What is your purpose?

That is the million dollar question posed by the title of this message. What is your purpose in this life? From the standpoint of a secular world, it may be riches, houses, cars, and the latest gadget that everyone wants. Everyone wants to “keep up with the Jones’”. They work hard and build up riches in this life, but somehow are never happy. Happiness is the only thing that their money cannot buy. So what is your purpose? Sadly, many in this life never find the true meaning of what is their purpose or why am I here. I’m going to look at this from a spiritual perspective, as it is the only one that matters for eternity. First, what is your purpose, as a believer in Jesus Christ? God has called each of us, who have accepted the free offer of His grace given by the sacrifice of His Son, our Lord and Savior, to a life of seeking His righteousness.

In that respect, we need to be looking at the life of our Lord and see what was important to Him and follow His example. What was His purpose? Luke 19:10, Jesus said, “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Throughout the gospels, we see that our Lord Jesus was found to be with the lowly, the poor, the downtrodden, the sick in mind and body. He did not come to save the righteous, (which there were none), but to save the lost, the outcast, the ones who needed a Savior, and recognized their terrible condition of sin in their life and not fooled by their own self-righteousness, as were the Pharisees.

When the Pharisees questioned why Jesus ate and associated with tax collectors and sinners, what was His reply? This exchange is found in the gospel accounts, but lets look at one in Matthew 9:12-13, “When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “those who are well have no need of a physicial, but those who are sick, v. 13, but go and learn what this means: ‘ I desire mercy and not sacrifice. ‘ For I did n ot come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” So if there be none righteous, as God views our righteousness “as filthy rags”, then He came to call the ones who recognize they are lacking of their own righteousness and require a Savior, a Physician to heal and save them from their sinful  condition.

Remember when you were first saved? It was a time of great joy and a burden lifted off of your shoulders and the promise of an eternity living with your Creator, your Kinsman Redeemer, and your Savior. Did you share that joy with others? Do you still share that joy as the years have passed by? Or do you take the Lord’s free gift of grace for granted?

I look to the teachings of Jesus, when He gave His disciples examples of  what the Kingdom of heaven would be like. In Matthew chapter 24 starting in verse 14, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. V. 15, And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability, and immediately he went on a journey.” Who is this man going off to a far country? Of course, it is our Lord and Savior returning to the right hand side of God the Father and waiting for the time of the end and His return to set up His kingdom here on earth. Now take a moment and read the parable from verse 16 down to verse 23/ Each servant but one, had produced a return on investment, or talent that the Lord had entrusted him with and received a reward. Let’s notice the unprofitable servant in verse 24, “Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered see.  ‘And I was afraid, and went and hid your telent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’

v. 26, “But the Lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered see.

v.27, So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.

v.28, ‘Therefore,take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. “for everyone who has more will be given, and he will have abundance, but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.”

Some erroneously, believe that Jesus is talking about your ability to play the piano, sing, or some personal gift that you use to glorify God in church services, and that is all well and good, and we should do those things, but what is the implication of what Jesus is saying to His disciples? Think for a moment and ponder what is the most important thing on this earth that has the most power and worth in God’s eyes? I tell you, it is “HIS WORD.”

That sacred book that you hold in your hands in church is your handbook of how to live your life. What are the talents that God has given each of us and holds us accountable for at His return? It is sharing His Word, His truth with your friend, your family, your co-workers, and everyone that you meet that God leads you to share His gift of grace by your words and your actions. Each of these profitable servants brought an increase by the talents they were given. It is His Word shared with others, the gospel message, the good news of the coming Kingdom of God, and the way of salvation through the shed blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ that produces the increase. What is the return on investment each servant gave back to the Lord? It is in souls added to His kingdom, by the testimony and power of the Holy Spirit working through them.

What of this unprofitable servant? Did he not believe His Lord? Was his faith absent? Was he afraid of what other people would say in a politically correct world? Was he afraid of being ridiculed, or persecuted by others who embrace a godless society? Was he really a believer?  Was he really saved? Did he internalize the message of Jesus dying on the cross for his sins, or was it just head  knowledge, not heart knowledge and was following along with the church leaders, the local priest, or the pastor of his local church? Notice that in verse 30, Jesus speaks of his fate, “And cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkeness. There will be weeping and gnashing of  teeth.” What a sad end for one who had heard the Good News of the coming Kingdom of God. One who had heard the message of the blood sacrifice for the world’s sins by our Lord Jesus on an old, rugged cross and had not taken it by faith and shared that faith with others.

I have seen others in our local denominations that feel that their witness to a lost and dying world is not important. They tell me that somehow, all will be given a chance at salvation, even if they say nothing. They express an erroneous conviction that the Holy Spirit  doesn’t need us and will draw all men to Jesus and they need only concern themselves with enduring to the end. Notice the word “themselves”? They are only concerned about the “self” of being saved and making heaven and being in God’s kingdom. Why I ask, did Jesus give us the great commission of going into the highway and the byways and compel them to come in?? They use the verse of John 6:44 to support this notion, “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.” That verse is correct in it is the Holy Spirit who convicts, and identifies within each of us of our lost condition and the need for a Savior. But who introduces them to that Savior? WE DO!!...It’s not only because of the miraculous work of the Holy Spirit that enters the heart and mind of the sinner and convinces them of their lost condition (and it is truly a miracle in each of our lives), but the Holy Spirit wishes to draw, though our testimony, …..our witness!

Paul wrote in Romans 10:13-17, “For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be save.

v.14, How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

v.15, And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”

v.16, But they have not obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says,  ‘Lord, who has believed our report?’

v. 17, So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.”

We cannot expect God to do the work, on earth without us, without His saints spreading the Good News of what Jesus did for each and everyone that truly believes and lives by faith. We, all of us, are His ministers, His chose ones, and His ambassadors in these the last days of the age of grace. If we neglect so great a commission that the Lord has given us, and hide those talents, those powerful Words written by the Holy Spirit in your bible with other people around us, then I believe God will hold us accountable for not doing the work He gave us to do! How will He hold us accountable? Lord forbid it being like the unprofitable servant, but it may be as it is written in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15,

“According to the grace of  God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he build on it.

v.11, For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

v.12, Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,

v.13, Each one’s work will become clear; For the Day (day of judgment) will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.

v. 14, If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward,

v.15, If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.”

Understand that our God is called a “consuming fire”. And He will judge what is laid upon the foundation which is Jesus Christ, and what we have done in the body that does not glorify Him or promote His kingdom to come. It will be the degree of blessings and rewards we will receive from our Master, our Savior. Again, what is your purpose in this life? Our purpose, I think you can plainly see, is to spread the gospel message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, to everyone around us and beyond. As Christians, that is our charge, our duty, our devotion and commitment to Him, in our love for Him who died for us. It’s not something we can hide in the ground and hope He will understand. He won’t, and His Holy Word bears testimony of this fact. I believe He will hold each of us accountable at the Bema judgment seat of Christ when He separates the sheep and the goats. So who have you reached recently? Who have you spoken to about the grace and mercy of our Lord’s supreme sacrifice?

If you have not heard the Good News, you may be reading this now and wonder, what is this Good News, he speaks of? My reader, the Good News is that Jesus is alive!! He came as you and I came, as a baby born of woman. He was raised to manhood in the land of Israel and preached the coming Kingdom of God, right here on earth. He was rejected by His brethren through their unbelief, and He was killed by crucifixion as was foretold in the Old Testament scriptures for the sins of the world.

John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.

v.17, God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him, might be saved.”

But the added miraculous work that was performed, that gives us the promise, the  hope of an eternal future with our Lord and made His sacrifice complete, is that He rose again on the third day. He then ascended to the Father, our God in Heaven to sit at His right hand on His throne. He now waits for the fullness of time, when He will return to claim what He has bought and paid for, His creation, including YOU, if you be found in Him!! It is not free, if you do not accept the gift. You must take Him at His word. You must believe in your heart that you are a sinner. Repent of those sins right now. Turn away from them and head toward Jesus. Understand that you are condemned without receiving this free gift of grace and mercy given by Jesus dying on the cross in your place, my place, instead of receiving what we all deserve for our sins, eternal death!! Believe in your heart, confess with your mouth the fact that this Jesus died for your sins. Ask Him into your life to change you into a new creature. Follow Him in obedience in water baptism by immersion, rising up out of the waters as one redeemed and to be given eternal life, immortality, as His coming.

What is your purpose in this life? If  a Christian, it is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone you can. For anyone who has not made that choice of accepting Jesus Christ as Savior, it’s making a decision to believe and accept by faith that Jesus Christ died for your sins. Then all of us that truly believes by faith in that unshakable fact, will spend eternity with our Lord and Savior for countless ages and share in the unimaginable blessings He has in store for all who are His children. “As it is written; “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” 1Corinthians 2:9.

That is our end purpose in this life, to get ready for the next…the eternal one. Do it today, while there is the time to do so. For the Lord is coming soon, as it is nearing midnight, and the END OF THE AGE OF GRACE. Tribulation is coming soon, just over the horizon. We see it coming, we see the signs, and we know the season is upon us. Don’t be left behind to share in the world that is facing God’s judgment. Accept His free offer of mercy and grace right now. Let us meet at Jesus feet.

GOD BLESS YOU EVERYONE,

For questions, comments, prayer request or biblical instructions, visit me at www.churchofgod-usa.org, or email me at realteam1999@sbcglobal.net... Till next time.

This is Mike Taylor praying you to be well.

“