What Will We Leave Behind?

INTRO: Have you ever wondered what you will leave behind in this live? Insurance policies that can be cashed? Jewelry that can be sold? Antiques that can be admired? Pictures that can be mulled over, laughed at, maybe even cried about? Just what are you going to leave behind? Yes we all have certain things we want our children to have. We need to however to leave them with much more than things. Things do not last. Things are only temporary. Possessions decay, are lost, broken, etc.

So what do we need to leave behind? We need to leave behind something lasting, something meaningful, and something pleasing to the Lord. As Christians, we need to leave behind the Lord. Now, I am not saying lay Him down and leave Him behind, but leave behind His and our witness.

Deuteronomy 6:1 - 25 1Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it:

2That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged.

3Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey.

4Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:

5And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

6And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart:

7And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

8And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.

9And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

10And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not,

11And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full;

12Then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

13Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.

14Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;

15(For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

16Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.

17Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.

18And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers,

19To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken.

20And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you?

21Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand:

22And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:

23And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.

24And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day.

25And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.

 

Will you leave behind…

Evidence of His great love? - vs. 22

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.

His love is…

Sacrificial (He gave)

Exponential or beyond measure (So loved)

Truly preferential (special treatment for us - Only begotten Son)

Unusual (in that we are unworthy of His Son - even to the point the world was against His Son, and slew His Son))

Open-handed (giving a great gift to us)

Rescuing (His had is outstretched)

Will you leave evidence behind for all that follow you that He is love?

Will you leave behind…

Evidence of your reciprocal love? - vs. 25

1 John 1:1 - 10 1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

2(For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

3That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

4And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

5This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

6If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Notice verse 6

Our love will help us to…

Walk in the light - vs. 5, 6, 7

Fellowship with Him - 3, 6

Fellowship with each other -7c

Sins will be forgiven - 7d

Show Christ as our helper and Savior- 9

And last let me ask you, will you leave behind

Evidence or your personal love for others? - vs. 20-21

1 John 1:3-5 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

4And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

5This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

[His light should fill us to the point we want to share it with others]

Romans 4:16 - 25 16Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,

17(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

18Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

19And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb:

20He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

21And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

22And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

23Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;

24But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;

25Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

His love within us should cause us to have…

An awareness of the lost's final destination - concerned?

A warning of their disaffection (alienation) from God - witness?

A sense of desperation - urgency?

A pleading for deliverance - hopeful prayer?

If we never see the lost…

If we never show the Christ…

If we never warn the afflicted…

If we never seek His Spirit (to move them)…

If we never plead their case…

Then we fail them most miserable.

Who will call upon the Lord for them?

Who will leave them evidence of His great love?

Who will let them see His life alive within you?

Who will leave them with a glimpse of love for their souls.

Gary Marcum - New Beginnings Church - 100806 am