Sermon Notes 01-24-21

 

 

 

Are You Wasting Your Life Away?

 

Matt 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. You should remember this Scripture and remember what God is saying to us at GLC; Move ONWARD! Move ONWARD! To what God has called you to do in this world. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil. (Ecc 12:14)

 

Pastor Jim is also speaking to this and encouraging you to walk in your God-given purpose. Every one of you has something special that he wants you to do in this world. You should seek it out so that your life can be meaningful. God has a plan for your life but you will never fulfill it if you do not 1) deny yourself, 2) take up your cross and 3) follow him. 

 

Why waste your life doing something you were not created for? It can be clearly seen God has created everything with a purpose, what excuse do you have to say you didn’t have one? How dare you try to defy God and tell him you will not seek to do what he created you to do? Do you really think you can go against God and win? 

Another question; what is sin? Sin is accurately defined as missing the mark. We know it in a greater sense is doing things that are against the word of God. However, consider what Jesus said; “Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. (Lk 12:8–9). This speaks to the purpose of living your life to glorify God. Then he continues on to say; “And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven.  (Lk 12:10). 

 

Blaspheming against the Holy Spirit would be denying the voice that you hear telling you how to give God glory with your life, is not God. You will do with your life as you please. 

A LIFE IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE! IS YOURS BEING WASTED AWAY?

 

Today, I want us to consider the verses that follow our Scripture in Matthew 16 because they speak to my question: Matt 16:25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. And more specifically, For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mt 16:24–26). It profits nothing! That life is a waste in the eyes of God! If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. (Jn 15:6). 

 

Considering the current world’s apostasy, I think we can clearly say, most people give very little to no consideration to their eternity. If they did, they would be living their lives in an entirely different way. 

 

There would be more respect for God, and this world would not be in the condition it is today. People are rewriting the Word of God today. People at top levels of government are disrespecting the Word of God and doing things that they think are right. As the Bible has said, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. (2 Ti 4:3–4). 

 

Because of these things, I think it is good to ask these questions Christ asked once again. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? If you could gain or somehow get everything in the whole world, would it be worth losing your soul? 

 

Indeed you recognize that there is no way that anyone can gain the whole world. It has never been done, nor will it ever be done! Even if it could be done, such a person would still be a damned fool to give up his soul for the world. Yet, the truth is many people are exchanging their souls for the things of the world.  

 

How foolish for you to say to God his plans for you are stupid, I will do what I want to do. That is what Adam and Eve did, and you see where it has gotten us.

 

When I was growing up, I would hear stories where people made a deal with Satan sold their souls to the devil. They would gain the riches and wealth or other things they desired. They would be able to experience them for but a brief time. The time that they were alive. But ultimately, Satan came and demanded of them their soul. In every story, I heard, they always regretted what they had done and pleaded with Satan, but he would not listen. He would wind up putting them in hell regardless to their begging.

 

It was difficult for me to understand because I felt like no one in his right mind would make such a deal. No one would sell their soul to the devil. But as I look at today’s world, I see that many have. Their focus in life is trying to acquire things that are in this world and they seek to please people of the world rather than please God. 

 

Very little regard is given to the worship of God today. It is very clear that church attendance is down. Covid 19 has helped that. People now have excuses not to come to church. As a result they get in the habit of ignoring what God said for them to do. 

 

Today, very few people honor God with their tithes and offerings. Many in our churches accept the wholesale slaughter of children in their mother’s womb. Many simply for the money that they will save by not having the child. 

 

We have changed marriage to make it be what others want it to be. We now even deny God created male and female in the beginning and vote for people to make things God says are wrong legal. People today are selling their soul to the devil and don’t even know it.

 

Now more people are condemning those that say what God said in the Bible is true. More people are saying the Word of God, can not be spoken of or tolerated in our modern society if it offends somebody else. Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. (Mt 10:34–39). 

 

We are getting closer and closer to a total disregard for the word of God. We are accepting the ways of the world and saying they are acceptable to God. I don’t think so!

 

Today, I intend to make sure that none of you will sell your souls to Satan. But I would also caution you; Satan is so deceptive, he will seek ways to deceive you into unknowingly doing exactly what he wants you to do. There are more than you would imagine that have already sold their soul to the devil. They are traveling on the Broad Road. They are pursuing the things of the world, displacing the things of God. 

 

Let’s go back. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

 

First of all, what do we mean by the word “soul?” It is from the same Greek word that is translated elsewhere as “life.” For instance, Jesus uses it in Mt 6:25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? You can interchange the word “soul” here, and it would still be correct. It is the same Greek word.

 

Then, we see the use of the same word here when Peter preached on the day of Pentecost: Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. (Ac 2:41).  It should be clear that this means “lives.”

 

Now, let us replace the word soul in our Scripture with life. Then, we will understand it differently. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?

 

Think about it in this context. What good is it if you could gain the whole world, but the day you do, you die? What sense does that make? Would it have been worth it? Why would you give your life for a thing you cannot keep?  Why work all you like to get something and then don’t have the opportunity to experience it? That sounds like foolishness to me.

 

Jesus speaks of this again in Luke 9:25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? (Lk 9:25). 

 

Let’s see if I can make my point more clearly:

 

The body is what you wear in the world. It is only necessary for this world. When the body dies, you will live externally from this world but in a different body.

 

Proof: And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” (Lk 23:43). The thief and his body died that very day. The Romans made sure of it, but somehow he continued to live in paradise with Jesus. Jesus knew life does not in with death of the body. Guess what, Satan knows that also.

 

Here is what we read in the book of Job. So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. (Job 2:4). 

 

Satan clearly understood what he was saying when he said, “All that a man has he will give for his life.” Satan understood that all he had to do was deceive a man into thinking about his life in a very limited way, and a man will give all that he had, trying to save that life. Satan wants you to focus on life in this world. Not life after death. He does not want you to think of your life as going on after death. He wants you to see life on earth is really all that matters. 

 

He wants you to pursue the things on earth and ignore the rest of your life beyond earth! He wants to keep you ignorant of the fact that you are a living soul. He wants to hide the truth that when you die, all that dies is your body! He does not want you to realize that soul is still alive when the body dies. If you do you might give co start to consider to things outside of this world. You might start to honor God.

 

Satan does not want you to think about eternity! He does not want you to see your life the way God created it. That’s why he spent so much time trying to change the word of God. Quite frankly, he’s doing a good job of it. He does not want people to consider the word of God, as the word of God.

 

Let me prove my point further that life is more than the body. And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. (Ge 2:7). The King James says;  And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. (Ge 2:7). KJV

 

The soul of a man is different from his body. The body was made out of the dust of the ground, which will pass away. But the soul came from God, who is eternal. You are not just an earthling! The earth will pass away and your body will pass away, but your soul, which came from God, can never die. Your soul is what defines you and makes you who you are. You will never die! Your body will, but your soul will continue on in another form.

 

God is eternal, and the breath that he blew into your nostrils made you immortal. When God said the man would die, he spoke in terms of the body, not the soul. This is clear when he sentenced the man. In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return.” (Ge 3:19). 

 

See here this is about the body. The body will return to the ground. The soul does not die! It lives on in another form.

 

Solomon confirms what I am telling you. Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it. (Ec 12:7). 

 

If Satan can cause you to be ignorant of this truth, he will get you thinking about life in a limited way. You will believe that since you have only this life on earth to live, you might as well eat and drink and be merry, for tomorrow you will die. You must understand, life is more than the body. You must not live lif your life e seeking pleasures for the body! The body will ultimately die! The things you tried to do for your body can bring harm to your soul!

 

The body is like the car you drive. People may see you in your car, and they know how to distinguish you from your car. If you get a new car, they know you have not died. You are not your car!

 

The body is like the clothes you wear. People know how to distinguish you from your clothes. They know you have not died if you wear different clothes. You are not your clothes!

 

The body is like the house you live in. People know the difference between you and the house you live in. If your house burns down and you are at work, they know you have not died. You are not your house!

 

The Bible makes it clear, your body is not your life. One day you have to put off the body you live in now to put on a new body to live in. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. (1 Co 15:53). 

 

Jesus told us this story to be where about trying to do things for the benefit of this body. And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”  

 

This is a serious problem for most people. They think that life is just now. Your life was before you were here. Remember the words God spoke to Jeremiah? “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” (Je 1:5). 

 

Jeremiah was known before he was born. His soul was with God before he came to this earth. His body was given to him as a place to live in on this earth. 

 

We must begin to realize whatever we pursue for this body is a temporary thing. The body is not meant to last forever. Whatever we work to acquire for this body, we will ultimately lose. The body really want live long enough to enjoy it. What we labor for, when we give up this body somebody else will get for free!

 

Why would you then spend your time focusing on something that is for a short while? Why would you give your all for something that you can’t keep? 

 

Yet many people do! They focus on what they have here on this earth, and they strive for more. Unfortunately, many give too much regard to material possessions!

Jesus also said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Mt 6:19–21). This is just repeating the folly or foolishness of just concentrating on things for this world. A person is stupid if he is just living for this world. Life goes on outside of this world. You should be preparing for your eternity!

 

Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’

 

Here we are presented with a person whose focus is on material things. It is obvious he is not thinking about God. You see many people like this in this world. Their total focus is this world. They do not consider that there is an accounting that must come—a time when one must stand before the father and give an account for their life.

 

These people violate the word of God as if this life is the end of it all. Let me make one thing clear to you; we cannot change the written word of God. No matter how hard we try, God will not change. No matter how many laws the government might pass. God will not change his word. 

 

As Christians, we owe God our lives. We were created for him, not for ourselves! In everything, we are to give Him praise! We were created for his glory not ours! We are to serve him regardless to what the world says.

 

Let’s see what God says next…

 

20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” (Lk 12:15–21). 

 

God just called many people a fool. Reread it; who does God say is a fool? he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

 

Why should you work for stuff in this world and not store up treasures in heaven? God says if that’s all you think about is this life here and now; you are a fool! 

 

I am trying to make sure no one that I have a responsibility for as a pastor will be deceived by Satan into not preparing for their eternity. Don’t be a fool! 

 

Consider this: You need to pass a class, and the teacher tells you, you must pass a test to do so. To help you, they give you the answers to the test. But instead of studying the answers for the test, you study something else. If you fail the test you need to pass, whose fault is it?

 

God has told you what you need to do. You have the answers already. You need to live your life for his glory, but instead of doing what he told you, you live your life the way you want to. If you wind up in hell, whose fault is that?

 

God has told you there’s going to be a judgment, and more importantly, he has given you what you need to know to pass judgment. If you don’t do as he says, it is your fault! 

 

Please realize eternity is a lot longer than living here on earth. You should focus your life on living for eternity, not just here! Why should you be storing up treasures for this short life when you can spend time storing up treasures for eternity?

 

For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mt 16:26).

 

Have you been wasting your life away on foolish things?

 

Are You Wasting Your Life Away?

What Are You Focusing On?