You Have Only One Life - Make the Most of It for God

I was sitting there thinking as we were listening, I've been in a lot of churches where most of the announcements time is spent telling you what's going on in the week and how you can get involved and how there's activity for children and youth and men and women and seniors and juniors and I'm not here to mock any of that but we want to spend more time on God's Word and I'm thankful that our announcements time is mostly hearing these verses over and over again from the children. I hope you always do that children. It's not the perfect way to do it.

It's not the only way to do it but it's the way the Lord has led us to do it. I'm thankful for that. Often we hear people ask us, I want to know God's will for my life.

Can you help me find God's will? Under the new covenant, God never intended for any priest to take the place of Christ in showing us God's will. Under the old covenant, if you wanted to know God's will in a particular matter, you could go to the priest and he had what was called the Urim and the Thummim and he could do whatever that was to figure out God's will. Yes, you do this or go marry that person or go buy that house or whatever.

Under the new covenant, there's no such thing and God never wants any man to be the mediator between God and man. There's only one mediator, that's Jesus Christ and he alone knows God's will for us and he will reveal it through the Holy Spirit. We can have godly men who can guide us to understand God's will.

But more than anything else, he's given us his word and the reason there's a lot of confusion in the world today is because people don't simply read God's word or take him at his word. This is the will of God. Brothers, sisters, children, that you abstain from sexual immorality.

It was so good to hear our young people and our children get up and say that. Oh, that you'll remember that all your life. There are men in their 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s who have a stain of sexual immorality in their lives.

In many cases it goes hidden for years. It's in their thought life or they lock the doors and nobody can see what they're doing on their phone or their computer. And that stain of sexual immorality is there.

And there are many sincere Christians, I believe, who are trying to fight it as well. Sexual immorality. But you must never give up the fight, especially young boys, young men, men.

Never give up the fight. Never let it be a stain on your garment. It doesn't matter whether your wife knows about it or your children know about it or others don't know about.

If you've been able to hide it, you can't hide it from God. It's a stain. And you stand before Him with that stain on your garment.

It doesn't have to be that way. Flee it. Learn to flee those things that will draw you back into sexual immorality.

Innocent seeming things. Spending long periods of time on YouTube. And they've become smarter at how they will put exactly that thing which will tempt you.

Be very, very careful, men. Vigilant. Young boys, be very careful.

This is God's will. Start with that. If you want to know God's will, what shall I do today, Lord? What's your will? Abstain from sexual immorality.

Keep your thoughts pure. And when God speaks about immorality in His Word, He says that this is the only sin that you will do damage to your own body. Every other sin says you don't want to damage your own body.

This one you will. And the primary class reminded us to, you know, I wonder, I sat there wondering, I wonder how many churches have that as a memory verse. Top 100 memory verses in churches.

I'm almost certain First Thessalonians 4.3 is not one of them. I've never heard it as a memory. I've never seen a memory verse list where First Thessalonians 4.3 is one of them.

This is almost like, why'd you pick that verse? Yes, sexual immorality. Why do I need to memorize it? Yeah, the devil doesn't want you to memorize it. Doesn't want you to meditate on it.

But this is true. One of the reasons we're very, very intent on knowing God's will and seeking God for even little things like what verses should be memorized. And I'm thankful God laid it on our hearts to include this verse in our list.

And the primary class reminded us, to whom much is given, much is required. And so if you came to RLCF and RLCF picked First Thessalonians 4.3 as a memory verse, much more will be required than if you sat in some other church where you never got to hear, maybe didn't even know that First Thessalonians 4.3 was there. And so like we've often said, this is a dangerous church to sit in.

A church in which we find out all of God's word. We seek to know all of God's word. We don't think we're the best.

We don't compare ourselves with others. But I'll tell you honestly, I'm not ashamed to say this is the best church I know of. Not because of how perfect we are or anything like that.

Because we see how imperfect we are. And we don't want to sweep away anything in God's word and say, oh, that's for another time or that doesn't apply to me today or find a way to wiggle my way out of what God has clearly said in his word. Not in a judgmental, condemning way, but a way that says, Lord, your word brings life.

At the end of time, all the other writings and sermons will pass away and all the other words of man will pass away. But these words will remain. And one of those will be First Thessalonians 4 verse 3. And so to whom much is given, much is required.

Dear children, you have a wonderful privilege to grow up in this church. I believe it. As I did to grow up in the church that I grew up in.

And I never want to take it for granted. I did for some time. I'll tell you that.

I took it for granted. And God got a hold of me at some point. And I never want to take it for granted anymore.

And I hope you won't either. All of us from the youngest to the oldest, because much will be required of us. Yeah, maybe so.

God's on our side, though. I hope that everything you hear in this church, we've said it often, it's not to discourage us. It's to encourage us.

When God shows you a will, that includes taking up a cross and denying yourself and going through some suffering, what you must know is a joy that is set before you like it was set before Jesus. That cross can seem intimidating. It can seem fearful.

And the devil will try to fill your mind with fears about the cross that Jesus is asking you to take up, your cross. But there must be a joy that's set before you, the joy of fellowship with Jesus that can only come from taking up your cross as He took up His cross. Jesus said, if anybody wants to have close fellowship with me, that's what I think of when it says, if anybody wants to be my disciple, if anybody wants to be my close friend, let him take up his cross, deny himself, deny his own will, and follow me.

And you will have life eternal with Jesus. His coming is soon. If I was to ask you children, what do you think is the most important number of all numbers? What would you say? Perhaps you say it's your age.

You know, that's the most important number. Maybe you think it's 100 or maybe you think it's infinity. What is the most important number? I'm pretty sure if I was to ask you all, you would all come up with different numbers.

So I'm not going to ask you to answer. It would be chaos. A little story.

Some years ago, I decided to pick the number 13 as my favorite number because for everybody else, it was the unlucky number. And I was like, I'm going to make it a good my number just to show that in God's kingdom, there's no such thing as luck or unluck. And in those circumstances where you might think you're unlucky and think, Oh, Lord, I wish I could have had that person's life, or that person's luck.

I wish I could have been the lottery winner. There's no such thing as luck in God's kingdom. God is very intentional in his plans for your life.

So some years ago, I picked 13 as my favorite number just to, I said, Lord, let my life be proof that you can take even unlucky seeming circumstances and make something beautiful out of it. But I think the most important number is the number one. And I'd like to speak on that a little bit.

Because if you have only one, you can't be lazy with it. You can't waste it. If you had 100, you could waste some of it.

If you had $1 left in your bank account, what would you do with it? You had only one. Now if you've got 1000, if you've got 10,000, if you've got a million, yeah, you can buy that popsicle. Sure.

You can buy go out to eat tonight. Because yeah, you've got plenty. If you've got one, you have to be very thoughtful, very intent, very intentional, very careful, vigilant.

Can I afford it? I've got only one. Can't divide it any further. It's like this is it.

I'm going to spend it on this. And then that's it. It's all gone.

The number one, you can't be wasteful. When you use it, it's gone. That's it.

There's nothing left over. There's a proverb I heard. It's not a Christian proverb.

So please take it with a pinch of salt. I think there's an element of Christian truth to it. And it goes something like this that it says, the proverb says that everybody has two lives.

And they really start to live when they realize they only have one. It's a little complicated to understand. But let me simplify it.

That we think, oh, I've got, I'll work up to a certain point. And then I can really live. I'll have enough saved up in the bank account.

And then I can really live. I'll be able to retire and then I'll give myself fully to God or I can do all of this and build up some something of my kingdom. And then I can really have a life.

You see how there's two lives in people's eyes. This is a life I'm working hard for the life I want to have. That's a lie of the devil.

And there was some truth in that ancient proverb. But it's true from the word of God as well. I'd like to begin by turning to a verse in Hebrews chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9. You have only one life.

And I hope children you'll pay attention to this especially. You have only one life. Think of it like one of something.

Like one of something. You have only one life. You don't get to do it over again.

You don't get to say, okay, I wasted that one. Now let me have another one so I can do it right this time. You have only one life.

Hebrews chapter 9 verse 27. Inasmuch as it is appointed for men once to die. It is appointed to men once to die.

And after this comes judgment. That's it. It's appointed to men once to live and die you can say.

And after this comes judgment. You are spending the one thing you have right now. That one dollar that you have.

That one life that you have. You're spending it right now. You can't afford to waste it.

Because you can't come back and say, oops, I wasted it on that popsicle. I enjoyed it. But now the popsicle is over and the taste of it is gone and now I have nothing left.

Sin is like that. There's a pleasure in sin. You read in the book of Hebrews.

Hebrews chapter 11. The pleasures of sin. In the context of Moses.

It says that there were pleasures of sin that he forsook. You have only one life. You have only one of this thing that God has given you.

You might have a lot of other things. You might have another chance to play soccer. You might have another chance to do that test even.

You might get to do a makeup test. You might have another chance to repeat that grade if you didn't do well. Sure, even that, that's fine.

If you have to repeat a grade, it's okay. But this life, you can't repeat it. It's one life.

What are you spending it on, dear friend? What are you spending it on? It's appointed to men once to live and die. And after this comes a judgment. Let's turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5. This ought to bring a reverential fear of God in our lives.

It's doing that for me as I've been meditating on this for a couple of weeks. I have only one of these. One life.

2 Corinthians chapter 5 says in verse 11, knowing the fear of the Lord we persuade men. I think I mentioned this last week, this verse. I know the fear of the Lord.

I'm knowing the fear of the Lord. I'm growing in the fear of the Lord. We speak about the fear of the Lord often in this church.

I hope you're knowing the fear of the Lord. And out of that knowing of the fear of the Lord and how holy He is, how His word is so pure and right and righteous, we persuade men. We speak.

We encourage. We share. We exhort.

We testify out of the fear of the Lord. But that verse begins with the word therefore, which means let's go back. Let's just go back to the previous verse.

You could go further back. Verse 10. We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may be recompensed.

Recompense means God will give you according to that which with what you did. Give back, given back to in accordance with. Recompensed for his deeds in the body according to what he has done whether good or bad in the one chance he had.

In the one life he had. God's going to say you have to stand before a judgment seat. You know it's common in Christendom for people say oh don't judge.

Don't judge others. Yes. Matthew 7 verse 1. Don't judge.

There's a lot of people that don't want to be judged who one day will be judged. In fact we will all be judged. We should never judge anybody else but we must preach that we will be judged.

That's 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 10. We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give account and God will say I gave you one life. You didn't have two.

He's not going to say oh you messed up on the one. What did you do with the second one? Here's another one. He'll say I gave you one.

What did you do with it? The deeds that you did in the body. How you used your eyes. How you used your tongue.

How you used your ears. Where you went with your legs. What did you do with your hands? What did you do with your mind? What did you spend your mind thinking about and planning with? That's it.

One life to live. One life to live. Turn you to Ephesians chapter 5. I was thinking this morning about preaching and generally preaching and I was thinking if I spend more time having you turn to scripture than actually saying things.

Hopefully I'm becoming a better preacher. That we're spending more time in this book than in what I'm saying. Now I could just get up and read God's word but there's a purpose that we have messages.

God's given some of us the responsibility to teach and to explain God's word and to encourage and to exhort. That's more than just reading the Bible. It's also explaining it and reminding us of it.

But it's good that we spend more time in the Bible and turning to scripture. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 13. We read in the previous passage that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ where everything will be revealed.

All the hidden things. The reputation that you had in front of the church or even in front of your spouse or your children won't matter at all. They may have thought, wow, mom's so godly, dad's so holy.

They didn't know. The secret things will be revealed. The attitudes, the motives, the thoughts, the ambitions, the goals, the words, the deeds, all of that will be manifest, played on a big screen as it were.

Ephesians 5 verse 13. All things become visible when they are exposed by the light. That means that the judgment seat of Christ that we just heard about, there will be a bright shining light, much greater than the light you see right now.

See there's light right now. If I had a stain somewhere or something, dirt on my face or if there was dirt all over my body, if the lights were turned off, you wouldn't be able to see it. And we could all be the same.

Me with all my filth and muck all over my face, repulsive, ugly to look at. If the lights were off, we would all be the same. But because the lights are on, that's why we all cleaned up this morning.

If you knew that you would be sitting here in the dark and nobody could see your face, you'd be like, ah, I don't need to comb my hair. It doesn't matter what shirt I wear. Nobody's going to see me anyway.

It's all dark. But the lights are on and that's why you chose to wear the clothes you wear. That's why you cleaned up your face.

You looked in the mirror to see what you would look like to others. And that's exactly what's going to happen at the judgment seat of Christ except it's going to be our hearts and our motives. And now it's going to be a bright shining light that's going to lay bare what was inside.

Are you ready for that? Have you stood in front of the mirror this morning, dear brother, dear sister, dear child, to say, Lord, what does my heart look like? Shine your light now on my heart that I might see what nobody else can see, not even my closest friend or my spouse, but what you see. All things become visible when they are exposed by the light. For everything that becomes visible is light.

And for this reason, it says, wake up, sleeper. The time is going to come when that light's going to shine at the judgment seat of Christ. His coming is soon.

Jesus Christ is coming is very, very, very soon. And we're going to have to stand before that judgment seat of Christ and the light's going to shine on our hearts. And all the secret things, everything that went on this past week, everything you thought of, all the motives you had, all the secret thoughts you had, that you thought nobody knew, God's going to shine the light on it.

So wake up, wake up, sleeper. Rise up from the dead. And Christ will shine on you now.

Christ wants to shine His light on you now so that you have nothing to fear at the judgment seat of Christ. He loves you. He's kind.

We sang in that song to those who fall, how kind you are, how helpful you are to the meek. If you'll come to Him in meekness today, as one who has fallen, one who is helpless, He says, I'll shine on you now with kindness and love. But when I have to shine on you at the judgment seat of Christ, it will be now without mercy.

For those who have not repented, for those who refused to let Christ shine on them now, for those who remained as sleepers, for those who remained dead and hid it because they didn't get caught, the light will shine. And at that point, He will still be kind because He's not kind. But out of His kindness, He will have to condemn them to hell.

A place, the only place that's forsaken by God. It is out of God's kindness that He'll have to send people to hell. He'll say, I gave you time to repent.

I gave you time. God is not willing that any should perish. Don't consider His patience as slowness in the way we think of as slowness, you read in 2 Peter 3. The fact that God has not punished you for what you thought and the motive and the attitude and the words you spoke and the deeds you did last week is because He's patient.

And don't think He's slow. He's like, ah, He doesn't care if I live that way. Oh, He does.

Wake up, sleeper. Rise from the dead. Let Christ shine on your heart because one day He will shine in a way that will expose it when there will be no more repentance.

Therefore, verse 15, Ephesians 5 verse 15, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, not as one who's sleeping, but as wise people who are seeing the judgment seat of Christ today, living in the light of eternity today, letting Christ shine with His kindness and love and forgiveness today before the light shines at the judgment seat of Christ. When there will be no more opportunity for repentance and so no more opportunity for forgiveness. Be careful how you walk, RLCF.

Not as unwise men, but as wise. Not as unwise women, but as wise. Not as unwise children, but as wise children.

You know, that word is for you, children. God wants you to walk wise, 5 years old, 8 years old, 11 years old. God wants you to walk as wise and remember when you're with your friends and they've got their phone and they're looking at this or they're talking about some movie they watched or the boys are talking about how cute that girl is and the girls are talking about that boy and what they like about him.

Remember you have to stand before a judgment seat where those thoughts and those words you'll have to give account for. To whom much is given, much is required. If you sat at RLCF, thank God you sat at RLCF so that you can remember, I heard in this church, I can't be a part of those conversations.

I can't dress in the immodest way that those girls dress. I can't be a part of the sexually evil ways in which those boys talk, teenagers and you young boys as you're growing up. You can't be a part of the things of this world, it's two different worlds.

You can't live as the world lives. Not as wise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, redeeming the time. It says in one translation, because the days are evil.

You know today it's common in Christendom to talk about how evil the days are. Oh look at what's happening in our schools and look at the laws that are being passed and stand against this proposition and that other proposition and all that. I wish more Christians would spend time looking at their own lives and say, Lord because the days are evil, I ought to redeem the time.

It doesn't matter if the propositions aren't as important as the fact that how I used my mind yesterday is something I'm going to have to give account for. God won't ask me about proposition whatever. He'll ask me about how I used my thoughts and my tongue and my eyes.

That's something I have control over. Yeah sure, we want the laws to be in favor of, for us to live a peaceful life. But guess what, the laws are going to get worse and worse.

We can try to change them as much as we can, but it is going to get worse. The days are evil. This world is passing away, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the boastful pride of life is passing away.

And it will increase as the time of Christ's return draws near. The days are evil. Don't try to change the days.

Redeem the time. Redeem the time in your life. You know, we're coming up to election time, and sure I'm not here to make a political statement.

Whether you vote or don't vote or what you vote for is none of my business, nor is it anybody else's business. But I'm here to tell you God's word. In the midst of all the voting that's going on in this country over the next couple of weeks, the days are evil.

Redeem the time in your life. Wake up sleeper. Be careful how you walk, not how they walk.

Be careful how you walk, not what's voted on in Congress. Be careful how you walk. That's what I see in my Bible as it is in yours.

So then, do not be foolish like many Christians are foolish. Getting taken up with this and that. We gotta, you know, fight for Christians in government and all that.

I don't have time to waste on that. I'll tell you why. I've got one life to live.

If it's an earthly kingdom that's gonna pass away, I don't have time to waste on that. Please understand, I'm not trying to make this political, but so many Christians these days are taken up with political agendas. I'm taken up with the kingdom of heaven that will change the society around us, I believe.

And if you teach people to be disciples of Jesus Christ, to redeem the time, to make the most of the time because the days are evil, to be careful how I think and act and speak and be careful with my attitudes and my motives, then I'll be ready for Jesus Christ coming. And there will be a lot of people that were taken up with earthly kingdoms and didn't pay attention to their thought lives and their motives and didn't let Christ shine on them, who will get a big surprise. They lusted with their eyes while standing for propositions.

They fought with their spouses at home while standing for propositions. They loved money while standing for propositions. And all these other things, the things that they hid in secret while standing for propositions.

And God will say, sure, yeah, I know that you stood for that proposition, maybe you voted for it, that's great, but did you know I was gonna shine a light on your heart and expose the things that were in your heart? If you have time to have Christ search your heart and your conscience is clear and you have additional time for all the other things in this world, earthly kingdoms, by all means go ahead brother, sister. The days are evil. I wanna pause for a moment.

We're coming up to a very, very evil day. Halloween. I'm shocked how many Christians are part of it.

How many churches are part of it. I hope none of us here has anything to do with this evil, evil holiday. Even Christians, I find myself asking our kids, hey, what are you guys doing for Halloween? I'm not here to judge anybody else, I'm not here to condemn anybody, but to whom much is given, much is required.

If you sat at RLCF, I hope you're bold. I hope you're making a stand against this evil day. With the orange and yellow candy corn and the pumpkins and the jack-o-lanterns and all that other stuff.

Have nothing to do with this evil holiday. Earlier it says here in verse 11 of Ephesians 5, do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness. And could there be anything more dark than Halloween? Could there be anything more dark than something that glorifies ghosts and evil spirits and the dead and death and killing? And yet Christians are part of that? Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them.

For it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret, including Christians and churches that are finding ways to still be inclusive. I'll tell you this, if it means I have to be exclusive to stand against this holiday, that we have to be exclusive, then let's be exclusive. Let's be known.

RLCF is the one church, they don't celebrate Halloween. Now I don't think we're the only one, thankfully there may be a few others. But it's absolutely evil, have nothing to do with it.

And don't be ashamed to say, I'm sorry we don't celebrate Halloween. And you might get a shocked look from someone, what? And they might feel sorry for your children, but children you have nothing to feel sorry about. Parents, if your children ask you, Dad, Mom, why don't we celebrate Halloween? Why can't we have candy? Isn't it evil that the devil has used candy, that thing that every child loves, to represent the most evil of holidays in the calendar.

You see the trick? You see how children are falling for it, and it's innocent, oh it's just candy. Yeah, you know the history of all of it, don't be taken aback, it's just candy, what's wrong with it? It's an evil day. And children, I want you to hear it, if you've never heard it before, I think you have in this church.

It's an evil day and there's a reason why you too, don't just stand against Halloween because Dad and Mom said we stand against Halloween. You ought to know why, it's an evil day. Now you don't have to go and condemn your friends over that, if they dress up, or your school allows them to dress up, and they say they went trick-or-treating on the streets and all that, that's fine.

But if they ask you, what did you do for Halloween? You say, I don't celebrate Halloween. Can you imagine a five-year-old little girl telling her five-year-old friends, I don't celebrate Halloween, it's an evil holiday. I want RLCF to be known for that.

Okay, that's just in passing. 1 Corinthians chapter 7. 1 Corinthians chapter 7, you have one life, brother, sister, child, you have one life. You don't get another one of these, it's one life.

1 Corinthians 7, it says, beginning in verse 29, this I say brethren, that the time is short. In fact, the literal translation says the time has been shortened. It's even shorter than you realize.

You thought it was short, today you should be reminded it is even shorter than that. I'm here to tell you, time is shorter than the last time I told you time is short. The time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none.

Verse 30, those who weep as though they did not weep. Are you weeping over something? You must live in such a way, I have one life to live. It's not about whether I'm married or not married or whatever.

I have one life to live. I want to know God's will and I want to fulfill it. If you're married, live as though you're unmarried.

Now, you must understand the meaning of this verse. It doesn't mean that we separate from our wives and live single lives. That's not what Paul's, read the whole context.

But my attitude must be that I'm devoted to God's kingdom and if even my spouse tries to deter me or marriage tries to take me away from the kingdom of God, that's secondary. The kingdom of God is the most important thing. If you're weeping, we've all experienced loss and maybe you're experiencing loss over something.

Weep as those who don't weep. Remember that weeping is only for a short time. It's weeping for something that's here, but I'm not letting that weeping and the loss take me away from my fixed vision, from the fact that I have one life to live.

And there's a lot of people, I don't want to say this in a judgmental way, I'm not saying this thinking of anyone in particular, who experienced loss, some loss, and that loss is something they carry with them their entire life. And they're useless to God's kingdom because this loss is weighing down on them and they're weeping. Maybe it's a lost loved one, perhaps.

And I've never experienced the loss of a child and I can't imagine what that must be like. But it would be a tragedy, and I'm here to say this in love, if something you lost in life here on this earth causes you to be useless from now on for the kingdom of God, then the devil's killed two birds with one stone. If you experienced some loss and that was painful, say, Lord, I want to take this verse to heart.

I'm not making this up. If it wasn't in God's word, I wouldn't read it. But 1 Corinthians 7 verse 30 says, those who weep over something that they have a valid reason to weep for must do so as those who don't weep.

Because they recognize that Jesus Christ is coming soon. The time is short. The time has been shortened.

And I must redeem the time. I can't waste it mourning over something that I lost. And God will take care of the pain, friend.

God will take care of the loss. God will take care of whatever it is that you're saying, Lord, I wish I could have had that. I wish you would have allowed me that.

Or I wish you hadn't allowed that thing in my life. But I'm not going to let the weeping. I'm not going to let myself drown in my weeping.

Because I must redeem the time. The time has been shortened. And those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice.

Has something gone well in your life? Have you won the game? Did you win some championship? Did you get some success on earth? Did you make a little bit more money? Did you get promoted? Or all that? Did you get something that you would rejoice over? Live as one who's not rejoicing. Because that rejoicing is temporary. That rejoicing will only last for a short time.

Jesus Christ is coming soon. We have one life to live. Don't waste it on rejoicing over something beyond the rejoicing that God wants you to have.

Are you excited about something? Don't let the excitement of that cause you to waste your life here on this earth. You have one. You have one life.

And those who buy as though they did not possess. Did you get enough money to buy another car? Or to buy a little bit more of this? Some new clothing? Some new toy? Yes. Praise God for that.

But don't possess it. Those who buy as though they did not possess it. Yes Lord, thank you that I have a little bit more money that I could buy this.

I can have a little bigger this or a better that. But I'm not possessing it. It's yours.

You can take it away in this moment. Because I have one life to live. I don't want the testimonial life of my life to be at the end of my life.

I got a bigger that or a better this. And to find that I wasted it. I have one.

Verse 31. Those who use the world as though they did not make full use of it. I said it before.

I want you to write on my gravestone if you get to live longer than I live. Santosh did not make full use of the world. Write it brother and sister.

I hope to see Jesus while I'm still alive. That's my hope. The sky not the grave is my goal.

But if I do die, write it on my grave. Now I'm just using picture language. More than that, I want you to be able to see my life.

Not because I'm trying to impress you. But I want it to be that I lived in such a way that you said, wow, Santosh could have done so much more with his life in an earthly way. And he didn't.

He was so committed to the kingdom of heaven. And that's not just for me. Let it be so for all of us.

Children. Let this be the goal of your life. Yes, do well in school.

Do well on the soccer field. Do well on the basketball court. Whatever sport you play.

Football. Do well. That's great.

And enjoy it. But don't make full use of this world. Because you have one life to live.

And if you spend your one life making full use of this world, you will have wasted it. What a surprise. A tragic surprise you'll get at the judgment seat of Christ.

You have only one life. For the form of this world is passing away. It's just a shadow.

It's just passing away. That wonderful thing you could have. Or that sorrowful thing you experienced.

Or that thing you got to buy. Or that wonderful, exciting experience you had is passing away. It's fading.

You have only one life. Now this is all important because there was a time when God had only one. Read in John chapter 3. Before we go there, let's go to Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews chapter 1. God had only one.

And only begotten son, it says. God had only one. Now He had a lot of things.

He had angels. He had everything. He had power.

All the worship. But there was something He had only one of. And that's a son.

He had only one. Hebrews 1. Let's begin reading in verse 3. He, that is Jesus, is the radiance of His glory. Radiance of the Father's glory.

These verses I'm going to show you. Talk about how great Jesus is. And how precious He was to the Father when it was God there before time.

The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is the radiance. Jesus is the radiance of the Father's glory and the exact representation of God's nature.

And He upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. For to which of the angels did God ever say, You are My Son.

Today I have begotten you. And again, I will be a father to Him, and He shall be a son to Me. You see the delight that's recorded here.

The Father speaking about His Son Jesus. You are My Son. I delight in you.

The big smile. The Father saying, You are My Son. Then we read in John, also read in John chapter 1. John 1 verse 1. In the beginning was the word, that is Jesus.

Jesus Christ. In the beginning was this Son that we just read about in Hebrews 1. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him, nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. You see the verses I showed you where Jesus is shown to be this beautiful, precious, powerful, amazing, wonderful words.

Fail us to describe how amazing He was, and how precious He was to the Father. And then we read in John 3 verse 16. We must understand John 3 verse 16 in the context of those verses I just read.

That this precious Son that God had, His only Son. He had only one. For God so loved the world that He gave His only.

The one that He had. He had only one, and He gave it. Now He says, I've given you only one.

Oh, you want to use half of it for yourself? Yeah? You want to use ten minutes a day for yourself? Lord, I give you two hours on a Sunday. Isn't that enough? Can't I have the rest for myself? You have one life, brother, sister. You have one life, child.

In the same way that the Father had only one, and He gave all. He gave the only that He had. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.

That Santos could believe in Him, would believe in Him, and not perish but have eternal life. That you, brother, sister, child. When God gave, He didn't hold back.

When He had one, He gave one. He gave it all. This is the God we serve.

So now how shall we live our lives? Let's turn to Matthew chapter 26. You have one life to live, and God, showing you the way and calling you to live a life that was pleasing to Him, says, I'm going to show you how to give. When I give you one, how to give that one.

I'm going to show you by giving my only begotten Son. Isn't that wonderful? He doesn't say, okay, I'm giving you one life. Be careful how you spend.

Wake up, sleep, or redeem the time. You say, Lord, how do I do it? It's such a struggle. I'm so tempted to please myself.

I'm so tempted to live this life for myself. He says, I've shown you. I had one, and I gave it.

I didn't hold it back for myself. I gave my Son for you. Now I've given you one life.

How will you live your life? Do you want a little bit more money, a little bit more comfort, a little bit more pleasure? Matthew 26. If God was to give you, think about this question now that you're there in Matthew 26. If God was to give you one moment to break fellowship with Him, one moment to please yourself, something that will feel good, a little bit of sin, something that would feel good, like I used that picture, a little taste of the popsicle, but it's displeasing to God.

If God was to give you one moment to please yourself in a way that's not pleasing to Him, He says, listen, Santosh, it's an imaginary situation. God is not actually saying this. Let me say that up front.

But if He was to say, I'm going to give you four o'clock this afternoon. I'm going to give you two minutes to do whatever you want. You don't have to ask me permission.

It doesn't have to be pleasing to me. Do whatever you want. Would you take it? It's an honest question.

It's not a question that you can answer out loud, because we're all hypocrites. I'm 100% certain that 100% of us in this room and listening to the message would say, I'll only do the things that please God. But look back on the last week.

Think back on just this past week. You had a moment where you had tested, Lord, I could please myself or I could please you. I could spend my time doing that which is pleasing to me, or I could spend my time doing that which is pleasing to you.

I could just get this off my chest by saying that with that tone of voice to my wife, or to my husband, or to my children, and okay, the pressure is relieved. One moment, Lord. And if God was to say, I'll give you one moment to please yourself, and the blood of Jesus is still there to cleanse you from all sin, what would you do with it? Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we appeal to men.

You know that you don't fear God if you take that and say, Lord, yes, can you just let me have that momentary pleasure and thank you that Jesus' blood is still there to forgive me. See, we don't say that outright, but we think that. We'll sin, and we'll allow ourselves to sin, and we'll choose sin because we know the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us after that.

We know beforehand that Jesus Christ's blood is there, but it means we haven't understood the fear of the Lord. Like my dad has often said, we treat the blood of Jesus like tap water. If tap water was expensive, if every time you had to wash your hands off of dirt, it cost you your blood.

Oh, your hands got dirty, guess what? Gotta go to the hospital, take a little bit of blood out of you, and you gotta use the blood to wash that dirt off your skin. How careless would you be with your hands? Think about what I just said. If every time you got your hands dirty with something or your face dirty, it's not water, you need blood to cleanse that dirt, and that blood needs to come from you, and you gotta go to the hospital, you gotta draw a vial of blood, and you watch that blood coming out from you, and you know that's the blood that's gonna wash away this dirt.

The next time you're tempted to get your hands dirty playing in the mud or picking up that thing, will you do it? Peter says that we're redeemed not by lowly things like gold and silver, but by the precious blood of Jesus. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we appeal to men, we entreat men. I'm entreating you, as the Holy Spirit's entreating my heart.

Fear the Lord, learn the fear of the Lord, let the fear of the Lord dictate the way we live our lives and use our thoughts. Jesus faced this, Matthew chapter 26, verse 36. Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane and said to His disciples, sit here while I go over there and pray.

And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be grieved and distressed. Do you know what? Jesus was grieved and distressed to the point where He even said to them, my soul is deeply grieved. Could you imagine Jesus, who when the boat was about to sink, felt like it was about to sink, He was asleep.

And this is the Jesus that Peter, James, and John have seen for three and a half years. And then He pulls them aside and says, guys, I've got something to confess to you. My soul is deeply grieved.

They're shocked. Jesus' soul deeply grieved. He looks like He's pale, His skin is pale.

And there's a reddish color on His hands. What is that? His blood is oozing out of His skin. What's happening, Jesus? He says, my soul is deeply grieved to the point of death.

I feel like I'm about to die. Now they have no idea what's going on inside of Him. But God has revealed to us now through His Word.

He says, remain here and keep watch with them. It's three o'clock in the morning. And Peter's just like, ah man.

I'm sure at first they were shocked. But then sleep took over. They don't understand the agony that Jesus was going through.

Like many Christians today don't understand the agony that Jesus experienced. They don't value fellowship with the Father like Jesus valued fellowship with the Father. What He was agonizing over was the fact that the time was coming in a few hours when fellowship between Him and the Father would be broken.

When Jesus, because He took my sin, because He became sin, who knew no sin, so that I might be the righteousness of God, He would become sin. When that would happen, the Father would have to forsake Him and He would have to cry out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Jesus valued fellowship with the Father so much. That's what caused Him grief.

And He went a little beyond them, fell on His face and prayed, saying, my Father, if it is possible, can you somehow make a way of salvation for Santos and the others without breaking fellowship with Me? Let this cup pass from Me and not as I will, but as you will. Then He's like, okay, let me go check on the disciples. Are they praying with Me? No, they're fast asleep.

Peter's snoring. And He says, so you men could not keep watch with Me for even one hour? Keep watching and praying. Wake up! Keep watching and praying for yourself, brother, sister, child, that you may not enter into temptation.

That you might not think, oh, it's only two minutes of break of fellowship with the Father. No big deal. Blood of Jesus Christ is there.

It can wash me. It doesn't matter if nobody else heard me that I spoke to my wife that way. I got irritated.

Yeah, I covered it up. Yeah, but blood of Jesus Christ will forgive me in about an hour when I feel bad for it. Jesus didn't have that luxury.

And for us, it's a luxury. The blood of Jesus Christ is a luxury that we take for granted. Let's value it.

Watch and pray. Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation. The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

He went away again a second time and prayed, my Father, if this cannot pass away, if the only way for me to finish your plan for my life and to make a way of salvation for all these brothers and sisters whom you love of mine, then your will be done. I'll drink it. Again He came and found them sleeping for their eyes were heavy and He left them again and went away and prayed a third time.

I wonder if He just didn't even bother waking them up the second time. It's like, oh, let them sleep. Lord, I haven't heard from You.

I'm praying again. Once more He prayed and I don't think Jesus got an answer. He just got that assurance, you have to do it, Jesus.

Jesus had one life to live also, like you do. And He gave all. For Him, there was no luxury of 30 seconds of pleasing myself.

If so, if He had pleased Himself for 30 seconds, you and I would not have had a way of salvation. He had one life to live and He couldn't waste one second of it. And He lived with such.

We sang about that in that last song. A soul who would be like the Master must follow His example of living this one life, realizing I don't have a moment to spare because Jesus didn't have a moment to spare. Now, we've all wasted our lives, haven't we? Perhaps you're sitting here this morning and thinking, Lord, even up to this moment, I've wasted my life.

What am I going to do? Today is the day of repentance. Today is the day of salvation, brother, sister. Today, if you hear His voice, don't harden your heart.

Let it be different from this day forward. Live as one who has only one to live. You have only one of this moment to live.

Don't waste it for yourself. Don't make allowance for the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse you from it. Live with reverence and the fear of the Lord.

His all He did offer for sinners, we sang. His soul, He poured out unto death. He kept pouring and pouring and pouring and pouring out unto death.

You have one life to live. And if God gave you one chance for a moment to please yourself, would you? It means that you don't know that you have one life to live. And the devil will lead you on with false assurances.

Ah, it was just a momentary slip up. I just slipped up. Okay.

And then he's going to get you to ease your conscience and to sweep it under the carpet for that next slip up you will have later today. And that next slip up you will have next week and the week after that. And it's just a slip up.

Oh, yeah, the blood of Jesus Christ cleansed me. I'm cleansed now. Thank God for the blood of Jesus Christ.

I'm not here to diminish it all. In fact, I'm here to teach us to value it even more. And the proof that we value the blood of Jesus Christ truly, it's not that I count on it forgiving me for my sins, but I say, Lord, I don't want to take it for granted when I face temptation.

Keep watching and praying lest you fall into temptation. Keep watching and praying. You have only one brother, sister.

You have only one. Let's live this way. Let's pray.

Father, I thank you for the one life you've given me. Forgive me, Lord, where I've wasted time on myself and on things that weren't furthering your kingdom. I repent of it today, Lord, and I lay myself on the altar afresh and I say, my body is yours fully, a hundred percent, never to live for the things of this earth and for myself anymore.

I hate myself, Lord. I say it today and I want to prove it in the way I live my life this week. Help me, Lord.

Help me today to live for you. You will carry me. You will fulfill your life, your plan in my life.

Oh, Lord, I pray. I pray for any who have reached this place in their life, Lord, and they're convicted by what you have spoken to us this morning, that it won't just be something we hear and forget, Lord, move in our lives, move in our hearts, move in our marriages, move in our homes, move in our children, Lord. If there's a child that's on the edge, on the verge, undecided whether to give themselves fully to you or not, I pray, Lord, that today will be the day that they do.

They say, Lord, Jesus, I want you to have my life. It's the only life worth living. I don't know when I will have to stand before you.

It could be today that I'll have to stand before you. It could be tomorrow. But no matter how long it is from now or how short it is from now, my life is yours.

I give it to you afresh, Lord. Hear the cry of every sincere heart praying this prayer this morning. I believe you've heard it and you will answer.

You will work in us and you will help us. You're at work in us both to do will and to do your good pleasure. And you who began the good work in us, you will finish it.

We trust you in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.