The Eternal Mindset | Keith Collins

I've got such a short life. What am I going to do?

I never saw anybody that was buried or cremated take anything

with them. How is it that that that so many

people spend all? Their lives accumulating things

in this earth that they can't take with them.

I don't care how much money somebody has in the bank when

they died, it's not going with them.

All that matters is what we do for Jesus.

That's the only thing we take with us, our life.

It's here for a brief season, then it's just gone.

You're not going to be able to say hold on, God put me back

into the world and give me 5 more years.

You got one life to live. Before I read, let me ask you

this question. What owns your passions?

This way. Last night we were up at Jack's

Ridge with some of the team, kind of a final meal together

before many of us are going home today.

But it was at that dinner last night that we caught word that

that Bishop or Pastor Hurley Montez had went to be with the

Lord. And I kind of when I got back to

my room, I just kind of had that on my spirit.

And just just to be honest with you, you know, over the last

three months, I mean, I think some of you know that our

grandson, my oldest grandson, Jude, went to be with the Lord

on January the 13th of this year.

So I guess I delivered three months ago.

And you know, when something like that happens in your life,

it kind of brings in a different reality regarding why we're

called to do what God has called us to do and how important it

is. So last night, as, as we heard

that that Pastor Montez had went to be with the Lord Hurley

Montez, you know, hearing from Eric, just the impact that he

had had on this city, this region, as well as other

regions, I really felt like it was only appropriate that I, I

shift what I want, what I wanted to share this morning.

It felt like God gave me some clarity when I was supposed to

again close out my time with you this time on.

So I want to read from Acts the 20th chapter this morning, Acts

Acts 20 · chapter mention

chapter 20 and verse 17. And I want to talk to you about

what it means to to live with eternity in view, what it means

to to live, we could say living in the light of eternity.

What does it mean as the people of God to have an eternal

mindset? How should we live our lives?

How should we spend time with our families?

How should we spend time with our friends?

How should we spend time at school, at work?

And even though I know that it's very clear, the Bible says that

we are in this world, but it also says that we are not of

this world, right? So we, we live in a different

way. We, we have to think

differently. And let me just say before I

read, it's very easy to get sucked into the spirit of the

world that we live in. The reason that Christians fall

away, even leaders, even great leaders that are anointed of

God, the the reason that many of them fall away is simply because

they fall in love with this world.

Again, matter of fact, Paul had a man that was with him that,

you know, there's not a lot that said about him and there's not a

lot of recorded history. But there was a man by the name

of Dimas who was obviously laboring in the gospel with Paul

and Paul makes a statement about him.

He says, Dimas left me for what? For the love of this present

world, there are many people that are in church this morning

that they want to be there because they don't want to go to

hell, but they're in love with this present world and not

really in love with Jesus. And I want us just to hear some

scripture this morning and I want to do a little teaching as

well as maybe a little preaching, but really some some

teaching this morning about what it means to maintain a an

eternal mindset, an eternal paradigm, and how are we

supposed to live our lives. Amen.

And again, thank God, I love the fact that this dear brother that

went to be in the presence of the Lord yesterday, the Bible

says to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

And I don't have time to teach on all the what happens.

The Bible speaks of the bosom of Abraham, but he's in the

presence of the Lord. And those that die in sin, the

Bible says that they are in in Hades.

And one day death and Hades will be cast into the lake of fire.

And then of course, they'll be a new heaven and a new earth.

I'm sure you've been taught all these things, but the reality is

the amazing thing is the Bible says that to be absent from the

body is to be present with the Lord.

And the Bible says that it's precious in the eyes of the Lord

when a Saint of God, when a child of God leaves this body

and their spirit goes back to be with the Lord.

So so as we embrace the fact that this brother wrote a song

about the about hearing the Lord say, well done, my good and

faithful servant, and that's how we all should live and listen

it. It's not about legalism to where

OK, God gives us a list of things we're to do and things

we're not to do. That's true on a certain level,

but it's about being so in love with Jesus and seeing with an

eternal eye in such a way that the only thing that makes sense

to us is to live a life that honors the Lord, to live a life

that is given out to the Lord and given for others.

And at the end of our lives we're able to say, Lord, I was

faithful. Listen, I don't look for any

other thing in my life except at the end of my short, very short

time on earth that I can say Lord, I was faithful to the

Lord. You know, I was, I was blessed

to speak at or to, to officiate or to preach the home going or

Funeral services of my father-in-law and my

mother-in-law. It was such an honor because

their lives, if you heard me Thursday night, you'll

understand this. Their lives so impacted my life

and their lives continue to impact my life.

And what I preached on is that they left a living legacy.

They're not just a memory in my human mind, but their life still

prophecies into my life that Jesus is worthy of everything.

And at the end of our very short time on earth, and that might be

60 years, I'm almost 60. That might be 80 years.

There was a lady that is in my neighborhood in Charlotte, NC.

Her name was Miss Pearl. She went to be with the Lord

about two years ago. She was 106, still live by

herself. She was driving a car at 103,

but she lost a little her peripheral vision, her side

vision. So her kids who are in their 80s

took the driver's license away from their their mother.

But but even at her age, 106, that's nothing compared to

eternity. That is a long life on the

earth, but that is nothing. Compared to eternity.

So I want us again this morning and I'm going to get through as

much as this as I can and teach as much as I can.

But I want that to be at the forefront of our hearts today,

the forefront of our mind that Lord, I've got such a short

life. What am I going to do to glorify

Jesus? How am I going to love people?

How am I going to prefer others above myself?

How am I going to treat my wife and my my husband and my

children and the people I go to church?

With the people I go to school, with the people I see in the

malls, the people I see in the on the streets.

How am I going to live? And I believe if eternity

becomes the air that we breathe, if it becomes a reality to us,

then we live differently. We love deeply our prayer life

becomes charged by the breath of heaven and God can use our lives

in such a way that at the end of our lives we will hear the Lord

say well done, good and faithful servant enter into your reward

friend. That's that's the ultimate goal.

So look at Acts chapter 20 we'll start in verse 17 this morning.

Acts 20 · chapter mention

Let me kind of give the the the contact, the context of of this

part of Acts in the 20th chapter.

What Luke is referring to is he's writing, this is a time

when the Apostle Paul was an old man at this time and he has set

his face towards Jerusalem, knowing that it's the kind of

it's the end of his ministry on the earth.

Now, most historians believe that that Paul had his head cut

off by the order of the emperor of Rome, Nero, an evil man.

And he he gave his life for the gospel.

And but he left such an eternal deposit in the earth that we're

here today because a lot of us, because maybe somebody preached

the words of the Apostle Paul that he wrote down while he was

inspired by the Holy Spirit. But he lives.

He lived a life in such a way that that eternity was never out

of view. He never considered his earthly

comfort, his his fame or his prestige.

Matter of fact, he lived in such a way that his life in the earth

or on the earth was in constant danger.

It was not easy to be. A Christian in this 1st century

what what we call the Byzantine era I mean.

Paul was under severe, constant or incessant persecution by the

Roman Empire as well as by some of the the, the radical Jews

that were against this, this, this new message where Yeshua

Jesus Christ was now being preached as the Messiah by this

group of people. And it was a challenging time.

But Paul did not choose to look at the challenges.

He chose to look at the face of Jesus.

And it filled. Him with this eternal mindset to

where he would make statements like this.

My life is not my own. I've been bought with a prize.

What was the prize? The blood of Jesus.

And that blood pulled him into such a deep awareness of

eternity. That he did not live for himself

from this. This is a this is a message that

I'll be honest with you and my nation is is rare to hear

anymore some people, but a lot of what's preached in America is

how God wants to make you successful.

God wants to bless you. God even wants to make you maybe

famous how you can be a better you.

And listen, God does want to bless you.

But we live an abundant life. But can I tell you something

there? There is abundant life even in

the midst of persecution. Listen, many of our brothers and

sisters around the world do not have the freedom or the luxury

to sit in a setting like this this morning and to hear a

preacher and to worship. I mean it's it's against the law

to even own a Bible, but they are abundantly living for Jesus.

Why? Because eternity is more real to

them. The blood of Jesus has purchased

them and ransomed them, and they are owned by something much

greater than this present temporal.

World that we live in. So before I read, I am going to

read before Before I read, let me ask you this question.

What owns your passions this morning?

Are you more interested in that new job than you are a deeper

place with Jesus? Are you more interested in the

next thing you can buy with your pesos than you are about the

next level of intimacy that you can?

Experience with the Lord. Do you have a heart and a

listen? Do do you acknowledge that, that

that people all around us do not know Jesus and without Jesus

they will slip into eternity and be forever separated from the

Lord? Listen, the reason that

missionaries have been willing to go throughout the generations

is because they were consumed with God's.

Heart for dying people, people lost and separated from God, and

they were willing to live in such a way that might have been

dangerous, uncomfortable, challenging even taking their

families. There's all kind of histories of

even families that have been martyred for the faith

throughout. History and listen, it's not

just because these people were noble and disciplined and and

courageous means some of that comes into play.

No, there's a much higher dynamic in play here.

They were so in love with Jesus that eternity became more real

to them than death in the natural.

They were fueled by this call of God to make Jesus known.

Even as Paul said to the Church of Philippi, either by life or

by death, The gospel became their air that they breathed and

they had to make Jesus known. God fill our hearts with this

truth. This morning once again hear the

words of Luke as he writes of the apostle Paul.

Acts chapter 20 verse 17. Now from Maletus, he sent to

Acts 20:17

Ephesus Paul, this old man at this point and called the elders

of the church to come to him. And when they come to him, or

when they came to Him, he said to them, You yourselves know how

I lived among you the whole time, from the first day that I

set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with

tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots

of the Jews. How I did not shrink from

declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you

in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews

and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our

Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I am going to

Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what

happened what what happened to me there, except that the Holy

Spirit testifies to me in every city, in other words, every

place he'll land in or will arrive in before.

He gets to Jerusalem, The Holy Spirit tells him in every city,

imprisonment, imprisonment and afflictions.

One translation says tribulations.

Await me now if, if, if God said Keith, go to Davao and on your

way there when you get there. I want you to understand you're

going to be persecuted for the gospel.

You, you might even be put in prison having, you know, Paul

was oftentimes in prison, sometimes under house arrest,

sometimes even in dungeons. He even talked about being,

being cold and, and, and naked and a base.

I mean, he, he gives great description of the life that he

lived. And here now he's an old man.

He's not like some 35 year old, young man that's going out full

of faith to, to conquer the world for Jesus.

Now he's an old man, not sure exactly, some scholars, maybe in

his 80s or something like this. But in that world he was

considered an old man. And now the Holy Spirit tells

this old man. Every city you go to on your way

to Jerusalem, get ready for it. More affliction, more

persecution, more tribulation. So what did Paul say?

Paul did not say Jesus. I thought you.

Loved me. I mean, what did Paul listen?

Paul had already been beat five times by the Jews with 39

lashes. He'd been beat to death at one

point and left outside the city to die, and the Lord raised him

up to life again. He He knew what it was to be

shipwrecked and spend a day and a night in the ocean, maybe

hanging on a piece of wood. I don't know what he was hanging

on to, but he. Survived.

He he knew what it was like to say everyone in Asia has turned

their backs. I mean, what does that mean?

Everyone has turned their backs on the gospel for fear of this

present world and what this present world can do to you.

He knew what it was like to be hungry, to be naked, to be cold,

to be. Imprisoned to be under house

arrest, he knew what it was like, he said.

I'm like a woman in childbirth. For you as he described his his

affections and his burden for the church.

He knew what it was like to be able to say I'm burden for all

the churches. He's a man that that that

carried the deep heart of the Lord for the Kingdom of heaven

and for the purposes of God in the earth.

He was consumed by these things and now he comes to the end of

his life and instead of the Lord saying, listen, I'm going to put

you on. A beautiful beach like Paradise

Beach and you can just drink cold drinks and just chill until

you know the Lord said, listen, Paul, I'm going to warn you

again, persecution, tribulation, affliction awaits you.

So Paul didn't say, well, maybe I didn't hear from God.

Now Paul sets his face where he started from Jerusalem.

Now he's going back there. That's where he was launched

from. That's where he was sent from.

Now he's he's going back to the place where it started from him.

But here's hear what he said verse 24.

But I do not account my life of any value, nor is precious to

myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I

received from the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace

of God. 11 translation might be NASB.

He says these things do not move me, they don't bother me.

How? How can a man we're all humans,

right? We we all know what it what it

feels like to have pain, and we all know what it feels like some

of us do to be hungry or maybe thirsty.

If you've ever fasted, you know what it feels like to be hungry.

But Paul said, listen, I am aware even at my age that what

is happening, what has happened to me, there's even more of that

that's going to happen before I enter into the ultimate presence

of the Lord. But he says, you know what?

I don't count my what's he taught me his life.

He didn't mean his light. He meant his body, his, his

physical, his, his soul nature, his personality, the his

empirical senses, what he what he saw and heard and touched and

felt and snow. He said listen, those things

don't matter in comparison to fulfilling the call of God.

Upon my life, that's what matters.

Why? Not because he was Superman, Not

because he was a holy save form of spider man, for he was a man,

but he was owned by the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

And listen. The Spirit of Jesus empowered

him to fulfill the call of God upon his life.

He. Lived in the light of eternity.

He lived with eternity in view his his heart was consume.

Listen to more words of Paul Second Corinthians chapter 4

2 Corinthians 4:16–18

verse 16 through 18. So we do not lose heart though

our outer, outer self, our body is wasting away.

Our inner self is being renewed day by day.

Y For this light momentary affliction is doing what is

preparing for us, an eternal weight of glory beyond all

comparison, as we look not to things that are seen, but to the

things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are

transient or they're temporary, that they're moving, but the

things that are unseen are eternal light, momentary

afflictions compared to the eternal realm of glory that

we're called to walk in and live in.

You see, the the reason that historical revivals have

launched missionary movements is because eternity became.

Normal. The reason that often times

people just sit and do nothing is because they they lose sight

of eternity and they just assimilate or become one with

the spirit of a corrupt Antichrist culture and world

that that that tries to replace what it means to live for the

Lord and and people get get get sucked in to the spirit of the

age and they lose their. Passion.

They lose their prayer life. They they they lose the

willingness to to to lay. Their lives down for their

brothers and their sisters, they lose a desire to to take the

gospel to the hard places of the world.

And they, they, they, they learn to, to, to live for themselves.

Listen friend, when eternity becomes real, the only thing

that can happen is obedience to the Lord.

And I'm going to tell you something.

It's full of beauty, it's full of glory, it's full of battles.

Jesus didn't say if you serve me, it's just going to be easy.

But he said I'll never leave you.

I'll never forsake you. I'll go with you even to the end

of this world. He he said that he'd stick

closer than a mother, than a father.

He he'd be closer than that anyone on the earth.

He would never depart from those that he calls his.

Beloved. And through that truth, He gives

us the grace. Listen, I know that I cannot do

what God's called me to do through my intellect.

I'm not the smartest person there is.

Obviously. I know I'm not smart enough.

I know I don't have enough money.

I'm not pretty enough, even though Eric thinks I am, but I

don't have enough experience. So I've got all kind of.

But in other words, there's there's there's nothing that

qualifies me to fulfill the call of God except God himself.

And I've learned that that in my weakness, He really does become

my strength. But I've also learned that I've

got to give myself to Him, and eternity has to be real to me.

I can't just even fall in love with ministry because ministry

can become an idol that that that separates you from the true

call of God. What is the true call of God?

To give yourselves completely to the call of God and to the

purposes of Jesus, not. To your own ministry, matter of

fact, I'll be true. Ministry is raising up others,

not you being raised up. The only way you can do that,

friend, is when eternity becomes rough.

I love what Pastor Armand shared yesterday.

How that listen? Send out the best.

And of course in the natural, and I understand this, we, we

want to keep the best and we want to just build this gigantic

huge church. And that's American church

culture, big buildings, you know, big, big displays of, of,

of Christian music and preaching and all this kind of stuff.

And the bigger the better. I'm telling you friend, the more

we send out, the more Jesus is. Glorified.

The more we are willing, because eternity is real, to go even to

the hard places and take the gospel and and plant churches

and raise up leaders. When eternity becomes real in

that way, friend, nations will bow their knees to Jesus and say

that He is. Lord, our hearts have to be

tempered with this constant eternal view.

And I'm, you know, a lot of times in my prayer time, I have

a, I have a plaque that I had made.

It sits over my desk in my office back in Charlotte, NC.

And the reason I had this plaque made is because years ago I was

in Lindale, TX and my wife and I and our kids, we, we spent

Thanksgiving one year with David Ravenhill and a guy named Winky

Pratney and Sunny Jane's. And, and we, at the time, David

and his wife Nancy were living in the home of his father,

Leonard Ravenhill. And after we ate, we went over

to David Ravenhill's house, which was now the former House

of Leonard and Martha Ravenhill. And I went to Leonard

Ravenhill's little office who was this just this great

revivalist prayer warrior that God used.

And he had a, a little plaque that you could see from his

desk. And David told me something like

he, he would read that and kind of pray that everyday, but it

just said keep me eternity conscious.

And so I had a guy in, in West Virginia, he, he, he built or he

does woodworking and stuff. And I had him make me a plat and

it sits right over my desk. And every day when I'm in my

office, my prayer time, one of my prayers is God never let me

lose sight of eternity, never let me get to a place that I

that I am just so involved with this present world.

Even with the busyness of ministry that I lose the passion

and the heart for the reality that takes place when people

leave this world and go out into eternity.

May I always be gripped by the fact that that unless men and

women come to Jesus. And they are.

Lost and forever separated from the Lord.

That's what's fueled missions throughout the generations,

friend. That's why eternity has always

been so real in sending out missionaries around the world.

And even in our own communities, that must fuel us.

We don't live for this present world.

And if it, Paul said. To set your affection on things

above, not on the things of this earth, let me read one more

scripture to you. Colossians chapter 3 verses one

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

through 3. Again, the apostle Paul.

Paul has a lot to say about eternity.

He said if then you have been raised with Christ, here we go.

I just said seek those things that are above where Christ is

seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things that are

above, not on things that are on the earth, but you have died and

your life is hidden with Christ in God.

Jesus said, if you're going to be my disciple, you got to pick

up your cross and follow me. You.

We die to ourselves and we embrace his life.

We embrace his heart. You see, I believe a primary

distinctive quality of the early church is that they fully

apprehended things of eternal value.

I mean, again, you have to understand, when persecution

came very early to the 1st century church, there was a

decision that many of them had to make.

Matter of fact, every disciple of Jesus who became an apostle

except 1 was martyred for the faith.

I mean, Peter was hung, crucified upside down.

I mean, there's many of them. They died terrific, horrific

deaths, but they were willing to lay their lives down for Jesus.

Why? Eternity was more real to them

than the suffering that you might experience in your.

Body, the one that they didn't kill, they tried to.

And he was John, John the beloved.

And they boil him in oil, church history says.

And he lived and was exiled about 60 miles off the coast of

Ephesus on the Isle of Patmos, where he wrote the revelation of

Jesus Christ that we have in our Bibles now.

But in other words, what is it that would cause every one of

these men to be willing to lay their lives down for Jesus?

It what an exciting Sunday morning service.

It wasn't just going to a Bible college.

It wasn't just a noble, honourable thing.

No, they were so in love with Jesus and his love was so real

to them that it it brought them to a place of eternal vision and

they. Lived for a different world.

They were pilgrims, people passing through.

Matter of fact, James says in one place that our life is just

a mist. It's a vapour.

It's here for a brief season, then it's just gone.

We got one life. Listen, when I was a kid we used

to use, well we actually used 8 tracks when I was a little kid,

8 track cassettes, then cassettes.

Somebody mentioned this yesterday, but you could rewind

a cassette tape. Can I tell you something?

You can't rewind your life. That's right.

Now, now the Lord can restore the years that the enemy has

taken from you. Talks about how the Caterpillar

and the cankerworm, how that those those represent wasted

years. And God can definitely restore.

But listen, when you are in Christ, when you're born again

of the Spirit of God, as Leonard Ravenhill said, you're not going

to have time to make up your prayer life at the judgment seat

of Christ. You're not going to be able to

say hold on, God put me back into the world and give me 5

more years so that I'll love my family and love my spouse the

way that I was supposed. To you're not.

Going to be able to say, God just give me another 12.

No, Fred, you got one life to live.

We've got this one service today never to be in this setting

again. What will we allow the Spirit of

God to do in and through us this morning as as the Lord is is

launching things even through IGF Asia right now in the

Philippines and I believe into other nations soon.

I mean, what are we going to do with that?

In other words, we don't want to just have an exciting conference

and say God's going to no friend.

We've got to invest into God's heartbeat and eternity has to

always be in constant view. We don't just want a.

A system or a program that's no friend.

We want to make sure that we are seasoned that that that we are

in touch with the heart of God for everything that we're doing

and more than anything that he's doing it through us.

Our treasure has to be eternal or our passions have to be on

things that are not of this earth.

You see, I, I like to call us this and might sound strange.

I'll explain it. I believe on an estheticological

level, an end times level. I don't even know we're in the

last day. We've been in the last day since

Jesus ascended back to the Father, right?

I mean, theologically, matter of fact, if you read the words of

Paul, he thought Jesus would come back in his time possibly.

So we've been in the last, we were in the last days, but I

believe we're kind of like the the already but the not yet

people. What I mean by that?

Those of us on the earth, those that have went on to their

reward, again, we will be joined with them, right?

And will forever be with him in the presence of the Lord.

And that's a whole other teaching, not for this morning,

but but the reality of those of us that are on this side of

eternity. Those of us that Paul said in

Ephesians are seated with Christ in heavenly places.

We still have to deal with us. In other words, it's almost like

even though we are born again of the Spirit of God and we

experience the Lord and we worship him, and we can feel the

power of the gospel and we can see signs and wonders and

miracles at the same time, we are still in these mortal

bodies, right? We are still almost like

landlocked on a certain level in these bodies.

And one day, one day there'll be a a final end or a final

consummation where we put off this mortal body and we have

spiritual bodies Thessalonians talks about and we are forever

in the presence of the Lord. But listen, while we are here,

we must be faithful. Why?

Because we've been born again of the Spirit of God and other.

We are the already we've been shield, but the Holy Spirit even

the the day of Pentecost in the upper room in Jerusalem.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit was a seal put upon the church

and the church was birthed through the fire of God to

perform and do the works of Jesus in in the earth and listen

to me. We are born again of the Spirit

of God, but we are living for a greater experience of the glory

of God. That's what Paul said.

The present challenges the present.

Pain. The present battles, they're

nothing. Compared to the compared to the

glory that awaits me. So in other words, what when you

live like that, it, it, it really sets you free from

focusing on yourself. It sets you free from what we

call the the woe is me, woe is me, O God, no friend.

It it gives you the ability to live.

In the fullness of the love of God.

It gives you the the, the power to to to fulfill that call of

God upon your life. Even though in the natural it

might be impossible to feel it, it, it allows you to live.

In such a way that your heart is connected to the purposes of

Jesus. And even though we might not

always have words to explain it, we know that we're a part of

something much bigger than ourselves.

And this amazing plan of God is taking place in and through our

lives. I want to I want to share just

three closing points this morning.

You know, Lena Ravenhill once asked the question or the things

you're living for worth Christ dying for.

And I believe that's that's a good that's a valid question.

In other words, are the things that you are so committed to, so

worried about, are the things that capture your heart, your

passion and your desires, are they really worth Christ dying

for? Or is eternity the air that

you're breathing this morning? I've always loved that, that

statement. There's another statement or

quote that I want to read. There was a, a man by the name

of Nate St. And I'm sure Eric's talked about

him in the school, maybe even here.

He and Jim Elliott, I think a couple other guys were, they

were the ones that were martyred in Ecuador by the Alka Indians

in the 1950s. But I've always loved this, this

question or the statement that Nate St. made who was martyred,

he said. And the people who dot, who do

not know, the Lord asked why is it that we are willing to waste

our lives as missionaries? They forget that they too are

expending their lives and when the bubble burst, they will have

nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have

waste. And listen, I used to I used to

work at a Funeral Home for a few years and I would I would help

sometimes get get like if someone would die, I would go

pick up their bodies and bring them back to the Funeral Home.

I would help prepare the bodies for the service, the funeral.

I would even drive the, the car that you put the casket in.

I would drive that to the, the cemetery to bury the bodies.

I, I worked in that world for a little while.

I never saw anybody that was buried or cremated take anything

with them. You understand what I'm saying?

In other words, how is it that that that so many people spend

all their lives accumulating things in this earth that they

can't take with them Now listen, if God has blessed you, then

praise God, you be a blessing. Eric and I Jason, we have

friends that are blessed that that help support even come in

here. Listen, I don't I'm not

personally wealthy or anything. They're the reason that we're

able to even, you know, pay for IGF Asia company is not because

I have a bunch of money in the bank or anything because people

love the Lord and they want to give to the work of God.

So listen, if you're blessed and you're calling, maybe it's to be

in the business world or to have a successful job and God's

called you to support the mission of, of Maranatha Church,

their friend. You do that is unto the Lord,

you understand? But I'm going to tell you

something. I don't care how much money

somebody has in the bank when they died, it's not going with

them. That's right.

All their houses, all their cars, all their jewelry, all,

everything, there is nothing. Listen, all that matters is what

we do for Jesus. That's the only thing we take

with us. I remember hearing Steve Hill,

the evangelist at the Browns revival, talking about a bouquet

one time and he talked about like a bouquet of roses.

He talked about a bouquet of souls that he can lay at the

feet of Jesus and say Jesus, you're worthy for an all listen,

all that really matters in light of eternity.

How did you love Jesus? How did you love others and how

did you make disciples? How did you win people to Jesus

and make that is the only thing of eternal value, friend.

Is our dear brother enter into the glory of the Lord?

I don't know what time Yesterday all that mattered was not how

nice his car was or how big his church building was.

All that matters is the lives that he impacted.

As Jason always talks about, the one more soul that he won,

that's all that matters. You see, friend, when eternity

becomes real, the things that are valuable become the things

that burn in our hearts. What?

What are you living for this morning?

What? What has captured your heart and

your passions? Listen, I'm not a genius.

I actually know how to make money.

I don't do a lot of it anymore. I have a business degree.

I used to be in investments. I, you know, I sold stocks for a

while and mutual funds and all that kind of stuff.

I was raised my biological father, even though a drug

addict, was a bank president twice.

My stepfather owned three insurance companies in Florida.

I was raised around people that knew how to make money and in my

mind. I have a business degree in my

mind. Knows how to make money, but my

heart only cares about souls that are separated from Jesus.

So listen, I don't want to give some people again are called to

make money, I'm called to make disciples.

We're all called to do that ultimately, but.

Understand what I'm saying? What has captured our passions

in this generation? Are the eternal things of God,

the things that matter, or are we living for the love of this

present world? Let me give you 3 points #1 what

does it mean to have an eternal view or an eternal paradigm or

understanding? Number one, we must deliberately

live for eternity. And what do I mean by that?

First Timothy 612 Paul told Timothy, fight the good fight of

faith. And I love this.

Take. Hold of eternal life to what you

were called about with which you made the good confession in the

presence of many witnesses. The Listen, I I love that Paul

uses aggressive action description here, an aggressive

active description here when it comes, he said.

You got to grab onto it. What does he mean by that?

Of course it's by the grace of God and understand all that, but

at the same time you've got to live your life deliberately

running hard after Jesus. If not, I.

Promise you the lust of the flesh, the proud of life, all

the things of this world will seduce you and pull you away

from intimacy with Jesus. But listen, the the Bible is.

Full of clear instructions after we are born again.

It's not legalism, but he says to flee youthful lust.

Why? Because it kills an eternal

mindset in the people of God. We got to live in such a way

that we, as Paul told Timothy, grab a hold of eternal life.

Remind yourself in the presence of the Lord that in my life is

not my own. I've been bought with the blood

of Jesus. I'm, I'm going quickly #2 we

must walk and live in the Spirit so that we have proper vision.

2nd Corinthians chapter 5. We read a few verses here.

Picking up in verse one, Paul said, For we know that if the

tent which is he's talking about our body, an earthly tent, We

know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed,

we have a building from God, a house not made with hands

eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan in

this normal natural body that we're in.

We we groan. Why longing to put on our

heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be

found naked, but we are still in this tent.

We groan being burdened, not that we would not that we would

be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed.

In other words, remember I talked about the already but not

yet people further clothed so that what is.

Mortal may be swallowed up by life He has prepared us for this

very thing is God who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee or

as a seal. So we are always of good

courage. We know that while we are at

home in the we are at home in the body.

We are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight.

Yes, we are of good courage and we would rather be away from the

body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or

away, we make it what our aim to please Him for we must appear,

and this is challenging. We must all appear before the

judgement seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due

for what He has done in the body, whether good or evil.

I wish I had time to really exposite this, but we'd be here

a while. But let me just conclude this

point by saying this. We are not saved because of good

works. We know that Paul said it's not

of any work that any man should boast in Ephesians.

It's not by what we do. There's nothing we can do to

make ourselves saved. But it's very clear in Scripture

when we are born again, we are saved.

Unto good works, not to make us more saved, but because eternity

becomes. Real.

And we become. The children of God, servants to

the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and we.

Live for His honor. We live for His glory.

We live for His eternal purposes.

Therefore, one day. All of us, if you're born again,

how many followers of Jesus do we have in the room this

morning? Raise your hand.

If you're following Jesus, one day you will be at the judgment

seat of Christ. Now there's another judgment

seat again. This is long teachers.

I won't go into it there. There's a great White Throne

judgment that the sinners will come before God and there will

be a final judgment before they enter into the lake of fire

again. I told you that the death and

Hades or hell will be thrown into the lake of fire, right?

So there's that time at the great White throne, but the

judgment seat of Christ is for me, it's for you.

My heart is that this brings soberness or sobriety to our

spirits this morning. One day we stand before the Lord

and he will speak to us. I don't know exactly how that

looks. It's, it's too far from too far

beyond my comprehension. But by the Spirit I, I kind of

see it. But one day we will stand before

him. So that each one may receive

what is due for what we have done in the body on this side of

the final concept, on this side of glory, what we've done,

whether good or bad. Again, these are Christian, but

one day we'll be rewarded by the Lord at the judgment seat of

Christ. I believe primarily for how many

souls we've won to Jesus. And how many disciples we've

made for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

I don't know about you, friend, but I I don't want to enter into

the presence of the Lord by saying, are you?

You preached sometimes it was OK, you know, you.

And then you were in 40 nations. You, you and Darla planted a

church. And no, I want to hear.

Well done. You've won this many because of

your faithfulness. By the grace of God.

There are thousands, 10s of thousands maybe, huh?

Listen, in this room right now, if all of us embrace this

eternal mindset, I believe there's millions that could

come. I'm not saying you would purse,

but maybe those that God gives you to raise up as disciples

that you pour your walk with Jesus into them.

And you help them see how much Jesus loves him and who they are

in the eyes of God. And through them understanding

that revelation, they are empowered with an eternal

mindset and they are willing to lay their lives down for Jesus.

And for others and who knows one day.

Listen, you know what I believe? I'm fully convinced of this.

Everybody knows the name of Billy Graham, right?

Anybody heard of Billy Graham? Everybody know.

Thank God for Billy Graham. He was faithful to preach to the

lost and God used him. I'm going to tell you something.

I believe the real heroes of the faith are the people that nobody

on earth even knew, but Jesus knew him.

Maybe they were in tribal regions of the mountains of the

Philippines. Maybe they were somewhere in the

Bush of Africa. Maybe they were somewhere in in

inland China, maybe back 200 years ago or 100 years ago.

Maybe like a David Livingstone or Hudson Taylor raised up a son

or a daughter in the. Kingdom and who knows the

millions of souls. Why?

Because they believe the gospel and they live the gospel and

eternity became the air that they breathe and they live their

lives. They gave their lives.

For the glory of Jesus, we need proper vision for Him.

Not just what I see this morning.

They say I don't just see you in the Spirit.

I see millions of souls coming to Jesus lives forever changed.

Stand with me. I got one more point and I'm

finishing this morning. This is the challenging 1, but

it's necessary in order to have an eternal paradigm.

We must become listen to me. Maybe this word makes sense.

Eric, help me misfits, in other words, people that don't fit in

in a world of misfortune, misery, sin, deception,

misunderstanding. Now Jesus made a Jesus made some

challenging statements. Listen to what he said in John

1518 and 19. If the world hates you, you know

that it hated me before it hated you.

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own.

But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of

the world, therefore the world hates you.

What does that mean? It doesn't just mean that people

hate you because it means that the truth of the gospel is so

absolute. You understand?

My father was what? My biological father was what we

call a universalist. I remember one time I was a

little kid and he told me something, you know, he was, he,

he was Catholic, but he was, you know, kind of embrace other

religions as well throughout his life.

And my stepmother was into a lot of new age spiritism and stuff

like that. I remember she would, she tried

to teach me what we call extrasensory perception and all

this stuff as a little boy. And so she had like a, a

witchcraft book of white magic. So, you know, I was kind of

raised when I was with him and some of that stuff.

My father was Roman Catholic. He told me one time, he said.

Son, I want you to hear this, he said.

He said going to be. Going into eternity is like a

train, he said. In a train, there's multiple

carts connected to the train or to the the locomote of the

engine, he said. There is a Catholic cart,

there's a Protestant car, there's a Hindu car, there's a

Buddhist cart. And you know, we could go, I

could go on there. There's a Muslim cart, there's a

Taoism cart, there's a Shintoism cart.

There's a new, I mean, we could go on and on and on.

There's a many, many demonic religions that people get sucked

into. But he said all of them are

going to the same place at the end of this world.

If I believe that, I would not be here today.

That's right, Acts 412 says neither is there salvation in

any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among

men whereby we must be saved. Jesus said I am the way, the

truth and the life and no man. Comes to the Father, except.

By me. You understand there's one

message for him. Jesus Christ, virgin born,

spotless, life without sin, laying his life.

Down. No man takes my life.

I lay it down, bursting out of the grave on the third day and

ascending back to the Father 40 days later.

The Gospel. We are owned by the only truth

in the world and. It makes us different.

Why? Because, friend, we bring a

message of truth. The reason Jesus said the world

will hate you, because the world wants you to accept them in

their sin and in their lost state and make them feel,

listen, we're supposed to be the most loving, compassionate,

welcoming people in the world. But, friend, we cannot

compromise the preaching of the gospel.

If we do, then we might as well all leave the church and just

living to ourselves for all the time that we have left on the

earth. We don't fit into this world.

Again, the Bible says we are in the world, but we are not of the

world. There's a man by the name of

Justin Martyr who lives in the early time of the church.

Justin Martyr said this. Now it is evident that no one

can terrify or subdue us who have believed in Jesus all over

the world. For though we are beheaded and

crucified and exposed to ravenous animals or beast, and

are in chains and fire and all the forms of torture, it is

plain that we don't, we do not forsake the confession of our

faith. But the more things of this kind

which happened to us, the more are there others who become

believers and truly committed through the name of Jesus

Christ. Jesus said, Behold, I come

quickly and my reward is with me to render to every man according

to what he has done. It's not about works, Keith, I

understand salvation is not about works.

But, friend, it is about faithfulness.

I dare you to prove me biblically.

It is about what are we doing for the Lord?

Listen, we've got this amazing portal called prayer, and when

we give ourselves to prayer, history can be changed.

It disrupts the, the, the demonic forces that that live in

the the Greek word is the cosmos.

It's it's like the atmosphere right above the earth.

It's like the the first level of the atmosphere of the heavens.

The, the, the, it it disturbs demonic stronghold, territorial,

hierarchical demonic entities that have been in nations for

generations and generations. What disrupts them?

Paul Unders Paul addressed this more than once.

He understood that there was a spiritual climate that had to be

disrupted through prayer. Then the gospel would go.

Forth. We don't do that by just some

hokey, flaky thing we call spiritual warfare.

No, friend, it's got to be real. We've got to know him.

And through knowing him, Hell knows that we're there.

Demons know that we're present. This is real.

I want to close with with a story, a real life story.

Not I think I shared this here a couple of years ago, but I know

there's new people here. Several years ago, probably

maybe eight or nine years ago now, I can look back in a

journal and find out. But I was with a brother named

Wayne Stotler from West Virginia, Pastor, that Eric and

Casey know him well. I've known him for over 30

years. But Wayne and I were in Bulgaria

on a missions trip and we've been ministering throughout the

week and doing like a pastors type gathering.

The the last night of of the ministry time.

We were to fly home back to America from Sofia, Bulgaria the

next morning. I had preached that night,

prayed for it. I'm like maybe more.

At least 200 pastors and leaders from villages from all around

the region. I was tired.

Probably 11:00 at night, a pastor comes up to me and he

says, brother, would you come preach in my church?

In my mind, I'm thinking, of course, sure.

I'm like maybe when I come back. So I told him that I'd be

honored to, I'd be honored to come and preach in your church

when we can. He said, no, would you come

preach in my church? Now I'm tired in the flesh.

I just want to go to bed and pack and get ready to fly out

the next morning, like 7:00 AM or something.

It was early. I remember that.

So I looked at Wayne. I said, what do you think?

He said, brother, if you're going, I'm going.

We got in his car, the three of us, and we begin to drive.

And after about 45 minutes, he said, we just entered into my

country of Turkey. This part of Bulgaria is where

it, it, it connects right with the nation of Turkey.

So we, we drove over into Turkey and then we drove maybe, I don't

know, 20-30 more minutes or so. And he, I mean, we're in like in

the middle of the woods. I remember it was so cold, very

cold. He, he stopped the car and he

said this is as far as we can drive.

He said we have to walk. We got out of the car, the three

of us, and we began to walk through the woods, literally

through the woods. And after maybe, I don't know,

10 minutes or so of walking, we came to kind of, it looks like,

it looked just like maybe like these cargoes they put on shut.

I think Marisk is the name of them these, these steel cargoes

they put on the back of ships and haul across the ocean.

It that, that that's what they're building look like.

And so we walked up into walked up to the building and they had

just had they had a hole that had been cut for the door and

two holes for Windows. And it was so cold.

I walked in. There was no electricity, no

heat, had three little like gas lanterns, like kerosene lanterns

that look like had like a sheet over the door.

And I remember I walked in there and I'm talking and I'm blowing

smoke. That's how cold it is.

I mean, you're my the warmth of my breath from my mouth was so

much warmer than the cold air. This happens when it gets that

cold that I was blowing smoke and the brother pulls me.

I'm it was so crowded in there that I had to kind of walk

sideways. Wayne and I did to get to the

middle and we got to the middle and the brother said, brother,

go ahead and preach. To be honest with you, I was

tired. I didn't feel anything, but I

just began to share. And after sharing from just a

few minutes, I begin to hear loud thuds against the side of

that metal. And you could hear it because it

was a steel or metal building. And and I looked at the past and

I said, what's going on? He said, brother, they know that

we're here, but just keep preaching.

I'm going to tell you something. I didn't know exactly what was

going on, but I knew it wasn't good.

I did find out later that a young group of Muslim

radicalized Muslim men had gathered and they were trying to

intimidate us and even found out beyond that that this man's,

this pastor's family had been persecuted on multiple

occasions. Matter of fact, there was twice

where a Muslim cleric had his two young boys, 1 was like 7/1

was 4. They took their shirts off and

came, their backs bloody in the middle of the village because

their dad preached the gospel. So these people were not just

coming to church like we're blessed to do that.

I mean, every day. What was dangerous because they

were living out their faith. In Turkey, they began to throw

these rocks. I looked at the brother.

I said, He said, he said, brother, just keep preaching.

I I just began to in my mind, my human mind, I began to think,

well, Lord, this, this could be it.

I mean, I've taught on martyrs and the persecuted church and

all this stuff for years and then I might not even make it

back to America against see my wife, my kids, you know, No, I

mean, this could be it. I could shed my.

Blood in this Muslim nation for the gospel in my humanity.

I'm not going to. Lie.

There was a little bit of fear. I wish I could tell you that I

was like Superman, but I did have some fear come over me.

But I want to tell you what happened.

As I looked at the people, something caught my attention.

They were not even moving at all.

They were so I mean I remember there, matter of fact, a lot of

the people in there for it look like middle-aged to older women.

They had little scars around their head.

All you could see was their faces.

And I remember as I looked into their face as that little

kerosene or gas Lantern was just kind of flickering.

It's almost as if I could see just the love of God and

eternity in their eyes and it pierced me.

What happened next has never happened before or never

happened. After I, I literally felt.

As I stood there as if someone took warm oil and poured it over

my head, if I could feel it going ugly, literally it was

like AI thought I was wet because I felt this warm oil

just go down my face and my body.

I could feel it. And all of a sudden I began to

share things I had never heard before from anybody.

And it was all very prophetically pointed at these.

People, I felt the Lord come upon me in such.

A way, it was almost like a fresh baptism of the Holy Spirit

came over me as I proclaimed what God gave me to proclaim to

these people I preached from. I don't know another 30 minutes

or so. We prayed for people when we

left the building that night. Here's what the pastor told us.

Said brother said brothers, me and Wayne Staller.

He said put your face in your hands like this.

He said it put your put your head down like that so that if

they do throw rocks at you is what he was telling us that it

would maybe not hit our eyes or her face.

We we followed the pastor. We walked out the building and

Wayne and I both had our hands over our faces like this.

I just followed his footsteps. I'll be honest with in my

humanity, I, I was ready and, and and knew that I would

probably be hit with rocks. I don't know if I'd be killed or

not, but for some reason, maybe it's because I'm supposed to be

here this morning to preach this message.

For some reason, the Bible says it's appointed a man wants to

die and then the judgment. It was not my time to die.

And by the grace of God, I didn't even suffer anything from

having rocks thrown at me. But my my point that I want you

to hear is this. It was the reality of eternity,

not that I experienced, but that these people lived.

In that brought me into this experience with the Lord, and

this fresh anointing came upon my life.

To minister to them. It wasn't me.

It's kind of like where where Paul talks about in Romans 826

and 27. There's some things, sometimes

we don't know what we're supposed to pray and the Holy

Spirit prays through us with groanings or with words or with

with utterings and groanings that don't even have words to

them because the Holy Spirit knows the heart of the Father.

It was like the heart of the Father just kind of prophesied

through me. I mean, through like word of

knowledge and just very directive type speaking into

individuals and into lies. And it was just this, this

eternal dynamic that just encapsulated that little.

Building in the woods of Turkey that night.

I want to tell you something, Fran.

Eternity is real this morning. God's called you to a higher

place. God's called you to a deeper

love. God's called you to a greater

calling. And if we're willing to say

Jesus my life for your glory, friend there.

Listen, there's nothing impossible for Davao, for

Mindanao through all these islands throughout the

Philippines, through the nations of Asia, the nations of Europe,

through the continent of that. Listen, friend, there's.

Nothing. Impossible when we live for

eternity.