Investing in Eternity: Living for God's Purpose

"15 1 John 2:15 do not love the world nor the things in the world if anyone loves the world the love of the father is not in him for all that is in the world listen carefully all that is in the world the lust of the Flesh and the lust of the eyes and the bful pride of life is not from the father but is from the world the world is passing away and also its lusts the world is passing away the lusts of the world are passing away this verse says and so You' say yeah sure the pleasures of this world are passing away the sin in this world it's a temporary pleasure you'll get from sin it's passing away in a few moments that pleasure that you get from sin will soon end and you will be left with regret guilt shame sin always acts like that if you lust with your eyes if you say a harsh word you may have vented yourself and got it off your chest but immediately after that you will feel guilt and shame sin is always like that and it's passing away but you know what he says also yes the lusts of the world are passing away but the world itself is passing away for me the difference there is that he's also talking about good things in the world the world nothing wrong with that nothing sinful nothing dishonoring to God but recognize that that's passing away that pleasure which you might have from playing a football game or soccer or baseball or work success at work making a little bit more money a good Hard Day's Work that's wonderful God planned for you to do that but recognize that everything in this world is passing away the high opinion that people have of you here on this Earth has passing away the bad opinion that people have of you on this Earth is passing away the wor world and all its lust is passing away I thought about it like this that I have a little whiteboard here I'm going to write here with what's a uh called a dry erase marker most of you probably know children you probably use it in school it's a dry erase marker you it's a pink one I picked a different color um a dry erase marker is one where when you write on it you can erase it I'm going to write on here my life 2024 let's say my life 2024 this was me writing in 2024 my life every day you know maybe you wrote that M and then the Y everything that you did this year you are writing it and what it says here in in this verse is that this the world is passing away why is it passing away it's because God is going to one day come and erase the world he's got an eraser you know what God has an eraser Jesus said in Revelation 3 to one of the churches I will not erase their name from The Book of Life Jesus has an eraser and uh I think that's Revelation 3:5 but one day God is going to come and run his eraser across everything on this world and so when you reached the end of December 31st 2024 what I I got this picture of Lord what is it going to look like if you were to run the Eraser across 2024 right now would everything be gone would everything that I spent my time on and my money on my thought thoughts on especially our thoughts if you would erase it at the end of 20 he's going to do it one day when he comes but he speaks to us today from his word so that we can test ourselves now we can have him run the Eraser through and see Lord what was left is it am I left with really nothing 2024 a complete waste from God's perspective and you may say well Lord but I you know I I I did I did a good job I provided for my family and my children are growing well I came to the church I finished the Bible reading plan and and it's not just sin that will get be erased but it's also all the things that other things the dry erase things the world he erases that too thank God he erases the sin because I'm ashamed of that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin but what about the things I spent my whole year on when he ran the Eraser over it is it all gone you think about it 2024 what's left on the board after God runs his dry eraser on it what's left in the rest of this verse he goes on to say let's read the verse again the world is passing away and also its lust but the one who does the will of God lives forever I've got a permanent marker here I'm going to write my life 2025 it doesn't have to be like it was in 200 24 you've probably seen permanent markers be careful how you use them because once you put the mark on there it's going to be on there for good or whatever if you if you write on the furniture as some kids like to do it's there for all the visitors to come and see oh we've had those our walls if you come to our house and look carefully you'll find spots on our walls that the kids have etched permanently now thank God for the dry erase Mark for the the permanent marker that's what this latter part of verse 17 says that when God runs his eraser over the whole thing 24 was gone but 25 is left standing you can live a life if you do the will of God in such a way that when he runs his eraser over it it's there you live forever and I pray that my life and your life as part of this church will be the permanent marker life that everything we do I'm not talking about sinful things we're putting aside sinful things we're done with filthiness of the flesh if you fall get up repent ask the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse you from all sin confess it he will cleanse you right away I'm talking about those things that occupy your mind that occupy your affections the plans Ambitions and goals your motives your attitudes the secret deep down things God God had run the Eraser on your life in 2024 what would you have been left with it was a serious thought for me when I meditated on that I've been meditating on it for the last couple weeks since we started this new year because one day God's going to do that over your whole life and the world is passing away if what you wrote in 20124 was the world it's going to be erased you say Lord it wasn't sinful yeah but it was the world you wrote the world on your life erased and again I don't know what the Eternal Destiny of such a person will be I'm not the one to gets to decide it God does but I'm not prepared to take a gamble with it brothers sisters I'm not prepared to take a Gamble and say well Lord all my sins were cleansed but I invested all my life on money and pleasure uh good pleasure not sinful pleasure I invested it on on myself and my family my thoughts were occupied with me and mine even though they're not sinful it was the world the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes the boastful pride of life thoughts the way the world thinks if that occupied your mind and if that's how you live 2024 it's gone Brothers you can't live 2024 again but you've got 2025 thank God that he's not running the Eraser over your life permanently today one day he will and for those who have reached the end of their life there is no hope anymore if they're in Hell their life is over and if the Eraser erased their whole life they might have lived 90 years old and we're not here to judge anybody else living a long life we had a president who died in the last couple weeks who lived to be a hundred others who lived past that the oldest person alive I think is in their 110 something like that but what does it matter if the Whiteboard was huge and all of it's erased and maybe somebody else lives 33 years short life younger than most of us in this room and everything he wrote was preserved that's the life of Jesus and he's our example that everything Jesus wrote his entire life from the moment he was born every little dot there's no blank space on his on his life and the father said this is my beloved Son his page is full every single moment of his life he's my example now the times of ignorance acts 17:30 God overlooks you can't change 2024 you can't change 2023 22 go back you can't change any of that but there's hope brothers sisters children because you are still alive because you're still in the land of the living not the Land of the Dead where there is no hope because you're still in the land of the living because you still have breath in you and because Jesus is still alive there's hope that 2025 can be the year that never gets erased nothing gets erased now we're already 12 days in don't waste another day now what does it mean I don't want to leave you with a mystical okay sure that's a great idea but how do I write with the permanent marker what does that mean it's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 3 this is a serious message but it's a message of Hope brothers and sisters and children and children you have the privilege that you can start this journey of writing with the permanent marker now before it's too late don't wait till you're in even in your teens or 20s or 30s start now 1 Corinthians chapter 3 we read in verse 12 now if anyone any man builds on the foundation with gold silver precious stones or wood hay and straw each man's work will become evident for the day will show it because it is revealed with fire now this eraser is not just a I don't know what this material is maybe some kind of rubber it's a fire God is going to run an eraser of fire over your life according to this verse is going to be revealed with fire and the fire itself will test the quality of each man's work if any man's work which he has built on it remains he will receive a reward if any man's work is burned up he will suffer loss but he himself will be saved yet so as Through Fire these are serious words I believe he's talking about people who will be in heaven but will have suffered loss for their entire life the picture the lord gave me some years ago about this from this verse was like a standing in you know how when you fly on a plane you go to the airport you go through security and you put all your stuff on this conveyor belt and then it goes through an x-ray machine to see if there's anything harmful in there if there's anything that's not there nowadays you can't even take water they'll dump it out and if there's anything that you're not allowed to take you got to leave it behind you probably get arrested for trying to take a knife or you forgot it was in there and I got a picture of a going standing there and all of us at the end of our life standing in line to put our whole life on this conveyor belt and on the conveyor belt is not just an x-ray machine it's fire and I put my whole life 2000 from the year I was born every year all of it put it my whole all everything empty out everything it's all got to go through the fire 2024 2025 as long as God gives me life and then I watch it going on the conveyor belt and I wonder what's going to happen what's going to be left and after that I too have to go through the fire and here he's talking about yet he himself will be saved through the fire these are people who are saved through the fire because they trusted in Jesus earlier he talks about the foundation which is Jesus Christ so here's somebody who trusted in Jesus Christ for their Eternal Destiny but everything they spent their life on was the world they trusted Jesus their sins are forgiven and if I understand this verse they make it through the fire and they're with Christ for all eternity with nothing to show for it zero everything they wrote on their life was a dry erase marker and God Ran the Eraser over it and said nothing left now I said Thank You Lord that I'm alive today and I'm seeing this conveyor belt and you've given me the fire now the fire of your word the fire of the holy spirit that tests the quality now because it's going to be tested one day thank God we're in 2025 not the end of all time the great and terrible day of the Lord when everything will be put through the fire and then there's no more chance to set it right thank God that we can run the Eraser over our work now and say Lord yes there's a few scratches here and there but most of it was dry erase God God's going to run the Eraser of fire to see is it the permanent marker or is it the dry erase marker let's turn to Romans chapter 11 what does it mean to write with the permanent marker Romans 11 we read in verse 36 this is the permanent marker very simple I hope you remember these verses so you can go and meditate on them write them down I mentioned 1 John 2:17 and 18 and um uh 1 Corinthians 3:12 onwards and here's Romans 11:36 for from him and through him and to him are all things to him be the glory forever and ever amen this is the permanent marker if what you wrote in 2024 was from God through God and to God even your work that you did and the planting of the garden that you did and taking your kids to school and teaching them school at home and uh playing sports with them and uh teaching them how to do different skills and disciplining them and going on a date with your wife and maybe enjoying a vacation with your family if it was from him through him and to him it's the permanent marker now look back on 2024 dear brothers sisters and children and how much of what you spent your time and affection and thoughts on in 2020 was from God through God and to God that's what's left of your life in 2024 everything else you might as well consider it erased now because it's going to be erased in the future but you have 2025 how will you live 2025 say Lord I want this what you write to come from you let the idea to do this or to do that or to buy this or to buy that or to spend my time on this and to spend my time on that come from you help me to seek your will in prayer help me to start every day listening to your voice Lord Guide Me Guide Me Lord today I know what I'm supposed to do this my boss has set this out for me and I'm going to show up at this workplace or sit at home in my office and do this but Lord guide me because I don't want to do the work that I'm going to do with a dry erase marker let it be the permanent marker and dear brothers dear sisters if it's from God that way in the attitude of your heart you could go work for some ungodly employer who's interested in making money but God sees that you did it from him and you asked him for the power of the holy spirit so that the work you did would be through him through his power and that the life that that you live doing this Earthly job would be for his glory alone and you'll find it's a permanent Mark that's the life I want to live I've got an Earthly job like you all do and I've got to go to work tomorrow and do something for an Earthly employer whose kingdom is going to be destroyed it's it's the world I live in it's the world we live in and that company is going to be destroyed either in a few weeks months years or maybe decade or so before the Lord returns every Earthly company even the most profitable company on this Earth is going to be destroyed the richest man on this Earth or woman whoever it is their wealth is all going to be destroyed and here we are working in the world for the same unrighteous Mammon so that we can provide for our families how you do it is going to make a the dis determine whether it's eternal life or not whether it's the permanent marker how you do it that's it is it from God say Lord I'm I'm going to go to work today and I don't know what's going to come I know what I'm supposed to do I have some ability I've been trained in this or I've learned it over a period of time but it's let it come from you Lord you've given me this job do you know brothers sisters how much comfort it brings me that the job I have was given be my God I don't deserve it oh I wish you could see in my heart and see I don't deserve the job I'm in God gave it to to me no doubt in my mind about it I hope you know that too as qualified as they think you are in your company for your job God's the one who gave it to you from him and they say Lord today fill me with your Holy Spirit not because I want to speak in tongues or go do some miracle because I want to do my Earthly job by the power of your Holy Spirit Lord because I don't want it to be dry eras marker I want to be filled with your holy spirit that this homeschooling I'm about to do with my children will be permanent marker homeschooling and this meal I'm about to cook Lord let it be permanent marker meal and this this laundry load I'm about to do Lord I want to do it by the power of your Holy Spirit you see how it boils down to the everyday things in life and Lord you get the glory out of it when my children grow up and they love you with all their lives I will take no credit for what I did and say oh I raised my children and look they're all God-fearing no I I say Lord you know what I was I did zero but I did it from you and through you and for you and oh that rlcf will be the permanent marker verse and that's why Jesus taught us to pray Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be your name this is permanent marker Lord I want your name to be honored in my life by my work I don't want to make more money or get a promotion and Rise Up the corporate L and all that Lord your name must be honored by the way I live my life you've given me this job and I want my life your name to be honored by this job you've given me my wife you've given me my husband you've given me my children children you God is the one who's put you in your class you know that you can go and do that school saying Lord let your name be honored by this geography class or this history or this math or that science even the the difficult subjects Lord let your name be honored Let Your Kingdom Come Lord in this work I tell you brothers and sisters I've said it in this church before the only reason I'm working in the job I'm in is so that I can further the kingdom of God if God says Santos from now on you're going to be doing this other work that's not as enjoyable as what you used to have but I'm going to further my kingdom through it then I say Lord give me that job I want the job that will best allow me to further the kingdom of God bottom line now it wasn't always like that I'll be honest with you I don't want to stand here and pretend or sit here and pretend I wanted a nice job a comfortable job a cushy job and now I say Lord it doesn't matter I tell you one way it will change your perspective read uh voice of the martyrs sometime read Fox's book of Martyrs read Marr's mirror read the the lives of these men that we consider Heroes and consider the jobs they had they were poor they suffered they had very little to eat and these are people still alive today in countries around the world world poor countries I I've been reading many of those stories recently they they grew up they start out their lives poor and then they're in persecuted countries where even what they have is taken away from them and their husbands are killed and their children are killed and this one mom I I read about recently where their her two daughters were taken away one was 18 one was 12 those are our kids she doesn't know where they are the rebels kidnapped her daughters and then her husband was killed because he was witnessing and here she is and they have a picture of her and she's smiling the smile of Christ and here I am worrying about will I have enough money and can I get a better job will I get the promotion all that no I'm not here to say that we should therefore all quit our jobs and live there God has a calling for your life he does and that calling may be to live in a nice house and have a car or two cars or and have provide for your children but brothers sisters don't let the world in don't let the world in let it be from him through him and to him therefore chapter 12 ver1 I urge you brothers and sisters by the mercies of God to present your life your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God this is worship don't give your body a dead sacrifice God won't accept a dead sacrifice when your life is over and you're dead and you realize that everything was erased you were left with nothing he says that's a dead sacrifice I can't take that I want a Living Sacrifice he says while you're alive in the years that you have left there are very few brothers sisters children the years you have left on this Earth are very very few and God says you just give me that you can't change the past you give me that as a Living Sacrifice it will be per marker from now on and you'll have no regret this is the life I want to live and you know the secret to that I think about it like this what's the difference between the permanent marker pen and the dry erase pen it's what's inside it this pen said you can put permanent marker ink in me and this pen said you can put dry erase ink in me no I'm just using analogy but this is the choice you and I have God's not going to force it down your throat he doesn't Force anything he says come what will you let me fill your life with will it be the permanent marker of the Holy Spirit where everything is done Lord for from you through you and to You For Your Glory alone change it from this day forward Lord that everything I do will be with that one ambition alone that it will remain that it will abide forever Let It Be Your Will Let It Be Your Name Your Kingdom your will that's what Jesus taught us to pray Our Father who are in heaven Hallowed Be Your Name Your Kingdom Come your will be done on Earth as it is heaven this is permanent marker and you can do anything you can play a football game you can watch a good movie you can go on a vacation if it is Lord let your name be glorified let your kingdom come let your will be done you can work at a software company you can work as a carpenter you can work as a mom doing chores at home and homeschooling them you can work as a teacher you can work as a supervisor you can work as a slave as some in the scriptures did and it will be permanent marker and there will be rich Kings whose entire life was empty and nothing left suffering for all eternity like the rich man that Jesus spoke about and then there will be slaves like Lazarus poor full of sores that the dogs licked who will have a full life because they lived the life of Faith now we are all sinners we've all sinned we've all wasted our lives but today is the day of salvation Brothers sisters don't look back I'll close with this Philippians chapter 3 verse 7 let this be your testimony as it is mine as it was Paul's I say that reverentially it is my testimony now and I want it to be even more whatever things were gained to me I counted them lost because I realized they were just dry Aries whatever things were gained to me I have counted loss for the sake of Christ for the sake of that permanent marker more than that I count all things to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things I've emptied myself of this useless dry erase ink I hear Paul saying and count them but rubbish dung so that I may gain Christ and may be found in him not having a righteousness of my own derived from the law but that which is through faith in Christ the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead in order that I might have eternal life not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold off by Christ Jesus this is why Jesus laid hold of you so that you would write in permanent marker Brethren I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet but one thing I do forgetting what lies behind maybe your entire 2024 is erased forget it that's what God invites you to do isn't that a wonderful thing if you wasted your entire 2024 he says forget it it's okay you've got 2025 forgetting what lies behind and Reaching Forward to what lies ahead I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus this is a life of weakness the reason go we're full of dry eras is because we're so strong we're so full we we have abilities I invite you brothers and sisters and children to join me in a year of weakness a year of Brokenness so that God can fill us with his permanent ink I'll close with this poem by Francis havo I can I could not do without Thee I cannot stand alone I have no strength or goodness this is how this pen got the permanent marker in it here's what it said I could not do without Thee I cannot stand alone I have no strength or goodness no wisdom of my own but thou beloved savior are all in all to me and weakness will be power if leaning hard on Thee the reason this pen can write in a permanent ink is because it was weak and allowed the master to fill it with permanent ink and allowed the master to write what he wanted to write this is my vision for 2025 not mine but the one the Lord has put in my heart it didn't start in me because then it would be dry raay too if I gave you something that I came up with that's empty let's examine our hearts brothers sisters let's pray let's spend a few minutes in prayer let's judge ourselves let every man judge himself judge your motives judge your thoughts your attitudes judge everything put it through the fire right now and then you will have no fear no regret in eternity the times of Overlook of of ignorance God overlooks forget what lies behind forget even January 11th 2025 that's behind January 12th is today today is the day of salvation today if you hear his voice don't Harden your heart he loves you and he purchased you with a price he picked you up from the pit for a purpose he laid a hold of you for a purpose and Paul's ambition was that he might lay hold of that for which Christ laid a hold of him and you make it your ambition dear friend dear brother dear sister dear child to lay hold of what why did you pick me Lord why did you pick me it wasn't just for me to have an empty slate at the end of my life and make it to Heaven barely you laid a hold of me for so much more than that Lord open my eyes to see it and may I never waste another minute another second of my life on the things of this world that are passing away Lord Jesus I commit to you my spirit my life I lay it on the altar today Fill Me Lord with your holy spirit let everything I do be that which begins in you let everything I do be that which is through your power and let everything I do be that which is For Your Glory I believe it shall be so Lord and you will raise River of Life Christian Fellowship not corporately Lord but individually organically into this life as an example to others let rivers of living water flow from us by this permanent life that you're giving us an unshakable life we thank you in Jesus name amen can we sing this song maybe I don't know if we have the word there but um take my life and let it be um how easy is it as for us to pull it up might might have to use open LP uh Alan maybe you can help them back there uh pull it up take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee if you're able to pull it up on your phone you can do that too oh we have it okay take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee take my moments and my days let them flow in ceaseless praise let them flow ceas" [00:17:25]