Don't Waste Your Life (Part 4)

Watch the video of this sermon on YouTube: Don't Waste Your Life (Part 4) A copy of the outline can be downloaded at the bottom of this page. To listen to or watch the previous sermon in the series, click here: Part 3 3. Spend time studying God's word and learning the truth. A. All scripture is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, and instruction in righteousness (2Ti 3:16). i. Knowing the scriptures will throughly furnish the man of God unto all good works (2Ti 3:17). ii. If one reads, studies, knows, and lives the scriptures, he will not waste his life. B. Meditating on the word or God and doctrine is profiting to oneself and will be noticed by others (1Ti 4:15). C. Studying the word of God will make one approved unto God (2Ti 2:15). D. Studying God's word brings wisdom (Pro 2:6; Pro 4:5; Col 3:16), and wisdom is profitable (Ecc 10:10). E. Meditating in God's word will make you prosperous and give you good success (Jos 1:8). i. Prosperous - 1. Having continued success or good fortune; consistently successful; flourishing, thriving. ii. Success - 3. a. (= the older good success.) The prosperous achievement of something attempted; the attainment of an object according to one's desire: now often with particular reference to the attainment of wealth or position. F. Continuing in Jesus' word will cause you to know the truth which shall make you free (Joh 8:31-32). i. Believing lies is unprofitable (Jer 7:8; Jer 16:19). ii. Therefore, not seeking the truth is wasting of your life. G. Speaking doctrine will profit others and is not a waste of your life (1Co 14:6). H. If you spend time studying God's word and learning the truth, you will not waste your life. 4. Spend time in prayer. A. When we pray persistently to God, He will give us our request (Luk 18:1-8). B. When we pray for evangelistic opportunities, we are most definitely not wasting our lives, but are rather enriching someone else's (Col 4:2-4; 2Th 3:1-2). C. If you spend time in prayer, you will not waste your life. 5. Spend time in God's house worshiping Him in Spirit and in truth (Joh 4:24). A. Worshiping God in error is unprofitable and is therefore a waste of your life (Jer 2:8). B. Being in God's house worshipping Him is the best possible use of our time (Psa 27:4; Psa 84:4,10). C. Moving to be a resident member of a true church is making the most of your life here on earth (Psa 119:63). D. Companion n. - 1. a. One who associates with or accompanies another; a mate; a fellow. E. If you spend time in God's house worshiping Him in Spirit and in truth, you will not waste your life. 6. Spend quality time with your spouse. A. If you're married, outside of spending time with God in His word and in His church, the best use of your time is to spend it with your spouse. B. Spending time that you should be spending with your spouse on your hobbies, with your friends, or working is wasting your life. C. Husbands should dwell with their wives and know them and be heirs together with them of the grace of life (1Pe 3:7). D. Live joyfully with the wife of thy youth (Pro 5:18-19; Ecc 9:9). E. If you spend quality time with your spouse, you will not waste your life. 7. Spend quality time with your children. A. Fathers should bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Eph 6:4). B. If you train your children up in the way they should go, when they are old they will not depart from it (Pro 22:6). C. If you train your children to be wise and godly, they will be a blessing to you (Pro 15:20). D. Spending time with your children is never wasted time. E. Spending time that you should be spending with your children doing other things is wasting your life. F. If fail to train up your children in the way that they should go, you have wasted your life. G. If you spend quality time with your children, you will not waste your life. 8. Spend quality time with your church brethren. A. Brethren should spend time together (Mal 3:16). B. We should be companions of them that fear God (Psa 119:63). C. Companion n. - 1. a. One who associates with or accompanies another; a mate; a fellow. D. The early Christians spent lots of time together and so should we (Act 2:46). E. Spending time with your brethren is not wasted time. F. If you spend quality time with your church brethren, you will not waste your life. 9. Spend time working to make a living. A. In all labor their is profit (Pro 14:23). B. Merely talking about getting a good job leads to poverty, which is wasting your life and the abilities that God has given you. C. If you spend time working to make a living, you will not waste your life. 10. Be content with what you have. A. Godliness with contentment is great gain (1Ti 6:6-8). i. Gain is the opposite of waste. ii. Gain n1. - Advantage, use, avail, benefit; remedy, help. iii. Gain n2. - 1. Booty, prey, spoil. Obs. 2. a. Increase of possessions, resources or advantages of any kind, consequent on some action or change of conditions; an instance of this; profit, emolument; opposed to loss. B. We should be content with such things as we have (Heb 13:5). C. Covetousness is the opposite of contentment. i. Content adj. - I. 1. Having one's desires bounded by what one has (though that may be less than one could have wished); not disturbed by the desire of anything more, or of anything different; ‘satisfied so as not to repine; easy though not highly pleased’ ii. Covetous adj. - 1. Having an ardent or excessive desire of (or †for) anything; eagerly desirous to do, have, or be. 2. Culpably or inordinately desirous of gaining wealth or possessions; esp. of that which belongs to another or to which one has no right; greedy, grasping, avaricious. D. Covetousness is idolatry (Col 3:5). i. Idols are not profitable (Isa 44:10). ii. Idols that are in the heart are just as unprofitable as idols made of stone (Eze 14:4-8). E. If you are content with what you have, you will not waste your life. 11. Love others A. All of our knowledge and good deeds are unprofitable to us without charity (1Co 13:2-3). B. If we are to be profitable and not waste our lives, it is by showing charity (true Christian love) to others (1Co 13:4-7). C. If you love others, you will not waste your life. 12. Help out those in need A. When we give to those in need, we profit them and therefore make ourselves profitable (Jam 2:16). B. Living a life where we only look out for ourselves and don't help others is a wasted life. C. If you help out those in need, you will not waste your life. 13. Lose your life for Christ A. Count all things loss for the knowledge of Christ (Php 3:7-10). B. For a Christian to die is gain (Php 1:21). C. "The essence of praising Christ is prizing Christ. Christ will be praised in my death, if in my death he is prized above life." (John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life, p. 68) D. "In other words, the way we honor Christ in death is to treasure Jesus above the gift of life, and the way we honor Christ in life is to treasure Jesus above life's gifts." (John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life, p. 71) E. "Love is not Christ's making much of us or making life easy. Love is doing what he must do, at great cost to himself (and often to us), to enable us to enjoy making much of him forever." (John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life, p. 76) F. If you lose your life for Christ, you will not waste your life.