Sheryl Brady - Don't Stop Till You Finish

I have a word for you today: don’t stop until you finish! Turn to your neighbor and say, «Neighbor, neighbor, even if you get discouraged, God wants you to know: don’t stop, don’t stop until you finish!» Woo! There’s something significant about being a finisher. I want you to shake hands with someone on either side, introduce yourself, and tell them you’re sitting next to a finisher. I may have to cry sometimes, but I’m a finisher by the grace of God. I’ll pull it together and finish what He has assigned me to do. Are there any finishers in this room today? If you’re watching online, you’re a finisher! Tell somebody, «Run on and finish your race.» Father, today I love you and thank you for your word. I thank you for the anointing to preach. Yes, I thank you for the anointing to hear. I thank you for the anointing to take this word and apply it to the lives of your people. Have your way, have your way, and we’ll give you the glory for it, in Jesus' name. Amen and amen! On your way down, hit somebody and tell them, «Don’t stop till you finish! Don’t you dare stop till you finish!»

In John chapter four, where we were reading, the disciples were talking among themselves because they hadn’t seen the Master eat in a while. Because of that, they were concerned and decided to approach Him. They brought up the subject and said, «Sir, you haven’t eaten in a while.» He replied to them, as we read today in verse 32, «I have meat that you know not of.» Have you ever had nourishment that people were unaware you had? I mean, they thought what you were facing should have wiped you out. But here you are, still standing, feasting on something that the eye cannot see. He said to them, «My need is to do the will of Him that sent me.» I’m not here to please everybody; I can’t do everything. I don’t have the bandwidth to do it all, but I am here, and I am going to finish the work of Him that sent me. I’m going to finish it, meaning I’ll accomplish it and carry it out completely. I’m not going to get almost there and give up. I’m going all the way, and I will finish what He has assigned me to do.

A few chapters later, in John 17, verse 1, a very familiar Scripture that we didn’t read today, says, «Father, the hour is come. Now glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. I have glorified Thee on the earth, and I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.» He is telling God the Father, «I have finished my assignment.» I’ve dotted every «i,» crossed every «t,» and completed every detail that You assigned me. Finishing was important to Jesus. Now, in John chapter 19, verse 30, which is where we also read today, the Bible says that when Jesus, therefore, received the vinegar or sour wine, He opened His mouth and said, «It is finished.» At that point, He bowed His head and gave up the ghost. Finishing is critical because you must understand that had He not finished, you would not have salvation today. He had to finish the work.

Now, you might not finish first, you might not finish the fastest, and you might not even finish on time. But look at somebody and tell them, «Just make sure that you finish.» The Bible says that the race is not given to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but to he that endureth till the end—the one that makes it to the conclusion. Go ahead and run on; you might be running faster than me, and that’s all right! My deadline is not your deadline, and I’m not going to compare my journey to yours—thank God for that! If we could ever truly get that revelation that we are not to compare ourselves with one another, there would be so much freedom in our lives. I have to run the race He has given me to run.

He said to you who are finding the conclusion: if you can just hang in there till the finale… Have you ever been walking through the airport and felt somebody coming up behind you, making noise? Ever just moved to the side and said, «Go ahead,» because I don’t care how much running you’ve got in your feet, I ain’t got it in mine? So you just kind of move to the side, let them go and do it at their pace, while you preserve your energy and run your race. The word says to the one that endureth till the end, to the conclusion, to the culmination, to the finale—to the one that endures to the finish. Look at somebody and say, «Just finish! Just finish!»

Now, on a personal note, to me, there’s nothing worse than unfinished things. If I start something, I want it to be completed, or at least I want to make it look like it’s completed.