THE WORK AND WAY OF A MEANINGFUL LIFE

THE MAKING OF A MEANINGFUL LIFE

What will be your record. Guinnes records

Acts 20:19–32 NASB95

19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; 20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, 21 solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 22 “And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. 24 “But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. 25 “And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. 26 “Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. 28 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 “I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. 31 “Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. 32 “And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

The only time we have a recorded speech of Paul to Christian leaders.

PAUL OFFERED A PICTURE OF THE

1. MANNER OF A MEANINGFUL LIFE:

He maintained a humble attitude. (19, 24)

He served. (19, 31)

2. HE PROCLAIMED THE MESSAGE OF LIFE.

Boldly. (20)

Publicly.

Fully. (v. 21)

He held nothing back and refused to worry about plots or persecution. No one would ever be able to accuse him of watering down the reality of sin and salvation in order to curry favor from the listeners (unlike all too many today!). There is no “I’m okay, you’re okay” theology from Paul. The declaration is very clear: “They must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.” In other words, warnings of death and eternal damnation as well as the realization that there is no salvation by good works but only via repentance from sin and faith in Jesus’ atoning death are all present.

Practically. (v. 22)

Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive Conclusion

There’s a story that haunts me. It comes out of World War II. The Nazis had gone into a little Polish village. They’d rounded up the Jews, and they put them up against the wall to machine-gun them. But, first of all, they made them dig their own grave. Now, these Jews, with their own hands, had dug a shallow grave. And then, that Nazi soldier took that machine gun and began to cut them down, and they fell like cordwood into that grave. A little ten-year-old Jewish boy was there with his parents. And, when the people began to fall, he fell also, but not a bullet touched him. He fell in the grave, and the blood of his parents drenched this little boy. He lay there like he was dead. They began to shovel the dirt over this mass of fallen humanity. The grave was so shallow. There were pockets of air. He could breathe.

He stayed there for a while, caked with mud and blood, then, after several hours, clawed his way out of that grave. This ten-year-old Jewish boy went to the home of one of those who was not a Jew in that community, knocked on the door. When the lady opened the door and saw him standing there naked, caked with blood, she knew that he was one of the little Jewish boys that had been marked for death. She screamed and said, “Go away!” She knew that it would be dangerous for her to harbor that little boy. The little fellow went from another house to another house to another house—the same story: when they saw him, they shut the door on him. Their hearts were moved with compassion to a degree, but they said, “No, you can’t come in here. It’s dangerous. Go away!” Finally, this little guy—cold, naked, shivering, caked with blood and mud—knocked on the door of a house, and a lady saw him and started to shut the door. He said, “Wait a minute. Don’t you recognize me? Don’t you know who I am? I am the Jesus you say you love.” “Oh,” she said, “my child, come in—come in.” You see, Jesus said, “Inasmuch as [you’ve] done it unto … the least of [one of] these my brethren, [you’ve] done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:40)•

Do you love Jesus? If you love Jesus, you’re going to love what Jesus loves. Now folks, I’m telling you, it’s time we got serious about this thing called Christianity. It’s time we got the big rocks in the jar, amen?

Father, seal the message to our hearts, and Lord, speak to every heart. In the name of Jesus. Amen