proposition is this. You and I, as Christians, are called to work the works of God, work the works that God has prepared for us while it is still day.

All of us who are Christians have been given certain gifts, certain works that we are to carry out by God, certain works that God has given to us that we are to carry out.

And these certain works that we are given in this race, we are to finish while it is still day.

Now, in our outline, we're going to see application on how this pertains to us.

As mentioned, we've already went through this expositionally and we saw the historical context of what this means, and we will revisit that for a moment.

But I want to draw from this to see how it applies to us, how it pertains to us.

We're going to look at the work, the race and the finish. So point number one, the work, point number two, the race and point number three, the finish.

And as we transition, you may have noticed this week has been somewhat tough for me and my family.

It took me to this morning to get this sermon done. I didn't have a whole lot of time to prepare as normal, which is one of the reasons why we're not continuing in the exposition.

I didn't have enough time to study historical context this week.

So I pray that you will be gracious with me today as I present to you what I have.

Death has revealed itself to us in an ugly way. And for those of you that don't know, my sister,

Elijah's mother, passed away after being struck by a car.

And in that, I was able to think a lot about death. The death of my sister, as well as my own death that will eventually come.

So before we move forward in the exposition, I want us to look back at this, these two verses, verses four and five of chapter nine and draw application from it, as well as other dear, precious scriptures.

So point number one, the work, let's look at those two verses again, verses four and five of John chapter nine,

Jesus speaking, Jesus has. And his disciples are passing by, they see a man who was blind from birth, his disciples are wondering whose sin caused this man to be blind, was it his sins or the sins of his mother?

And Jesus makes it clear that this man was born blind for the purpose.

To give glory to God in the healing. And that's not reading it word for word, just the just.

Verse four, we must, Jesus speaking, work the works of him who sent me while it is day night is coming when no one can work as long as I am in the world,

I am the light of the world. So let's begin with what we know about this text right here, where it says day, we must work the works of him who sent me while it is day.

This is speaking about the three and a half year ministry of Jesus. A lot of times in scriptures, you cannot take everything as like harsh, harsh, literal.

Right. So especially when you get into the book of Revelation, right, you have a bunch of different numbers given and you can't take these numbers strictly literal, just like here this this day, you cannot take this day literal in my interpretation that this is speaking about a three and a half year period, the three and a half years from from Jesus's baptism to Jesus's death.

And this is where night comes in, night is coming, speaking of his death, when no one can work, when

Jesus was taken by the guards, his his disciples scattered, they left, they they ran away, they they cowered off, they didn't have the

Holy Spirit that gave them power. They ran.

They hid, night is coming when no one can do work, and thanks to these four gospels that the

Lord has graciously given to us in the Bible, we know the work that they were supposed to do.

We know the work of Christ and we know the work of the disciples. The disciples were to follow

Jesus, listen and obey Jesus. They were to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast, cleanse the leopards and cast out demons.

Right. These are some of the things that some churches think that they can do these days. Right. Of course, they need to follow

Jesus. They need to listen to Jesus. But we are not the apostles. We do not have the ability to heal people.

Yes, we are to pray the prayer of faith. The book of James tells us that is anyone sick?

Let him call the elders. He will anoint with oil. That freaks

Pastor Cal out sometimes that I have this over. He'll anoint with oil and the prayer of a righteous person availeth much.

Right. So so we're looking to God to heal people. I do not have the power for you to to lay the lame by my feet.

And as I walk by, my shadow heals them. I am not an apostle. I don't have those special abilities.

But we know that these are things that these disciples were called to do. The work of Jesus was to do what he saw the father doing.

Jesus says them, says this of himself in chapter five of this glorious gospel. Verse 19, he says.

So Jesus said to them, speaking to the Pharisees who were accusing him. He says, truly, truly,

I say to you, the son of man can only do I mean, can do nothing of his own accord, but only when he sees the father doing.

For whatever the father does, the son does likewise.

And this is speaking about sign gifts. Jesus just had heal a lame man by the pool of Bethesda.

And it just so happened he done so on a Sabbath day. So the.

Religious leaders were coming against him. And by saying these words, they accused

Jesus of making himself equal with God. And so they were right, because Jesus and the father are equal, co -equal, co -eternal.

So let's look at some of the works of Jesus. If you will turn with me to the Gospel of Luke, we'll be in two places here in the

Gospel of Luke. First, we'll go to chapter four, the Gospel of Luke, chapter four. Let's begin with verse 16.

And he's Jesus came to Nazareth where he had been brought up.

And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the

Sabbath day. And he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet

Isaiah was given to him. And he unrolled the scroll and he found a place where it was written.

The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to proclaim the good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering the sight of the blind to set at liberty those who are oppressed to proclaim the year of the

Lord's favor. And he wrote up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and he sat down and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.

And he began to say to them today, this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.

I'll turn over to chapter seven. Luke chapter seven, we'll begin reading in verse 18, verse 18.

The disciples of John, this is speaking of John the Baptist, reported all the things to him.

They're reporting all the things of Jesus, the doings, the gifts, everything of Jesus, the controversies that's taken place.

And John calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the

Lord saying, are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another?

Now, this is John who saw Jesus and said, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

John is now having doubts. This clearly shows the vulnerability and the humanity of John.

And just like you and I, there's sometimes things can happen in our lives and we're thinking, is he really the one?

Why is all this stuff happening? And he's supposed to set us free, right? It's so easy to get the first coming and the second coming confused.

John, John, John the Baptist, the baptizer, the one spoken of by Malachi, the one who is

Elijah, the spiritual Elijah. He didn't understand the first and second coming.

And he's asking questions. Are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another?

And when the man came to him, they said, John the Baptist sent us to you saying, are you the one who is to come or shall we look for another?

In that hour, he healed many people of diseases, plagues and evil spirits.

And on many who were blind, he bestowed their sight and he answered them, go and tell

John what you have seen and heard. The blind receive their sight.

The lame walk, leopards are cleansed and the deaf hear.

The dead are raised up. The poor have good news preached to them.

And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.

And I would add to this that the proclamation also about the life, death, burial, resurrection, ascension and second coming of Jesus would be included in this.

But right here, he seems to be pointing out the obvious of sign gifts. But in Luke chapter four, verse 18C, there seems to be a spiritual application to what's been said there.

He says, for he has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives.

And we all know because of the sin of Adam, all of us are born dead in our trespasses and sins.

Ephesians 2 says we're following the prince and the power of this world, the spirit that is at work in the sons of disobedience.

Talking about the devil, that we think that we're doing our own will. We're following the course of our imaginations.

Whatever it is that we think of, our flesh is trying to accomplish. And then in 2

Timothy chapter 2, Paul reveals to us that that is the snare of the devil, but that we're actually captured by him and we're doing his will.

You following the imaginations of your mind, trying to carry out whatever it is that you can think about in the flesh, that's you captured by the devil.

You're a slave of the devil and you're doing his will. And Jesus came to proclaim liberty to the captives.

So it's really easy to not see what's not clear, right?

We as Baptists, we're Bible people. We want to be able to look at it and say book, chapter and verse.

But I want to tell you that we sometimes have to go a little deeper and follow the language that's being given to us.

And when you apply all the scripture, you understand that we are born dead and our trespasses and sins that we have been captured by the devil and we need freedom proclaimed to us.

So concerning this work, this work of Christ, this work that you and I are supposed to do in this life and application, what can we take from it?

Remember earlier I said that we do not have the power to in ourselves to heal the sick.

We do not have the powers to cleanse leopards. We do not have the power to give blind people their sight.

We do not have the power to resurrect the dead. So what is it that we can do?

In general, people are to repent and believe in Jesus Christ.

We are to proclaim that message of victory and call people to repent and put their faith in Christ.

You and I as Christians should live a life daily repenting and putting our faith in Christ, trusting in Christ.

Many times just this week, I had to remind myself of those things.

I have to not look to myself, but look to Christ. I have to not trust in myself, but trust in Christ.

We are to listen and obey Jesus. And we are to love our neighbors.

So in essence, Christians are to keep God's law. And I know we read earlier in our catechism that we cannot keep

God's law. And you can't perfectly. But that does not leave off the fact that we are called to keep

God's law. In the New Testament, the New Covenant has simplified it for us because it tells us in the

New Covenant that God has given to us, the Christians, His Spirit, and His Spirit causes us to keep

God's law. So we cannot put the two at odds with one another.

No, you cannot keep God's law perfectly. But if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, He has given you

His Spirit. And because you have this Spirit, you have the ability to keep

God's law. And though you will not do so perfectly. So in essence,

Christians are to keep God's law. And here's how you do it. By believing in the name of Jesus Christ.

And loving our neighbors. Turn with me to Ephesians chapter 2. We're going to be visiting a lot of texts today.

Some I'll have you turn to, some I'll just speak out. This is something that's probably looked over.

It's one of those clear texts that is looked over. We all know verses 8 and verse 9.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this, speaking of faith, is not of your own doing.

It is the gift of God, not a result of works. So that no one may boast.

You're not saved by works, but you're saved by the grace of God through faith. And that faith that saves you is not of your own doing.

It is a gift given to you by God. Now look at verse 10. For we, speaking of Christians, are

His workmanship. We, you and I, if you're a

Christian, you are His workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus for good works.

Let me read that again. Created in Christ Jesus for good works.

Which God prepared beforehand. Right here. That we should walk in them.

We are created in Christ Jesus for good works. Which God prepared for us beforehand.

In eternity past. That we should walk in them. God is not right now, today, creating a good work for me tomorrow.

God creates all things in eternity past. And He brings them into existence by using means.

God is active in creation, yes. But God has preordained good works for you and I to walk in them.

Notice with me. There is a good work for you and I to walk in.

To live in. If you are a Christian, this verse is telling you that God has a predetermined work for you to do.

Now the problem here is for the Christian to figure out what that predetermined work is.

Right? That seems to be a lot of people's problem. I know I'm supposed to do something for God. I just don't know what.

Right? You've heard that before. I've said it before. You've probably said it before. Right? But listen when I say this.

There is no such thing as a Christian that has not been given an assignment. There is no such thing as a

Christian who has not been given an assignment. You have work to do and it was preordained by God for you to walk in.

Why do we associate this language with Christian cults? We're not

Jehovah's Witnesses. We're not Mormons. I can just sit on my couch and not do anything.

Wrong. Wrong. He has preordained works for you if you're a believer to walk in.

You are created in Christ Jesus not for sitting on the couch but for good works and you are to walk in them.

The Christian faith is not something you add to your life. The Christian faith is your life.

I'll say that again. The Christian faith is not something you add to your life. The Christian faith is your life.

You don't add it to your marriage. It comes before your marriage. You say, oh Jeff, that's radical.

No, that's the Bible. That's the New Testament. That's Jesus Christ. That's Paul.

That's Peter. That's James. The problem with our world is that Christians don't take serious their faith.

They don't. And the Christian faith has to do with believing in the name of Jesus and loving our neighbors as ourselves.

If I could sum it up in a sentence, that's what it would be. What's the Christian faith? We believe in the name of Jesus Christ and we love our neighbors as ourselves.

And the truth is, if you believe in Jesus, you will love your neighbors.

You can't do one without the other. You can't tell me you believe in Jesus, but you're not loving your neighbors.

Does not work. Is not in Scripture. If you believe in Jesus, you will love your neighbors.

Let's get punched in the face real quick by James. James chapter 2. We're going to begin reading in verse 14 and we'll read to verse 18.

James chapter 2, verse 14.

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?

Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

I can't read that any other way. What good is that?

Verse 17. So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

But some will say, you have faith, I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

Now, this is not teaching that we are saved by works.

But this is teaching that if you have faith, you will have works.

Your faith is not the fruit of your works. Your works is the fruit of your faith.

Amen? In other words, if there isn't any works, there isn't any faith.

Faith precedes works, and works is followed by faith.

It cannot be constructed any way else. You cannot put the cart before the horse.

If you believe in Jesus, that's faith, then you will love your neighbors.

And a part of loving your neighbors is works. You're not saved by loving your neighbors.

You're saved by faith in Jesus Christ. But those who have faith in Jesus Christ love their neighbors.

They just do. There's no other way around it. And yet in the

Orthodox Christian faith, we look at those words as if it's cultish. And shame on us.

Shame on us. It's not cultish. We were created in Christ Jesus for good works, which were predetermined for us to walk in.

Verses 15 through 17 is addressing other

Christians. Look what it says. If a brother or a sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, if one of you are poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and I was to say to you, go in peace, be warmed and filled, without giving you the things needed for the body, what good is that?

It shows that my faith is dead. It's speaking of Christians.

Christians, as Christians, we are to be there for one another. Turn with me to the

Gospel of Matthew chapter 25. Now, I pointed this out when we looked at the conversion of Paul.

Speaking of the body of Christ, how if you mess with me, you mess with Christ.

Right? Y 'all remember that? Right? If you attack or persecute a

Christian, you are attacking and persecuting Jesus. The church is the body of Christ.

Christians are the church. We are the body of Christ. And at the final judgment, when

God comes, when Jesus Christ comes at the second coming, this right here is giving us a picture of what takes place.

I won't read it all. I won't look at the part where he addresses the goats. I just want to look at the part where he addresses the sheep.

Verse 31. When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with Him, then

He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

And He will place the sheep on the right but the goats on the left.

Then the King will say to those on His right, Come, you who are blessed by my

Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

For I was hungry, and you gave me something, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink.

I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. I was naked, and you clothed me.

I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.

Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink?

And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you in or naked and clothed you?

And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the

King will answer them, Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me.

The brothers here are the sheep. The sheep is the church, the body of Christ.

He says, everything that you do for one another, you're doing it for me.

And the other side is true too. When you don't do these for the brethren, you're persecuting

Christ. You're not doing it for Christ. We are the body of Christ.

In verse 36 he says, I was naked and you clothed me. And we can go right back to what

James says in verse 15 through 17. That if we do not provide clothing and daily food, we did not provide it for Christ.

For Christ. When it comes to the brethren. If someone here was needing to eat and they didn't have proper clothing, and we said, go and be filled and warm.

We're persecuting Jesus. We're to be there for one another.

There should not be anyone in here lacking daily food and clothes. On the other hand, you can look at this spiritually too.

I was naked and you clothed me. What takes place in the salvation of someone through hearing the gospel and they receive

Christ? They are clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

We're to take care of our brothers and sisters. And we're to preach the gospel.

I would say as Christians, our priority in loving our neighbors is first to take care of one another.

Speaking of the brethren. And second, it is to preach the gospel to the lost.

This is how we love our neighbors. This is what we're called to do. That's the work. We're to believe in God.

We're to believe in Christ and love our neighbors. First, by taking care of one another.

Second, by going out to the lost. Let me tell you something. We put that in the other order, right?

First importance, preaching to the lost. Second importance, then we'll try to love one another.

The lost are going to come in here, get saved, and see us, and say, this ain't a family.

I don't even love one another. You just told one of your own to go and be filled and warm, and he didn't have food or clothing.

I'm thinking right now of being on an airplane. They got the little mask, right? And you're told to, when it drops, to put the mask on you first, then your child.

By taking care of one another, we're putting the mask on ourselves first. We have to make sure as a church, as CRBC, that we are taking care of one another, that we are loving one another, before we ever go out there and try to bring someone in.

Amen? Point number two, the race.

You will turn with me to the book of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 12.

We're going to look at verses 1 through 3. Hebrews chapter 12, verses 1 through 3.

Now, I believe Paul wrote Hebrews. Paul says, therefore, so in chapter 11, he goes to the great cloud of witnesses, the hall of faith, right?

He says, therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and the perfecter of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured for sinners such hostility against himself, right here, so that you might not grow weary and faint -hearted.

The Christian walk, the Christian life, is a race.

And if you are a Christian, you are an athlete in the faith. An athlete is someone who is committed to their sport.

And as Christians, we are to be committed to our faith.

Amen? We are to be committed to Christ and one another because our faith is about believing in Jesus and loving one another.

That's what we're to be committed to. Romans 1, verse 17 says this, For in it, speaking of the gospel, verse 16,

For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed. In the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed.

From faith for faith, for as it is written right here, the righteous, that you and I, if we're

Christians, we're the righteous, shall live by faith. Galatians 2, verse 20 says this,

I have, this is Paul speaking, I have been crucified with Christ.

It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

In the life that I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the

Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Running the

Christian race is to live by faith. It's to live by trusting in the

Savior. And if you have faith, if you trust in the

Savior, you will have works. I'm sorry if that seems to be something that I'm repeating, but sadly, this talk among most

Christians seems cultish. In the race, we are called to look to Jesus.

Look at Hebrews 12, verse 2a, looking, this is what you're doing.

In the race, you're looking to Jesus, the founder and the perfecter.

So he's not just the founder of our faith. He's not the one who gives us faith.

He is actually the one who is perfecting our faith, the founder and the perfecter of our faith.

Now, if you've been here for some time, you know this illustration. I think it is the best illustration when it comes to the

Christian walk, and it is the dog race, the greyhounds. They line up. They don't even know what they're lining up for.

All they know is they've been sat out there at their own lines. They've got their coaches. They're surrounded by an audience, a cloud of witnesses, right?

They're surrounded by a stadium full of people. There's cameras. There's everyone out there, and all of a sudden, a rabbit pops up, a mechanical rabbit, and it is propelled in front of them.

They see the rabbit, and they chase after the rabbit. And if one of those dogs were to look at the crowd or to look at another dog, they would cause a pout.

The only way for that dog to finish the race well, that dog has to keep his eyes on the rabbit.

And as Christians, we are to run this race well, and the only way for us to do so is to keep our eyes on Christ.

And I know that I'm speaking a lot about works here, but I'm telling you that if you take your eyes off of Christ to check and see if you have works, you are in sin.

You're in sin. Like if I'm doing all these, I'm living by faith, but I'm looking behind me to make sure

I've got some fruit dropping. What happens when I look behind me for fruit? I'm not looking to Christ.

I'm not looking to Christ. I'm focusing on my own walk. And when you focus on your own walk, you're going to fail.

The only way for you to have fruit is for you to keep your eyes on Christ.

You cannot keep your eyes on Christ and not produce fruit. It's impossible. And that's what the

Christian faith is about. If you truly believe in Jesus, guess what you're going to do? You're going to love your neighbors.

But in your pursuit of Jesus, if your focus is on your neighbors, you're not loving your neighbors.

You're not loving your neighbors. Our focus and mission in life is to be looking to Christ.

He is the mechanical rabbit that's propelled in front of us for us to follow. He says, follow him.

Follow me, he says. So in a real sense, the Christian race is the unfaithful, you and I, looking to the one who was and is faithful.

That's the race that you and I are on. Again, I know

I'm talking about works. I'm trying to tell you how to actually have them.

And it's by looking to Jesus Christ. Paul Washer says this, quote, The strongest believers struggle with sin and failure, creating doubt and discouragement.

We need assurance that we'll reach the finish line. It is not the little engine that could mentality that will bring us to victory, but the blood of Jesus Christ and the faithfulness of God.

Ladies and gentlemen, the assurance that we need is Christ. Did Christ live the life that we could not live?

Yes. Did Christ take our punishment in his death? Yes. Was Christ risen from the dead?

Yes. Is Christ sitting on his throne, ruling and reigning? Yes. Is he coming back? Yes. Is he going to judge the living and the dead?

Yes. That's what we look to. And if you are looking to yourself, you will find discouragement.

But if you look to Christ, you will find victory. Point number three, the finish.

Turn with me to Second Timothy. Chapter four. Second Timothy, chapter four.

We're going to read verses one through eight. I cannot wait to have the opportunity to expound on this particular chapter.

But today is not the day for exposition. Verse one.

Again, Paul writing, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is the judge of the living and the dead, and by his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word.

Be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and teaching.

Verse three. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itchy ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions.

They will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

How many people know people that have wandered off into myths? Verse five.

As for you, listen, Christian, as for you, imagine that I'm pointing the finger at you.

Imagine Paul is speaking to you as for you. Always be sober minded, enduring suffering.

Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry.

For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

Verse seven. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race.

I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the

Lord, the righteous judge, will award me on that day.

And not only me, but also to all, that's all of us who are

Christians, all who have loved his appearing. So what was the work?

John chapter 14, verse 15. Jesus said this. If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Jesus tells religious leaders and those also who were following after him because he was their food and bread dispenser.

He had taken a sack lunch from a little boy and he turned two fish and five loaves and he was able to feed nearly 20 ,000 people.

And he says to them, they wanted to do the work of God, meaning they wanted to be able to take a small sack lunch and feed everybody.

What must we do to do the works of God? And Jesus says, the work of God is that you believe in him whom he has sent.

First John chapter 2 and 3. First John chapter 2, beginning in verse 3 and chapter 3 and verse 23 through 24, we find out that the commandments of Jesus that we are supposed to keep is to believe in the name of Jesus and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Right? First John chapter 2, verse 3, he says now this is how we know that we have come to know him,

Christ, if we keep his commandments. The one who says that he knows him but doesn't keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.

So if you say that you know Jesus and you don't love your neighbors, he's saying the same thing

James is saying. Your faith is dead. You do not know him. Chapter 3 tells us what his commandments are.

It is to believe in the name of the son, Jesus Christ, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. It sums up the 10 commandments into two.

You fulfill the first four, loving God with all your heart, mind, body, soul, and strength.

It might not be in that order, by believing in Jesus. And we are to love our neighbors. If we love our neighbors, we will take care of one another and preach

Christ to the lost, which means we are fulfilling the mission that God has set before us.

In order to finish the race well, listen, listen, I want to be clear here.

In order to finish the race well, we will need to end the race the same way we began the race, by faith.

The righteous shall live by faith. When you're living this life, you're to live this life by faith.

As Christians, we need to make sure that we are not acclimating our... What was that word?

Yeah, acclimating false teachers or teachings to suit our own passions.

Again, how many people have you known in the faith who wandered off into myths, who wandered off into Pentecostal, at its finest, right?

That's not fine, right? The worst that Pentecostalism has to offer, right? They believe that they can heal blind eyes, that they're walking out instead of evangelizing, they're trying to make people's leg grow.

That's not what we're called to do. We're called to clothe one another and to feed one another.

It's one thing to start the race well, and it's a totally different thing to finish the race well.

I'm going to ask you a hard question as we're coming to an end. If you would have died last week, not next week, if you would have died last week, would you have finished the race well?

Paul says, I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.

If you would have died last week, would you have been able to say that I have finished the race well, that I have fought the good fight,

I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith? Paul here in this text is referring to himself as a drink offering.

The drink offering takes us to the book of Numbers 15, chapter 15, verses 1 through 10, and 28, verses 1 through 8, which we're not going to read, but just know that's where it comes from.

You can go back and read that on your own. But a drink offering was offered by a priest on or beside the altar after a lamb, ram, or a bull was sacrificed.

It was a sacrifice of wine. And Paul, in most of all of his writings, you probably can't find one book

Paul wrote where he's not calling Christians to live a sacrificial life in faith, knowing what

Jesus Christ has done for them, trusting in what Jesus Christ has done for them. Romans, chapter 12, verses 1 through 2, says this,

Paul speaking, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, speaking to Christians, by the mercies of God, to present your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, by testing,

I mean, by, excuse me, of your mind, that by testing, you may discern what is the will of God and what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Philippians, chapter 2, verses 12 through 18, says this, again, Paul speaking, therefore, my beloved, speaking to Christians, as you have always obeyed, do you notice that word?

As you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence, but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is

God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God, without blemish, in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation.

How many of you know that we're living in a crooked and twisted generation? Among whom you, speaking to the brothers, shine like lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ, I may be proud that I did not run, talking about His race, in vain or in labor or in vain, even if I am poured out as a drink offering, offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith.

I am glad and I rejoice with you all. Likewise, you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

Paul, in some real sense, is saying that in his laboring over the gospel of grace in the lives of Christians is a drink sacrifice.

His laboring over them is him being poured out after their sacrifice of faith.

In his ministry was a sacrifice in our sacrifice of living by faith.

That in his ministry, he fought the good fight, he finished the race, he kept the faith.

You and I, as Christians, are to fight the good fight. Keep, excuse me, fight the good fight.

What was it? Finish the race and keep the faith. Now, back to that question.

If you would have died last week, would you have been able to say that you finished the race well?

Have you kept the faith? 150 ,000 people die every day.

Last year, 64 million people died. 64 million people died last year, 2023.

One of the prayers that I've been praying for myself is that I will finish the race well. I've known for some time now, many of preachers who have started the race well and it did not go so well towards the end.

Whether it was some kind of a sin they committed, sexual sin that removed them from the pulpit, right?

Or whether it was their beliefs got off orthodoxy.

They started to stray into myths and endless genealogies. They did not finish the race well.

And my prayer for myself is I will finish the race well, that I will not be swayed by the crooks of the world or the imagination of my mind, right?

Or that I will not be swayed by anything outside of orthodoxy in the Christian faith. I want to finish the race well.

And let me tell you, there's been times in my race where it has not been well. Amen? And when

I die, I want to hear, well done, my good and faithful servant.

Is that what you want to hear? Believe in Christ and love your neighbors.

It begins in here. You hear me sometimes say it begins in the pulpit. This part begins in the congregation.

If you don't love the people that are here, please don't go out and witness. Don't go tell nobody about Jesus.

Please don't do that. Do not do that. If you don't love me, if you don't love my family, if you don't love

Dawson, don't go tell nobody about Jesus.

The day is our ministry. It's your life in Christ. The night is your death.

And as Christians, we must work while we are still alive because our death is coming.

And when our death comes, we will not be able to work. You're not going to be able to tell someone about Jesus in heaven.

They know who Jesus is in heaven. While we are here, we are to be lights.

We are to shine like lights in the world. And so real quick, I want to talk just a quick few seconds on the gospel.

What did Jesus Christ do for us and versus what we are to do?

He lived a life that we could not live, took upon himself the punishment that we deserve, was buried on the third day, rose again from the grave.

He ascended into heaven. He sits at the right hand of the Father. He's ruling and reigning, putting all of his enemies under his feet, and he's coming back to judge the living and the dead.

That's the work of God in Christ. And what are you supposed to do? If you're not a

Christian, you are to repent. You are an enemy of God. And trust me, the one thing you do not want is the wrath of God.

You are his enemy. And the only way to have peace with God is to be justified by faith.

How are you justified by faith? By turning from your sins, stop trusting in yourself, and look to God by trusting in Jesus Christ.

That's what you're called to do. And the Bible says that that's even his work. He does that. He gives us that gift through the message of the gospel.

And why is it that we're saved by believing in Jesus but not by loving our neighbors?

Because loving your neighbors is the fruit. It's the evidence that you believe in Jesus. You'd better be glad it ain't the other way around, because then we would be a cult.

Amen. Again, Paul Washer, quote, the strongest believers, take encouragement with this, struggle with sin and failure.

Am I the only one? The strongest believers struggle with sin and failure. Create in doubt and discouragement.

We need assurance that we'll reach the finish line. It is not the little engine that could mentality that will bring us to victory, but the blood of Christ and the faithfulness of God.

We are available to anyone who wants to talk. Let's pray.

Glorious God in heaven, Lord, you who hold all things in your hands, we know that you are in this room.

The book of Revelation chapter one tells us that you walk among the lampstands, and it tells us in chapter one also that the church is the lampstands.

So God, we thank you that you are here with us. And a lot of people, they like to separate the spiritual from the physical.

Lord, you are here. You are here.

Even though it's spiritual, you are in this room. And Lord, we're so grateful that you are blessing us with your presence.

Oh God, please, in Jesus' name, use this meal that we are about to partake in to grow us into the image of your beloved son.

Lord, I pray today if there's someone in here and they do not know you, that they will repent and believe that they will confess you as their

Lord and Savior. And Lord, there's people in here today who are Christians and they've been living in sin and they're unwilling to repent.

Lord, we pray that you keep them from partaking in this meal. But Lord, if there's people here like myself who have struggled this week but have confessed their sins to you, or their heart is open to do so now, that they will confess their sins to you, knowing that you're faithful and just to forgive, and that you will use this meal to conform us to the image of your beloved son.