Finishing Well

2 Samuel 13:1-1 Kings 2:46

Intro:

1. WD-40

What I want to say: Life has a way of bruising us. In order to finish life well, we need to cultivate the habits of worship in daily life that will keep us strong in every season. “How do I finish well?,” is a question we should keep in front of us day by day. David’s life shows us how to negotiate the dangers of life.

I.      Life has it’s difficulties

David’s second half

A.    Solomon born (called Jedidiah) (2 Samuel 13:24-25)

1.    if ever a child began with God’s blessing, it was Solomon

B.    Family Troubles:

1.    2 years later, one son, Amnon, rapes his half sister, Tamar, and is killed by Tamar’s brother, Absalom

2.    Absalom

a)    Handsome and vain (1 Samuel 14:25-27) The point of his vanity was his undoing (18:9-18)

3.    Absalom’s rebellion (14:1-12)

a)    Established personal contact with people

b)    “Your claims are valid”; “I would give justice”

c)    Won people’s hearts with simple greeting

4.    David flees Jerusalem (15:13-16:14)

a)    In the 30th year of David’s reign Absalom led a rebellion against his father

b)    David weeps on the Mount of Olives

Cp. On the night that Jesus was rejected by Israel, he went to the Mount of Olives

c)    Shimei, from Saul’s tribe of Benjamin, cursed and threw stones at David

d)    Faithful friends went with David

e)    Barzillai, a foreigner, remained loyal when it might have been to his advantage to go with the current winner.

f)     David is restored to the throne when Absalom was killed.

5.    Civil strife: Sheba’s revolt & failure

6.    Israel’s pride leads to judgment (2 Samuel 24)

a)    David by the threshing floor of Aruana and teaches us a valuable lesson: no sacrifice without personal cost (2 Samuel 24:24) cp 1 Chronicles 21:1

7.    Another son, Adonijah, usurps the crown (1 Kgs. 1)

8.    Solomon is crowned (1 Kgs. 2)

9.    David dies.

Four habits that lead to a good finish to life.

II.    Cultivate communion with God

A.    Last words reveal depth of soul

David’s last words to Solomon (1 Kings 2:2-4)

to find blessing from God:

1.    obey Him

2.    walk in His ways

3.    rely on God’s faithfulness to keep His word

ILLUS> George Mueller trusted God to care for orphans. He began a home that eventually became 4 homes that housed, fed and educated 2,000 children. By the time he died, more than 10,000 orphans had been cared for through God’s provision of nearly 8 million dollars. All by trusting God.

Do you think this same God can care for you?

a)    God kept His word even though those after Solomon did not

b)    Jesus sits on David’s throne

B.    Let God hear your heart

1.    In the Psalms, David cried, mourned, raged, rested and rejoiced

2.    God was his audience

3.    Do you record your thoughts or prayers? When you are alone, can you talk to God?

4.    e.g. my pain when my father died

a)    I was aware that God was carrying me

b)    When I asked, “Why my father?”, I received an answer from God: “Why should you be different than everyone else?” And I was satisfied/

C.   Refuse to compartmentalize your life

1.    No part of David’s life was left out of God’s view.

2.    Do not separate your soul from your feelings or your spiritual life from your daily life saying, “Well that is business and this is my spiritual part.”

3.    The word for this is “Integrity” – all the parts fit and are firmly held together.

III.   Hold worship as a high priority

A.    Make worship your concern

1.    David prepared the materials for the Temple

2.    we call the first Temple “Solomon’s Temple” but it is really David’s Temple since David had the vision and prepared all the materials – Solomon built and added to what his father prepared

3.    You worship God with your praises, prayers, service to others.

B.    Will your children worship God?

1.    It is the responsibility of one generation to pass on to the next a love for worship.

I will cause Your name to be remembered in all generations;

Therefore the peoples will give You thanks forever and ever. Psalm 45:17 NASB95

And even when I am old and gray, O God, do not forsake me,

Until I declare Your strength to this generation,

Your power to all who are to come. Psalm 71:18

We will not conceal them from their children,

But tell to the generation to come the praises of the Lord,

And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. Psalm 78:4 NASB95

2.    All of creation gives God glory.

3.    All people of all ages will one day bow down before Jesus Christ as

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,

so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11 NASB95

IV.  Use your influence for God’s glory

A.    Power is only on loan to accomplish God’s will

1.    Lust for power corrupted Absalom and Adonijah

2.    Except for his attempts to cover his sin with Bathsheba, David used his power justly and was loved for it.

B.    Everyone has influence with which to honor God

1.    your friends

2.    your spouse

3.    your children

4.    your co-workers

5.    Use your influence – your words and example to teach the glory of God

ILLUS> e.g. one teacher I had told of his father refusing to farm on Sundays; my parents pulling us to church after a blizzard

V.    Consider the sum of your life

A.    Finishing well is not contingent on never sinning

1.    cp. Abraham, Moses, Paul, John Mark  - all were sinners saved by God’s grace

2.    so are you – now live to honor the God who saved you and is saving you

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.

As far as the east is from the west,

So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

Just as a father has compassion on his children,

So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.

For He Himself knows our frame;

He is mindful that we are but dust.

Psalm 103:11-14 NASB95

For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing;

2 Corinthians 2:15 NASB95

B.    Live so as to finish well

1.    The beginning is not in your control

2.    Youth is where character is formed

3.    The middle is where character is revealed and lived out

4.    The end of your life is the test of the reality of all that you said you believed.

5.    Since you do not know where your end will come, it is critical to be faithful at all seasons of life.

Concl:

Churchill’s speech

On October 29, 1941, Winston Churchill was invited to speak at his old school, Harrow. He gave a speech that has often been misquoted and purported to be only a few words long but was really two pages long. Britain had been at war for over 10 months and things were not going well. And what he really said was, "Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense."

            Are you tempted to give up? Jesus said He will never leave you or forsake you. Press on to the finish.

Jesus And I

Dan Crawford, the successor to pioneer missionary David Livingstone, carried a copy of the New Testament in the pocket of his jacket. At the time of his death someone found the following verses penned on the flyleaf of that well-worn Book: “I cannot do it alone! The waves dash fast and high; the fog comes chill around, and the light goes out in the sky. But I know that we two shall win in the end—Jesus and I. Coward and wayward and weak, I change with the changing sky; today so strong and brave, tomorrow too weak to fly. But He never gives up, so we two shall win—Jesus and I!” —H. G. Bosch

Christian, no matter how life appears to be going, press on. Jesus is with you and He will not fail you.