1 00:00:01,150 --> 00:00:03,590 Welcome to From the Pulpit and Classic Sermon. 2 00:00:03,750 --> 00:00:05,430 Each week we bring you a different message 3 00:00:05,430 --> 00:00:07,690 from some of history's greatest speakers in the 4 00:00:07,690 --> 00:00:10,410 Christian faith and powerful sermons from modern preachers 5 00:00:10,410 --> 00:00:10,630 too. 6 00:00:10,990 --> 00:00:12,830 This week we have John Piper with his 7 00:00:12,830 --> 00:00:14,630 message, Are You Wasting Your Life? 8 00:00:16,030 --> 00:00:19,510 Father, my heart's desire tonight is that in 9 00:00:19,510 --> 00:00:21,750 part because of what we do here now 10 00:00:21,750 --> 00:00:27,710 together there would be no wasted lives in 11 00:00:27,710 --> 00:00:30,790 this room and in the hearing of my 12 00:00:30,790 --> 00:00:34,910 voice and there would be no wasted deaths. 13 00:00:37,110 --> 00:00:40,630 I pray that you would bring a significance 14 00:00:40,630 --> 00:00:44,550 and a power and a meaning to the 15 00:00:44,550 --> 00:00:46,450 lives in this room and I pray that 16 00:00:46,450 --> 00:00:52,090 you would use that significance and power and 17 00:00:52,090 --> 00:00:56,690 meaning to make every death count for your 18 00:00:56,690 --> 00:00:57,130 glory. 19 00:00:57,650 --> 00:01:02,310 Whether it happens quickly or whether it happens 20 00:01:02,310 --> 00:01:06,010 50 or 60 years from now. 21 00:01:08,630 --> 00:01:11,070 I pray, Lord, that if we're not able 22 00:01:13,470 --> 00:01:20,470 to trade in our pain or shame or 23 00:01:20,470 --> 00:01:27,030 suffering in this life we would not postpone 24 00:01:27,030 --> 00:01:31,110 the joy but rather find it in the 25 00:01:31,110 --> 00:01:36,990 pain, in the shame, in the suffering. 26 00:01:39,330 --> 00:01:43,430 So come now and help me to make 27 00:01:43,430 --> 00:01:44,750 your word plain. 28 00:01:46,230 --> 00:01:52,810 Grip, I pray, these young people and don't 29 00:01:52,810 --> 00:01:55,670 let them waste their lives. 30 00:01:56,570 --> 00:01:59,110 In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. 31 00:02:00,270 --> 00:02:03,850 So here we are gathered on the 29th 32 00:02:03,850 --> 00:02:08,270 of December 2003 and the body count as 33 00:02:08,270 --> 00:02:13,130 we meet from the earthquake in Bam, Iran 34 00:02:13,890 --> 00:02:16,170 is at about 25,000. 35 00:02:17,310 --> 00:02:20,790 That's a lot of human lives snuffed out 36 00:02:20,790 --> 00:02:22,290 at 528 in the morning. 37 00:02:24,190 --> 00:02:27,830 And you feel the personal weight of it 38 00:02:27,830 --> 00:02:30,330 when you read about a father digging through 39 00:02:30,330 --> 00:02:32,430 the blocks of his house looking for a 40 00:02:32,430 --> 00:02:34,990 daughter and a wife and uncovering a dead 41 00:02:34,990 --> 00:02:37,510 hand and passing out for grief. 42 00:02:37,510 --> 00:02:40,410 Or when you read about a little baby 43 00:02:40,410 --> 00:02:43,250 being found alive in the grip of a 44 00:02:43,250 --> 00:02:46,750 dead mother puts a face on it. 45 00:02:48,550 --> 00:02:50,590 And what makes this event here at the 46 00:02:50,590 --> 00:02:54,870 end of 2003 feel so apocalyptic for some 47 00:02:54,870 --> 00:02:57,030 of us is not the magnitude of it, 48 00:02:57,090 --> 00:02:59,870 though it's ten times bigger than 9-11, 49 00:03:01,930 --> 00:03:06,190 but how many other events were packed together 50 00:03:06,190 --> 00:03:06,990 with it, right? 51 00:03:08,170 --> 00:03:12,330 Thirteen people buried in a mudslide in California. 52 00:03:12,710 --> 00:03:15,590 Six buried under an avalanche in Utah. 53 00:03:16,110 --> 00:03:18,370 One hundred and eleven dead in a plane 54 00:03:18,370 --> 00:03:19,710 crash in Benin. 55 00:03:19,950 --> 00:03:22,470 One hundred and ninety-eight dead in poison 56 00:03:22,470 --> 00:03:24,190 from gas in China. 57 00:03:24,510 --> 00:03:26,590 All packed together in a few days at 58 00:03:26,590 --> 00:03:27,510 the end of the year. 59 00:03:27,690 --> 00:03:30,850 And it just takes your breath away and 60 00:03:30,850 --> 00:03:36,140 makes us ask what would Jesus want us 61 00:03:36,140 --> 00:03:41,120 to learn from this about not wasting our 62 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:41,520 lives? 63 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:45,840 And I think if we go to Jesus 64 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:48,640 and ask Him that, He has something ready 65 00:03:48,640 --> 00:03:51,560 to say to us and it's found in 66 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:52,200 Luke 13. 67 00:03:52,540 --> 00:03:53,500 You don't need to go there. 68 00:03:53,620 --> 00:03:55,780 This is not my main text. 69 00:03:55,900 --> 00:03:57,460 I just want to read you what Jesus, 70 00:03:57,700 --> 00:03:59,360 I think, would say. 71 00:03:59,460 --> 00:04:00,720 Do you remember the situation? 72 00:04:02,540 --> 00:04:05,020 Some people came to Jesus and told Him 73 00:04:05,020 --> 00:04:08,220 about this atrocity in which Pilate had killed 74 00:04:08,220 --> 00:04:10,860 people while they were offering their sacrifices and 75 00:04:10,860 --> 00:04:12,620 he had taken their blood and mingled it 76 00:04:12,620 --> 00:04:14,740 with the blood of their sacrifices just to 77 00:04:14,740 --> 00:04:15,519 mock them. 78 00:04:16,420 --> 00:04:18,300 And they came to Jesus and said, What 79 00:04:18,300 --> 00:04:19,120 about that? 80 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:24,000 Give an accounting of the Almighty here. 81 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:27,920 And here's what Jesus said. 82 00:04:29,620 --> 00:04:33,200 Do you think that these Galileans were worse 83 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:37,100 sinners than all the other Galileans because they 84 00:04:37,100 --> 00:04:38,220 suffered this way? 85 00:04:39,340 --> 00:04:40,980 No, I tell you. 86 00:04:41,060 --> 00:04:44,420 But unless you repent, you will all likewise 87 00:04:44,420 --> 00:04:44,980 perish. 88 00:04:46,420 --> 00:04:49,980 Or those 18 on whom the tower in 89 00:04:49,980 --> 00:04:54,380 Siloam fell and killed them, do you think 90 00:04:54,380 --> 00:04:57,280 that they were worse offenders than all the 91 00:04:57,280 --> 00:04:58,960 others who live in Jerusalem? 92 00:05:00,320 --> 00:05:01,900 No, I tell you. 93 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:06,640 But unless you repent, you will all likewise 94 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:07,860 perish. 95 00:05:09,620 --> 00:05:11,700 Now, don't make a mistake here. 96 00:05:13,180 --> 00:05:17,180 Jesus could weep with those who wept. 97 00:05:18,820 --> 00:05:22,880 Jesus had compassion almost everywhere He turned. 98 00:05:24,620 --> 00:05:28,800 But He knows, and you know, that after 99 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:34,160 a season of extraordinary wracking grief in calamity, 100 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:38,620 it begins to ease up and the questions 101 00:05:38,620 --> 00:05:39,780 come. 102 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:42,960 And when they come to Jesus with these 103 00:05:42,960 --> 00:05:48,500 questions, He does not settle for sentimentality. 104 00:05:48,700 --> 00:05:51,280 Trying to make everybody feel good. 105 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:53,860 Trying to get God off the hook. 106 00:05:53,980 --> 00:05:56,980 That is not the way Jesus responds. 107 00:05:58,620 --> 00:06:04,400 Jesus says, are you astonished at the magnitude 108 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:08,000 of this calamity in Galilee or at the 109 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:10,780 magnitude of the calamity of the falling tower 110 00:06:10,780 --> 00:06:12,480 in Siloam? 111 00:06:13,740 --> 00:06:16,320 I will tell you what to be astonished 112 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:16,720 at. 113 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:20,640 Be astonished you weren't under the tower. 114 00:06:26,460 --> 00:06:31,340 Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 115 00:06:32,780 --> 00:06:39,580 Means, everybody in this room deserves to die 116 00:06:39,580 --> 00:06:42,500 and perish tonight. 117 00:06:43,500 --> 00:06:47,960 That's the way Jesus answered this inquiry about 118 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:51,940 whether God could give an accounting of the 119 00:06:51,940 --> 00:06:56,400 deaths of the tower and Pilate's atrocity. 120 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:03,560 So, when you compare that earthquake to us 121 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:09,460 tonight, I think Jesus would say, unless you 122 00:07:09,460 --> 00:07:12,540 repent, the thing you should be astonished about 123 00:07:12,940 --> 00:07:15,960 is that this hotel hasn't come down on 124 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:16,660 all of us. 125 00:07:19,180 --> 00:07:23,280 Our wonderment shouldn't be that 25,000 people 126 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:25,820 perished in a moment, but that we have 127 00:07:25,820 --> 00:07:28,100 not yet been snuffed out. 128 00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,820 That's what should amaze us, Jesus says. 129 00:07:33,580 --> 00:07:40,160 So, I conclude from this event and this 130 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:42,840 sets the stage for my message that your 131 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:44,340 life is in God's hands. 132 00:07:45,340 --> 00:07:51,300 Your life hangs by a slender thread of 133 00:07:51,300 --> 00:07:53,960 sovereign grace tonight. 134 00:07:54,900 --> 00:07:56,760 You belong to God. 135 00:07:56,960 --> 00:07:57,840 He made you. 136 00:07:58,560 --> 00:08:00,520 You exist for Him. 137 00:08:00,660 --> 00:08:01,680 God made life. 138 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:04,260 He knows what life is for. 139 00:08:04,700 --> 00:08:06,460 And He has a right to take it 140 00:08:06,460 --> 00:08:08,620 and a right to give it whenever He 141 00:08:08,620 --> 00:08:09,100 pleases. 142 00:08:09,100 --> 00:08:11,120 Do you remember Job? 143 00:08:11,940 --> 00:08:13,200 First chapter? 144 00:08:14,900 --> 00:08:18,020 All ten of his children in an Iran 145 00:08:18,020 --> 00:08:22,900 -like calamity because the house fell on all 146 00:08:22,900 --> 00:08:24,320 ten of them and killed them. 147 00:08:25,720 --> 00:08:27,240 And Job gets the word. 148 00:08:28,940 --> 00:08:30,720 And here's what it says happened. 149 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:36,320 He tore his robe, saved his head, fell 150 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:41,340 on the ground and worshipped and said, The 151 00:08:41,340 --> 00:08:45,000 Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. 152 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,680 Blessed be the name of the Lord. 153 00:08:52,540 --> 00:08:58,100 Or as he said 12 chapters later, In 154 00:08:58,100 --> 00:09:01,500 His hand is the life of every living 155 00:09:01,500 --> 00:09:05,280 thing and the breath of all mankind. 156 00:09:06,580 --> 00:09:07,440 Do you remember Hannah? 157 00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:11,600 She wanted a baby so bad and she 158 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:13,060 was barren for years. 159 00:09:14,060 --> 00:09:17,480 And then God heard her prayer and she 160 00:09:17,480 --> 00:09:19,100 conceived and bore Samuel. 161 00:09:20,020 --> 00:09:23,740 And when she offered up Samuel, she sang 162 00:09:23,740 --> 00:09:24,460 a song. 163 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:28,120 Listen to one of the lines in Hannah's 164 00:09:28,120 --> 00:09:28,520 song. 165 00:09:29,560 --> 00:09:34,580 1 Samuel 2.6 The Lord kills and 166 00:09:34,580 --> 00:09:36,380 the Lord brings to life. 167 00:09:37,260 --> 00:09:40,760 The Lord brings down to sheol and raises 168 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:41,600 up. 169 00:09:42,780 --> 00:09:45,760 She had read her Bible well or learned 170 00:09:45,760 --> 00:09:47,000 it well from tradition. 171 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:52,700 Deuteronomy 32.39 See, now that I, even 172 00:09:52,700 --> 00:09:55,120 I, am He and there is no God 173 00:09:55,120 --> 00:09:59,040 beside me, I kill and I make alive, 174 00:09:59,500 --> 00:10:02,660 I wound and I heal and there is 175 00:10:02,660 --> 00:10:06,420 none who can deliver out of my hand. 176 00:10:11,120 --> 00:10:13,680 If any of you lives through the night, 177 00:10:14,460 --> 00:10:17,560 or if I do, it will be sheer 178 00:10:17,560 --> 00:10:19,380 grace. 179 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:27,260 Jesus' brother, James, was tremendously gripped by this 180 00:10:27,260 --> 00:10:27,640 truth. 181 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:30,780 I think James would have looked out across 182 00:10:30,780 --> 00:10:35,660 America and seen almost nothing but pride and 183 00:10:35,660 --> 00:10:38,380 arrogance because of what he said in chapter 184 00:10:38,380 --> 00:10:38,920 4. 185 00:10:39,660 --> 00:10:44,420 Come now, you who say today or tomorrow 186 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,220 we will go up to such a town 187 00:10:48,220 --> 00:10:51,520 and trade a while and make profit. 188 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:53,560 What? 189 00:10:54,620 --> 00:10:56,300 You don't know your life. 190 00:10:56,300 --> 00:10:58,060 You are but a vapor. 191 00:10:59,340 --> 00:11:02,160 You ought rather to say, if the Lord 192 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:08,260 wills, we will live and do such and 193 00:11:08,260 --> 00:11:08,760 such. 194 00:11:08,980 --> 00:11:12,740 But as it is, you boast and all 195 00:11:12,740 --> 00:11:15,900 such boasting is evil. 196 00:11:19,390 --> 00:11:24,330 Which means, if the Lord lives, if the 197 00:11:24,330 --> 00:11:28,650 Lord wills, John Piper will finish this message 198 00:11:29,190 --> 00:11:30,490 and not keel over. 199 00:11:31,510 --> 00:11:34,650 And if the Lord wills, you will not 200 00:11:34,650 --> 00:11:37,330 fall out of your chair dead tonight. 201 00:11:37,470 --> 00:11:39,950 And if He wills the opposite, you will, 202 00:11:40,270 --> 00:11:42,410 and He will have done you no wrong 203 00:11:42,970 --> 00:11:45,610 because your life is in His hands. 204 00:11:45,970 --> 00:11:49,010 He made you, He owned you, the Lord 205 00:11:49,010 --> 00:11:52,610 gives, the Lord takes, and He never does 206 00:11:52,610 --> 00:11:53,970 anyone wrong. 207 00:11:53,970 --> 00:11:57,250 Whether He takes them at one month, one 208 00:11:57,250 --> 00:12:00,870 year, one decade, or one hundred years, you 209 00:12:00,870 --> 00:12:04,190 belong to God and He may do with 210 00:12:04,190 --> 00:12:05,450 you as He pleases. 211 00:12:05,870 --> 00:12:06,710 You are His. 212 00:12:07,330 --> 00:12:10,890 And therefore He knows what life is for. 213 00:12:11,310 --> 00:12:13,930 And the only way not to waste a 214 00:12:13,930 --> 00:12:17,270 life is to key off of the Almighty, 215 00:12:17,750 --> 00:12:22,630 to know what He would have you be. 216 00:12:25,990 --> 00:12:28,070 Jesus has something to say about it because 217 00:12:28,070 --> 00:12:30,030 He's really jealous that you don't waste your 218 00:12:30,030 --> 00:12:30,590 life tonight. 219 00:12:31,110 --> 00:12:31,950 Really jealous. 220 00:12:34,560 --> 00:12:35,400 You're all students. 221 00:12:35,560 --> 00:12:36,540 Most of you are students. 222 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:41,100 And therefore, most of your life is in 223 00:12:41,100 --> 00:12:41,900 front of you. 224 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:44,940 For most of you. 225 00:12:45,780 --> 00:12:46,480 Not all of you. 226 00:12:47,220 --> 00:12:50,100 Some of you have already lived most of 227 00:12:50,100 --> 00:12:50,580 your life. 228 00:12:53,020 --> 00:12:56,660 But for most of you, it feels like 229 00:12:56,660 --> 00:12:59,340 it could go on a long time. 230 00:13:01,660 --> 00:13:05,260 And Jesus is very jealous that you not 231 00:13:05,260 --> 00:13:06,660 waste it. 232 00:13:07,580 --> 00:13:09,280 If He were here, I think He would 233 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:15,580 say, a person's life does not consist in 234 00:13:15,580 --> 00:13:18,120 the abundance of his possessions. 235 00:13:21,000 --> 00:13:23,240 Life is not about accumulation. 236 00:13:25,580 --> 00:13:28,080 It's not about getting stuff. 237 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:31,740 I think that's what Jesus would say to 238 00:13:31,740 --> 00:13:34,020 you right off the bat in America. 239 00:13:34,700 --> 00:13:36,020 And then He would tell a parable. 240 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:39,940 A land of a rich man produced plentifully. 241 00:13:41,120 --> 00:13:43,220 And he thought to himself, what shall I 242 00:13:43,220 --> 00:13:43,420 do? 243 00:13:43,480 --> 00:13:45,520 For I have nowhere to store my crops. 244 00:13:46,360 --> 00:13:48,100 And he said, I'll do this. 245 00:13:48,100 --> 00:13:51,500 I'll tear down my barns, build bigger ones, 246 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:54,320 and there I will store all my grain 247 00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:55,400 and my goods. 248 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:57,880 And I will say to my soul, soul, 249 00:13:58,160 --> 00:14:01,320 you have ample goods laid up for you 250 00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:02,300 for years. 251 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:03,080 Relax. 252 00:14:03,900 --> 00:14:04,320 Eat. 253 00:14:04,740 --> 00:14:05,100 Drink. 254 00:14:05,540 --> 00:14:06,180 Be merry. 255 00:14:09,720 --> 00:14:17,240 And God said to him, fool, I tell 256 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:18,880 you, I don't ever want to hear that 257 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:22,120 word addressed to me from God. 258 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:24,300 Fool. 259 00:14:27,250 --> 00:14:32,440 This night, your soul is required of you. 260 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:39,320 And the things you prepared, whose will they 261 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:40,000 be? 262 00:14:41,910 --> 00:14:45,100 So it is with everyone who lays up 263 00:14:45,100 --> 00:14:49,560 treasure for himself and is not rich toward 264 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:50,400 God. 265 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:55,400 Oh, how jealous Jesus is tonight that you 266 00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,560 do not waste your lives. 267 00:15:01,180 --> 00:15:02,220 You have a gift. 268 00:15:02,980 --> 00:15:04,780 And it is called life. 269 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:07,660 And it's not about accumulating things. 270 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,440 This night, your soul may be required of 271 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:11,620 you. 272 00:15:11,620 --> 00:15:15,460 And then whose will all those toys be? 273 00:15:18,280 --> 00:15:24,240 No sane person on his deathbed ever comforted 274 00:15:24,240 --> 00:15:28,420 his heart with his possessions that his life 275 00:15:28,420 --> 00:15:29,840 was well spent. 276 00:15:32,930 --> 00:15:34,470 So hear Jesus. 277 00:15:35,230 --> 00:15:37,930 If anyone would come after me, let him 278 00:15:37,930 --> 00:15:40,050 deny himself and take up his cross and 279 00:15:40,050 --> 00:15:40,690 follow me. 280 00:15:41,450 --> 00:15:44,010 For whoever would seek to save his life 281 00:15:44,690 --> 00:15:45,850 will lose it. 282 00:15:46,870 --> 00:15:51,150 And whoever loses his life for my sake 283 00:15:51,150 --> 00:15:55,870 and the gospel's will save it and not 284 00:15:55,870 --> 00:15:56,510 waste it. 285 00:15:59,670 --> 00:16:02,090 It is possible to waste your life. 286 00:16:03,510 --> 00:16:08,270 Few things make me tremble more at age 287 00:16:08,270 --> 00:16:11,890 58 than wasting my life. 288 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:19,960 You'll read about this in the book if 289 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:20,460 you read it. 290 00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:28,140 I grew up in a Christian home and 291 00:16:28,140 --> 00:16:30,900 this was hanging over the sink in the 292 00:16:30,900 --> 00:16:33,140 kitchen from the time I was a tiny 293 00:16:33,140 --> 00:16:34,120 little child. 294 00:16:34,760 --> 00:16:38,540 And every morning I would get up and 295 00:16:38,540 --> 00:16:40,080 run into the kitchen and there it would 296 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:40,400 be. 297 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:46,440 Only one life which will soon be passed. 298 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:51,960 Only what's done for Christ will last. 299 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:56,400 Which communicated to me over the years as 300 00:16:56,400 --> 00:16:59,840 a child, you can waste your life. 301 00:17:01,460 --> 00:17:03,119 You can really waste it. 302 00:17:04,220 --> 00:17:06,500 It was built into my heart as a 303 00:17:06,500 --> 00:17:07,140 little child. 304 00:17:07,140 --> 00:17:08,900 Don't waste it. 305 00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:12,540 My dad told the story. 306 00:17:13,260 --> 00:17:14,920 One of the most moving I can remember 307 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:17,200 as a little kid hearing my father preach 308 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:18,140 as an evangelist. 309 00:17:18,579 --> 00:17:21,020 And my father's eyes could really blaze in 310 00:17:21,020 --> 00:17:21,440 preaching. 311 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:24,200 He always began the sermon with a joke. 312 00:17:24,839 --> 00:17:27,260 But it wasn't very long before his eyes 313 00:17:27,260 --> 00:17:29,340 were blazing and he was telling stories that 314 00:17:29,340 --> 00:17:30,740 would make you cringe. 315 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:33,600 And one of them was a revival meeting 316 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:36,060 in which at the end of the meeting 317 00:17:36,060 --> 00:17:37,920 an old man that everybody had been praying 318 00:17:37,920 --> 00:17:40,500 for for decades evidently walked to the front. 319 00:17:40,580 --> 00:17:42,200 I think age something like 78. 320 00:17:43,220 --> 00:17:46,500 And just wept and wept and wept as 321 00:17:46,500 --> 00:17:48,620 my father sat beside him on the pew. 322 00:17:49,200 --> 00:17:56,770 And all he could say was, When I 323 00:17:56,770 --> 00:17:58,150 heard my dad tell that story and I 324 00:17:58,150 --> 00:17:59,610 heard it numerous times. 325 00:18:00,830 --> 00:18:02,530 And I remember that plaque. 326 00:18:03,550 --> 00:18:05,910 I felt with every fiber of my being, 327 00:18:05,910 --> 00:18:08,190 I will not waste it. 328 00:18:08,350 --> 00:18:12,890 You get one crack and there's no replay. 329 00:18:13,950 --> 00:18:20,810 And you can throw it away or the 330 00:18:20,810 --> 00:18:21,230 opposite. 331 00:18:24,530 --> 00:18:25,930 I'm 58 almost. 332 00:18:26,230 --> 00:18:26,950 A couple of weeks. 333 00:18:27,950 --> 00:18:31,130 And the river of my life is really 334 00:18:31,130 --> 00:18:36,870 flowing fast over the precipice of my days. 335 00:18:39,050 --> 00:18:41,050 And I don't have any idea how long 336 00:18:41,050 --> 00:18:42,150 the Lord may give me. 337 00:18:43,310 --> 00:18:46,590 And my zeal not to waste my life 338 00:18:47,250 --> 00:18:49,970 is as alive today as it's ever been, 339 00:18:50,070 --> 00:18:53,670 perhaps more so because it feels so short 340 00:18:53,670 --> 00:18:57,590 before I stand before the Judge, King Jesus, 341 00:18:57,730 --> 00:19:00,270 and give an account of my life. 342 00:19:00,910 --> 00:19:04,670 What a tragedy in America. 343 00:19:05,570 --> 00:19:08,370 This is one of the biggest tragedies in 344 00:19:08,370 --> 00:19:09,150 our culture. 345 00:19:11,090 --> 00:19:16,190 That billions of dollars are invested every year 346 00:19:17,030 --> 00:19:21,230 to get people my age to waste the 347 00:19:21,230 --> 00:19:22,730 rest of our lives. 348 00:19:24,170 --> 00:19:28,410 Billions of dollars invested to persuade us and 349 00:19:28,410 --> 00:19:31,110 lure us, at any cost it seems, to 350 00:19:31,110 --> 00:19:33,150 waste the rest of our lives. 351 00:19:33,210 --> 00:19:34,870 It's called retirement. 352 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:40,180 And in sum, it goes like this. 353 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:42,180 You've worked for it. 354 00:19:42,460 --> 00:19:44,440 Now enjoy it. 355 00:19:46,260 --> 00:19:55,680 Twenty years, perhaps, of play, leisure, ease, while 356 00:19:55,680 --> 00:20:03,160 the world, uncared for medically, uneducated, filthy water, 357 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:09,660 poverty stricken, unevangelized, sinks under the weight of 358 00:20:09,660 --> 00:20:14,400 healthy 65-year-old people playing bridge and 359 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:20,080 shuffleboard and collecting shells and fishing and golfing 360 00:20:20,080 --> 00:20:23,260 their way into the presence of King Jesus. 361 00:20:25,900 --> 00:20:27,100 And you know what? 362 00:20:28,300 --> 00:20:33,780 You're going to join them unless, at this 363 00:20:33,780 --> 00:20:38,660 stage in your life, you make some very 364 00:20:38,660 --> 00:20:44,680 radical decisions, very radical commitments, very radical choices 365 00:20:44,680 --> 00:20:49,000 about where your treasure is. 366 00:20:51,060 --> 00:20:54,660 Do not assume you won't be sucked in 367 00:20:54,660 --> 00:20:58,140 because every stage of your life in this 368 00:20:58,140 --> 00:21:02,920 Disneyland called America, there are powerful forces angling 369 00:21:02,920 --> 00:21:06,080 to get you to waste your lives. 370 00:21:06,520 --> 00:21:10,240 It will take a massive work of grace 371 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:12,960 to rescue you from the clutches of this 372 00:21:12,960 --> 00:21:13,420 culture. 373 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:17,140 For many of you are totally enslaved. 374 00:21:20,170 --> 00:21:22,970 And I pray on the way to being 375 00:21:22,970 --> 00:21:24,890 set free. 376 00:21:28,850 --> 00:21:33,810 So now, the question is, what is the 377 00:21:33,810 --> 00:21:34,790 unwasted life? 378 00:21:36,430 --> 00:21:39,750 You're all worked up about us not wasting 379 00:21:39,750 --> 00:21:40,390 our lives. 380 00:21:40,930 --> 00:21:43,690 Tell us what the unwasted life looks like. 381 00:21:44,330 --> 00:21:46,670 Tell us the pathway so that it will 382 00:21:46,670 --> 00:21:48,870 be written over our lives at the end, 383 00:21:48,870 --> 00:21:52,630 this life was not wasted. 384 00:21:53,450 --> 00:21:54,590 What would that be? 385 00:21:55,070 --> 00:21:57,110 And now, if you have a Bible, I 386 00:21:57,110 --> 00:21:58,390 do invite you to turn. 387 00:21:58,750 --> 00:22:00,290 If you don't, that's okay. 388 00:22:00,650 --> 00:22:02,050 I'll read the text for you. 389 00:22:02,110 --> 00:22:04,710 But we're going to go to Philippians 1 390 00:22:04,710 --> 00:22:05,670 for the answer. 391 00:22:06,030 --> 00:22:09,210 This text means almost more to me than 392 00:22:09,210 --> 00:22:11,030 any other when it comes to asking the 393 00:22:11,030 --> 00:22:15,870 question, how can I not waste my life? 394 00:22:15,870 --> 00:22:20,610 Whether it's age 18, 28, 38, 58, 88, 395 00:22:21,250 --> 00:22:23,130 this text is the answer. 396 00:22:24,090 --> 00:22:28,250 I preached on this text almost 24 years 397 00:22:28,250 --> 00:22:31,530 ago now when I candidated for the pastorate 398 00:22:31,530 --> 00:22:33,330 of Bethlehem, which is just a little ways 399 00:22:33,330 --> 00:22:33,670 away. 400 00:22:33,950 --> 00:22:36,630 So it has a very special, powerful place 401 00:22:36,630 --> 00:22:39,790 in my memory, in my life, and I 402 00:22:39,790 --> 00:22:42,090 wanted to have a place like that for 403 00:22:42,090 --> 00:22:42,410 you. 404 00:22:43,590 --> 00:22:44,950 Philippians 1. 405 00:22:45,650 --> 00:22:47,790 We'll just read a couple of verses here. 406 00:22:48,170 --> 00:22:49,310 20 and 21. 407 00:22:49,870 --> 00:22:53,250 And you will hear, I hope, Paul's passion, 408 00:22:53,570 --> 00:22:55,890 which is the opposite of the unwasted life. 409 00:22:58,260 --> 00:23:02,480 Philippians 1.20 It is my eager expectation 410 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:05,720 and hope that I will not at all 411 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:09,880 be ashamed, but that with full courage, now 412 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:14,120 as always, Christ will be honored. 413 00:23:14,880 --> 00:23:17,100 Or you could use the word magnified. 414 00:23:19,140 --> 00:23:21,020 Shown to be magnificent. 415 00:23:21,540 --> 00:23:24,840 Christ will be magnified, honored, shown to be 416 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:29,780 magnificent in my body, whether by life or 417 00:23:29,780 --> 00:23:30,700 by death. 418 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:36,720 Paul's all-consuming passion is to so live 419 00:23:36,720 --> 00:23:41,520 and so die that Christ would look great. 420 00:23:43,460 --> 00:23:48,120 The unwasted life is the life that puts 421 00:23:48,120 --> 00:23:52,420 Christ on display as supremely valuable. 422 00:23:53,540 --> 00:23:54,420 I'll say it again. 423 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:59,160 The unwasted life is the life that in 424 00:23:59,160 --> 00:24:02,300 everything you do, in life and death, puts 425 00:24:02,300 --> 00:24:08,240 Christ on display as supremely valuable. 426 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:14,360 You have life given by God for this 427 00:24:14,360 --> 00:24:16,680 one main reason. 428 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:20,520 Make Christ look great. 429 00:24:21,660 --> 00:24:23,200 That's why you exist. 430 00:24:28,170 --> 00:24:33,370 My expectation and hope is that Christ will 431 00:24:33,370 --> 00:24:35,890 be shown to be great in my body, 432 00:24:36,770 --> 00:24:40,270 whether by life or by death. 433 00:24:40,730 --> 00:24:42,150 And so there are two parts. 434 00:24:42,430 --> 00:24:44,130 Life and death. 435 00:24:44,230 --> 00:24:46,170 Let's just take one at a time. 436 00:24:47,650 --> 00:24:51,210 How in Paul's mind and in Paul's life 437 00:24:51,660 --> 00:24:55,770 is Christ honored, magnified, shown to be great 438 00:24:55,770 --> 00:24:57,710 in his life? 439 00:24:58,710 --> 00:25:01,870 The answer is given in chapter 3, verse 440 00:25:01,870 --> 00:25:02,230 7. 441 00:25:05,990 --> 00:25:10,470 Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss 442 00:25:10,470 --> 00:25:12,870 for the sake of Christ. 443 00:25:13,750 --> 00:25:18,950 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of 444 00:25:18,950 --> 00:25:22,810 the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my 445 00:25:22,810 --> 00:25:23,190 Lord. 446 00:25:23,950 --> 00:25:26,850 For His sake, I have suffered the loss 447 00:25:26,850 --> 00:25:30,370 of all things and count them as rubbish 448 00:25:30,850 --> 00:25:34,850 in order that I might gain Christ. 449 00:25:37,570 --> 00:25:42,550 How does Paul make Christ look great? 450 00:25:42,970 --> 00:25:49,210 Answer, by experiencing Christ as such a treasure 451 00:25:49,890 --> 00:25:55,410 that everything else in his life is as 452 00:25:55,410 --> 00:25:57,710 nothing by comparison. 453 00:25:59,170 --> 00:26:06,710 I count everything, money, as loss. 454 00:26:07,210 --> 00:26:09,210 Food as loss. 455 00:26:09,830 --> 00:26:11,810 Looks as loss. 456 00:26:12,090 --> 00:26:14,050 Friends as loss. 457 00:26:14,290 --> 00:26:16,290 Family as loss. 458 00:26:16,530 --> 00:26:19,430 Job and success as loss. 459 00:26:19,750 --> 00:26:21,790 Graduation as loss. 460 00:26:22,790 --> 00:26:27,430 In comparison with the treasure that Christ has 461 00:26:27,430 --> 00:26:29,230 become for me. 462 00:26:32,290 --> 00:26:35,930 How do you make Christ look great in 463 00:26:35,930 --> 00:26:38,250 your life and thus not waste it? 464 00:26:39,930 --> 00:26:43,890 Money is given to you so that you 465 00:26:43,890 --> 00:26:47,870 might use money in a way that shows 466 00:26:47,870 --> 00:26:49,610 money is not your treasure. 467 00:26:50,590 --> 00:26:51,790 Christ is. 468 00:26:54,050 --> 00:26:57,150 Food is given to you so that you 469 00:26:57,150 --> 00:27:00,310 might eat it in such a way that 470 00:27:00,310 --> 00:27:03,190 it will be plain food is not your 471 00:27:03,190 --> 00:27:03,650 treasure. 472 00:27:04,330 --> 00:27:05,810 Christ is. 473 00:27:07,730 --> 00:27:12,710 Friends, family are given to you so that 474 00:27:12,710 --> 00:27:15,450 you might live with them in such a 475 00:27:15,450 --> 00:27:17,450 way that it will be plain to the 476 00:27:17,450 --> 00:27:19,670 world they are not your treasure. 477 00:27:20,370 --> 00:27:21,650 Christ is. 478 00:27:22,730 --> 00:27:31,890 Computers, toys, houses, lands, cars are given to 479 00:27:31,890 --> 00:27:34,710 you so that you might use them in 480 00:27:34,710 --> 00:27:36,810 such a way that it will be plain 481 00:27:36,810 --> 00:27:40,710 to the world these are not your treasure. 482 00:27:41,170 --> 00:27:42,170 Christ is. 483 00:27:42,670 --> 00:27:45,290 You talk about lifestyle implications. 484 00:27:47,170 --> 00:27:48,930 Wartime living. 485 00:27:52,980 --> 00:27:55,880 The way we display the supreme worth of 486 00:27:55,880 --> 00:28:01,280 Jesus is by treasuring Him above all things 487 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:05,620 and then making choices which make the joy 488 00:28:05,620 --> 00:28:09,420 we have in His supreme worth manifest. 489 00:28:12,620 --> 00:28:13,060 Get it. 490 00:28:14,420 --> 00:28:15,400 Get it. 491 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:17,920 And if He is not that for you 492 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:20,780 tonight if He is not that treasure for 493 00:28:20,780 --> 00:28:24,420 you pray all night if you have to 494 00:28:24,420 --> 00:28:27,540 that your heart would be so changed that 495 00:28:27,540 --> 00:28:30,860 you would now treasure Jesus above everything in 496 00:28:30,860 --> 00:28:31,580 your life. 497 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:36,700 That's the way Paul says He magnifies Jesus 498 00:28:36,700 --> 00:28:38,100 in life. 499 00:28:39,520 --> 00:28:42,100 Now what about death? 500 00:28:44,300 --> 00:28:48,040 My eager expectation and hope is that Christ 501 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:50,540 will be honored in my body whether by 502 00:28:50,540 --> 00:28:53,280 life or by death. 503 00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:59,680 How do you magnify Christ in death? 504 00:29:00,780 --> 00:29:04,400 Remember that little incident at the end of 505 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:08,640 Jesus' earthly pilgrimage where a disciple was following 506 00:29:08,640 --> 00:29:11,620 Him and the other disciple said, What about 507 00:29:11,620 --> 00:29:11,840 Him? 508 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:17,240 And Jesus said, It's none of your business 509 00:29:17,240 --> 00:29:18,680 about Him. 510 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:22,940 The day will come when you stretch forth 511 00:29:22,940 --> 00:29:25,420 your hands and people will lead you where 512 00:29:25,420 --> 00:29:26,460 you don't want to go. 513 00:29:27,020 --> 00:29:31,480 And John inserts the interpretation by this he 514 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:36,440 showed by what manner of death he was 515 00:29:36,440 --> 00:29:38,840 to glorify God. 516 00:29:43,340 --> 00:29:48,900 Peter was probably crucified upside down and it 517 00:29:48,900 --> 00:29:55,060 was planned as a way of glorifying God. 518 00:29:57,120 --> 00:29:59,960 Takes your breath away what God may have 519 00:29:59,960 --> 00:30:02,080 in store for some of you if you 520 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:05,160 really want your life not to be wasted. 521 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:11,340 The answer to the question How can my 522 00:30:11,340 --> 00:30:17,480 life and my now death magnify the worth 523 00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:20,040 of Christ is given in verse 21. 524 00:30:23,380 --> 00:30:27,120 For to me to live is Christ and 525 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:29,680 to die is gain. 526 00:30:31,180 --> 00:30:34,040 How is dying gain for Paul? 527 00:30:34,380 --> 00:30:36,080 The answer is given in verse 23. 528 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:40,680 My desire is to depart and be with 529 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:44,020 Christ for that is far better. 530 00:30:44,580 --> 00:30:45,420 That's gain. 531 00:30:46,660 --> 00:30:51,120 So, the way you show the infinite value 532 00:30:51,120 --> 00:30:53,820 of Jesus for the world to see in 533 00:30:53,820 --> 00:30:58,680 your dying is to experience your dying as 534 00:30:58,680 --> 00:30:59,520 gain. 535 00:31:00,820 --> 00:31:03,520 Because it means more of Christ. 536 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:07,100 But do you see what that implies about 537 00:31:07,100 --> 00:31:10,660 the proportion of affection you have for Christ 538 00:31:10,660 --> 00:31:13,580 compared to everything you leave behind? 539 00:31:14,700 --> 00:31:16,640 Namely, everything. 540 00:31:21,680 --> 00:31:27,100 If death is to be gain Christ must 541 00:31:27,100 --> 00:31:31,720 be more precious to you than everything you 542 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:32,620 leave behind. 543 00:31:33,300 --> 00:31:37,600 And when a person dies like that the 544 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:43,840 world looks on and says this Christ must 545 00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:46,140 be valuable. 546 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:52,720 Jesus Christ is most glorified in you in 547 00:31:52,720 --> 00:31:57,900 your dying when you are most satisfied in 548 00:31:57,900 --> 00:32:00,760 Him in your dying. 549 00:32:01,660 --> 00:32:04,700 That's what verse 21 teaches. 550 00:32:06,020 --> 00:32:11,640 So, in summary, here are the essentials of 551 00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:12,820 the unwasted life. 552 00:32:13,300 --> 00:32:17,740 Number one, life and death are given to 553 00:32:17,740 --> 00:32:17,940 you. 554 00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:18,640 They are gifts. 555 00:32:18,820 --> 00:32:19,600 Life is a gift. 556 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:20,940 Death is a gift. 557 00:32:21,340 --> 00:32:24,140 And they are given to you in order 558 00:32:24,140 --> 00:32:28,100 that you might use them to display the 559 00:32:28,100 --> 00:32:30,240 supreme worth of Jesus Christ. 560 00:32:31,860 --> 00:32:35,360 That's the pathway of the unwasted life. 561 00:32:37,480 --> 00:32:46,000 And therefore, you must cultivate a supreme valuing, 562 00:32:46,460 --> 00:32:50,280 treasuring of Jesus Christ above all things. 563 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:53,840 I count everything as loss for the surpassing 564 00:32:53,840 --> 00:32:55,280 value of knowing Christ Jesus. 565 00:32:55,280 --> 00:33:00,000 If you're not there tonight, labor in prayer 566 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:03,500 and in meditation and in wrestling with God 567 00:33:03,500 --> 00:33:06,140 that you might get there so that with 568 00:33:06,140 --> 00:33:09,020 all authenticity you might be able to say 569 00:33:10,380 --> 00:33:15,040 I count everything as loss for the surpassing 570 00:33:15,040 --> 00:33:17,380 value of knowing Christ Jesus. 571 00:33:19,140 --> 00:33:25,280 And then thirdly, this treasuring of Him which 572 00:33:25,280 --> 00:33:31,040 displays His worth is most clearly seen by 573 00:33:31,040 --> 00:33:38,520 what you are willing gladly to risk and 574 00:33:38,520 --> 00:33:43,300 sacrifice for the surpassing value of more of 575 00:33:43,300 --> 00:33:43,760 Jesus. 576 00:33:45,340 --> 00:33:46,940 Let me say that one again. 577 00:33:47,620 --> 00:33:49,160 In fact, I'll say all three of them 578 00:33:49,160 --> 00:33:50,360 again just by way of summary. 579 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:54,940 First, you have life in order that you 580 00:33:54,940 --> 00:33:58,580 might display the supreme value of Jesus. 581 00:33:59,300 --> 00:34:02,380 The way you display the supreme value of 582 00:34:02,380 --> 00:34:06,740 Jesus is by treasuring Him, being satisfied in 583 00:34:06,740 --> 00:34:09,420 Him above all other things in life. 584 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:17,540 And thirdly, that treasuring and display becomes most 585 00:34:17,540 --> 00:34:22,199 vivid by how much you are willing to 586 00:34:22,199 --> 00:34:28,440 risk or sacrifice if He calls in order 587 00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:29,500 to have more of Him. 588 00:34:31,020 --> 00:34:34,639 Listen to the radical way Paul puts it 589 00:34:34,639 --> 00:34:36,820 in 2 Corinthians 12. 590 00:34:38,760 --> 00:34:40,219 You remember the situation? 591 00:34:40,480 --> 00:34:41,580 He's got a thorn in the flesh. 592 00:34:41,620 --> 00:34:42,460 We don't know what it is. 593 00:34:42,580 --> 00:34:43,639 It's causing him pain. 594 00:34:43,900 --> 00:34:46,139 He says, Christ, please, take it away. 595 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:47,080 Three times. 596 00:34:48,380 --> 00:34:50,699 And Christ says, No. 597 00:34:53,159 --> 00:34:58,060 And then Paul says, verse 9, He said 598 00:34:58,060 --> 00:35:02,220 to me, My grace is sufficient for you. 599 00:35:02,820 --> 00:35:05,820 My power is made perfect in weakness. 600 00:35:06,740 --> 00:35:07,720 There's more of Christ. 601 00:35:07,820 --> 00:35:08,240 Do you see that? 602 00:35:08,900 --> 00:35:09,800 My power. 603 00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:12,660 Do you want more of Christ? 604 00:35:13,600 --> 00:35:14,200 Christ's grace. 605 00:35:14,560 --> 00:35:15,500 Christ's power. 606 00:35:16,940 --> 00:35:18,080 Christ's fellowship. 607 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:21,000 Do you want more and more and more 608 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:22,440 because He is your treasure? 609 00:35:23,100 --> 00:35:23,620 Paul did. 610 00:35:24,100 --> 00:35:27,200 And therefore he said, Christ says, My grace 611 00:35:27,200 --> 00:35:28,180 is sufficient for you. 612 00:35:28,500 --> 00:35:31,200 My power is made perfect in your weakness. 613 00:35:31,380 --> 00:35:36,500 And then Paul responds, Therefore, I will boast 614 00:35:36,500 --> 00:35:38,760 all the more gladly. 615 00:35:39,020 --> 00:35:44,380 Don't miss that amazing counterintuitive word. 616 00:35:44,800 --> 00:35:49,180 I will boast all the more gladly in 617 00:35:49,180 --> 00:35:54,640 my weaknesses so that the power of Christ 618 00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:57,500 may rest upon me for the sake of 619 00:35:57,500 --> 00:35:58,300 Christ then. 620 00:35:58,580 --> 00:36:06,140 I'm content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, calamities. 621 00:36:07,040 --> 00:36:11,500 For when I'm weak, then am I strong. 622 00:36:15,310 --> 00:36:22,390 Magnifying Christ by being satisfied in Him in 623 00:36:22,390 --> 00:36:25,490 pain and calamity and suffering and insults and 624 00:36:25,490 --> 00:36:28,870 weakness was the passion of Paul's life. 625 00:36:29,690 --> 00:36:33,630 His passion was not the American dream of 626 00:36:33,630 --> 00:36:39,550 escaping insult, calamity, pain, suffering. 627 00:36:40,850 --> 00:36:45,470 His passion was any life and any death 628 00:36:45,470 --> 00:36:48,390 that enables me to know you better, see 629 00:36:48,390 --> 00:36:51,370 you more, and magnify your greatness more. 630 00:36:51,770 --> 00:36:52,950 Bring it on, Jesus. 631 00:36:53,390 --> 00:36:56,330 All I want in my life and death 632 00:36:56,330 --> 00:36:59,070 is to enjoy you more and make your 633 00:36:59,070 --> 00:37:02,750 worth more vivid for the world to see. 634 00:37:06,420 --> 00:37:10,340 So, I ask you tonight, are you going 635 00:37:10,340 --> 00:37:12,900 to throw away your life? 636 00:37:14,680 --> 00:37:16,740 Are you going to buy into the American 637 00:37:16,740 --> 00:37:22,780 dream, minimize suffering, maximize comfort, maximize ease, maximize 638 00:37:22,780 --> 00:37:26,400 security, build bigger barns, work for the bread 639 00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:29,740 that perishes, lay up treasures on earth, covet 640 00:37:29,740 --> 00:37:32,820 the praise of man, and be happy for 641 00:37:32,820 --> 00:37:34,900 80 years and perish? 642 00:37:36,940 --> 00:37:38,950 Is that the way you're going to waste 643 00:37:38,950 --> 00:37:39,610 your life? 644 00:37:41,570 --> 00:37:45,990 Or, are you going to see Christ crucified 645 00:37:46,580 --> 00:37:50,950 and risen and reigning and bearing your sins 646 00:37:50,950 --> 00:37:55,810 as the infinite treasure in your life that 647 00:37:55,810 --> 00:37:57,430 He really is? 648 00:37:58,810 --> 00:38:03,950 And then make life choices that display to 649 00:38:03,950 --> 00:38:06,710 the world His value. 650 00:38:08,770 --> 00:38:15,530 Have you ever wondered why 1 Peter 3 651 00:38:15,530 --> 00:38:18,130 .15 isn't coming true for most of us? 652 00:38:18,590 --> 00:38:23,530 Where it says, always be ready to give 653 00:38:23,530 --> 00:38:26,530 a reason for the hope that is in 654 00:38:26,530 --> 00:38:28,430 you when somebody asks you. 655 00:38:29,930 --> 00:38:31,750 Anybody asked you recently? 656 00:38:34,590 --> 00:38:35,870 You know why? 657 00:38:37,290 --> 00:38:40,370 It looks like our hope is in the 658 00:38:40,370 --> 00:38:42,370 same thing they're hoping in. 659 00:38:46,600 --> 00:38:50,480 The church in America is not where it 660 00:38:50,480 --> 00:38:51,380 ought to be. 661 00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:55,940 We are going to have to make life 662 00:38:55,940 --> 00:38:59,960 choices for this globe, this wracked with pain, 663 00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:05,540 lost, perishing, suffering, hungry, uneducated, without water, without 664 00:39:05,540 --> 00:39:07,040 medical care globe. 665 00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:09,160 We're going to have to make some choices 666 00:39:09,160 --> 00:39:12,160 about how to be invested that will cause 667 00:39:12,160 --> 00:39:16,620 the world to say, hmm, why are you 668 00:39:16,620 --> 00:39:17,340 going there? 669 00:39:18,660 --> 00:39:21,620 What are you hoping in if you leave 670 00:39:21,620 --> 00:39:22,300 all this? 671 00:39:24,240 --> 00:39:26,980 Then maybe 1 Peter 3.15 would come 672 00:39:26,980 --> 00:39:27,900 true for us. 673 00:39:29,720 --> 00:39:33,280 I believe with all my heart that if 674 00:39:33,280 --> 00:39:36,600 God raises up a generation like that who 675 00:39:36,600 --> 00:39:41,160 doesn't waste their lives, the great commission will 676 00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:42,080 come to pass. 677 00:39:43,060 --> 00:39:47,280 Because if you are not the generation, if 678 00:39:47,280 --> 00:39:51,560 this generation does not embrace suffering, does not 679 00:39:51,560 --> 00:39:55,400 embrace pain, does not embrace shame for the 680 00:39:55,400 --> 00:40:00,200 surpassing value and joy of knowing Jesus, you 681 00:40:00,200 --> 00:40:02,840 will simply be passed over and God will 682 00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:05,760 get His work done another way, perhaps by 683 00:40:05,760 --> 00:40:09,100 the new Christendom, as Philip Jenkins calls it, 684 00:40:09,340 --> 00:40:11,240 in the south and in the east. 685 00:40:13,760 --> 00:40:19,940 So, I call you to embrace Christ and 686 00:40:19,940 --> 00:40:25,360 embrace suffering and embrace the reward of knowing 687 00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:25,880 Him. 688 00:40:27,020 --> 00:40:32,020 If your passion is to display Christ, if 689 00:40:32,020 --> 00:40:35,540 your passion is to treasure Christ above all 690 00:40:35,540 --> 00:40:39,660 things, if your passion is to take risks 691 00:40:39,660 --> 00:40:42,820 and sacrifice whatever it takes in order to 692 00:40:42,820 --> 00:40:49,080 display His worth, then the Middle East that 693 00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:53,480 you're committed to, East Asia that you're committed 694 00:40:53,480 --> 00:40:58,440 to, Sao Paulo, Brazil that you're committed to, 695 00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:02,860 then Toulouse, France that you're committed to, then 696 00:41:02,860 --> 00:41:06,220 these commitments will be filled and thousands of 697 00:41:06,220 --> 00:41:10,520 people will see the supreme value of Jesus 698 00:41:10,520 --> 00:41:13,360 Christ in your life and they will believe 699 00:41:13,360 --> 00:41:15,960 and written over their life and your life 700 00:41:15,960 --> 00:41:18,720 and I pray my life will be the 701 00:41:18,720 --> 00:41:23,160 words, this life was not wasted. 702 00:41:23,160 --> 00:41:30,040 This life gladly displayed the supreme worth of 703 00:41:30,040 --> 00:41:31,360 Jesus Christ. 704 00:41:31,600 --> 00:41:32,420 Let's pray. 705 00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:37,700 Oh God, no words of mine, but only 706 00:41:37,700 --> 00:41:40,980 the power of the Holy Spirit can raise 707 00:41:40,980 --> 00:41:45,260 up a generation in which 200,000 young 708 00:41:45,260 --> 00:41:47,280 people will say, I'm going. 709 00:41:48,780 --> 00:41:50,080 I'm laying it down. 710 00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:54,900 I will count Jesus Christ as precious above 711 00:41:54,900 --> 00:41:55,880 all things. 712 00:41:56,680 --> 00:41:58,640 I will risk my life. 713 00:41:59,320 --> 00:42:02,800 I will indeed, if you call, sacrifice my 714 00:42:02,800 --> 00:42:06,100 life in order to display among the unreached 715 00:42:06,100 --> 00:42:10,180 peoples of the world the sweet beauty and 716 00:42:10,180 --> 00:42:13,880 infinitely satisfying glory of Jesus Christ. 717 00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:16,360 You've been listening to From the Pulpit in 718 00:42:16,360 --> 00:42:17,460 Classic Sermon Series. 719 00:42:17,460 --> 00:42:19,440 This week you heard John Piper with his 720 00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:21,180 message, Are You Wasting Your Life? 721 00:42:21,420 --> 00:42:22,940 Tune in next week to hear Keith David 722 00:42:22,940 --> 00:42:25,860 talk about compromising Christianity on From the Pulpit 723 00:42:25,860 --> 00:42:26,860 in Classic Sermons.