Why it Matters to Live on Purpose - Pastor Jeff Schreve

[Music] hi I'm pastor Jeff Shrieve and this is from his heart thanks for joining us today you know as a Christian you have a very important decision to make every time you get up in the morning will today be about what you want to do or will it be about what the Lord wants you to do does it really matter between those two which one you choose you better believe it matters we've been in a series this month called living on purpose because if you're not living on purpose for Jesus Christ you're completely missing the point of life itself now that may sound like a pretty strong statement but it's true and God's Word is clear on this issue so let me invite you to open your Bible to second Corinthians and let's learn why it matters to live on purpose [Music] [Music] how many people in here like or liked highschool I see your hand the students how many of you guys like high school all right adults how many of you when you think back on high school did you like it debbie is your hand up no Debbie didn't really like high school I loved high school I was the one of the the first graduating class from my high school Cypress Creek High School in Houston and I started there when I was in tenth grade that was when the school opened I was in tenth grade we didn't have any juniors and seniors so we were the oldest class in tenth grade 11th grade and then 12th grade and I loved it and I had great friends and I had great fun and I played on the basketball team and we had a good team and it was just a lot of fun for me and you know I learned great lessons in high school one of the lessons I learned in high school was a lesson on efficiency for instance sometimes in high school we would have filmed a you know in one particular class the teacher was gonna show some kind of film you know like science class you show we didn't have Bill Nye the Science Guy it was just some other nerd that was gonna do some kind of sign and so you she would show that it would be like the whole class period or government they'd have some film the whole class period and my first question was always this is this gonna be on the test so efficiency is efficiency question because if she or he whichever the teacher was said no then film day was fun day was free day it was like I'm not paying any attention to this why I'm not gonna be tested over this I'm not gonna be responsible for this but if my teacher said yes you are going to be tested over this material you will see this material again then you had to pull out a piece of paper and get a pen then you had to follow along then you had to take notes and absorb the material presented why because you were going to be held accountable for that material in life for all of us before God there's a test at the end you're going to be held accountable and responsible for how you lived how I lived and the choices that we made now we've been in a series that we're finishing up today called living on purpose and we've been talking about the purpose that God has for us the purposes that he has and we said the main overarching purpose of our life and the reason God created us isaiah 43:7 is to glorify Him that's why we were created to bring glory and honor to our God as we sang today to our God to be all majesty and glory however goes I do better when it's on the screen but Tubb but but that's to our God and so we talked about that and we talked about the fact that God loves us and he wants us to love him back and that's the greatest commandment to love the Lord with all your heart all your soul all your strength and all your mind and you can do that when you understand that he loves you that way and then we talked about how God wants us to love other people and we talked about how God wants us to worship Him in spirit and truth and how he wants us to live a surrendered life to him I urge you therefore brethren by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and Holy Sacrifice acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship just to live every day where your all is on the altar and then we talked last week about how God wants to use us you shall be my witnesses the Lord says you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses and God wants us to tell people about his son and Jesus said witness and tell people about me that I died for their sins that I rose again from the dead that I'm coming again that they can have a personal relationship with me and that's our job here on the earth there's only one good thing that you can do on earth that you can't do in heaven and that is to tell Lost people about the one who can save them because in heaven you just have all save people there so that's the the one good thing that you can do on this earth that you can't do in heaven is win people to Christ and the Lord wants us to do all that and I'm finishing up this series with a message that's entitled why it matters to live on purpose cuz that's a good question well why does it really matter you know some people get the idea some Christians get the idea well you know if I receive Christ and I'm I become a Christian then if I'm saved than so what so what about any of my decision so what about what I do in life because I know that I'm going to heaven so that's really the only thing that I care about it matters because there's a test it matters because the Lord is going to hold you responsible for how you have lived great passage in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 10 tells us this Paul speaking to the Corinthian Christians he says for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may be recompense for his deeds in the body according to what he has done whether good or bad we must all appear question are you ready to appear before the Lord Jesus Christ are you ready to take the final exam now I want to share with you three truths from this great verse 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 10 truth number one every soul will one day stand before the Lord Jesus Christ every single soul will one day stand before Jesus Christ stand and give an account now sometimes we get the idea that the person that judges is God the Father but jesus said no that's not true John chapter five verse 22 and 23 says this jesus said for not even the father judges anyone but has given all judgment to the son in order that all may honor the son even as they honor the father the one who judges every single soul is the Lord Jesus Christ he is the judge is the judge and every person really in that has ever lived in this world you can put them in one of two categories it's kind of like in the the story the true story of the Titanic that sunk on its maiden voyage in 1912 April 15 1912 you know if you saw the movie Titanic you saw that there were lots of classes of people on that ship there were the the uber-rich the the wealthy wealthy wealthy folks and then there were just wealthy folks and then there were some middle-class folks and then there was some with some working folks and then the people down in steerage you know the ones you know work in the boiler room and that kind of stuff they're lots of different classes of people but when the ship went down there were two classes of people two classes of people saved and lost those it you look at everybody in our world you can boil them down into two classes of people saved and lost and when the Bible talks about people every soul appearing before the Lord Jesus Christ they don't all appear at the same at the same place the saved go to one place and the lost go to another place so the lost will appear before Jesus at a judgment called the great white throne judgment the Bible talks about that judgment in Revelation chapter 20 John says this in Revelation chapter 20 and verse 11 and I saw a great white throne he sees this judgment it's at the end of it all it's at the end of the thousand year reign of Jesus at the it's after the Lord takes the devil and he throws him into the lake of fire it's right before the eternal state which starts in Revelation chapter 21 so before God starts the eternal state he deals with all those who rejected him the Lord Jesus Christ all those people who said I don't want you all those people who who shook their fist in his face and all those people who just blew him off you know there's two ways to reject the Lord you can you can be active and say I don't want you to reign over me or you can just say yeah Jesus is just alright with me like The Doobie Brothers and then go your own way that's what most of the people do you know it's it's the atheists that that really have this hatred for God but most people they don't hate God necessarily they just blow God off and so any person who either actively or passively rejects the Lord that person ends up boom at the great white throne you don't want to go there and I saw a great white throne from whose presence earth and heaven fled away and no place was found for them and I saw the dead John says the Great and the small standing before the throne and books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and everyone was judged according to their deeds and death and hell gave up the Dead which were in them and the sea gave up the Dead which were in them and they were judged everyone according to their deeds and at the great white throne everybody is lost and at the great white throne the Lord opens the books and he reads off every sin you know God records all that you know the Lord knows everything he's pretty smart he knows everything and he has recording angel and he's recording everything and those that stand before the Lord at the great white throne those who rejected Christ in this life they stand before him and they're judged according to their deeds and then they're thrown into the lake of fire and the Bible says if any man's name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire great white throne judgment is awful and it's horrible and the Lord hates it because Jesus died for every one of those ones who are gonna end up in the lake of fire he doesn't want them to go there that's why he opens up the book which is the book of life to say to these people I had a place for your name I died for you but you rejected it now it's interesting the Bible speaks of two births and two deaths two births and two deaths the first birth is physical birth all of us in this room have experienced the first birth physical birth otherwise you wouldn't be here first birth physical birth the second birth the Bible talks about John chapter 3 is when you're born spiritually when you're born again jesus said unless a man is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God he cannot enter the kingdom of God you must be born spiritually to get into the kingdom of God two births but the Bible also talks about two deaths now the first death we all know about that's physical death but then the Bible also talks about a second death which is spiritual death which is separation from God forever and ever and ever the Bible calls the second death the lake of fire and if any man's name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire this is the second death now notice if a person is born but once that person dies twice they die physically and they die spiritually if you're born once you die twice but if you're born twice you've been born again you only die once and you really don't even die once because Jesus said he who lives and believes in me he really never dies you just changed locations you just leave this earth and go to be with the Lord because absent from the body is present with the Lord so the the lost people they end up at the great white throne it's a judgment of condemnation and a judgment of horror and it's awful but that's not what Paul's talking about in second Corinthians chapter 5 he says we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so the saved people they have a different judgment it's not the great white throne it's the judgment seat of Christ and the judgment seat of Christ is one word in the Greek it's the word Baima be e-ma buts pronounced Baima the Baima seat now when Paul talked about the Baima the Corinthians were very familiar with the Baima because that was used that was a place I think I have a picture of it this is what it looked like it was just a raised platform and you have a little place there where the magistrate would sit and they would call to himself returning warriors that had been victorious in battle or those who had been successful in the in the Olympic Games the Isthmian games that they had and then at that place at that Baima that would be a place of reward called the judgment seat but it's really a reward place and it was you would line up there and you would receive reward for things done in the community or things done in the athletic in the field of athletics or things done in the field of battle and you would be rewarded the judgment seat is a place of reward all Christians go to the Baima they go to the judgment seat now listen there's there are lots of folks that will tell you lots of things about what happens after you die there are people who say you know you can't know for sure where judgment you're going to because I mean that that happens you know it's it's to try and live your life so pure and so right and then maybe at the judgment you know the Lord will let you go in don't believe that not for a second listen you don't go to heaven by your good works it's not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy he say this you will only go to heaven by the blood of the Lamb that's the only way you can get to heaven is through the blood of a land that doesn't depend on your goodness if it did none of us would go none of us would go if it depended on our goodness I loved what Adrian Rogers used to say he said man I would not trust the best 15 minutes of my life that I have ever lived to get me to heaven when you think about sin being you know thought and word and deed and attitude good I wouldn't trust the best 15 minutes it's all what Jesus did on the cross and whether you go to the great white throne or to the judgment seat of Christ whether you face condemnation or commendation that's the Bema the Baima the commendation the praise from the Lord it all has to do with this life what then as Pilate said what then shall I do with Jesus who is called the Christ that is the question of questions what are you gonna do with Jesus are you going to surrender your life to Him and receive him as Lord and Savior or are you gonna blow him off are you gonna believe in him just in your head but not really give him your heart hey if you believe in with just your head and don't give the Lord your heart you end up at the great white throne your name is never written in the Lamb's Book of Life and you will be judged according to your deeds it's terrible it's horrible hey first truth every soul will one day appear before the Lord Jesus Christ as it says in Revelation 20 I saw the great white throne and earth and heaven fled away from the presence of him who sat on the throne and there was no place found for them you can't run you can't hide from the king we must all appear so whether you go to the great white throne whether you go to the judgment seat of Christ you're gonna go because you and I and every single person we have a date with deity second truth not only will every soul stand before Jesus Christ but every Christian will be evaluated by Jesus Christ you're going to be evaluated if you're a believer if you're a twice born person you're gonna be evaluated one day by the Lord Jesus Christ the Bible talks about this Jesus talked about this he told parables about this in Matthew and in Luke about the king who went away and before he went away he entrusted his possessions to his servants and said do business with this until I return and then he went away and he was gone for a long time and then he came back and when he came back he wanted to know what did you do with the things that I gave you that's in Luke chapter 19 that story and then and also also in Matthew chapter 25 where he gives talents in Matthew 25 different talents five to one guy three to one guy one to another guy or two to one guy one to another guy he gets different amounts but he says the same thing do business with this until I come and when he comes back you know what that master that King he had to sit down with each one of those servants so every Christian is going to be evaluated by the Lord Jesus Christ the last verse or the last chapter of the Bible Revelation chapter 22 and verse 14 the Lord says this behold I am coming quickly and my reward is with me to render to every man according to what he has done he's coming and when the Lord comes there's going to be the Baima there's going to be reward time you're going to be evaluated say what's involved in the evaluation well first of all you'll be called to give an account romans chapter 14 verse 12 says this so then each of us shall give an account of himself to God the Lord's gonna ask you he's gonna ask me he's gonna ask every believer this question what did you do with what I entrusted you with what did you do with what I gave you that was the question that he asked the guys that got the talents that was the question that he asked the guys in Luke 19 that got the other sum of money called a minor what did you do with what I gave you I told you to do business with this until I returned what did you do with it now obviously in those parables the Lord gave that sum of money to those servants and the the obvious thought was I want you to take this I want you to use it to enlarge my kingdom so what did you do with what I gave you now in every every person in this room God's given you things he's given you time he's given you certain talents he's given you spiritual you're a child of God he's given you a spiritual gift one or more he's given you resources what did you do with what I gave you and that'll be a time for you to give an account what did you do you remember in this story in Matthew chapter 25 the servant said Lord you entrusted me with five talents the talent was a big sum of money about sixty to eighty pounds and he says you entrusted me with five talents I made five more he was all excited to talk to the master about what he had done the other guy comes in Lord you entrusted me with two talents see I've made two more what did you do with what I gave you is the third guy that took what the master gave him and buried it in the ground the Lord's gonna ask that question every man is gonna have to give an account of himself to God secondly you will be completely revealed look at it again for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ before the Bema the word appear means to be totally revealed it means that everything is open it's made manifest and the Lord is going to reveal everything about your life 1st Corinthians chapter 4 in verse 5 says this therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time but wait until the Lord comes who will bring both to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men's hearts and then each man's praise will come to him from God Lord's just gonna reveal everything he's just gonna open everything up Bible says in Hebrews chapter 4 in verse 13 for there is no creature hidden from his sight but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of him with whom we have to do God sees not as man sees for man sees the outward but the Lord looks at the heart and he's going to disclose what you did and why you did it he will disclose the motives of your heart did you know you can do good things but you can do good things with a bad motive and if you do good things with a bad motive there's no reward jesus said in matthew chapter 6 beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven he said when you give alms when you when you give sacrificially if you blow the trumpet so everybody sees what you did Hey look at Joe he gave a bunch of money put it in the plate and he blew the trumpet so everybody has notice him the Lord says he has to his reward in full he's not gonna get any reward from from God you pray long prayers why do you pray long prayer so other people will notice you Hey look at me I'm a good prayer I want you to talk about me I want you to put me on Facebook and say I heard so-and-so pray and they just prayed so well and that's their motive if that's your motive the Lord says you have your reward in full so when you stand before God at the judgment seat of Christ no reward there because you had your reward in full your motive was rotten you can do good things with a rotten motive Paul said in Philippians chapter 1 he said some are preaching Christ from envy and strife they're trying to get back at Paul they're trying to hurt Paul because they're envious and jealous of Paul preaching Christ is a good thing but if you preach Christ from envy and strife your motive is rotten there's no reward there you're gonna be evaluated and everything is going to be completely revealed and let me tell you some really good news about the judgment seat of Christ you are not going to watch with Jesus this is your life you're not going to have to relive every sin that you've ever committed he's not going to say well look at this you went parking on this date in back in back in the day when you're in high school and let's watch this you're not gonna have to do that with the Lord can you imagine how horrible that would be if the Lord did that belong be a long time there at the Baima for many of us you know just go over and over I mean can you imagine how long Larry would be there they'd just be there he's like Lord there are other people in line god he doesn't do that you know why because listen the great white throne is all condemnation it's all condemnation the judgment seat of Christ Romans chapter 8 verse 1 there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus so there's there's not any condemning that goes there and he doesn't bring up sins because when Jesus died on the cross he said it is finished paid in full as far as the East is from the west so far F have I removed their transgressions from us God takes your sin and the Bible says he buries it in the deepest sea and Corrie ten Boom says and then he posts a sign that says no fishing and God is not gonna bring that stuff up the blood of Jesus has already taken that all away so you can praise God that at the judgment seat you don't have to relive your sins now he does evaluate you he evaluates your service and he looks to see what you did and how you did it and the evaluation is to determine reward or loss of reward that's what takes place at the judgment seat so you'll be completely revealed and you will either gain reward or suffer loss first Corinthians chapter three is the sister passage for the judgment seat of Christ for this Baima judgment that the Bible talks about Romans 14 also talks about the judgment seat of Christ the judgment seat of God the Baima that Christians every Christian is going to stand before now in 1st Corinthians 3 Paul says this he says that he was a wise masterbuilder and he built a font upon the foundation because he said no man can build upon the foundation lay a foundation other than the one which was laid which is Jesus Christ Jesus is the foundation that every Christian life is built upon my hope is built the Bible of the song says my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness so the moment that you receive Christ you receive him into your heart through his Spirit you're born again you're born twice and God places you on the foundation called Jesus Christ and then as a Christian I mean it's not life is not over life is just beginning Ephesians chapter 2 says for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God not as a result of works lest anyone should boast for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them the Lord puts us on this foundation which is the Lord Jesus Christ and says now I want you to serve me now I want you to let me live through you and you live for me in my strength and in my power that's the Christian life and you grow in the Lord and but you let him have his way in your life the things that he wants to do we talked last week Acts chapter one Luke writes the book of Acts and he says most excellent Theophilus I wrote to you in my gospel the things that Jesus began to do and teach but now he's still doing it in the book of Acts he's just doing it now through his followers and that's what the Lord is doing today he's working in his followers and if you're a follower of Jesus Christ he wants to work through you and so the judgment seat of Christ he evaluates what did you do in the Christian life what did you build I put you on the foundation and I want to know what you built on the foundation and Paul uses that that metaphor about a building and he said there are different building materials that you can use in life there is the gold pile there's the silver pile there is the precious stone pile you can use all those to build your structure on the foundation which is Jesus Christ but then says there's a wood pile and there's a hay pile and then there's a stubble pile six different kinds of building materials that he mentions which one are you going to use to build on the foundation which is Jesus Christ well I mean if you think about that those are my building piles and and I'm a I'm a builder so to speak in my life and and I can choose well I'm gonna choose the gold and the silver and the precious stone yeah those would be good ones to choose the wood hay in this straw or the stubble that wouldn't be good to use now it says in verse 10 that the deeds in the body are going to be exposed according to what a person has done whether good or bad you might want to circle the word bad it's not the word pon arras which means evil it's a word that means worthless and that's a better translation he's going to test us to see what would built whether it was good or whether it was worthless gold silver precious stone those are good wood hay and stubble those are worthless worthless definitely in comparison to what you could have built with worthless when it comes to the test because the scripture says in 1st Corinthians chapter 3 14 and 15 that the Lord's gonna test it by fire and he says if any man's work which he has built upon it remains he shall receive a reward if any man's work is burned up he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved yet so as through fire God looks at your life like a building and he says okay what did you what'd you do with your Christian life you're a Christian for 50 years 60 years 70 years some of you 80 years plus okay what did you do with all that time that I gave you let's look to see what you built so you have this structure can look pretty good but then the Lord lights a fire and he tests it with fire some have wondered what exactly is that you know the Bible says when Jesus comes back that his eyes are as a flame of fire I think the Lord just looks at it and when he looks at it if it's wood hay and stubble it's just consumed in his gaze but see gold and silver and precious stone those aren't consumed in the fire those laughs so the Lord looks at your life and he's tests it by fire and whatever is left that is going to receive praise if there's nothing left if you lived your whole Christian life and you have nothing no service no good motive nothing to show for it it's just everything's burned down it's just the foundation well you're saved you wouldn't be at the Baima if you weren't saved you say but you're saved yet so as through fire and you have nothing to show for it can you imagine how terrible it would be to stand before the Lord and say Lord I was a Christian ever since I was 10 I was a Christian for 50-plus years and the Lord tests your Christian life it's gone everything and you look into the face of him and died for you in agony even blood the one who has nail scars in his hands you said Lord I have nothing to show for all my years as a believer bible does say that he will wipe away every tear in the book of the revelation I personally think there gonna be some tears at the judgment seat of Christ when people see their lives so when pastors and people on staff see their whole ministry just consumed because they did it all for self they didn't do it for the Lord it's gone and they have nothing to show the Lord they're gonna be tears now god he loves us and this isn't this isn't where you're condemned but it's where you're evaluated and you receive a reward or you suffer loss every Christian be evaluated by Jesus Christ truth number three everyone can prepare to meet Jesus Christ Amos said in Amos chapter 4 verse 12 prepare to meet your God you know you talked about this subject about judgment whether it's the great white throne or whether it's the judgment seat of Christ and maybe you're in this room and you're like man this is kind of scary stuff somebody invited me to come to First Baptist today they said you're gonna hear an encouraging message from our pastor and man I'm kind of scared to death good good you look at verse 11 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 therefore knowing the fear of the Lord we persuade men there's something about the judgement seat of Christ there's something about meeting the Lord that should produce fear in us Jesus said do not fear Him who is able to kill the body but fear Him who is able to kill both the soul and body in hell that's the one you need to fear and even as a believer we come before the Lord at the judgment seat but we don't walk in like a peacock strutting and say look at all what I did you come in with reverence and there is a healthy fear you're standing before the king of kings and Lord of lords Wow therefore knowing the fear of the Lord we persuade men now I don't believe that we need to be shaking in our boots thinking that we're going to meet the Lord and stand at the judgment seat of Christ but we need to have a healthy fear that Paul did he did Paul was concerned he says in 1st Corinthians chapter 9 about this quality this qualified lest having preached to others i myself should be disqualified he talked about and so there's of fear when you talk about judgment there's a sense of huge fear if you have a just one brain cell in your head if you are here today and you don't know Christ and you are set to go right now if you died boom just like that you'd go to the great white throne you need to be extremely afraid now I wouldn't go another minute without receiving Christ if I thought I was going to go to the great white throne judgment and be cast into hell forever and ever and ever and ever and ever so what do you do what do you do you hear this message what do you do if you are here and you say honestly you know I don't think I've ever been born again I've heard about that term but I don't really know what it means and I go to church and I try hard and I know about Jesus in here you talk about knowing Jesus in my heart I don't really know what that means and so Jeff I don't really think I've been born again a once born man dies twice you can be born again you know what it means to be born again it just means that you surrender your life to Jesus it just means that you see that you're a sinner and you're lost and you can't save yourself and you just cry out with blind Bartimaeus Jesus son of David have mercy on me come into my life forgive me of my sins the Bible says that the Apostle Paul preached repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ see here are people and they're going down this road in this road leads to hell and they're on this road and they're on this road and then they hear about Jesus and there's conviction there and they repent that means they turn from the way they're going and they do a 180 repentance toward God and they turn toward the Lord repentance toward God and they put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ both of those things are necessary in order to be born again you turn from sin and self and you turn to the Savior and you give him your life that's how you leave your destination at the great white throne and now you're a citizen of heaven and now you know for sure that you're going the judgment-seat because you belong to God everyone at the judgment seat goes to heaven everyone at the great white throne goes to hell you don't want to go there so if you today say I've only been once today is the day for you to be born twice so that you would never die twice how about for a Christian well how do I prepare as a Christian you can get serious about living for the Lord get serious about it maybe you're kind of like I was in high school thinking yeah this this film strip doesn't matter and you think that about life hey I'm saved and it doesn't really matter how I live it matters because he's gonna test you one day he loves you you're his son you're his daughter because you put your faith and trust in him but he's gonna test your work as a Christian and the Lord takes no delight in lazy worthless servants that's what he said to that servant in Matthew 25 you wicked lazy slave you buried your talent in the ground you didn't do anything with what I gave you so you get serious about living for him you know the one verse that really sums up everything about how to live a life where you hear at the end of it well done thou good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your master it's in verse 9 where Paul says therefore we also have as our ambition or driving ambition whether at home in the body here on earth or absent he says in heaven to be pleasing to him see if you really desire to please the Lord that will cover everything and color everything you do in your life because that is your burning desire to please him not to please self not to preach so people clap for you not to witness so people write about you on Facebook not to give so that you'll be on some plaque somewhere it's to serve the Lord and please the Lord that's what drives everything when you have that kind of heart and that kind of attitude then your service and your motive those things are right and then not only to please him but to give him your best give him your best hey you know we all know when we do something and we give it our all and we know when we go into some kind of endeavor or something and we go out at half-hearted I've told you before it's worth repeating I watched it again this morning one of my favorite scenes from Rocky to Rocky's in the hospital he just had surgery had to rearrange his face because he got beat so bad by Apollo Creed and Apollo Creed's at the same hospital and he's in bad shape too cuz rocky punched his lung so much that he's spitting up blood and so both the guys are are laid up and rocky gets in his wheelchair and he wheels over to the champ Apollo Creed's room and he knocks on the door and he says your Baba he said who's there he said you're with me rocky he said yeah what do you want he said I just got one question did you give me your best Paula said yeah I gave you my best you stand before God he's gonna have a question did you give me your best I want to be able to say yes Lord he gave you my best and my burning desire my heart was to please you Stephon Ophir was born to missionary parents in Africa he lived with his mom and his dad in Africa until he was 17 years old and God had a call on his life but Alfred didn't want what God wanted for him he didn't want to be in the ministry and he left his parents went back to England and he was pursuing a degree in engineering and he wanted to to become an engineer and Steven Ophir was involved in necessary serious in it in his late teens early twenties very serious motorcycle accident he he laid on this road for hours and a cold winter night in this accident before he was found and he got pneumonia and the doctor examined him and all his contusions and problems and then the pneumonia was a really big problem and he said to Steven o for two weeks you have two weeks and then you'll die well his mom and dad didn't know anything about this his dad had written him a letter and he wrote it months before because it took about three months for the mail to get and at that time for the mail to get from Africa to where Steven Ophir it was in Europe and so Beaufort is on his deathbed as a young man and he gets this letter from his dad and the letter says this only one life it will soon be past only what's done for Christ will last and that convicted Steven Ophir cuz he knew he wouldn't living for the Lord he knew wasn't giving him his best he knew his desire wasn't to please God and he got down on his knees out of his from his bed and he said God anywhere anytime anyplace any cost amen and he surrendered completely to the Lord and God turned his life around and God gave him life and for decades Stephen Alford preached the gospel and God used him to reach people far and wide for the King of Kings he got serious man went to a nursery to buy some shrubbery and some other things for his yard and there was a sign at the checkout counter that said this the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago the second best time is today listen you can't change what happened 20 years ago 30 years ago 40 years ago all you have is now but the second best time is today to get serious about Jesus and start living for him only one life will soon be past only what's done for Christ will last my friend are you living your life on purpose do you even know how to do that listen if you're watching today and you're not sure you even have a personal relationship with Jesus it's impossible to live on purpose but today is the day for you if you would like to know Jesus Christ in a real way that's a life-changing way that can happen right now pray this prayer with me Lord Jesus I need you I know that I'm a sinner and I'm lost I can't save myself but Jesus I believe that your God and the flesh I believe that you died on the cross for my sins and rose again from the dead and right now Jesus I opened my heart to you come into my life forgive me of all my sins be my Lord and be my Savior and change me I surrender all to you my friend if you'll pray a prayer like that and mean it the Lord will come in and your life will never be the same hey I'd love to hear from you to know that you're watching to know that God is using this broadcast to make a difference in your life to know that you just prayed that prayer to receive Christ as your Savior and Lord please take the time to call that toll-free number write me email me let me know what's going on and how we can pray for you you really are important to God and you're important to us and we're here for you from his heart is the viewer supported broadcast ministry a pastor Jeff Shrieve who believes that no matter how badly you may have messed up in life God still loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life find out more about that plan when you go to premise heart dot o RG [Music]

Channel: From His Heart Ministries

Views: 3,818

Rating: 4.8441558 out of 5

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Id: dbGQ0XUIu5E

Length: 47min 40sec (2860 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 28 2018