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Well, we come close now to the end of a year.

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The end of one year and the beginning of another reminds us that time is passing.

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And as time passes, so does life, for time is life.

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Roy Lauren, who for a number of years pastored the church of the Open Door in Los Angeles,

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said, time is passing and you are passing out of time.

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I believe that each of us needs to get a hold of that truth.

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Time is precious because it is our lives we are dealing with.

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So valuable is time that God gives only a moment of it at once, and He gives that moment

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but once in all of eternity.

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Perhaps one of the best steps that we can take is to listen intently to the last words

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of others who have lived well and who, from their sunset perspective on life, can share

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their insights regarding how to make the best use of time.

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We need to learn how to manage this greatest and most precious of our resources.

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A man that I would like to hear from is the Apostle Paul.

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I invite you to turn with me to the book of 2 Timothy, the last of his inspired letters.

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2 Timothy 4, the aged apostle is giving us some insights regarding life as he writes

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to Timothy, his son in the faith.

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He says, beginning in verse 6 of the fourth chapter, For I am already being poured out

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as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

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I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.

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In the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the

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righteous judge will award to me on that day, and not to me only, but also to all who have

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loved his appearing.

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A believer's priority must be to live wisely and thus to redeem his time.

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It seems to me that the Apostle Paul's transparency as he approached the end of his own life instructs

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us in how to live wisely.

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He gives us at least four insights and lessons that follow from them.

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Insight number one, his evaluation of life.

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He says, I am already being poured out as a drink offering.

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The lesson that I see here is this, wise living means learning to sacrifice my life.

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Wise living means learning to sacrifice my life.

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There may be many different ways to evaluate success or accomplishment in this world.

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An artist has his portfolio, a business person his balance sheet, a soldier the brass that

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he wears, student their grades, athletes have their RBI's or their yards rushing, politicians

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the last election, educators tenure, a sales person his volume of sales, and all of those

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are legitimate.

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But apart from vocation, how does a Christian, whatever his vocation, measure success in

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life?

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How do we know when we have lived as best we could for the glory of God?

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How do we measure what it means to live wisely?

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Well, I believe the Apostle Paul would answer that this way.

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He would say that a Christian lives wisely when his life has been poured out as a sacrifice.

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Now the figure that the Apostle uses here is that of a libation or a drink offering.

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These were usually measures of wine which were poured out around a burnt offering before

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it's being consumed with fire.

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For an example, turn into the Old Testament to the book of Numbers and look in chapter

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15.

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We'll begin reading in verse 4 of Numbers 15.

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And the one who presents his offering shall present to the Lord a grain offering of one

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tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one fourth of a hen of oil.

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And you shall prepare wine for the libation, one fourth of a hen with the burnt offering

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or for the sacrifice for each lamb.

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So we see that in this offering, this burnt offering of a lamb, one fourth of a hen or

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about two pints of wine, was poured out around the sacrifice as a drink offering.

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Then down in verse 7, it mentions what should be done here.

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For the libation you shall offer one third of a hen of wine as a soothing aroma to the

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Lord.

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And again in verse 10 he says, and you shall offer as the libation one half a hen of wine

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as an offering by fire as a soothing aroma to the Lord.

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The idea seems to be that the larger the sacrifice that was to be burned, the more wine or drink

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offering that was to be used.

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These libations were always poured out entirely.

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There was nothing reserved either for the offerer or for the priest who offered the

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sacrifice for him.

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The libation was wholly the Lord's.

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I would suggest to you that that is what Paul has in mind when he says that he is being

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poured out as a drink offering.

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He is saying I am entirely and wholly being given to the Lord for His ministry.

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And that application is for you and myself.

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We are encouraged to present ourselves as a sacrifice, as a drink offering in this text,

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given entirely and wholly for the Lord, reserving nothing for ourselves.

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And it said there in Numbers that this sacrifice of the libation was a soothing aroma to the

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Lord.

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That is an Old Testament way of saying that it well pleased the Lord.

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As he looked upon that sacrifice, he found delight and joy in receiving it.

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And I would follow through by saying that as you and I give ourselves as a sacrifice,

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that is well pleasing to the Lord as well.

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Only one other time did Paul talk in these same terms, and that is back in Philippians

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chapter 2.

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This was written a few years before the passage in 2 Timothy.

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And he says in verse 17 of Philippians 2, but even if I am being poured out as a drink

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offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with

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you all.

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Now there is a condition here because Paul is not sure to the extent to which he is going

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to be poured out.

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At this point, when he writes 2 Timothy, he knows that death is close.

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But you see the figure is the same.

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He sees himself being poured out, his life being offered entirely and wholly to the Lord

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as a sacrifice.

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My point is this, wise living means learning to see life as a voluntary sacrifice, wholly

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giving oneself to the Lord as an act of worship.

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And why?

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For the sake of others.

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If you and I could get a hold of that, it would change some of the marriages in our

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church.

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For both a husband and wife would view their role as that of sacrificing for the other.

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There are some brothers and sisters who would get along a whole lot better in the home.

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If only they would understand that as far as their life is concerned, it should be counted

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as a sacrifice for the sake of others, giving on their account.

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The same would be true of friendships.

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It would be a whole lot happier if the two people involved in that relationship would

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see their role as giving for the advance of the other person.

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And likewise, whatever ministry God gives to us would be more fulfilling if instead

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of trying to get as much as we can from it, we rather look upon it wholly as a sacrifice

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to Him.

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It is impossible for you and myself to offer ourselves as a sacrifice without it costing

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us something, perhaps even something dearly.

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There is no such thing as a comfortable sacrifice.

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A sacrifice means that I give and it hurts or it costs.

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The Apostle Paul was in the midst of suffering.

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He was imprisoned in the Mamertine prison in Rome, a despicable, hideous place to keep

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someone.

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How long he was there we do not know.

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But he was not released from that suffering except through his own martyrdom, and that

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was the end of his drink offering sacrifice.

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Wise living means learning to see life as a sacrifice for the sake of others.

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It is faithful service for their advancement, the giving of myself that they may be forwarded

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in their walk with God in their understanding of Jesus Christ.

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This flies in the face of the world's idea of success.

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The world says, get and accumulate as much as possible in your life.

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But the Bible says that we are to give as much as possible in life and even give our

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very lives themselves, if necessary to the point of martyrdom, for the cause of Jesus

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Christ and the sake of others.

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Do you want to listen to that kind of advice?

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Well, that is what the aged Apostle has to say if we want to live wisely.

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Now, there is a second insight that he gives in his transparency.

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It is his anticipation.

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And from this, too, we derive a lesson.

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His anticipation is found in the last part of verse 6, where he says, the time of my

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departure has come.

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The lesson is this.

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Wise living means knowing its limitation, knowing that life is limited.

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We are not permanent fixtures on the scene of history.

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We are mortal and limited to one lifetime, and then we are gone.

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Life is limited in its duration.

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It does not go on and on and on.

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Paul recognized that soon he would depart from the world.

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The word that he uses there, departure, is used only here in the whole New Testament.

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There is a special kind of word that literally means to lift up or to loosen.

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It was used in that day in commerce, especially by ships, when they were loosed from their

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moorings, the ropes that held them, and allowed to go to sea.

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It was a word that was used in the military of that day by the soldiers, striking their

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tents and moving on to a new location.

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It was a common euphemism even then for death.

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Paul says, I am about to strike my earthly tent, my body, and to move on to my heavenly

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home.

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He says, I am about to be loosed from those ropes that tie me to the earth, and be allowed

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to depart and to be with Christ, which he says in the book of Philippians is far better.

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Now, what kind of an impact did this knowledge have in Paul's life?

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Well, notice it did not create fear.

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He did not suddenly panic because he knew his departure was near.

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Rather it served to motivate him to live wisely.

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He anticipated the inevitable, and he planned his life accordingly.

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You and I do not like to talk about death.

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In fact, in our society we do everything we can to not face the fact of death.

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The death is inevitable unless the Lord comes first.

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A hundred years from now all of us will be in a grave somewhere in the world if Christ

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does not return before then.

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As we said here a year ago before starting 1984, there were people who were sitting here

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who are now gone, who have gone to be with Christ.

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Death is inevitable.

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And so what you and I are going to do for Jesus Christ we had better do today because

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we are not guaranteed tomorrow.

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If there is some witness we intend to give, we had better plan to give it soon.

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If there is some sacrifice we intend to make for the Lord's sake, we had better do it

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now.

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If there is an apology another person needs to receive from us, we had better get on the

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phone and do it.

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If there is restitution that needs to be made with someone or an employer, now is the time

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to take care of that.

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Wise living means that I understand that life has its limits and that I am not around here

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forever.

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I think it is important that as early as possible each of us establish some life objectives

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to determine what we want to do in this world.

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It is not long as you grow up before you realize you are not going to be able to do everything.

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As a child you have the luxury of being able to say, when I grow up I am going to be a

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cowboy and then the next day say, when I grow up I am going to be a doctor because it does

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not make any difference as a child.

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But you cannot do that when you grow up.

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You cannot change your mind that often.

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I have a relative who tried to do it and he was in his mid-forties before he ever settled

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down to an occupation and stuck with it.

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It went from one thing to the next to another and then another and it took a toll on him

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and his family.

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You and I need to establish what we before God wish to accomplish in this world and do

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that as early as we can in our lives.

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Those may not be fixed in cement.

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Ten years from now we may feel differently about them and adjust those objectives.

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But somewhere we need to decide what we are going to do in the next 20 years or 40 years

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should the Lord tarry and our lives last that long.

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And once we have those objectives set then we can start making goals.

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Goals that will get us eventually to our objectives so we can achieve as many of them as possible

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and not waste time.

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Because when we waste time we are wasting our lives and we cannot reclaim that.

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Wise living means knowing its limitation.

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Knowing that it is brief at best.

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Whatever we are going to do in this world we had better get at it.

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Not in a panic.

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Not in fear.

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But simply facing the reality that we are only going to be here for a short period of

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time.

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Now if we are going to live wisely as we enter the new year we need to look at the third

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insight that Paul shares with us in his transparency.

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It's in verse 7, his reflection.

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The apostle reflects here upon his life and he says, I have fought the good fight.

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I have finished the course.

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I have kept the faith.

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Here's the lesson that I see from this insight.

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It is that wise living means discerning its nature.

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Understanding what life really is.

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From his aged perspective the apostle Paul sees life in three different roles in verse

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7.

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He sees it first in the role of a soldier.

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Then he sees it in the role of an athlete and finally as a steward.

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As a soldier he says, the good struggle I have struggled.

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That word for fight or struggle is the root of our word for agony.

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He's talking here about something that was painful.

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There was hardship involved or conflict.

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Some people have the idea that the Christian life is supposed to be a bed of ease.

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A garden of roses that we walk through.

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Hardly.

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The apostle Paul understands an important perspective on life that we need to get a

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hold of and that is the Christian life is a battle my friend and we are soldiers in

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it.

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The apostle does not limit this metaphor to his last few words.

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Go back again to Philippians chapter 1 and notice verses 29 and 30.

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He says to these Philippians, for to you it has been granted for Christ's sake not only

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to believe on Him but also to suffer for His sake.

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What does he mean by suffering?

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He goes on to explain in verse 30.

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Seeing the same conflict, there's the same word, the same struggle, the same agony which

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you saw in me and now hear to be in me.

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At this time Paul was imprisoned in Rome as well in an earlier imprisonment than when

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he wrote 2 Timothy.

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He says you are going to experience agony and struggle and conflict.

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We certainly err when we tell new converts that if they accept Christ their life is going

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to be alright from then on.

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Certainly in some respects that is true.

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But in another respect it is not true because when one accepts Jesus Christ he begins to

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walk then counter to the direction of the world and he places himself in the enemy's

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camp as far as Satan is then concerned and the battle is on.

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That is why the apostle says again to his beloved son in the faith Timothy in 1 Timothy

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chapter 1 and verse 18, this command I entrust to you Timothy my son in accordance with the

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prophecies previously made concerning you that by them you might fight the good fight.

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And then again in chapter 6 and verse 12 of the same book he says fight the good fight

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of faith.

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Oh my friend do not be naive about the Christian life.

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Do not expect that it's going to go well every day that you're out there in the work world.

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Do not expect that all people are going to stand up and applaud when you attempt to live

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for Jesus Christ.

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Indeed expect just the opposite.

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Do not expect them to understand, to appreciate or to love you.

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The Christian life is a battlefield.

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This last week I saw a shepherd boy on one of the news programs.

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This boy was shepherding some sheep in his homeland of Afghanistan when he picked up

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what looked like a stone but was actually a butterfly bomb which has been dropped by

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the Russians.

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These bombs have been strewn throughout the hills of Afghanistan.

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They look innocent enough but when one picks them up they explode in the hand.

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They're not intended to kill only to seriously maim and it worked well in the shepherd boy

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as his hand was swollen and gashed and he walked ten days to find a doctor to give him

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some treatment.

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It was an awful injury.

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Do not think that as you walk out there in the world that everything is wonderful and

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that there is no battle.

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Quite the opposite.

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There are hidden devices out there of the enemy to trip you up, to maim you, to injure

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you, to make you ineffective in your Christian walk.

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There are some Christians who are skipping through life naively not recognizing that

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the world is an enemy.

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We're not in a game.

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The world is an enemy and while we love the world for Christ's sake and even as God has

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loved the world and given His Son, at the same time He recognized that that world system

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which holds in His capture the world population, that world system is our enemy and we are

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at war.

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That is an important perspective to gain on life if you're going to live wisely.

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But then the apostle sees life also as an athlete.

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He says, the course I have finished or literally the foot race I've completed.

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He says, I've arrived at the goal.

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Earlier as the apostle spoke to the Ephesian elders in Acts chapter 20, he used a similar

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phrase, except there of course he put it differently because he was still quite involved in ministry.

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He says, I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself in order that I

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may finish my foot race, my course.

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But now as he writes this letter to Timothy, he's finished that course.

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His foot race is over.

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The apostle sees life here as a contest.

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You see competition invigorates and stimulates us.

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Only don't misunderstand him.

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He is not saying that you and I are in a contest against other people in our Christian walk.

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That is not the idea.

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Rather we are in a contest to accomplish the will of God for our own lives.

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You and I cannot know personal fulfillment unless we know the will of God in our lives.

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The apostle is saying here, I have fought, I rather I have run the foot race.

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I have arrived at the goal.

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I have experienced the course laid out for me by the will of God.

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The writer to Hebrews puts it just a little differently and yet certainly within the same

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metaphor when he says, therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding

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us, that is those in chapter 11 who live by faith, let us also lay aside every encumbrance

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and the sin which so easily entangles us.

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And let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

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Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

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What does he mean fixing our eyes on Jesus?

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Where is Jesus?

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Jesus is standing at the goal line.

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He is down there where we are to finish, where the foot race ends.

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And he says, I fix my eyes on him down there and I run with endurance and I lay aside the

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weights and the sins which encumber so that I can run successfully.

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Do you see life that way?

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Are you walking in the will of God for you?

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Are you on the course?

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Are your eyes fixed on Jesus at the end of your race?

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And finally, he sees life from the standpoint of a steward.

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He says, the faith I am keeping.

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He actually changes the tense here.

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He says, I am keeping it.

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I mean, even to this point, he is doing that.

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He is remaining faithful and true to the faith, that is the truth, about the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Paul says, I see life as a steward.

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I have been given a responsibility to fulfill.

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And he says, I am doing that.

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It's as though he sees life as a contract between himself and his Lord.

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And that contract calls for him, Paul, to do certain things, including preserving, keeping,

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guarding the faith, keeping it free from apostasy and from error.

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And he says, I have kept.

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I am keeping the faith.

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Do you see life as a stewardship?

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Do you see the responsibilities God has given to you, the spiritual gifts He has entrusted

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to you?

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And are you in light of that then, being a faithful steward?

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If you and I are going to live wisely, we have to discern life's true nature.

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It's not an opportunity to live as we please, to accumulate personal wealth or fame or power.

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It is a conflict in which we are assigned as soldiers in God's army.

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It is a contest in which we are the participants and can gain eternal awards to glorify Christ.

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It is a contract in which we are charged stewards with a definite responsibility to keep and

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spiritual abilities to develop and to invest.

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It is not a few meaningless years that are wrapped up between two dates on a gravestone.

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But life is a span of time during which we can live for the glory of God and make a difference

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in the lives of others.

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And in another sense, it is a period of preparation for our eternal destiny.

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So if you and I are going to live wisely, as I trust we want to do in coming into the

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New Year, let's learn this lesson from Paul and discern what life really is all about.

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And then finally we see this insight from Paul's transparency in verse 8.

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He says, in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord

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the righteous judge will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who

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have loved his appearing.

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There he gives us the insight of his expectation.

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And the lesson is this, that why is living means focusing on the future.

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Now there are several options that people can take at this point.

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We can focus, for example, on nothing and live life.

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And in doing that we waste it.

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We drift through it without purpose and consequently without fulfillment.

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We can focus on the past, but that too is a waste.

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It results in our living in a dream world wishing for the good old days, which were

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probably not so good anyway.

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We can focus on the present, but it seems to me that leads to short-sighted decisions.

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It makes us a part of the now generation looking for quick schemes to be happy, get rich, and

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have fun, living as though there's no tomorrow.

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Or we can focus on the future, as it seems to me the apostle is doing.

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Now that can be dangerous too if one doesn't adequately deal with the present.

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It seems to me that the best of the options is to live in the present with a focus on

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the future.

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Now, what did Paul see in his future?

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Well, he says in the future something's going to happen.

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He said there's a day.

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What day is it?

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A particular day, the day of the rapture, the day when he is to be rewarded at the judgment

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seat of Christ.

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He says in that day, the Lord will award me.

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In other words, the Lord would examine his life how wisely he had lived and would give

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him commensurate reward.

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Wise living, folks, involves the long-distance vision and perspective on life's opportunities,

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its problems, its disappointments, and its successes.

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If I focus on the disappointment of today without taking in mind the longer focus of

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things, then I'm going to be miserable.

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If I live only in the success of the moment and revel in it without taking the longer

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distant view, then I'm going to waste that opportunity of success.

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I'd like you again to turn to the book of Hebrews, this time to chapter 11.

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As we read through just some verses in the chapter, I want you to keep in mind what we're

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talking about.

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The wise living means focusing on the future.

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And notice how many of these people listed in Hebrews 11 did exactly that.

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We'll begin in verse 7 with Noah.

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By faith, Noah being warned by God about things not yet seen in reverence prepared an ark.

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What did he do?

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He looked into the future to see what was coming, and in light of that judgment, he

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did what God told him to do, prepared the ark.

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Verse 8, by faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was

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to receive for an inheritance, and he went out not knowing where he was going.

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By faith, he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land dwelling

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in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise, for he was looking for

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the city which has foundations whose architect and builder is God.

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Come to verse 13, all these died in faith without receiving the promises, but having

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seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were

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strangers and exiles on the earth.

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For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own,

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and indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would

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have had opportunity to return, but as it is, they desire a better country that is a

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heavenly one.

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Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for

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them.

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Now what about these patriarchs that are mentioned in the previous verses?

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They died without receiving, tangibly, what they had been promised.

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Abraham had been given that land, but he lived there like an exile, not the owner.

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He lived in tents, not a house.

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What about Abraham?

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He had the long-distance vision.

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He looked into the future.

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He saw the fulfillment of the promises, and therefore God was not ashamed to be called

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his God, because he had that vision.

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He was focused on the future.

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Going down to verse 20, by faith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau even regarding, what?

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Things to come.

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You see Isaac with that same focus?

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Verse 22, by faith, Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the Exodus of the sons of

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Israel.

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What Exodus?

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The one that happened hundreds of years later, and he gave orders concerning his bones.

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What about his bones?

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He said, don't you leave them in Egypt.

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He says, I want you to take me up there and bury me in Canaan.

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Why?

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Because he knew in the future that was going to be the place of blessing.

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You see he was focused on the future when he died.

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Going down to verse 24, by faith, Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the

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son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to endure ill treatment with the people of

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God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.

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He wasn't focused on what he could have just then, the now generation, considering the

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reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to

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the reward.

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And finally, down in verse 35, women received back their dead by resurrection, and others

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were tortured not accepting their release in order that they might obtain a better resurrection.

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So what about those who were tortured and died in that torture, when they could have

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been released, if only they would have recanted?

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Tomorrow night in the film of John Huss, you will see an example of a man who lived 600

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years ago and was faithful even at the stake where he was burned to death.

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And the same thing was in mind.

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He could have recanted, been released, but rather he looked to the future and had the

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same thought in mind as did these, he might obtain a better resurrection.

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Ladies and gentlemen, I think the point is clear, that if you and I are going to live

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wisely, it means that we live in the present for sure, but our focus is the future.

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The future, we can say it a different way.

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We live in the present and we live by faith.

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For living by faith means focusing on the promises of God and the future.

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The Apostle Paul says, I'm looking forward to that.

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That was his expectation.

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He expected a Stephanos of righteousness.

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That was a victor's crown, a garland of pine or wild olive which was placed upon the

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heads of those who won the Greek games.

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Paul uses that figure and he says, I'm going to receive a crown of righteousness because

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I have expected the coming of Christ and have lived focused on the future.

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Our suffering and sacrifice, our hard work, our faithfulness, the reproach that we may

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bear, all of that is worthwhile because we focus on the future by faith.

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That's wise living.

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Now if in fact you desire to live wisely and not as a fool, learn the lessons that the

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Apostle shares with us from his perspective on life.

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What changes do you need to affect in your life as you enter 1985?

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I care not how you may have lived the past.

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What's in the past?

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You can't be focused on that.

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If there have been accomplishments in the past, praise God.

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If there have been failures in the past, then thank God you're past those.

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But recognize that tomorrow is here.

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It is a new page for you.

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And now today is the opportunity for you to say, I am going to live wisely.

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I may have a day.

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I may have 20 years.

467
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I may have 50 years.

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But whatever I have in the will of God, I want to live it as best I can.

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I want to live wisely.

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Now what do you need to do to make that true?

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What changes do you need to affect in the decisions that you make, in the things that

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you do, the habits that you have, the way that you give, in the company you keep, in

473
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your commitments?

474
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What changes do you need to affect to live wisely in 1985?

475
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Let's bow together.

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Father, we today would learn from the Apostle Paul, and I trust that we will not be hearers

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of his counsel, but doers of it, that we might be those who would live wisely as we enter

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the new year.

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And whatever changes need to be made, whatever decisions need to be made, I pray that you

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will show those to us right now in the sanctuary of our own hearts.

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And may we have the humility and the faith and the obedience to follow through with what

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you say to us.

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In Jesus' name I pray, amen.