HOW TO BE ETERNITY-CONSCIOUS
TEXT: Matthew 25:1-13
AIM:
That Christians may learn to be daily ready and prepared for life after death.
INTRODUCTION:
Eternity is immeasurable time with an infinite duration. It is the state of our being after death. The physical life of very man will be terminated here on earth. The Bible is clear about where men will spend eternity. "It is appointed unto man to die once; after this, the judgement"(Hebrews 9:27). The judgement after death will land each man on one of the two sides of eternity: Christian believers in Paradise till the end of the age; unbelievers in hades - a place of torment till the final judgement.
WARNING SIGNS OF UNPREPAREDNESS FOR ETERNITY
Harboring sin in one's life (Proverbs 28:13). Spending eternity with God requires holy living and a life of integrity. Nothing unclean can stand in the presence of the most holy God. Harboring sin in one's life is too dangerous for anyone who wants to inherit the Kingdom of God.
Being religious without salvation (2 Timothy 3:2). Many worshippers wrongly assume that their names are already written in the book of life. They assume religious activities are means of salvation, whereas they do not have a personal encounter with the Saviour.
Spiritual lukewarmness and backsliding (Revelations 3:15, 16). The zeal and commitment of many Christians is waxing cold. Non challant attitude towards the things of God is becoming alarming among pastors and church members generally. This is a danger signal for anyone aspiring to be with God eternally.
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sourceNeglect of Evangelism (Acts 1:8). The zeal for evangelism in the Church is fast becoming a thing of the past. Gospel Teams in our churches are gradually going into extinction, due to misplaced priority. But the Great Commission is an imperative(Matthew 28:18-20). Neglect of evangelism is a sign of lack Of preparation for eternity.
Materialism (I John 2:15 — 17). Materialism is a cankerworm that has eaten deep into the lives of many Christians. It has become the yardstick for measuring spiritual success and breakthrough in ministry today. Prosperity messages are displacing messages on salvation, holiness, sanctification and deliverance from the power of sin. This is a sign of unpreparedness for eternity with God.
Compromise of God's standard (Revelation 2:18 — 39). God will never reduce or change His holy standards simply because men protest or rebel against them. Sin will always be sin in the sight of God. But men always want to lower the standard of God to suit their self-interest. "If we are faithless, He (God) remains faithful, for He cannot disown Himself" (2 Timothy 2: 11—13).
LIFESTYLES OF ETERNITY-CONSCIOUS BELIEVERS
They obey God's word (John 14: 23, 24). Disobedience is the bane of humanity right from the Garden of Eden. Jesus Christ came to bring all to repentance and obedience to God. There is no short cut to eternity than to obey God's word (John 8: 32, 36; 17:17).
They fix their heart on God (Psalms 57: 7). To be heavenly conscious is to fix ones heart on God. "I will lift up my eyes to the hills — from whence come my helps"(Psalms 121:1). This is the yearning of the heart that is eternity-conscious.
They constantly fellowship with God and with other believers (Hebrews 10:25). Fellowship is the nature of our God right from the beginning (Genesis 3:8). He restored mankind into perfect fellowship with Himself through Christ.
They are committed to evangelism (John 9:4; Titus 2: 3 — 4). The Great Commission is an obligation of the Church, based on our LORD's command before He ascended to Heaven. Christ commissioned believers to populate God's kingdom. An eternity conscious believer will engage in effective evangelism, the only means by which to restore sinful man into fellowship with our holy God (Matthew 28: 18—20).
They practice daily self examination (2 Corinthians 13:5). As humans, we are often guilty of trespassing. We need to examine ourselves daily, so we can take heed, lest we fall (l Corinthians 10:12).
They seek to discretely restitute past wrong deeds (Acts 19:18, 19). Anyone who is heavenly conscious seeks to be a man of integrity. He rights every wrong with God and man as soon as he realizes it (l John 1:9). He removes impediments from his way to heaven. Restitution means to put right what we had done wrong; to pay back what we had acquired unlawfully, like Zaccheus did (Luke 19:1-10).
They allow the Holy Spirit to manage their lives, as they demonstrate absolute faith in Him (Galatians 5:16). God gave us the Holy Spirit to live in us Christians, to guide, guard, comfort admonish, restrain, rebuke and restore us. But the Holy Spirit does His work in us only to the extent that we willingly subject ourselves to His control. Eternity conscious believers daily yield themselves to the control of the Holy Spirit.
They watch and pray (Luke 22: 46). They watch their life and doctrines closely and pray without ceasing (l Timothy 4:16; I Thessalonians 5:17). Prayer keeps them in constant touch with God.
They are mindful that their end here may come at any time (Psalms 39:4-6; Colossians 3:2). It may be by the imminent return of Christ for the rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). And if He tarries, death will surely come (Hebrews 9:27).
They invest in eternal and Kingdom businesses. We are commanded to keep our treasures in heaven where moth and thieves have no access to destroy or steal them (Matthew 6: 1921). Eternity conscious people are investors in the Kingdom business (2 Corinthians 9: 7), so their minds are always where their investment is.
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t is our duty as his hand made to always do the work which we are made to do always.
He our leader and everything we need he has made everything according to his powers and his glory h has perfected our life with his perfect life as a leader.
You must he ready to loose some earthly things and be ready to carry the cross with him.
Those who have given their lives to him will always be there to stand for him always .
Many don't know what it means to be with Christ and stand in his ways and do his ways will , the love of God is only bound to those who put their whole heart in the lord and do what God expect them to do through him who made heaven and earth.
When we truelly love and trust God in our life our life and and our joy will be worth more than anything you may think of.
You don't have to think that as you call your self Christian then tour life walk have no definition .
Christ who is your saviour has always given your life meaning and definition
Working in the direction if God is the best thing we can do.
Like the book of Revelation do say "vanity upon vanity", we should always live our life to please God and not man. When the trumpet sounds, where would you and I be ? It is now we should be eternity conscious. It gives us this instinct about how we live our life and makes the conscience work in a good way.
When we make the right choice by choosing Jesus Christ as our Personal Lord and Saviour, then we become “eternity conscious.”
It is a conscious effort daily to remain obedient, in alignment with His will and so are your actions.
Like the book of Revelation do state "vanity upon vanity", we ought to constantly carry on with our life to please God and not man. At the point when the trumpet sounds, where might you and I be ? It is currently we ought to be eternity conscious. It gives us this impulse about how we carry on with our life and influences the still, small voice to work positively
whatever we do in this world we should recall forget the god.
As Christians,we need to be fully conscious of our eternal home outside this world. A preacher once said
Even in our daily pursuit as we make endeavours to provide our daily bread we also need to be conscious of the kingdom of God.
whatever we do and that we get in this world, such as wealth and power, it is not eternal for us, because it is God's entrust for us in this world, and God wants us to be able to keep it well. Because eternal life is when we die. Therefore, whatever we do in this world we must always remember the god.... :)
Been eternally concious will always make us wanna walk with God.
Thanks for this post. Eternity is immeasurable time with an infinite duration. It is the state of our being after death. The physical life of very man will be terminated here on earth. The Bible is clear about where men will spend eternity. "It is appointed unto man to die once; after this, the judgement"(Hebrews 9:27). The judgement after death will land each man on one of the two sides of eternity: Christian believers in Paradise till the end of the age; unbelievers in hades - a place of torment till the final judgement. Many worshippers wrongly assume that their names are already written in the book of life. They assume religious activities are means of salvation, whereas they do not have a personal encounter with the Saviour. As humans, we are often guilty of trespassing. We need to examine ourselves daily, so we can take heed, lest we fall As humans, we are often guilty of trespassing. We need to examine ourselves daily, so we can take heed, lest we fall. Anyone who is heavenly conscious seeks to be a man of integrity. He rights every wrong with God and man as soon as he realizes it (l John 1:9). He removes impediments from his way to heaven. Restitution means to put right what we had done wrong; to pay back what we had acquired unlawfully, like Zaccheus did. Lets us learn to pray always coz Prayer keeps us in constant touch with God.
When we settle on the correct decision by picking Jesus Christ as our Personal Lord and Savior, at that point we move toward becoming "endlessness cognizant."