Hope Church LV Sermons
Not by Sight :: Finishing Well
Right now, at both of our campuses, we are in a teaching series called Not By Sight, Ordinary People, Extraordinary Faith. And we've been in a conversation for a while now about what faith in God looks like according to the scriptures. And we've said several things and really discovered several things about faith as a church family so far. One of the things we've talked about is that we've said faith is resting our whole weight on God, all of our hopes, all of our dreams, all of our future, resting all of that on who God is. We've also said that faith in Christ is not a decision we make. Faith in Christ is a life that we live, meaning there's not just one moment in time that we choose to cross the line of faith and it's over. No, living by faith is a constant moment by moment decision. It's the way we live our life. And one of the statements we've talked about every week is the answer to the question, what does it mean to live by faith? If we're gonna talk about this stuff, it's very significant that we know and have a clear understanding of what it means to live by faith. And we've been looking at a statement that I wanna put up on the screen as we begin this morning. But here's the answer to that question. What does it mean to live by faith? It means this, to live life. Not trusting in myself, but resting moment by moment in his very life in me. I hope you're to a place now where you can almost recite that statement. We've said it so many times. But at least for me, it's been convicting every week as we've looked at that statement to hold my life up against that statement and ask the question, is that true for me? Is it true that I'm living my life not trusting in myself in my ability or what I can do, but resting moment by moment in the life of Jesus that is in me? In the early parts of my day, who am I looking to? In the moments of crisis, where do I turn? When I really think about who I desire to please, what's the answer? Because if it is not me resting my weight on God and looking to him, then I'm depending on myself and I'm not living by faith. And it's been encouraging for us just to hear stories from both of our campuses about the way God is using this series to transform people and giving them a clearer understanding of faith. As we begin this morning, I wanna read a statement by James McConkie, here's what he said. Faith is dependence on God. And this God dependence only begins when self-dependence ends. And self-dependence only comes to its end with some of us when sorrow, suffering, affliction, broken plans and hopes, bring us to that place of self-helplessness and defeat. And only then do we find that we have learned the lesson, a faith, that's the picture. That means that if you and I have walked through a difficult circumstance and our faith has not been deepened, we've missed God's greater purpose for that time in our life. And this weekend, we continue the conversation. So if you have your Bible, I want you to turn to Hebrews, chapter 11. And in just a moment, I'm gonna read three verses for starting in verse 20. If you don't have a Bible this morning, we're gonna put this on the screen because we would love for you to follow along with us as we read our primary text today. Here's what the Bible says in Hebrews 11, verse 20. By faith, Isaac, blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come. By faith, Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff. Verse 22. By faith, Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave orders concerning his bones. Even as we read that, you can see there's a very clear, common thread between these three stories. And the thread is this, each one of these examples of faith is at the end of their life. And they have faith even up to the point of death. And what I wanna do to kind of unpack this is I wanna give us a key principle this morning. And it's a bottom line that really is a summary of these three verses. And then we're gonna come back and really unpack this verse by verse. But before I give you the key principle, I want to define two of the phrases that are gonna be in this key principle so that when we read them, we're all drawing from the same context because understanding these phrases is very, very important to understand the text this morning. Here's the first phrase I wanna define for us. Generational faith, generational faith. And here's how I want to define that. A legacy of faith that impacts multiple generations. Generational faith is a legacy. It's a foundation of faith that impacts multiple generations, meaning it is possible by the way that you and I live our lives by faith that we can paint a clear picture for the next generation about what resting their whole weight on God looks like. We can have influence in the next generation and those who will come after us because the reality is every person in this room has influence, you do. You may not think you do, but you do. The question is not do you have influence. The question is what type of influence do you have? Because those who desire generational faith, those who desire to lay down a legacy of faith are saying this, I want all of my influence to count for the sake of the gospel. That's the heartbeat of generational faith. I wanna read for you a real life example. I found an article this week called The Ripple Effect and I think this article communicates the essence of a legacy of faith that was laid down by a man that a lot of us have heard a lot about. His name was Clyde Cranford. He was a personal mentor to our pastor and by mentoring pastor Vance has had an impact on every person in our church. Listen to what this article says, I'm just gonna read a few excerpts. Have you ever wondered what your legacy will be? What will you be remembered for? What impact will you have in other people's lives? I think many of us believe that if we're not some successful multi-gajillionaire, like that, there is no true impact that we can make as individuals. Let me tell you about a man named Clyde Cranford. He had very few possessions, very little money and virtually no income. What he had was more important and life-changing than any possession or title. He had a childlike love for Jesus Christ and a heart to share that love. So what can a man with no income, no corporate job, serious health issues and seemingly small ministry due to affect the future for hundreds of people? The answer to that became visible at Clyde's funeral. During the service, everyone who had been personally mentored by Clyde over the years was asked to stand. A handful in the crowd stood. Then everyone who had been taught or affected by those students were asked to stand. The entire crowd stood up and there were hundreds. Now, 11 years later, there are ministries all over the USA and the world because of the foundation Clyde laid with just a few young men. Very much like when a pebble is thrown into the calm lake and from that one small stone, a ripple effect takes place. By his fateful service to God and to a handful of people, God brought into his life, a ripple effect continues to spread to this very day across the globe. That's the picture of a legacy of faith, a man who chose to live by faith and because he did, it painted a clearer picture for generations to come about what resting your whole weight on God really looks like. That's the first phrase that's important, generational faith, a legacy of faith that impacts multiple generations. Here's the second phrase. Finishing well. Finishing well. Here's how I wanted to find that for us this morning. Growing in fellowship with God and others until our last day. Continuing to grow in fellowship with God and with others until our last day on the planet. You see the Bible teaches that all of us are here for a season. We're here for a time. We're caught up in time right now living on the earth. But there's gonna come a day when all of us will leave this earth and move out of time and enter into eternity. And in the context of eternity, our time on earth is not very long. And a desire to finish well is the desire to say, in my brief moments on the planet, up until my final breath, I want to continue to passionately grow in my relationship with God and in my relationships with other people. That's the essence of finishing well. It's understanding that there's nothing more important you can do than growing your relationship with God and your relationship with other people. Paul, the apostle, said it this way in 2 Timothy, writing about finishing well. He said, "Ask for me." My life has already been poured out as a drink offering to God. The time of my death is near. He said this. He said, "I fought the good fight." I finished the race and I have remained faithful. He continued to grow in his fellowship with God and fellowship with others until his last day. I want to read another real life example for you. A lot of you know this past summer we had the chance to lead the pastors conference for the Southern Baptist Convention. It was a huge honor for us as a church. We got to do a conference for around 9,000 pastors from all over the country within our denomination. And as we were really dreaming up that conference, we asked the question, who would we love to speak into the life of our denomination? Who were the voices, the men of faith? Who we would love to speak into the pastors of the SBC. And then one of the names we came up with was Dr. Billy Graham. The greatest evangelist of our lifetime. A man that has been used by God to impact literally millions upon millions of people. And the way that fleshed out was Dr. Graham wrote a letter that he wanted to be shared at our conference. And so we sent his pastor, Dr. Don Wilton, and he wrote a letter to us. And I want to read you just a few portions of that letter and listen for the heartbeat in this that has a desire to finish well. He said, dear friends, I greet you in the wonderful name of the Lord Jesus as you gather for the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. I only wish I could be with you this year as you aspire for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. The great commission mandates all of us. Pastors, teachers, evangelists, it is the call of God on the generations to proclaim without hesitation, the riches of salvation found only in Jesus Christ. Listen to this. Would that I had another life to give in this preaching ministry? But now in my 92nd year, I encourage you to take up the responsibility without fear, without reservation holding on to nothing that hinders and reaching towards the fullness of God in spirit, empowered evangelism until all may know him. With warmest Christian affection and looking unto the day when he shall come, love Dr. Billy Graham. Do you hear it in there? This passion to finish this journey of faith on earth, to finish well, to finish strong. And I believe that same heartbeat should be true of us as believers. We should desire both of those things. We should desire a legacy of faith to be left by our time on earth so that generations in the future will be impacted by the foundation that we lay. And we should also desire with great passion to finish well, to continue moment by moment until our final breath to grow in fellowship with God and in fellowship with other people. And here's the significance of those two phrases. One of them fuels the other. They're interdependent. And this morning, what we're gonna learn from this text is really what that looks like and how that flushes out, what is the connection between generational faith and finishing well? We'll look at this key principle, this bottom line for us this morning. The key to instill generational faith is by finishing well. The way, the main thrust to instill a legacy of faith for generations to come is that you and I must finish well. All three examples that we see here in Hebrews 11 in our text this morning, it's all examples of men who had a passion to see the generations that followed understand faith in God. And in all three examples, these men are in the last days of their life, but they have the desire to finish well. And it's important to understand this morning, there are things that we can and cannot pass on to the next generation, that's very important. For example, there are traditions that you can pass on to your family or to those who are younger than you. There are assets financially, there are possessions, there are memories that can be passed on, but there are also some things we can't pass on. We cannot pass on eternal life to the next generation. But we can leave a legacy of faith so that you and I are known as men and women who walked with God. That's significant. I have people all the time who come and I'll ask them about their personal salvation story. When did you come into a relationship with God? And they'll make statements like this. Well, my mom was a Christian. So I've always been a Christian. Or they'll say, well, my family always took me to church. So I've always been a spiritual person. Or they'll say, my family is religious. So I've always had a relationship with God. Listen, that is incorrect and not biblical. Look at this clarifying statement on the screen. Eternal life is not inherited. It is received. Eternal life, life in Jesus cannot be passed down by your parents. It must be received. It is a personal decision for every individual. Let me show you two in the scripture. Look at Romans 10, nine and 10. And I've underlined the words that emphasize that it's personal. If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, a person believes resulting in righteousness. And with the mouth, he confesses resulting in salvation. Four times in two verses. We see clearly that eternal life must be received personally by an individual. You see, your parents can't pass on to you or your family or those closest to you can't pass down eternal life. Actually, it's the opposite. Look at this verse in Ephesians chapter two. Once you were dead, doomed forever because of your many sins. We were born under an evil nature and we were under God's anger. You see, your parents didn't pass on to you spiritual life. They actually passed on to you, spiritual death. You see, our hope for eternal life on our own was found in Adam and Eve. And when they chose to sin, for generations to come leading up 'til today humanity has been separated from God and declared spiritually dead. You see, we can't pass on eternal life to the next generation. That's not what generational faith is all about. Here's what generational faith is all about. It's you and I declaring to the next generation the greatest thing you can live for is Jesus. The greatest thing you can chase after and pursue is an intimate love relationship with God. The greatest thing that you can invest in is God's kingdom. But while there's no guaranteeing that we can assure eternal life for the next generation, there are some common themes that we see throughout history and we see in this text that will position the next generation in a better way to hear and respond to the gospel. If the key to instilling generational faith is finishing well, what are the common themes we see in the lives of Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph that we can learn from and apply to our lives? I wanna give you three. And with each one, I wanna give you an application statement that hopefully will give us an understanding about what it means to leave a legacy. Here's the first common theme that we see in the text. Eternal perspective. Eternal perspective. Here's an application statement. Today, I am to serve the next generation in light of eternity. Today, I am to serve the next generation in light of eternity. The first example we have in the text is verse 20 and it's Isaac. And honestly, Isaac is a man in the Bible that we don't know a lot about. We know the least about Isaac of any of the people in this family. But what the Hebrew writer chooses to highlight is Isaac at the end of his life. And he says, as he's dying, he chooses to pray a prayer of blessing over his son Jacob and his son Esau. And by doing that, here's what he's saying. He's telling his family to keep living by faith, to keep going. God has given us a promise, tracing all the way back to Genesis 12, where he said, look, I'm gonna give you a place and I'm gonna give you a people. And Isaac is saying to his sons, keep running this race of faith, keep going. God is faithful. There is more to this life than what you can see. And by doing that, he clearly shows us a perspective that is centered on eternity. Isaac modeled for his sons in his last days and ability to raise his eyes up out of today and look at eternity. And here's the reality. We do what we do based off of our perspective. The way we handle money, the way we treat other people, the way we make decisions is all based on our perspective. And so it's vital for us as believers that we are very, very clear about a perspective that aligns with the word of God because more than likely, what the next generation sees us model is more than likely what they're going to embrace. I love this statement by Rick Warren that I think really poses a right perspective. You were not put on earth to be remembered. You were put here to prepare for eternity. You see, we weren't placed on the planet so that everyone could know who we were. We were placed on the planet to get ready for what's next, to get ready for eternity. And the beautiful part is this, that as God is shaping us and preparing us for eternity, he's using his activity in us now to impact the people around us. We say it at hope all the time, what God is doing in your life, it's always bigger than you. That might not float your boat too well, but it's much, much bigger than just your life. Every activity of God in your life has two major implications. First of all, it has a geographical implication. God's gonna use his activity in your life to impact people all over the world. Sometimes you don't even realize it. Right now, we have two teams on the field in Africa, and they're serving and they're working and they're training pastors, and that's a result of what God is doing right here in this fellowship in Las Vegas. God's activity in us has a geographical implication, but it also has a generational implication. God wants to use the things he's teaching you right now to help shape those who are gonna come after us. That's significant, and as we walk by faith, we need to do that with those things in mind. Look at this reality on the screen. God's activity in this generation is so that the next generation may know him. God's activity in this generation is so that the next generation may know him. I guarantee you in some way, shape, or form that was on Isaac's heart when he laid on that bed. He was thinking about that. He was understanding the significance of that, and wanted to lay out an eternal perspective for his family. You see, there are many people, maybe they're your kids or people younger than you, maybe right now they're in preschool, or they're in our elementary environment. They're gonna grow up one day to be adults, to make adult decisions, to have families, to have influence, to have jobs, and there's gonna come a day when they're gonna die, there's gonna come a day when they're gonna stand before God. And we got a chance right now to make sure that their perspective, how they perceive the world aligns with the scriptures. We have that opportunity now. The question is, what are we doing for the next generation to make it clear that this life is not all there is? That's the challenge we see in verse 20. Isaac did it. He said, even at the end of my life, as I'm finishing well, I want to instill in my family faith and paint for them a picture of what generational faith looks like so they know how to rest their whole weight on God. That is one theme that we can all apply, eternal perspective. Today we're to serve the next generation in light of eternity. Here's a second common theme in these men in the text. Authentic leadership. Authentic leadership. Here's the application statement. Today, I am to model for the next generation an authentic relationship with Jesus. Today, I am to model. I am to demonstrate before the next generation what an authentic relationship with God looks like. The next example we have is in verse 21, and it's that of Jacob. Jacob was the son of Isaac, and once again, this is a time the writer highlights, Jacob is at the end of his life. In the writer highlights, he says he did two things. First of all, he prayed a prayer of blessing over Joseph's sons, and he worshiped God. There's a phrase there that says, "While leaning on his staff," that could actually be translated, "bedpost." So see the picture. Jacob is in the last days of his life, and he's leaning on the bedpost, and in one regard, he's praying with passion, a blessing over Joseph's sons. And in another regard, he is worshiping the God of heaven, and this word worship isn't just singing some respectful hymns. It means to lower yourself in order to stand in awe of who God is. It's passionate, excited worship of God. And here's what I bet. I bet the people who were in the room when Jacob was doing that never forgot that moment, the rest of their time on the planet earth. They never forgot seeing their dad or their great grandfather or their friend Jacob at the last moments of his life, leaning up against the bedpost, praying over the next generation and worshiping the God that he loved. There was no crowd, there was no audience. He didn't have to, but in that moment, those people saw an authentic relationship with God. And another common thread for those people who instill a legacy of faith is authenticity in front of the next generation. Let me give you a leadership principle. Authenticity is modeled when my public life and private life are consistent. Authenticity is modeled. It's seen when who I am in public and who I am in private is the same. You see, there were many moments when Jacob was a great leader in front of crowds and in front of people. In this moment, there was no crowd. There was no audience. But still, those who were closest to him were able to see a man who was authentically passionate about his God. And I believe one of the biggest obstacles for many people in the next generation to really believe that what we're saying is true is they see two different people. They see us at church or in front of groups or at gatherings, and we're one way. And we walk into a smaller environment. Maybe that's your home with your family. And they see a totally different person. Any person who grew up in church can relate with this. We all know of the fights that we have in the car going to church. And we open the door and our feet hits the concrete and everything changes. I remember that as a kid, I didn't know what was happening. I didn't think that was my parents anymore. We all do that, but listen, that's dangerous. And that's not authentic leadership. Who we are in public and who we are in private have to align and listen. If you struggle with that, and even as I said it, if you're convicted, who you are in private, that's the real you. The rest is just a show. Who you are when it's just you or when it's just those who are closest to you, that's who you really are. That's significant to understand. And as we look to lay down a legacy of faith, there must be a sameness in our public life and our private life. Living for me is a pastor. Who I am up here in front of you when the lights are on and the cameras on me, I don't want to go home and be a totally different person in front of my family. That's not integrity. That's a show. That's a lie. And that's not displaying authentic leadership to those that I love or to the next generation, because here's the deal. The way we model authenticity will communicate just as much, if not more than our mouths ever will. The way we model authentic leadership and authentic relationship with God will say as much, if not more than anything that ever comes out of our mouth. We see that in the life of Jacob. In his last days, he didn't check out. He didn't say I'm done. He continued to passionately invest in the next generation and to finish well by worshiping his God. Authentic leadership today, you and I are to model for the next generation and authentic relationship with Jesus. Here's the third thing we see in this text. Intentional instruction. Intentional instruction. Here's the application statement. Today, I am to teach the next generation to apply biblical principles. We are to teach. We are to instruct the next generation to apply what the scripture says. The third example we have is that of Joseph. And once again, Joseph is on his deathbed. He's in the final days of his life. And he chooses to use those moments to speak into the life of his family. And here's what he says. He begins to talk about the promise that God has given his family. The promise that one day God is going to deliver them and give them a place and give them a people. And he reminds them about God's promise. He gives them instruction concerning God's promise. He says, keep going. Keep pressing forward. Our God is faithful. And then he says, listen, when I die, I don't want to be buried in Egypt where I've spent most of my life. I want to be buried in this promised land, because I believe in my heart that it's real. You see him using those last moments to give instruction to his family. Now there's a passage of scripture in the Bible that we really talk a lot about when we talk about this idea of instruction. And I want to put it on the screen. I want to read it for us this morning. It's in Deuteronomy chapter 6. And here's what it says. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. The word that's used that everything kind of hinges on is the word diligently. That's a pretty black and white word. If I were to sit down with you this morning and say, "Hey, are you diligently instructing the next generation how to apply biblical principles?" You don't really have to think about it. You either know or you don't. It's pretty black and white. And I believe the example we see here from Joseph is a man who said, "Because I want to lay down a legacy, I'm going to make a priority of laying out biblical instruction to those who are going to come after me." I wrote this in my notes. One of our highest priorities as a church must be to pass on to the coming generations what God has done in and through us. That they might know the glory of God and understand His greatness. Here's the simple question. Are you teaching those who are younger than you, the Bible? Simple question. Are you currently investing biblical principles into those who are younger than you? It may be your children, it may be your family, it may be just some people you mentor or walk with. But I believe for the believer who wants to lay down a legacy of faith, there is an intentionality and a priority in investing biblical principles into the next generation. Because if you don't carve out time to do it and I don't carve out time to do it, it will never happen. And it doesn't always look like a sermon. It doesn't always look like a Bible study. Most of the time, it's relational. But it's you putting a stake in the ground to say, "You know what, I'm here, but I'm not going to be here forever." And there's some stuff God's done in me that I want to instill in the next generation. And one of the best ways I can do that is by giving them intentional instruction and diligently teaching them how to read and understand the scriptures. Eternal perspective, authentic leadership, intentional instruction. Those are the themes we see from Isaac, from Jacob, and from Joseph. I know there are some of us in the room today. And when we talk about generational faith and finishing well, you've believed the lie of the enemy. When it comes to generational faith, you've believed the lie that you don't have time to invest in the next generation. You've got to get past that. You've got to get past thinking. Your schedule is so full and there's so many things going on. I don't have time to spend with those who are younger than me to invest in them. Listen, that's not biblical. We've got to make it happen. We have to make a priority of instilling a legacy of faith so that generations from now, when they look back on us in 2011, they can say those people walked with God and they painted a picture for me of what it means to rest my whole weight on God. But some of us have believed the lie. For others of us, you've believed the lie of the enemy as it relates to finishing well. And you think God's done with you. You think you're too old. You think there's been too much stuff happening that you're to a place now that God can't use you anymore. Listen, that's a lie from the enemy. Generational faith is not established. A legacy is not established by a decade of faith. It's established by a lifetime of faith. And here's what I want to encourage you if you believe that lie. Press on. Keep going. Keep growing in your fellowship with God and in your fellowship with other people. And here I referenced Clyde Cranford's funeral. I think it's an unbelievable picture to think about hundreds of people standing up who had all been influenced by a guy who was no longer on the planet. Let me ask you a question. If your influence ended right now, what kind of legacy would you have? Well, get another conversation. You don't get another lunch or a time with anybody. If your influence ended right now, what kind of legacy have you laid down for those who are going to come next? Because I've been to funerals like Clyde's where you see influence after influence after influence over multiple generations, but I've also been to the other kind of funeral. Where people would get up and they would say, "Well, they were a good person and they loved sports and they were respectful." But there was nothing said about a life of faith that laid down a legacy for generations to come. For the believer, our greatest fear should not be death. Our greatest fear should be wasting the life that God has given us. And I know there's days for me and I waste it. I'm doing things that don't pertain to eternity. I'm getting caught up in myself and I miss this mission, this key of instilling generational faith by continuing to grow in my relationship with God and don't waste the life God's given you. Walk by faith even until your last day and I pray as a church we will leave a legacy and we'll paint a picture for the generations to come of what walking by faith is all about. [BLANK_AUDIO]