Finishing Well! Finishing Well!

Transcription

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2 Finishing Well! Finishing Well!

3 1. It is not how you start, but how you finish that is most important. a. Remember King Saul. The Challenge

4 1. It is not how you start, but how you finish that is most important. a. Remember King Saul. Hebrews 2:1 We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

5 2. Sadly, finishing well seems to be the exception, not the rule. a. Of biblical rulers for whom we have information about their last years, only one in three finish well. The Challenge

6 2. Sadly, finishing well seems to be the exception, not the rule. b. David was one of the few! The Challenge

7 2 Samuel 23:1-2 These are the last words of David: The oracle of David son of Jesse, the oracle of the man exalted by the Most High, the man anointed by the God of Jacob, Israel's singer of songs: The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me; his word was on my tongue.

8 2 Samuel 23:3-4 The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.

9 2 Samuel 23:5 Is not my house right with God? Has he not made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part? Will he not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire?

10 2 Samuel 23:6-7 But evil men are all to be cast aside like thorns, which are not gathered with the hand. Whoever touches thorns uses a tool of iron or the shaft of a spear; they are burned up where they lie.

11 Psalm 37:23-25 If the LORD delights in a man's way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.

12 1. David spent his last years preparing for something he would never see, the temple. David s Last Years King David presenting scepter to Solomon by Cornelis De Vos, Wikipedia Commons

13 a. He oversaw the design b. He organized workers c. He gathered materials d. He organized those who would minister there David s Last Years King David presenting scepter to Solomon by Cornelis De Vos, Wikipedia Commons

14 2. David invested in his son, Solomon, leaving a godly legacy. David s Last Years King David presenting scepter to Solomon by Cornelis De Vos, Wikipedia Commons

15 2. David invested in his son, Solomon, leaving a godly legacy. When Solomon was a boy Proverbs 4:3-4 When I was a boy in my father's house, still tender, and an only child of my mother, he taught me and said, "Lay hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands and you will live

16 2. David invested in his son, Solomon, leaving a godly legacy. When Solomon was the king 1 Chronicles 28:9 "And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind

17 2. David invested in his son, Solomon, leaving a godly legacy. When Solomon was the king 1 Chronicles 28:9 for the LORD searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.

18 1. David finished strong because he maintained his walk with God. Why David Finished Well King David in Prayer by Pieter De Grebber - Wikipedia

19 a. Failure drove him to God rather than away from God. Psalm 51:11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

20 b. His communion with God was transparent and honest. Psalm 139:1-3 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

21 c. He lived in the freedom of his forgiveness. Psalm 32:1-2 Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

22 c. He lived in the freedom of his forgiveness. Psalm 32:3-4 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.

23 c. He lived in the freedom of his forgiveness. Psalm 32:5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD -- and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

24 2. David finished strong because he maintained a sense of purpose. 2 Samuel 23:5 Is not my house right with God? Has he not made with me an everlasting covenant, arranged and secured in every part? Will he not bring to fruition my salvation and grant me my every desire?

25 3. David finished strong because he understood that his strength comes from God alone. This produced a. Humility before the Lord. 1 Chronicles 29:14 But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.

26 3. David finished strong because he understood that his strength comes from God alone. This produced b. Reliance upon the Lord. Psalm 16:2 I said to the LORD, You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing.

27 3. David finished strong because he understood that his strength comes from God alone. This produced c. Confidence in the Lord. Psalm 16:9-10 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

28 4. Will you finish well? Which of David s traits do you need God s help with today? Why David Finished Well