THE LAST CHAPTER

THE LAST CHAPTER

CONNECT One of the greatest basketball players of all time was John Havlicek of the Boston Celtics. He played 16 seasons, won 8 NBA championships, Finals MVP, was a 13 time All-Star. He holds Celtic records for games played and points scored. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984 and in 1997 was honored as one of the top 50 players in NBA history. The amazing thing is that we was not a starter. He was probably the greatest 6th man in basketball history. Havlicek didn’t mind the sixth-man role. “It never bothered me,” he once said, “because I think that role is very important to a club. One thing I learned from Red Auerbach was that it’s not who starts the game, but who finishes it, and I generally was around at the finish.” It’s not who starts the game, it’s who finishes. 

PROBLEM Many feel that they cannot accomplish what God wants them to do because of some mistakes in their past. I want to tell you today that your past does not determine your future.

Isaiah 43:18–19 (NKJV) Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.

SOLUTION The lesson for us to learn today is that it doesn’t matter how we start; all that matters is how we finish! That’s why we call this talk “The Last Chapter”. This is the beginning of a series that has been on my heart for several years: “The Last Chapter Hasn’t Been Written!” I hope that it will become a book some day. The Bible is filled with stories of men and women who had a bad beginning, but had a glorious ending. There are multiple stories of men and women around us who had a bad beginning, but had a glorious ending. You may have some strikes against you from your beginning, but your can still have a glorious ending. Your last chapter has not been written!

INSTRUCTION

Principle #1: How we finish determines our entire life.

Ezekiel 18:21–24 (NKJV) But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord GOD, “ and not that he should turn from his ways and live? “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.

Ezekiel 18:26–28 (NKJV) When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die.

You may say, “I thought we believed in ’Once saved, always saved’?” We do. If someone is genuinely saved, then he cannot lose his salvation. However, those who walk away from their faith were never saved in the first place.

Jesus described it. 

Matthew 24:12–13 (NKJV) And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

Mark 13:13 (NKJV) And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

Jesus wasn’t saying that you have to endure to the end in order to be saved. He was declaring that those who are born again will endure to the end!

The Apostle John speaks directly to this issue. 

1 John 3:6 (NKJV) Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

The idea is sin as a lifestyle. We all have momentary lapses in obedience, but we who are saved live a lifestyle of holiness. If we have a lifestyle of sin, living in sin and not wanting to change, then John says we are not saved!

When John wrote to the 7 churches in Revelation chapters 2–3, he said God reward those who endure to the end. How we finish matters!

The gods news is that if we finish good, then all the bad stuff we did doesn’t deter God’s plan for our life. It is a testimony that we have been saved, our sins have been washed away by the blood of Jesus and we stand righteous before Him, just as if we had never sinned!

Principle #2: Satan tries to take you out early!

Many of the great men in Scripture were threatened with death as children. Moses was born under a death sentence. During their time in Egypt, the Hebrews were multiplying more than the Egyptians. The Pharaoh was afraid they would outnumber the Egyptians and rise up and conquer them. He ordered all male children to be killed and cast into the Nile River when they were born. Moses was born during this time, hidden by his mother, then floated down the Nile in hopes of being found and saved. That is exactly what happened!

Jesus was born under a death sentence. Herod was King, but the Wise Men came looking for a child who was born King of the Jews. The Wise Men tricked Herod and did not reveal the location of Jesus’ birth. 

Matthew 2:16 (NKJV) Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.

In both cases, God intervened and their lives were spared.

Satan knows what your destiny is. He will seek to destroy it before it can ever begin. He may try to kill you or deter you or corrupt you or defame you in order that your future impact for God would be weakened. In recent days we have seen the integrity and impact of men and women compromised by things they did in high school and college. Choices we make in early life can have lasting consequences.

I know I’m not anything special to the Kingdom of God, but I can testify to the enemy’s work in my life to quiet my future ministry. My life came close to death on three different occasions. At 3, I tumbled off the back of a cotton trailer and fell some 20 feet to the ground, no injury. At 6, I was diagnosed with leukemia and rheumatic fever, only to healed by a simple tonsillectomy. At 7 I was run over by a pipe trailer filled with irrigation pipe, only suffering a concussion. I’m sure you can tell similar stories. 

As I grew older, opportunities for sin came by regularly. Although I wasn’t perfect, God protected me from making a life altering decision that would destroy my future. 

Principle #3: God can redeem your past and restore your future!

Joel 2:25–26 (NKJV) So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, And praise the name of the LORD your God, Who has dealt wondrously with you; And My people shall never be put to shame.

God is the God of restoration. When we surrender to Him, He makes even the mistakes of the past a launching pad for ministry in the future.

Romans 8:28 (NKJV) And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Let’s look at a couple of examples. 

We mentioned that the enemy tried to kill Moses as a baby, but God protected him. He grew up as the grandson of Pharaoh. He had the best of everything; he was a man of great privilege. But he discovered his heritage and made a decision to identify with his birthright. 

Hebrews 11:24–26 (NKJV) By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward.

Then Moses made a critical mistake. Trying to save a Hebrew who was being abused, he murdered an Egyptian and his his body in the sand. His crime was soon discovered and he fled for his life. Feeling his call to deliver his people was finished, he cared for sheep for the next 40 years. 

Perhaps you are there today. You felt a call to something great, but a wrong choice earlier in your life made that call seem impossible. Can I tell you today that God is able to bring that call to pass, if you respond with humility and repentance. 

Moses was on the backside of the desert when God appeared to him again and called him to fulfill his original call. Why?

Romans 11:29 (NKJV) For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

God’s call in your life is still valid. It may come differently than you imagined. It may be delayed while God humbles you. It may not be as large but will shine just as brightly, perhaps even more because it will all be of God and not from you.

INSPIRATION My good friend, Dudley Hall, was preaching one day and told the story of a man who thought he had been left behind. A small church in North Central Texas needed a pastor and an elderly lady from the church asked Dudley if he knew anyone who would come and preach for them. He replied that he knew a guy who would love to come, but he had been divorced. Now in some churches, a man cannot pastor if he has been divorced. He was a non-person to many churches. What a shame. He wanted to preach and the church needed a pastor. The lady said that was not a problem and to make the contact. The man went out and begin to preach and God fell on this little church. 

One night, my friend went there to preach. There was a prayer meeting before the service and the church was almost full of cowboys, older folks, young couples, singles, youth, and town people. A cowboy was praying loudly and said, “Devil, we want you to know that the Lord Jesus is taking names and kicking butts!” Dudley thought the new pastor would be in trouble, but then a loud “Amen” came from a little old lady near the front. His job was safe!

So many people started coming to church that had to build a sanctuary to sit 1200. Today upwards of 1000 people worship every Sunday. A man who was considered an outcast by the church in general was a success beyond his wildest dreams.

You see, the last chapter in his life was had not been written. Just like the last chapter of Moses’ life had not been written. Just like the last chapter of your life has not been written. 

There was man in Illinois who lived a rather unremarkable life. 

Lost job, 1832

Defeated for legislature, 1832

Failed in business, 1833

Elected to legislature, 1834

Sweetheart died, 1835

Had nervous breakdown, 1836

Defeated for Speaker, 1838

Defeated for nomination for Congress, 1843

Elected to Congress, 1846

Lost renomination, 1848

Rejected for Land Officer, 1849

Defeated for Senate, 1854

Defeated for nomination for Vice-President, 1856

Again defeated for Senate, 1858

Elected President, 1860

Who is this man? Abraham Lincoln!

Most of his life was a failure. But his final success made us forget about all his previous failings. His last chapter brought meaning to the rest.

APPLICATION How can you apply this to your life?

1.    Your last chapter has yet to be written. 

2.    Admit your past mistakes and put them under the blood of Jesus. 

3.    Don’t quit! Keep moving on!

MINISTRY TIME