Who Are You Living For?

The point: If you have not been transformed by the grace of God, you are living for yourself.

When God is removed as the object of life, 'self' rushes into the vacuum, becoming the new, false god around which life revolves.

Or whether we are of a sober mind, it is unto you. There are times when the apostle was so constrained by the love of Christ in selfless service that people accused him of being out of his tree, having something less than a full load. And he says, if that's so, then you must understand that something has taken him away from the tree. something has taken hold of us, the love of Christ has taken hold of us, and that love having taken hold of us has changed us from what we once were. For we once were what all men are by nature, creatures who live unto themselves. Now that's not the way God intend...

4:37 - 5:54 Read in full sermon

The point: If you have not been transformed by the grace of God, you are living for yourself.

Quoting Isaiah 53:6, 'All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one of us to his own way,' to illustrate the universal human tendency toward self-will and self-direction.

that all men without distinction, in terms of who they live for by nature, live unto themselves. And very early this shows itself in little ones. You see it in petulant, pouting self, in a little toddler. In hot-tempered, tantrum self. You see it in their greedy, selfish self. Soon it merges into lying, manipulative self. Into whining, sneaky self. And as the human soul and mind develops, the ability to express this obsession with living to self multiplies in tragic and in horrible ways. No wonder the prophet could say, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned every one of us to what...

7:13 - 8:25 Read in full sermon

The point: The goal of Christian life is to live unto Christ, making Him the focus of all desires, ambitions, standards, and goals.

Quoting Philippians 1:21, 'For to me to live is Christ,' as the ultimate expression of a life lived for Christ, not oneself.

When you ask them the question, who do you live for? They are able to answer honestly, and to validate it by the pattern of their life, they live unto Him who died for them and rose again. In other words, they can say with the Apostle Paul in the language of Philippians 1.21, for to me to live is Christ.

12:35 - 13:02 Read in full sermon

The point: In decisions about music, ask not 'what do I like?' but 'what kind of music can I listen to and know that it pleases Christ?'

Using the example of disagreements over music between parents and teenagers to illustrate how the question 'What pleases Christ?' should guide decisions.

You and mom and dad are having discussions over what kind of music you're going to listen to.

21:59 - 22:05 Read in full sermon

The point: In decisions about dress, the issue is not what pleases you, but 'what will please Him?'

Using the issue of appropriate dress for teenagers as a practical application of asking 'What will my Savior think? What will please Him?'

Now, I ask you, teenager, is that the way you think at all? You're wrestling with what's appropriate dress. What is just innocent, stylish dress? What crosses the line into the immodest and the bizarre?

23:28 - 23:43 Read in full sermon

The point: In the choice of friends, ask 'What will the Lord Jesus think about my choice of these friends?' and choose those who will help you grow in godliness.

Applying the principle of living for Christ to the selection of friends, asking whether they will help one grow in godliness and advance Christ's honor.

A standard, or I should say, the means of finding the right standard. And it is living unto Him who for your sake died and rose again. In the choice of your friends, this being, begins to be the litmus test. What will the Lord Jesus think about my choice of these friends?

24:44 - 25:08 Read in full sermon

The point: If you struggle with rules and regulations, perhaps you have not known the blessed obsession with Christ that resolves life's issues.

Pastor Martin shares his personal testimony of being saved as a teenager and how a passionate obsession to live for Christ resolved 98% of the issues he and other young people wrestled with, such as purpose, guilt, and direction.

I would be considered by many an old man, but my memory is not gone yet. And when God saved me as a teenager, this resolved about 98% of the issues with which a lot of you are wrestling.

26:26 - 26:40 Read in full sermon

Driving home: What tragic folly to make yourself the object of your life, the one to whom you live.

Referencing the worship of the Lamb in heaven ('Worthy is the Lamb that was slain') to underscore Christ's supreme worthiness as the object of life.

There's someone infinitely worthy. It's the glorious Son of God whose beauties cannot be described, whose glory cannot be spoken of by mortal tongues. The one who is even now the object of the adoring worship of all of the intelligent creatures in heaven. God pulls back the veil in the book of the Revelation and gives us a little peek of those that cry, worthy is the Lamb that was slain.

28:30 - 28:59 Read in full sermon

The point: Be reconciled to God; give up the 'God of self' and live for the God who made you.

Quoting 2 Corinthians 5:20, 'We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ,' to describe the believer's role in the ministry of reconciliation.

And all of them are of God's grace, verse 18, but all things are of God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave unto us now speaking as an apostle and His companions gave us this ministry of reconciliation. That is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself not reckoning to them their trespasses and having committed to us the word of reconciliation. We are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ as though God were entreating by us as though God were begging by us we beseech you in the behalf of Christ be reconciled to God. Give up the God of self. Be reconciled to t...

31:13 - 32:14 Read in full sermon