Finish His Work
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Intro:
Who I am and what I do.
“Getting ready to work vs. working”
34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. 35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. 36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. 38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.
Understand the Work (34)
Understand the Work (34)
Our desire (our meat/food)
Our desire (our meat/food)
Notice that Jesus uses the word “meat” or “food.”
He’s speaking of His desire here in .
32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”
Jn 4:
33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?”
Take a look at chapter 6 of John’s Gospel:
27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
Jn 6:
28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Jn 6:35
44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
Too often those who call themselves believers place an emphasis on their calling to live as a Christian on their own goodness, or perception of goodness.
The gospel says differently.
The cross changed us and because of what He did on the hill of Calvary, our desires are different.
We understand His Work by remembering what our “food” is, AND by remembering His command.
His command (will of Him)
His command (will of Him)
Notice He says in 4:34 Jesus says “will of Him.”
The “will of Him” is the will of whom? God.
We often treat God’s will for our lives as a holy suggestion rather than a divine command.
We see in John’s gospel, that Jesus not only understood God’s will for His life, but was active in doing so.
17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Jn 3:
God’s will for Jesus wasn’t that He provide a good example, be a good teacher, or to “love everyone.”
He was calling for people to “repent, and believe the gospel.”
15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
Believer, we too have been commanded to do the will of Him who sent us.
19 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, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
We’ve looked at our food, our command, and now we see, His preeminence.
His preeminence (who sent me)
His preeminence (who sent me)
Jesus said, “Him who sent me.”
When we understand the work we’ve been tasked with, we understand that the Lord has preeminence, or authority over us.
Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me...”
List as I read some biblical examples of this authority:
Abraham sent his servant to find his son a wife in ;
34 So he said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The Lord has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. 36 And Sarah my master’s wife bore a son to my master when she was old; and to him he has given all that he has. 37 Now my master made me swear, saying, ‘You shall not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, in whose land I dwell; 38 but you shall go to my father’s house and to my family, and take a wife for my son.’ 39 And I said to my master, ‘Perhaps the woman will not follow me.’ 40 But he said to me, ‘The Lord, before whom I walk, will send His angel with you and prosper your way; and you shall take a wife for my son from my family and from my father’s house. 41 You will be clear from this oath when you arrive among my family; for if they will not give her to you, then you will be released from my oath.’
Gen 24:
In the Exodus with Moses:
10 Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”
12 So He said, “I will certainly be with you. And this shall be a sign to you that I have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall serve God on this mountain.”
In Ezekiel to the rebellious people:
3 And He said to me: “Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. 4 For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ 5 As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.
3 the people of Parosh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two; 4 the people of Shephatiah, three hundred and seventy-two; 5 the people of Arah, seven hundred and seventy-five;
Ez. 2:3-
And to us in a hostile world:
3 Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.
His goal (finish the work)
His goal (finish the work)
In this verse, we also see the Lord’s goal; “finish the work.”
When understanding the work, we all want to know the answer to this question:
“To what end?”
“Why am I doing this?”
“What is the purpose?”
Jesus has come to finish the work.
Take a look with me to
4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.
Right before His arrest, He is praying to God, His Father, and acknowledges that He’s finished the work.
Let’s look at verses 1-3.
1 Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, 2 as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
He has lived a perfect life in am imperfect world.
He preached and taught repentance for sin.
His earthly miracles attested to who He claimed to be.
Now, we see that He was obedient even to death on a cross.
In order to finish the work, He had to die.
30 So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
Jesus’ earthly ministry was finished.
Believer, our work isn’t finished. We are called to bring the gospel to the nations and allow Him to do the saving.
9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. 10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. 11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
See the Work (35)
See the Work (35)
35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!
Give me your attention (behold/look)
Give me your attention (behold/look)
It’s hard to follow along in a sermon when the speaker can’t get or keep attention isn’t it?
It’s also hard to give proper attention when the speaker seeks the wrong attention.
Listen to what a man said about famous Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon:
“
““How did you like Mr. Spurgeon?” asked one of friend who had just returned from hearing the famous preacher.
The reply was, “I forgot to investigate Mr. Spurgeon; my attention was drawn so closely to the Savior of whom he was speaking.”
The Savior is speaking in this passage: “Behold…look”
Listen (I say to you)
Listen (I say to you)
We not only need to give attention, but should listen.
Jesus said, “behold, I say to you”
What is He saying?
Why would He preface “I say to you” with “behold?”
It’s important!!
When we want someone to listen to us we’ll:
get loud
use bold statements
employ body language
In order to see the work that is before us, we need to not only be able (by being born again), but pay attention and listen.
Ways to do this are:
reading your Bible daily
praying throughout the day
regularly attending and being under the authority of your church
being in a discipleship relationship with a more mature believer.
I’m afraid that all too often those who call themselves believers are all too happy to go through the motions of playing Joe or Sally Christian instead of listening to what the Father says and being obedient.
Look at the work (lift up your eyes)
Look at the work (lift up your eyes)
35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!
We need to pay attention, listen to the call of the Savior, but we also need to look at the work. (Lift up your eyes)
Rockcastle County has about 17-18k people living in it and only about 3k or 17% are in church on a given Sunday.
Within this number of 3,000 are included all types of churches; both Bible believing and not.
It also includes people who claim Christ as their Savior, but do not know Him. We all have friends, family members, and/or co-workers that may fall into this category.
All that to say, there are a good 15-17k people living in this county who do not know Christ as their Savior.
If you include the surrounding counties, you have around 246,000 in a 8 county circle.
Friends, look at the work!
There’s plenty to do (harvest is white)
There’s plenty to do (harvest is white)
Here’s how I know there is plenty of work to do:
I tell people I work with the Kentucky Baptist Convention and I’m conducting a survey that helps me understand my job, would they help.
Would you consider yourself to be a Christian?
As a self-professing Christian, can you explain the basics of the gospel message to me?
Friends, I’ve asked those two questions to many people and have only gotten one person to answer in a biblical manner, but as I talked to him I found out that he attends a non-biblical church.
Do the Work (36-38)
Do the Work (36-38)
Work together (sower and reaper)
Work together (sower and reaper)
What happens?
Fruit is gathered
Efforts
The reaper is blessed because they reap what they didn’t sow.
The sower is blessed because the fruit of their labor is realized.
Believers are working together for the cause of the Kingdom.