How to Finish Your Course With Joy

8/12/2019 How to Finish Your Course With Joy

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Title: How Paul fnished his course with Joy

Text: Acts 20:24

24 But none o these things moe me! neither count " my lie dear unto

mysel! so that " might fnish my course with #oy! and the ministry! which "

hae receied o the $ord Jesus! to testiy the gos%el o the grace o &od'

(J)

"ntroduction:

David and Svea Flood

"n *+2*! a missionary cou%le named ,aid and -ea .lood went with their two/year/old son ,aid! rom -weden to the heart o Aricato what was then called theBelgian 1ongo' They met u% with another young -candinaian cou%le! theric3sons! and the our o them sought &od or direction' "n those days o muchtenderness and deotion and sacrifce! they elt led o the $ord to go out rom themain mission station and ta3e the gos%el to a remote area'

This was a huge ste% o aith' At the remote illage o 5dolera they were re6u7ed6y the chie! who would not let them enter his illage or ear o alienating the localgods' The two cou%les o%ted to go hal a mile u% the slo%e and 6uild their own mudhuts'

They %rayed or a s%iritual 6rea3through! 6ut there was none' Their only contactwith the illagers was a young 6oy! who was allowed to sell them chic3ens and eggstwice a wee3' -ea .lood a tiny woman missionary only our eet! eight inchestall! decided that i this was the only Arican she could tal3 to! she would try to leadthe 6oy to Jesus' And in act! ater many wee3s o loing and witnessing to him! hetrusted 1hrist as his -aior'

But there were no other encouragements' 8eanwhile! malaria continued to stri3eone mem6er o the little 6and ater another' "n time the ric3sons decided they hadhad enough su7ering and let to return to the central mission station' ,aid and-ea .lood remained near 5dolera to go on alone'

Then! o all things! -ea ound hersel %regnant in the middle o the %rimitiewilderness' 9hen the time came or her to gie 6irth *+2;

The deliery! howeer! was exhausting! and -ea .lood was already wea3 rom6outs o malaria' The 6irth %rocess was a heay 6low to her stamina' Aterseenteen des%erate days o %rayer and struggle! she died'


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"nside ,aid .lood! something sna%%ed in that moment' His heart ull o 6itterness!he dug a crude grae! 6uried his twenty/seen/year/old wie and too3 his children6ac3 down the mountain to the mission station' &iing his new6orn daughter to theric3sons! he said! ="5m going 6ac3 to -weden' "5e lost my wie! and " can5t ta3ecare o this 6a6y' &od has ruined my lie'> 9ith two year old ,aid! he headed orthe coast! re#ecting not only his calling! 6ut &od himsel'

9ithin eight months 6oth the ric3sons were stric3en with a mysterious illnesssome 6eliee they were %oisoned 6y a local chie who hated the missionaries< anddied within days o each other' The nine month old 6a6y Aina was gien to anAmerican missionary cou%le named Berg! who ad#usted her -wedish name to=Aggie> and eentually 6rought her 6ac3 to the ?nited -tates at age three'

The Bergs loed little Aggie 6ut were araid that i they tried to return to Arica!some legal o6stacle might se%arate her rom them since they had at that time!6een una6le to legally ado%t her' -o they decided to stay in the ?nited -tates andswitch rom missionary wor3 to %astoral ministry' And that is how Aggie grew u% in-outh ,a3ota' As a young woman! she attended orth 1entral Bi6le college in8innea%olis' There she met and married a young %reacher named ,ewey Hurst'

@ears %assed' The Hursts en#oyed a ruitul ministry' Aggie gae 6irth frst to adaughter! then a son' "n time her hus6and 6ecame %resident o a 1hristian collegein the -eattle area! and Aggie was intrigued to fnd so much -candinaian heritagethere'

ne day around *+;! a -wedish religious magaCine a%%eared in her mail6ox' -hehad no idea who sent it! and o course she couldn5t read the words' But as sheturned the %ages! all o a sudden a %hoto sto%%ed her cold' There in a %rimitiesetting in the heart o Arica was a grae with a white cross and on the cross was

her mother5s name! -)A .$,'

Aggie #um%ed in her car and droe straight to a college aculty mem6er who! she3new! could translate the article' =9hat does this sayD> she as3ed'

The instructor translated the story:

"t tells a6out missionaries who went to 5dolera in the heart o the Belgian 1ongo in*+2*E the 6irth o a white 6a6y girlE the death o the young missionary motherEthe one little Arican 6oy who had 6een led to 1hristE and how! ater the all whiteshad let! the little Arican 6oy grew u% and %ersuaded the chie to let him 6uild aschool in the illage'

The article told how that gradually the now grown u% 6oy won all his students to1hristE the children led their %arents to 1hristE een the chie had 6ecome a1hristian' Today *+;< there were six hundred 1hristian 6elieers in that oneillage'

Because o the willingness o ,aid and -ea .lood to answer &od5s call to Arica!6ecause they endured so much 6ut were still aithul to witness and lead one little


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6oy to trust Jesus! &od had saed six hundred %eo%le' And the little 6oy! as a grownman! 6ecame head o the 1hurch and leader o **0!000 1hristians in Faireormerly the Belgian 1ongo


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The old man turned 6ac3 to loo3 into his daughter5s eyes' His 6ody relaxed' He6egan to tal3' And 6y the end o the aternoon! he had come 6ac3 to the &od hehad resented or so many decades'

er the next ew days! ather and daughter en#oyed warm moments together'Aggie and her hus6and soon had to return to Americaand within a ew wee3s!

,aid .lood had gone into eternity'

A ew years later! the Hursts were attending a high/leel eangelism conerence in$ondon! ngland! where a re%ort was gien rom the nation o Faire the ormerBelgian 1ongo

The man 6egan to wee%' =@es! madam!> the man re%lied in .rench! his words then6eing translated into nglish'

="t was -ea .lood who led me to Jesus 1hrist' " was the 6oy who 6rought ood toyour %arents 6eore you were 6orn' "n act! to this day your mother5s grae and hermemory are honored 6y all o us'>

He em6raced her in a long! so66ing hug' Then he continued! =@ou must come toArica to see! 6ecause your mother is the most amous %erson in our history'>

"n time that is exactly what Aggie Hurst and her hus6and did' They were welcomed6y cheering throngs o illagers' -he een met the man who so many years 6eore!when she was less than a month old! had 6een hired 6y her ather to carry her downthe mountain in a sot 6ar3 hammoc3'

The most dramatic moment! o course! was when the %astor escorted Aggie to seeher mother5s grae! mar3ed with a white cross! or hersel' -he 3nelt in the soil oArica! the %lace o her 6irth! to %ray and gie than3s' $ater that day! in the churchserice! the %astor read rom John *2:24:

=" tell you the truth! unless a 3ernel o wheat alls to the ground and dies! it remainsonly a single seed' But i it dies! it %roduces many seeds'>

He then ollowed with Psalm *2:: =They who sow in tears shall rea% in #oy'>

$ie can sometimes 6e so disa%%ointing we do not see how &od is een wor3ing in

our lies' 9e hae heard o Gomans K:2K and all these encouraging erses 6ut do

not seem to realiCe the Joy that there is in the 1hristian race'

" remem6er a riend o mine! who had a sour 3ind o a relationshi% with his

girlriend' He challenged himsel o writing all the good things he loed a6out her in


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contrast to all the things he hates a6out her' The goal was to 6e a6le to %roe to

himsel that there are more reasons to loe her than hate her'

Ater writing eerything down he was sur%rised he wrote times as much reasons

to hate her girlriend than to loe her'

This is how we are in the eyes o &od' tentimes we can murmur a6out how 6ad

our day! wee3! or month was' 9e oten com%lain at the littlest o things without

really trying to see how good our &od has 6een to us' 9e oten remem6er the

littlest details o our %ro6lems 6ut tend to orget how &od has used the little things

that so that our lies would 6e 6etter'

9e tend to critiIue the little misha%s and thin3 o how much inconenience this has

caused us 6ut do not see the huge o6stacles that &od has 6een clearing or us

eery single day'

2 things that we should see in Paul5s statement:

*' But none o these things moe me2' either count " my lie dear unto mysel

1hristians are not exem% rom trials! aLication! %ains! distress! %ro6lems! trou6les

"t is clear to the A%ostle Paul that the 2 ingredients needed to 6e a6le to fnish ourcourse with Joy would 6e:

*' Be unmoea6leMstedast

2' Be -eless

But how do you do thisD How does it wor3D

H9 T B ?8)AB$:

1. Be persuaded of Gods powerful love

Gom K:;/;+


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; 9ho shall se%arate us rom the loe o 1hristD shall tri6ulation! or distress!

or %ersecution! or amine! or na3edness! or %eril! or swordD

; As it is written! .or thy sa3e we are 3illed all the day longN we are

accounted as shee% or the slaughter'

;O ay! in all these things we are more than conIuerors through him that

loed us'

;K .or " am %ersuaded! that neither death! nor lie! nor angels! nor

%rinci%alities! nor %owers! nor things %resent! nor things to come!

;+ or height! nor de%th! nor any other creature! shall be able to separate

us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our ord'

&od5s loe s so %owerul He o7ered His only 6egotten -on to die or us'1hrist was o7ered to 6ear the sins o many' &od5s loe was so a6solute that

He made a way or man to 6e saed een i it meant the death o His own

righteous and 6eloed -on'

!. Be Stedfast because it is never in vain

* 1or *:K

K Thereore! my 6eloed 6rethren! 6e ye stedast! unmoea6le! always

a6ounding in the wor3 o the $ord! orasmuch as ye 3now that your labour isnot in vain in the ord.

&al :+

+ And let us not be wear" in well doin#$ for in due season we shall

reap! i we aint not'

&ie exam%le o man who does not 6eliee in Heaen or hell' He is not6ound to lose anything i He %uts His aith in &od' Howeer! he is 6ound to lose all

i he does not %ut His aith in Him'

2 1or 4:*


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4 Thereore seeing we hae this ministry! as we hae receied mercy! we

aint notN

%. Be a clear evidence

2 1or 4:K/**

K 9e are trou6led on eery side! yet not distressedN we are %er%lexed! 6ut not

in des%airN

+ Persecuted! 6ut not orsa3enN cast down! 6ut not destroyedN

*0 &lwa"s bearin# about in the bod" the d"in# of the ord Jesus, that

the life also of Jesus mi#ht be made manifest in our bod".

** For we which live are alwa" deliveredunto death or Jesus sa3e! that

the lie also o Jesus might 6e made maniest in our mortal esh'

O*' n -u7ering

9hile the 6attle o 1hateau/Thierry was in %rogress! a soldier was carried to thehos%ital whose ace was grossly disfgured rom 6attle wounds' By the time the

surgeon was through with him his head loo3ed li3e a 6all o rags! with nothing 6ut

the eyes %ee%ing out' A isitor said to him! QPoor! %oor 6oyRQ But the %oor 6oy

re%lied! Q,ont %ity me' Pity my 6uddies oer there who hae 6een hit where it

doesnt show'Q QThen you dont mind!Q said the isitor! Qyour ace 6eing disfguredDQ

Q,isfguredDQ the soldier re%lied' Q" aint disfgured' "m decorated'Q

rom Practical Bi6le "llustrations rom @esterday and Today 1o%yright S *++! *++K

6y A8& "nternational! "nc' All rights resered' ?sed 6y Permission'! he said! =and touch the %otatoes'> -he did and noted that they weresot'

He then as3ed her to ta3e an egg and 6rea3 it' Ater %ulling o7 the shell! sheo6sered the hard/6oiled egg'

.inally! he as3ed her to si% the co7ee' "ts rich aroma 6rought a smile to her ace'

=.ather! what does this meanD> she as3ed'

He then ex%lained that the %otatoes! the eggs and co7ee 6eans had each aced thesame adersity/the 6oiling water' Howeer! each one reacted di7erently' The %otatowent in strong! hard and unrelenting! 6ut in 6oiling water! it 6ecame sot and wea3'

The egg was ragile! with the thin outer shell %rotecting its liIuid interior until it was%ut in the 6oiling water' Then the inside o the egg 6ecame hard' Howeer! theground co7ee 6eans were uniIue' Ater they were ex%osed to the 6oiling water!they changed the water and created something new'

=9hich one are youD> he as3ed his daughter' =9hen adersity 3noc3s on your door!how do you res%ondD Are you a %otato! an egg! or a co7ee 6eanD

Gomans K:2K says all things wor3 together or good to them who $oe &od and to

them who are the called according to His %ur%ose'

" you truly loe &od! you will not 6e moed' @ou will 6e steadast #ust li3e a sincere

loer and will not 6e discouraged 6y any o%%osition or challenges'

" you are truly called according to His %ur%ose! you 3now that He has no ther

%ur%ose or us 6ut to $ie or Him in accordance to his 9ord'

" we do these things! we will not only fnish the course! 6ut will fnish it with Joy'

He6 **:*;


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How to Finish Your Course With Joy

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