Now here's a second encouragment,
look to Him who promises to complete His Work in you.
Philipians chapter one and verse six.
Being confident of this that very thing that He which hath begun a good work in you
shall perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Have you ever thought about it?
Is there hope for people that have been ravished by sin?
Who have been devoured almost to the uttermost
by the Devil?
Well, ask a few of the Biblical characters.
Abraham was a liar,
and yet God ultimately made him the father of many nations.
Jacob was a deceiver,
but yet he became a prince of God having power with God and man.
Moses was a murderer,
but yet he led he led the people through the wilderness.
Rahab was a harlot,
and yet you find her name in the genealogy
of Christ and also recorded in the hall of faith.
David committed adultery,
but it never altered the fact that he was a man
after God's own heart.
Peter denied the Lord,
but God raised him up as a powerful prophet of righteousness
on the day of Pentecost.
Thomas doubted, but he was
used by God to further to advance the kingdom of God
in the kingdom there in the book of Acts.
I don't know if you guys, you know, follow
the Olympics or not.
I mean, I don't know, it just seems like there
are certain events, and, you know, and winter Olympics
and summer Olympics, you know, we watch that stuff,
and, you know, we've been in a number
of countries around the world to speak, and so
I have a lot more people to pull for
in the Olympics, you know.
I can pull for the Germans, and the Finns, you know,
and all these different countries, you know,
just because I know people there now
and there's an attachment and all that.
And I like the Olympics.
But I'll tell you, to illustrate this point
of "look to Him that is going to complete his work in you."
In the 1992 Barcelona Games
there was a runner by the name of Derrick Redman.
He was predicted to medal in the 400 meters.
He had just blown everybody away
in his first qualifying round, and he advanced.
But in the second qualifying round,
half-way around the track,
his hamstring snapped.
He just collapsed on the field.
And all the runners just shot past him.
All of his hope of winning a medal, and perhaps even the gold,
was just dashed, in just a split second.
He gets up, and all the paramedics are coming out,
and officials, and they're trying to help him,
and he's pushing them back.
And you can see the tears, just coursing across his cheeks.
I mean, the pain you feel for him,
not only physically, but also the disappointment.
And here he is, he starts limping down the track,
and then he starts just hobbling on one foot.
And all the people in the stands, 65000,
start standing on their feet and giving him standing ovation.
And suddenly he stumbles again.
And you can see in the background there,
there is a large man that's pushing his way through security.
And finally, they just back off.
It happens to be Derrick's father, Jim.
And his daddy comes out and the boy leans on his daddy,
he's just weeping profusely, and his daddy, Jim,
says, "You know, son, you don't have to do this."
And he said, "Yes, I do. Yes, I do."
So the father looked at him and says,
"Well, we'll do it together."
You know what happens?
He walks him around that track, and right before
he goes across the finish line, his daddy lets him go.
I want to tell you something, friend.
If you're going to finish the race on this side of eternity,
it's only going to be through the help of the Father.
He is the only one that will sustain you.
And when you cross the finish line one day,
It won't be because of your performance,
or your perseverance.
It will be because of the sustaining help of God.