How Will You Be Remembered?

Transcription

1 5/30/10am (Bible Baptist Church, Port Orchard, WA) Dr. Al Hughes How Will You Be Remembered? Nehemiah 13:14: Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for the offices thereof. 13:22:...Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy. 13:31:...Remember me, O my God, for good. Memorial Day is a day to remember those who have made the ul4mate sac- rifice so we could enjoy the freedoms we have today. Usually these are peo- ple who have served in the military. However, there are others in our history that have never served in the U.S. military, but have also contributed to our freedom, both poli4cally, and spiritually. DANIEL NASH pastored a small church in the backwoods of upstate New York from The church no longer exists. He wrote no books. No pic- tures or diaries can be found. No one knows of any of his descendants. His sermons are long forgooen. His tombstone is in a neglected cemetery along a dirt road behind a livestock auc4on barn near where he pastored. All that is known of Nash is found in a few leoers he wrote and the memoirs of Evangelist Charles Finney. At the age of 48 Nash was struck with a serious case of inflamed eyes. For several weeks he had to be kept in a dark room where he could neither read nor write. During this 4me he gave himself up almost en4rely to prayer. He later became a close friend and partner in prayer with Charles Finney. Nash traveled into towns that Finney was going to preach in about 3-4 weeks prior to mee4ngs. He would gather a few likeminded Chris4ans and rent a room and pray daily for the services before Finney arrived. When the actual revival mee4ng would begin, Nash seldom aoended the services, but would stay in his prayer closet praying for Finney as he preached. On one occasion, a gang of young men threatened to disrupt Finney s mee4ngs. Nash confronted them, Now mark me young men! God will brake your ranks in less that one week, either by conver4ng some of you, or by sending you straight to hell! In a few days, the leader of that gang of men was saved at one of Finney s mee4ngs. A\er his conversion he went back

2 2 and told his buddies, and before the week was over, everyone in that gang was saved. Finney wrote of Daniel Nash, I have never known a person sweat blood; but I have known a person pray 4ll the blood started from his nose... I have known that man to go to bed absolutely sick for weakness and faintness un- der the pressure of prayer. I have known him to pray as he would do violence to heaven. I have seen the blessing come plainly as an answer to his prayer as if it were revealed that no person could doubt it anymore than if God had spoken from heaven Himself Shall I tell you how he died? He would pray more and more. He would take the map of the world before him and pray. He would look over the countries of this world and pray for them. One day while praying on his knees beside his bed he went home to be with the Lord. He entered glory on his knees on December the 20, 1831 at the age of 56. If you traveled to northern New York, near the Cana- dian border, to that lonely cemetery where Nash is bur- ied, you would find his worn tombstone that reads: Daniel Nash. Laborer with Finney. Mighty in prayer. Nash is remembered not for any great sermons not for building a huge church not for mul4tudes he lead to Christ. He is remembered as being mighty in prayer. I could call out a name, and you would remember something about that person: George Washington Abraham Lincoln Thomas Edison... Babe Ruth Adolph Hitler... Douglas MacArthur Ronald Reagan will be remembered for being a great president (not an actor) Chris4an biographies are a blessing. They tell you what people are remem- bered for: Spurgeon Remembered as the prince of preachers. Muellar Remembered for his faith. D.L Moody Remembered as a great evangelist. Fanny Crosby is remembered for the many hymns she has wrioen. So o\en, people are not remembered for the good in their lives, but for something bad they ve done

3 3 Jacob being the deceiver / not being the prince of God. Jephthah s awful vow / not his victory over the Ammonites. Samson s fling with Delilah / not his victories of the Philis4nes. David s adultery with Bathsheba / not his victory over Goliath. Jonah swallowed by the whale / not his preaching at Nineveh. Peter denying the Lord / not walking on the water or preaching at Pente- cost While the world o\en remembers the bad things we have done, God forgets our sins! Hebrews 8:12 Their sins and their iniqui/es will I remember no more. Praise God! READ: John 12:1-8; Mark 14:3-9 What will your memorial be? When your name is men4oned what do people remember about you? You probably won t be named in any history book. But you will be remembered by someone for something in one way or another. As we look at the woman in in our text (Mary), we see somethings that she is remembered for. I. For her APPRAISAL of the true value of things. What a contrast between the views of Judas to that of Christ. Judas saw no value (waste), Jesus saw great value. Judas condemned her Jesus commended her for recognizing what was most valuable in life. A. Anything done for Jesus or given to Jesus is NOT A WASTE. B. This world s value system is based on money and material gain. C. God s value system is based on spiritual things and the souls of people. Jesus said, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness For shat shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul. A man died and arrived at the pearly gates. Saint Peter greets him and says, You may bring one thing with you into heaven. The man considers, and goes to retrieve that one thing and returns to the heavenly gates carrying a brown sack. Peter looks in the bag to see

4 4 the thing the man brought with him. He finds a large bar of gold. Peter begins to laugh and calls James and John over: Hey, can you believe this guy? Look what he brought to heaven. He brought PAVEMENT! What do you want to bring to heaven with you? There is only one thing that maoers SOULS of those you love. During a day of shoo4ng a movie, someone stole some valuable jewelry from the trailer of Sophia Loren. She went to the Italian film director ViOorio De Sica about the the\ of the jewelry. He gave her some very good advice, he said, "Listen to me, Sophia. I am much older than you and if there is one great thing I ve learned about life, it is this: NEVER CRY OVER ANYTHING THAT CAN'T CRY OVER YOU!" AMEN! PEOPLE ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THINGS! II. For her ACT of sacrificial giving. She gave something valuable to gain something more valuable. K.P. Yohannan, the director of Gospel For Asia tells about a woman who came to him at a mission conference wanted to help support the work in India. She lived on a fixed income but wanted to do what she could. She decided to disconnect her telephone and cable T.V. and send that money each month to send the Gospel India. She faithfully sent that offering each month. A\er several months she increased her monthly offering. She at- tached a note to her check that said, I haven t missed my cable TV or telephone. It has given me more 4me to pray and go soul winning. I ve come to realize that I don t need to bath in hot water, nor use hot wa- ter to wash my clothes and dishes, so I ve turned off my hot water heater. The enclosed offering reflects an increase in my offering from the money I ve saved. That is sacrifice! Giving up something of value for something more valuable Reaching souls for Jesus.

5 5 In baseball there is a play called a sacrifice bunt or sacrifice fly. The baoer gives up himself to advance a runner on base closer to home. Amen! What will you sacrifice to advance someone closer to home/ heaven (some money 4me )? Jesus made the ul4mate sacrifice. He gave up His life so we could have life Eternal life. Now what will we sacrifice for Him that others may have eternal life also? III. For taking ADVANTAGE of the opportunity to touch the the lives of others. Jesus said, Ye have the poor with you always, and whensoever ye will ye may do the good: but me ye have not always A. Everywhere the Gospel is preached, she s4ll touches lives. How many lives have you touched with Gospel? B. She did what she understood She understood what Jesus was about to do. SUMMATION: When my body lies in a casket before you, what I would like to be remembered as a... Faithful husband and father; Favorable Chris4an; Friend forever Free and easy pastor; Fervent preacher; How will you be remembered? What will you be remembered for when your life is over? What is it that will be said about you? Whose life are you making a difference in? What sacrifices are you mak- ing? Is your value system the same as God s? No.ce what it doesn't say about this woman. She didn t build a temple. She didn't walk on water. She didn't heal the sick. She didn't raise the dead. She just "did what she could"

6 6 She did what she could She did what she should She did what was good God never holds you responsible for what you cannot do. God only asks for your reasonable service (Rom. 12:1). I am only one, but I am one; I cannot do everything, but I can do some- thing. That which I can do, I ought to do, and what I ought to do, by the grace of God I will do!