How to Live the Rest of Your Life

Reading 1 Peter chapter 4, the first eleven verses. For as much then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind. For he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin, that he should no longer live the rest of his time in the flesh, to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, that means the will of the unsaved, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, carousings, and abominable idolatries, in which they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the living and the dead? For this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are now dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. But the end of all things is at hand.

Be therefore sober-minded, and watch unto prayer, and above all things have fervent love among yourselves, for love shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging, as every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.

If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. There's a phrase in verse 2 that is somewhat disturbing.

It has a rather ominous sound to it. The rest of his time. I've marked it in my Bible, and I hope that whenever I look at it and see where it's marked, it'll shock me.

The rest of his time. You don't know how long is the rest of your time. You see, in verse 3 he talks about time past.

He said we can look back and see the past. How we grew up, birthday parties, all that we did, and the sins of the past. But Peter is not the kind of a person whose life is controlled by the past.

He wants our lives to be controlled by the future. And so he says, you turn away from the past and let's talk about the rest of your time. How long is it going to be? You don't know.

Where will you be? You don't know. What is God going to do? You don't know. I don't know.

There are many Christians who live as though the rest of their time is 50, 60 years. You don't know. Now we're going to spend eternity with God.

He's not talking about that. He's talking about the rest of our time here on earth. The work that we're going to do.

The lives that we're going to live. That's a sobering thought. The fact that one of these days time is going to end for us.

Opportunities are going to end for us. Relationships are going to end for us. And how should we be living in the light of the fact that we don't know how long is the rest of our time? Peter was quite conscious of this because he knew that soon he was going to die.

Our Lord had said to Peter, now when you get older, men are going to carry you where you don't want to be carried. You're going to be crucified. He talks about this in 2 Peter chapter 1, verse 13.

Yea, I think it fitting, as long as I am in this tabernacle, this body, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance, knowing that shortly I must put off this, my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me. And so Peter is saying to me, I'm writing this knowing how short my time is. And you don't know how long your time is.

Therefore, says Peter, get with it and spend the rest of your time making life worthwhile. His great concern is the attitude of our mind. He said, I want you to arm yourself with the same mind that Jesus had.

He's concerned about our attitude, our outlook as we go toward the end of life. You say, well, you're being rather morbid tonight. No, I'm not.

I'm being realistic. A person is a fool to waste his life or to spend his life as though he's going to be here forever. We live a day at a time.

We walk a step at a time. And we have to live the rest of our time with the right attitude. Now, in this section that I've read, 1 Peter 4, 1 through 11, the Apostle Peter describes four attitudes that you and I should have if we're going to make the rest of our time count.

Now, some folks won't like this. I'm sure some of Peter's readers did not like it. They said, well, he doesn't know what he's talking about.

He did know what he was talking about. He was inspired by the Holy Spirit of God. Now, what are these attitudes? Verses 1, 2, and 3, we must have a militant attitude toward sin.

Arm yourself with the same attitude Jesus had toward sin. Equip yourself, a militant attitude toward sin. Verses 4, 5, and 6, a patient attitude toward the lost.

Now, we reverse that. We're patient with sin and militant toward the lost. He says, no, I want you to have a militant attitude toward sin.

I want you to have a patient attitude toward the lost. He explains why. Then verse 7, I want you to have an expectant attitude toward the Lord.

The end of all things is at hand. Christ may come back. And then 8 through 11, I want you to have a fervent attitude toward one another.

Now, it's so easy to remember, hard to practice. A militant attitude toward sin. Let's fight sin in our lives.

A patient attitude toward the lost. Let's be good witnesses. An expectant attitude toward the Lord.

Let's live as though today He may come back. By the way, I will say this parenthetically, which doesn't mean it's any less important. One reason why I cannot accept the interpretation of the Word of God that says Jesus is coming in the middle of the tribulation or at the end of the tribulation is because then He can't come today.

I know good men disagree on this, and I never make this a test of fellowship or spirituality, but I believe Jesus Christ can come back today. I'm not looking for Antichrist. I'm looking for Christ.

I'm not looking for tribulation. I'm looking for glory. An expectant attitude toward the Lord.

And finally, a fervent attitude toward one another. Now, let's examine these four attitudes. Verses 1 through 3, a militant attitude toward sin.

For as much then. Now, what does the then refer to? It refers to what He said back in chapter 3, verse 18. There's a long parenthesis in here about Noah and about the flood, but He goes back to 3.18. For Christ also hath once suffered for sin the just for the unjust.

For as much then as Christ has suffered for us. Arm yourselves with the same mind. Ideas are weapons.

Attitudes are weapons. Thoughts are weapons. And Peter is saying don't drift through life putting up with sin.

And certainly don't walk through life committing sin. It's wrong to commit sin. It's wrong to condone sin.

What should we do? We should be in conflict with sin in our own lives. I have noticed how easy it is to be critical of things in the lives of other people that I'm guilty of myself. That must have been what Jesus meant when He said you judge another, the same judgment's coming back to you.

We believers are very quick to judge the sins of other people. And Peter says let's begin with your own life. When our Lord was here on earth in a human body, He fought sin.

Where there was hatred, He came with love. Where there were lies, He came with truth. Where there was darkness, He came with light.

And where there was death, He came with life. And it cost Him His life. Now, says Peter, as you face these last days, you better have that same attitude.

You are not a child in a playground. You are a soldier on a battleground. And so when you step out of your apartment or your house or you get out of your car or you walk out of the elevator, arm yourself with this attitude, I am going to fight sin.

Because Jesus did. And sin is the thing that crucified Christ. It amazes me that you and I can condone sin in our lives, even cultivate sin in our lives, when sin is what killed Jesus.

As I turned the news on this afternoon and got this terrible report that another one of our CTA drivers had been shot and killed, you know, I just stood there and thought to myself, dear Lord, that's an awful way to solve a problem, to kill somebody. And yet when Jesus came to solve the greatest problem in the world, the sin problem, He had to die. Now, technically, He was not killed.

He laid down His life, but He died. Peter is saying to you and to me, are we willing to die to self and have a militant attitude towards sin? Now, He'd been talking about their baptism in that previous chapter. He said, do you remember when you were baptized? And every scholar of any repute admits that in the New Testament, baptism was by immersion.

He said, do you remember when you were placed under the water and brought up from the water? It's a picture of death, burial and resurrection. Yes, we remember that, Peter. That means you died to sin.

Have a militant attitude towards sin. Now, let's suppose that they do find who killed this CTA driver. Let's suppose they find the gun that did it.

Do you think that the loved ones of that driver are going to want that gun to put it on the mantelpiece? They're going to say, oh, we want that gun. We want to put it on the mantelpiece, show all of our friends and relatives. Here's the gun that killed our loved one.

They don't even want to see it. We do this with sin. Sin nailed Jesus to the cross, and yet we Christians will take sin and we'll have it in our lives and we'll cultivate it and we'll encourage it.

And it killed Jesus. That shows we don't have the same attitude towards sin that Jesus had. He came with a militant attitude towards sin.

He loved sinners, but he hated sin. So much so that he died. A militant attitude towards sin.

Now, how can we tell when we have the right attitude? Well, he says at the end of verse 1, He that has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. What does that mean? Does it mean that if you suffer, you quit sinning? There are churches that teach that suffering helps to do away with sin. No.

In fact, many people, suffering makes them sin worse. What he's saying is this. If you have the same mind that Jesus had, and you live a holy, dedicated life, they'll treat you the way they treated him.

You'll suffer. That's why he goes on to say that people think it's strange that we don't run with them and they speak evil of us. I tell you, friends, one of the tests of a holy life is are there those who lie about us? Are there those who oppose us? Are there those who speak evil against us? Because Peter says when you start suffering for sin, because you won't commit sin, it's a sign that you're getting victory.

A militant attitude towards sin. But don't stop there. That's negative.

Let's be positive. Verses 4, 5, and 6. A patient attitude toward the lost. Now, unsafe people think we're crazy.

I've seen it happen over and over again in nearly 30 years of ministry. Somebody gets saved. First one in the family to get saved.

He goes back home and they think he's nuts. He's lost two-thirds of his vocabulary. He doesn't curse and swear anymore.

He's not interested in the things that he used to be interested in. And they take him to a psychiatrist. We've had cases here at Moody Church of young people who have gotten saved and the parents took them to a psychiatrist without realizing that there are more psychiatrists who commit suicide than any other profession.

And the psychiatrist says, Well, she's got religion. She'll get over it. But she doesn't get over it.

And she prays and she loves the Lord and she lives a good, clean life. And her light shows up all the darkness at home. And then the persecution starts.

I've seen this happen over and over again. Now, what should our attitude be toward the lost? A patient attitude. They think it's strange.

Verse 4. Now, we are strange. Not odd. Not peculiar.

Well, some of the saints are peculiar. But strange. That means we're strangers.

He tells us that in chapter 1, verse 1. To the strangers who are scattered abroad. He says there's strangers and pilgrims in this world. We are strange as far as the world is concerned.

Why? Well, we have a new nature. And that new nature has new appetites. And verse 3 says that we don't do the will of the sinners anymore.

We're not concerned and interested in lasciviousness and lusts and excesses of wine and reveling and carousing and idolatry. And they think you're crazy because you don't run with them anymore. Now, our attitude toward the unsaved must be very patient because, you see, they're blind.

You'd be very patient with a blind person. I know you would. I spoke at a seminary commencement last Tuesday evening.

And I was happy to be there, not to hear myself speak, but to see something I had never seen at a seminary commencement. A blind boy graduated, got his Master of Divinity degree with a 4.0 average. Now, those of us with eyes that can see had a difficult time even approaching that.

As he came across the platform with his dog leading him, and the dog was wearing a little mortarboard, too, the entire group of people just broke into applause and cheering. Now, if I had met that blind boy out on the street and discovered he didn't know where he was, I'd be very patient with him. Unsafe people are blind.

Your relatives and loved ones and neighbors and friends, the people you work with, they don't understand you because they're blind. And explaining salvation and the Bible to a blind person, well, it's like trying to explain a flower show to a blind person over the telephone. How do you do it? You just tell them they need to be safe.

They are dead. And because they are dead, their old nature is rotting away, and that old nature craves all the garbage of the world. We are sheep.

In his next letter, Peter compares unsafe people to, please, I didn't do it, he did it, to pigs and to dogs. Now, why? Because a pig goes after the garbage and a dog goes after the garbage, but a sheep is a clean animal that doesn't want the garbage. And so they think we're strange because we live a different life from them.

Everything's changed. Our outlook is different. Everything about us is different.

So he says, you be patient with them. And I say, how can I do that? Well, verses 5 and 6 give you the answer. In verse 5, Peter says, they have to give their account to God.

God is the judge. Leave them with the Lord. If they speak against you, don't you speak back.

If they argue with you, don't you argue back. Leave them with the Lord. Your job is to be the witness.

God's job is to be the judge. Now, don't switch that. Sometimes you and I get the idea, we have to be the judge and we condemn people.

No. He said, you just be the witness. Don't worry about what they say.

God will judge them. And in verse 6, he says, God will judge you. Now, verse 6 is not talking about going preaching to people who are dead.

I was reading a commentator the other day who was rejoicing over verse 6. He said, what a wonderful hope verse 6 is. There's hope for the dead people who have never trusted Christ. Verse 6 doesn't say there's any hope for dead people who have never trusted Christ.

If Peter wrote that, then he's contradicting the book of Hebrews. It says it's appointed unto men once to die and after that, a second chance? No. After that, what? The judgment.

Verse 6 is saying there are people who, when they were alive, trusted Christ and were judged by men. They died and now they're being judged by God. And God's judgment of them is different from the judgment of men.

So what he's saying in verses 5 and 6 is don't be a judge, be a witness. And don't worry about what they think of you. The important thing is what does God think of you? Be patient toward the lost.

Now, our Lord Jesus is always the example of this. When I read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, I feel like crawling under the tile. When I see how patient Jesus is with the ignorant and the lost and even the rebellious, those who opposed him.

Peter brings this up over in chapter 2. Verse 21, For even here unto were you called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps, who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. He repeats it over here in verse, well, verses 16 and 17 of chapter 3. Having a good conscience, that whereas they speak evil of you as evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good manner of life in Christ.

For it is better, if the will of God be so, that you suffer for well-doing than for evildoing. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins. A patient attitude toward the lost.

Now he moves in verse 7 to a third attitude, and that is an expectant attitude toward the Lord. But the end of all things is at hand. Be ye therefore sober-minded and watch unto prayer.

The end of all things is at hand. Peter wrote this centuries ago. Centuries ago, he said, the end of all things is at hand.

Hasn't ended yet. Of course, Peter knew that people would raise that question. That's why he wrote his second letter.

Second Peter chapter 3. This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior. He puts the apostles on the same level of authority as the prophets. Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

Verse 8. But beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. God is not punching a clock. God has his schedule and God says, I'm going to work out my schedule on time.

Then why is he waiting? Why is he delaying his coming? You unsaved people ought to be thankful that he has. Verse 9. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. The reason he is waiting is to give people an opportunity to trust Christ and be saved.

His delay is not because he can't keep his promises. His delay is because he wants you to trust his promises. Verse 10 says, But the day of the Lord will come.

And when it comes, the unsaved world is going to find out that God keeps his word. An expectant attitude toward Christ. Now, how can Peter say the end of all things is at hand and 2,000 years later we're still here? For this reason.

When Jesus died on the cross, he ended the old age and he introduced the new age. Once, at the end of the age, he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And so when Jesus died and rose again, he ended the old age, he ushered in the new age.

We are in the last times. The last times began with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. God does not have to do one more thing before he wraps everything up.

Nothing more has to be done before he wraps things up. Our Lord Jesus can return at any time and then all those prophetic events begin to take place. God wraps it up.

So you and I must live in the light of the coming of Christ. Most Christians don't. Most Christians, when they get up in the morning, turn the radio on, check their watch.

Well, I guess my watch is right. The clock is right. What's the weather going to be? What is the traffic on Dan Ryan? And we get all of our logistics straight before we walk out the house.

This is good. I wonder how many of us stop and say this may be the day when the Lord will come back. You say, what difference will it make? Oh, it will help you in your life.

For one thing he says here, the end of all things is at hand. Be sober minded. That means have a sane outlook on life.

You know why people are falling apart today? They're afraid of the future. We have people today who are just coming unglued. No hope, no future.

You saw in the Tribune this morning, the front page, the number three cause of death among teenagers is suicide. Young people today have more than any generation of young people have ever had, except for one thing, a future. And they're scared.

And they're lonely. And they're running afraid. Now, I'm not condoning what they do, but I'm understanding what they do.

You know what keeps you going? Jesus is coming back. Be sober minded. Keep a sane, level head.

Don't be a fanatic. Just be sane and sensible. Nothing to fall apart about.

Jesus is coming back. Watch unto prayer. That word watch means be calm.

Take time to be holy. Be calm in thy soul. Oh, how many saints are all churned up down inside.

They've got a blender down there. It's always running. It's blending all the problems down inside.

And they're sick. Now, dear friend, God's word says Jesus is coming back. You can be sane and you can be calm.

And the best way to do this is to pray. Isn't it beautiful how he says, you don't know when the Lord is coming back, but you better be praying. Watch and pray.

Prayer is a beautiful way to keep your head sane, your heart calm. In fact, he's suggesting here that if I'm not praying as I should pray, I won't be ready for Jesus to come back. Oh, I'll be ready to go to heaven.

That's the blood. The blood takes care of that. But to meet him, that's another story.

An expectant attitude toward Christ. Now, the final attitude in verses 8 through 11, a fervent attitude toward the saints. And above all things, here's the most important.

It's important to have a militant attitude toward sin. And it's important to have a patient attitude toward unsaved people. And it's important to have an expectant attitude toward the Lord.

But, oh, more than any of these things, here's number one priority, a fervent attitude toward God's people. It's too bad we've mixed all these up. We have a militant attitude toward God's people.

Oh, when you read some of the things that are being printed in so-called Christian publications, one saint fighting another saint, one school fighting another school, one radio preacher fighting another radio preacher, and the devil loves all that. And there are people who think they're being very spiritual by militantly fighting the saints. Peter says, you know, if you want to be militant, be militant toward sin in your life.

If you want to be fervent, be fervent toward God's people. This word fervent is a beautiful word. Above all things, have fervent love.

Not just love, fervent love. I used to think that word fervent meant hot, boiling, but that's not what it means. This word fervent was used by the Greek people to describe an athlete who was straining to do his best.

Now, you folks know I'm not athletically minded or athletically inclined, but I can tell when an athlete's not doing his best. You go to a baseball game and the fella's just giving up, you know, and he just goes saundering up to the plate and picks up the bat, you know, one, two, three. You sort of wish they'd hit him with the ball, you know, wake him up a little bit.

You want him to do his best. Fella catches the pass, and boy, he starts to run. That's the word.

It's a picture of an athlete straining and pushing to do his very best. Do we ever strain to love people? We don't. We say, I like him, I don't like him, I like her, don't like him, don't like her.

Loving is not liking. Christian love means you treat other people the way God treats you. I'll confess to you there are people I love that I don't like.

I wouldn't want to take a vacation with them. Christian love doesn't mean that you have great feelings down inside that overwhelm you. Christian love means that we treat other people the way God treats us.

And sometimes you have to strain like an athlete to do that. Peter says do it. Have a fervent attitude.

The Greeks use that word fervent for a second picture. It's a picture of a horse running at full gallop, just chasing the enemy, you know, really running, straining. To put it in everyday language, Peter is simply saying, work hard.

Use every effort you've got to love God's people. Now how can we tell if we really love God's people? Well, verse 8 says, we'll have an open heart, and above all these things have fervent love among yourselves, for love shall cover the multitude of sins. How do I treat sin in the life of a Christian? That shows whether or not I've got fervent love.

Now there are some saints, if they hear about a sin in the life of some Christian, they're on the telephone immediately, they're writing letters immediately. There are other saints who when they hear about it, they just weep and say, oh, I'm so sorry, and they pray. That's what Peter's talking about.

It doesn't say that love condones sin. Even God in His love chastens when we sin. What he's saying is that love covers sin.

Why do we have to hang our dirty wash out in public? Why do we have to go out and tell the unsaved and tell other Christians what people have done that they shouldn't have done? A fervent attitude toward the saints means, I forgive sin. It doesn't mean I condone it. I want to help a person get right with God, but I can forgive, I can cover.

Only God can cleanse. Now, Peter knew all about that. Peter came to Jesus one day, and he said, Lord, how many times should I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Peter never thought that possibly he might sin against his brother.

You see, it's never we who sin against other people. They always sin against us. You ever notice that? Our Lord said, what do you think, Peter? He said, about seven times.

I can count that high. I'll forgive him seven times. Jesus said, how about 70 times seven? Love covers a multitude of sins.

Peter said, well, that's kind of extreme, isn't it? But Jesus had to forgive him. Peter sinned against the Lord, and Peter sat at breakfast that morning, and Jesus said, Peter, you boasted one night that you love me more than they love me. Do you love me more than they do? He said, Lord, you know.

And Jesus had to forgive Peter. Now, if my Lord not only covers my sin, but cleanses my sin, surely I can do the same for others. A fervent attitude toward the saints, forgiving sin.

Verse 9, a fervent attitude among the saints, sharing in needs. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. Back in those days, hospitality was a very important thing because they didn't have any Holiday Inn, Marriott, hotels, McDonald's.

They didn't have any of these things. And here were some Christians who were chased out of their homes. They lost their jobs.

They're fleeing for their lives. And they come to a city, knock on the door, and they say, we're believers. Can you take us in? Hospitality was very important back in those days.

Peter said, if you really love God's people, you'll have your home open to them. Now, some folks can't do this. They just don't even have room.

They would if they could. Then make it possible for somebody else to do it. He's not only talking about opening your heart in verse 8, but opening your home in verse 9. Use hospitality one to another, and don't complain about it.

Don't you hate to stay at somebody's house? It's all sunshine and roses. Then when you leave, oh, if you could only hear what they're saying, boy, am I glad she's gone. These are your relatives, you know.

A fervent attitude toward the saints. Forgiving sin, sharing in needs, verses 10 and 11, helping each other to grow. Here's the third way we show our love.

Helping each other to grow. You've got to gift minister it one to another. Notice three phrases here.

Verse 8, among yourselves. Verse 9, one to another. Verse 10, one to another.

He's talking about saint ministering to saint. Believer ministering to believer. Too many of us are spectators.

Have you ministered to somebody face-to-face, heart-to-heart this past week? Have you sat down with somebody and tried to minister and use your gift to help that person? He said some people have a gift of speaking, then speak. Some folks have a gift of serving, then serve. Over in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4, he lists all of these gifts.

He said, now find out what gifts you have and use it to build up other people. A fervent attitude toward one another. You say, oh, that's asking a whole lot.

That's why he says in verse 11, God will give you the ability, God will give you the strength that you need to serve. I tell you, friends, ministering to the saints is not an easy thing. Some of the saints can be more demanding than some of the sinners.

But he tells me in verse 11, glorify God. Don't ask for yourself. Don't say, what am I going to get out of it? Glorify God by using the gift God's given you and the strength God gives you to minister to the church.

One of our sad situations in our churches today is people say, well, we've got a pastoral staff. They'll solve all of our problems. Well, maybe we can solve some of them, but you're missing the blessing.

You're the ones who ought to be ministering to other people, drying the tears, carrying the burden, strengthening the weak to the glory of God. Well, how are you going to live the rest of your time? You say, well, if I knew I only had two years, I would do thus and so. No, you wouldn't.

I'm sorry, you wouldn't. If an angel from heaven came down and met you at the street corner tonight and said, hey, you've got six months to live, if it changes your life, there's something wrong with your life. Can I repeat that? It went over some of you.

If tonight you discover you only had six months to live and it radically changed your life, something's wrong with your life. Because we should be living every day realizing our time is short. We can't afford to waste time.

We can't afford to waste money. Let the Christians laugh at us. Let the unsaved laugh at us.

We don't care. I can't run to every meeting. I can't go to every dinner.

I can't attend every banquet. God's called me to do some things, and I have to do them. My time is short.

How do you know? Everybody's time is short. Everybody's time is short. God gives me 80 years.

It still isn't enough time to do all I want to do. And you feel the same way about your life. I say it again.

If you found out that the rest of your time was only six months and you had to shift gears radically, something wrong. Start living tonight, the rest of your time, as though Jesus could come back tonight. You've seen that poster.

I see it often over Ibernot Point, over here at Wells Street. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. It's a good thought.

Thomas Aquinas, no, I'm sorry, it wasn't Thomas Aquinas. It was another one of the great saints. He used to say, so live every day as though it were the first day of your conversion.

That's good. Live every day as though it were the first day of your conversion, excited, filled, rejoicing. But tomorrow morning, should we awaken, we say to ourselves, today is the first day of the rest of my life.

I'm going to live it as though it's the last day of the rest of my life. How am I going to do it? By having a militant attitude towards sin. I'm going to fight sin in my life.

I'm going to try to witness to the lost. I'm going to look for Jesus to come back. I'm going to love God's people.

Now, if we're doing that, he can come back anytime and we're ready. If we're doing that, we'll be using our gifts and using our time to serve him. And he won't look at us and say, why'd you waste your life? Why'd you waste your opportunities? Why'd you waste your money? Oh, I gave you all that.

You wasted it. Instead, he'll say, well done. Live the rest of your time, my friend, as though the time is short, because the time is short.

If you're not saved tonight, if you sat through this entire service and you've never trusted Christ, you better trust him. And then start living the rest of your time for the glory of God. Haven't you spent enough time living for sin? Haven't you spent enough time living for the world? Why not spend the rest of your time living for the Lord? Gracious Father, we want that tonight we shall adjust our priorities and fix our sights on things that really mean something in your will.

We don't want to drift. We don't want to go backward. We want to march forward to your glory and live the rest of our time, no matter what it may cost, accomplishing your will.

May that be done tonight in hearts. May there be decisions tonight that will change lives for Jesus' sake. Amen.