The Highest and Ultimate Trophy to Win Iii

[Host] Another time of fellowshipping together in His presence to study the word of God together in our... under Family Tent, the discipleship class that holds every Monday between 5:00 and 6:30. I want to welcome our brethren who are joining us or who have already joined, and those who are joining. Please, if there are people you need to tell that we have started, please it is time to tell them that we have started. Our brethren who are joining us on Mixlr, our brethren who are joining us on Telegram, our brethren who are gathering physically here, we want to welcome every one of us again to our Monday discipleship class. We thank the Lord for His mercies and for His grace, and we trust in Him that as we fellowship again together today, the Lord in His infinite mercy will meet with us all in the name of Jesus Christ. I want us to take this song together. Just something to... a song for us to start with. It is actually a prayer song. It is a prayer song. I want us to sing the song together. It is not so long. It is a short song. It says, "Lord, deliver me from an empty life." Maybe I should first make you write down the wordings. It is a very short prayer song. I want us to sing it together, and then we pray, then we go into the series we have been considering for about three weeks now, "The Ultimate Trophy to Win in Life." That is the series that we have been considering. We have done part one, we have done two, and today we are moving to the third part of the series. And I want you to, if in case you have not been listening to or you have not been following us, or you are not part of the part one and two, so that you can have a better understanding of what we are doing, I would appreciate that you reach out to get to our website, www.familytent.org to download and listen, or you join our Telegram community and then scroll back to two Mondays ago. Last week Monday was the part two so that you are able to listen to the part one and two so that you will be able to have a fuller picture of the topic. So the song that I want us to sing and then we pray... Please, if you are listening, you have your pen with you, you can write down. It is just a very short song. "Lord, deliver me from an empty life. Lord, deliver me from a vain life. Lord, deliver me from an empty life. This is my prayer, O Lord." "Lord, deliver me from an empty life. Lord, deliver me from a vain life. Lord, deliver me from an empty life. This is my prayer, O Lord." That is the song. [Host singing] Lord, deliver me from an empty life. Lord, deliver me from a vain life. Lord, deliver me from an empty life. This is my prayer, O Lord. O Lord, deliver me, deliver me from an empty life. O Lord, deliver me from a vain life. Lord, deliver me from an empty life. This is my prayer, O Lord. O Lord, deliver me, deliver me from an empty life. O Lord, deliver me from a vain life. Lord, deliver me from an empty life. This is my prayer, O Lord. Lord, deliver me from an empty life. Lord, deliver me from a vain life. Lord, deliver me from an empty life. This is my prayer, O Lord. [Host] And we take that as the base of our prayer this evening as we move on to look at the third part of this series, "The Ultimate Trophy to Win in Life." Precious Father, we thank You. We bless Your holy name. We give You praise, we give You adoration. We thank You for all who You are. We appreciate You for all that You are. We say blessed be Your holy name, our God. We commit our fellowship into Your hand this evening, trusting You for all our brethren, those who are online, those on Telegram, on Mixlr, our brethren who are here physically, and those who will be joining us on all of the platforms. Lord, we just pray that as we look at this topic a little further again, "The Ultimate Trophy to Win in Life," Lord, I just pray, meet each and every one of us where we need You most in the name of Jesus Christ. Lord, our desire, our prayer is in that song, that You will deliver us from an empty life. You will deliver us from a vain life. You will deliver us from an empty life. This is our prayer. Thank You, Eternal Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. [Preacher] Now, we have been looking at this matter of "The Ultimate Trophy to Win in Life." And in the part one, we have made it very clear what eternal life is. Eternal life, what it means to have eternal life is to actually receive a purpose and a grace. We have made it clear that eternal life is not just a phenomenon or an experience. "Oh, I have an experience of eternal life." Eternal life is more than an experience. Eternal life is actually a life we live daily. Eternal life brings you to a purpose that is very clear. You know the purpose. We said the purpose is not something that is subject to time, something that is precise and concise, something that is clear, something that you know the beginning point and you know the finishing point. Last week, we used our brother Paul, Apostle Paul, as an example of trying to understand what eternal life is. And then we moved on to start looking at the Lord Jesus as a perfect example of understanding what eternal life is. But so we went to John 9. That is where we concluded last week. But there is something I quickly want us to get to again in Paul. There is this verse in Acts I want us to look at before we move on to... because we said that today we will be looking squarely at that of our Lord Jesus Christ, understanding the ultimate trophy to win in life. What is the ultimate trophy? When can we say life is at its best? When is life at its best? What is the sum total of eternal life? What is the end? What do we mean by eternal life? How do we know that yes, this eternal life is real? The sum total of a blessed life. What does it mean to be truly blessed in life? And that is what we have been trying to consider. I want us to look at Acts 20. There is this verse about Apostle Paul I want us to look at and then we now go in to look at what our Lord Jesus said about the matter of eternal life and then we draw... if we can finish all of that for today, then we know that we have completed this series to move to something else next week. But if not, we are not able to finish that, we will continue with it next week. So let's look at Acts 20. Acts 20. I will be reading from verse 17. Acts 20 from around verse 17. That is what I will be reading from. Paul was addressing the elders that was at Miletus and he was trying to make them see a very crucial thing. And in the midst of that, he said something about himself. He said, "From Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them, 'You know from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things moved me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.'" So you notice something here about Paul. We are saying that eternal life brings you into a purpose. Eternal life simply means that in Christ, we receive purpose and grace. And the ultimate trophy to win is to complete, is to finish that purpose. If you don't finish that purpose, then you have mortgaged eternal life. What you receive in eternal life is purpose and grace. And look at what Paul said here. He was saying that the reason why any of the things that they were saying, the reason why it was nothing to him, is so that he can finish his race. Which means, like I said last week, there is a starting point and there is a finishing point. The purpose is not something that is not clear. The purpose is something that you know when you start it, you know as you are proceeding in it, and you know when you finish it so that you can say I have finished it, like we saw Paul last week. As it says in 2 Timothy 4:7, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." So he finished it. There was a starting point, there was a finishing point. So eternal life is not just an experience. "Oh, Jesus gave me new life." No. Eternal life actually means that we receive purpose and grace in Jesus, and we are living that purpose. That is the life. That is eternal life. Now, you see that Paul was saying in this place that "so that I may finish my race with joy and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus." So you notice that what we said about Paul last week, because we concluded where Paul said I have finished my course. You can see that he was running to finish this race. He was doing everything... and at the end, what did he say? He said now awaits me a crown of righteousness. So eternal life is not something that brings you into what is not defined. Eternal life is not that I attend church, I'm in the choir, I'm a pastor over a so-so congregation, I'm a member of this... No, no, no. It is something beyond that. It is something very definite. What we receive in Christ is purpose and grace to finish that purpose. That is what we mean by eternal life. And that is why, like I said last week, following the words of Martin Luther, a man who have not found something in God for which he can die is not fit to live. And that is what you see Paul saying here. He said none of these things move me. They are talking about death, they are talking about imprisonment, they are talking about... He said look, all of these things, they are nothing. What is just important for me is that look, there is... I have seen something in God that if it is by dying that I will finish that thing, it is better to die and finish it than to be alive and not finish it. Because he has seen something in God and that is eternal life. Now, we said that today our focus will be on the Lord Jesus Christ. We have used Paul for example last week, but I couldn't get to this verse of the scripture. That is why I added this verse to that of Paul. Our focus will be on the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have read John 9 last week. That is where we concluded. Please let's go there. That is where we ended last week. John 9. John 9, where Jesus said, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." John 9, Jesus answered, I'm reading from verse three... we have read this last week. Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the work of God should be revealed in him. I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming when no one can work." What we said last week, very clear about our Lord Jesus, is that look, this work is time... it has time limit. You don't have all your life to do it. There is a time, because a time will come when you will not be able to do the work again. He said the night is coming when no man can work. So don't think you have all your life to do it. Don't think you have all the time to do it. It is something that is time-bound. And then moving on now, on the matter of our Lord Jesus Christ, let's now see more scriptures to buttress this point that we are looking at in our Lord Jesus Christ. More scriptures about our Lord. Let's see what the Lord Jesus said in several aspects of His life to help us to grasp this matter that we are discussing. In John 4, let's see what the Lord Jesus said in John 4. John 4:32, John 4:34. John 4, the Gospel according to John, chapter 4, verse 32. Now... let me take it from 31 so that we can flow with what happened. In the meantime, the disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?" Then Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work." Are you seeing something? There is something to start, there is something to keep doing. I'm showing you Paul said that I may finish. You are seeing the Lord Jesus, our perfect example. He said look, don't forget that what happened in this place, this is the story of the Samaritan woman that was by the well. That was the story of the Samaritan woman that was by the well. And what was going on here was that the disciples went to look for food. They went everywhere to look for food while Jesus met a woman and was preaching with her by the well. They were talking and talking and talking and talking. Jesus was able to convert that woman, brought that woman. So He was really doing the work. When they came with the food they went to look for, they said, "Master, eat." He said, "Look, you don't understand. While you have been looking for that food, me I was busy eating my food." So they were wondering, has anybody brought any food to Him? He said, "Look, you don't understand. My food is to do the work of Him who has sent me and to finish." So there is a work to be done. There is a Samaritan woman to be won. There is somebody to be brought into the kingdom. You don't understand. What He just is saying is that see, what gives me life and keep me going, the food that I eat, because food is something you take daily. What He's saying is that what I take daily to keep me alive is this eternal life. And what is the life? What is eternal life? Eternal life is that there is a work to be done, there is a life to live, and I need to finish it. That is my food. In other words, the more we are not doing this work, the reality of our life is that our spirit man is continually being starved. Our real life is not eating our life, the real life we are supposed to live, we are not feeding that life. Now, when that was over, look at another episode again about the matter of our Lord Jesus Christ. Another episode about the matter of our Lord Jesus Christ. We find that in John, the same John, John chapter five. John chapter five. We have read John 4:32 and 34. Now we want to go to John 5. Different instances where Jesus spoke in the book of John. John 5:36. And from here we will go to John 17 to see what the Lord Jesus said in John 17. John 5:36. Look at what He said about His life. John 5:36. It was a discussion between Him again and the Jews. Look at what He said there again. He said, "But..." it was a discussion with the Jews and He said, "But I have a greater witness. I have a greater witness than John. For the works which the Father has given me..." to what? To finish. The work... I'm trying to make you understand what eternal life is. Eternal life is about a purpose and a grace. It is about a work. It is about something definite. The thing is definite, it is clear. Jesus said again that look, I have a greater witness and that is the work which the Father has given me that I should finish. That is... He said the very work that I do bear witness of me that the Father has sent me. So you notice here again, the Lord Jesus is trying to make us see, just as Paul said I have finished my course, that there is a work that must finish. That is why He was telling them in John 9, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. I must do the work of Him who has sent me while it is day." Because there is something to finish. There is something He's seen and He's running on that work to finish the work. That is what it means to live eternal life. You are seeing a work, you are pursuing that work, you are finishing that work, something that is clear. And that is why eternal life is not just about a community thing. It is first and foremost an intimacy with God that makes a man understand a clear purpose that God wants him to finish. He knows when he starts it, he knows as he's going about it daily. So the life, just like you exist in life every day, you are doing something, your career, you are doing something, you are growing, it is the same thing with eternal life. It is about a work which you start and you are doing every day, you are growing, and you get to the peak of that career too. I'm talking about the peak of eternal life. When you don't get to the peak of eternal life, then you have not come to the ultimate trophy you ought to win in life. That's the ultimate trophy and that is the sum total of a blessed life. When any life don't come to the peak of that career, of that eternal life, then that life never... did not win the ultimate trophy. Some other trophy were won, but the ultimate one did not happen in that person's life. The ultimate trophy is that you finish that work. That is the career that you must get to the peak. And like I tell people every day in your ordinary life, "Oh, I want to be an accountant, I want to be this, I want to be that, I want to be a businessman, I want to be this," that thing you want to be, you notice that you start, you start growing, you start expanding, you start moving line by line, you are going, you are developing. It's the same thing with eternal life. You start going on and on that way. Now, look at what our Lord Jesus said again. Let's go to John 17 now. John 17. John 17. The sum total of eternal life. The sum total of this life eternal. Look at something the Lord Jesus was raising here in John 17. We'll be picking on some particular verses in this John 17 as we go together in this scripture. Now let's see what the Lord Jesus... John 17, I'll first read verse one to four, after which we move to John 19. Now, John 17, Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to the heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you. Glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you." Now, brethren, look at the next thing. John 17, we are reading John 17. "As you have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as you give Him." So what is the authority heaven gave Jesus? What's the authority He was given? To give anybody that God gave Him what? Eternal life. He said, "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." Verse four, "I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do." Is it different from what Paul said? Is it different from what Paul said? Is there any difference? There is no difference. So you see that there was a starting point, there was a finishing point. He said, "I have finished the work which you have given me to do." And now, O Father, glorify me together with yourself, with the glory which I had with you before the world was. Now, what am I pointing to us in this scripture? What is this that I'm trying to make us see and to get very clearly? Jesus Christ in John 10:10 said, "I have come that they may have life and that they may have that life abundantly." We got to see that in 2 Timothy 1:9, that eternal life is purpose and grace which we receive in Christ. And now we are coming to this point to see the life that Jesus lived. Now, is there anybody who know the Father more than Jesus? No. So what is the life that Jesus lived as an eternal life? What is the life that He lived? Is to do the work and to finish. That was the life that He also gave. That is the eternal life that He lived. He said, "I have come that they may have life." So the life He came to give... that is why you notice when He said in the Lord's Prayer, "Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven." The matter of that a man has eternal life is that he is aligned to do what God will have him do. That is eternal life. That is what we mean by eternal life. Nothing else. If a life is not aligned to do what God will have him do, then there is no life. That is what Jesus displayed as eternal life. What He displayed as eternal life... He said look, you have been given power to give life to every other person. Me too, I have lived that life, I have glorified you. And what is the life? Is that the work which you have given me to do, I have finished it. So if the Father want to be glorified in us again, if we truly know God... because He said this eternal life is to know God and Jesus who He has sent. So what does it mean to know God? What does it mean to know Jesus that He has sent? What it means to know God and to know Jesus who He has sent is the ability to share intimacy with God, to do what God will have you to do. That is eternal life. So a man don't truly know God, a man does not truly know God, nor the Lord Jesus, who is not aligned to the purpose... Because remember that last week I raised something. As it says in Ephesians 2:10, "We are the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus for work, which He has prepared in advance for us to do." So eternal life, when we are saying that a man is knowing God, a man is knowing God, a man is understanding God, a man becoming intimate with God, the reality is that the man begin to understand that I don't need to labor for bread that perish. There is something to seek first. The man begin to get out of what we call dead works. What are dead works? The work of sin. He said to purge your conscience from every dead work. A man who is still doing dead work, which is the work of sin, does not know God. No matter call him pastor, call him bishop, call him discipler, call him anything. If there are still dead works, he does not have eternal life. Eternal life is about a work that is alive, being aligned with God. Look at what Jesus said. Before I'll come to... look at what He said in John chapter five now. Before the 19, there is John chapter five. John 5:19, before we now come to that chapter 19. John 5:19. Look at what the Lord said there. John 5:19. Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son does in like manner." Any man who is not this aligned to God does not have eternal life. And that is why you will notice in Matthew chapter seven, a popular verse, He said, "Why call me Lord, Lord, and you do not do what I say?" I hope you know where I am quoting from, Matthew chapter seven from around verse 21. "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, when you don't do what I say?" He now went ahead to tell us that on that day, some will say to me, "I prophesied in your name, I did this in your name," but I will tell them, "I don't know you, depart from me workers of iniquity." Note that the matter is about knowing. "I don't know you." If actually there was a knowing between me and you, you could not have done dead works. Because eternal life is to know God. Is to know what God will have us do and be doing it. When we are not doing what God will have us do, we don't know Him. God will not have us sin. God will not have us do iniquity. God will not have us do evil. So you see knowing... I want you to know that the word He used in that place too is what? "I don't know you." It's not as if these people, these people did not actually... maybe say that they are not actually Christian one way or the other. And that is why you notice that Paul said something very critical in Timothy. He said this is the desire of God, that all men may be saved. That's number one. What's the next thing? "And come to the knowledge of the truth." In fact, if you notice, oh, time did not allow me to read if you read what Paul told the elders of Ephesus. He said, "I have not held back from declaring to you the total counsel of God." There is a total counsel of God. That is in that Acts chapter 20 that we read. I skipped that because I was going to where Paul was talking about his life. But please, I just want you to see something there. I want you to quickly see that. Look at that Acts chapter 20 again. Acts 20. I want you to see something there from that verse 17 where he called the elders from Miletus. He sent for the elders and called for the elders of the church. When they had come to him, he said to them, "You know from the first day I came to Asia, in what manner I have always lived among you. In what manner I have always lived." So what is eternal life? It is a daily living. What are you... what is the life that you are living? That is, among them, I was busy doing the work. The Son was doing nothing of Himself but what He sees the Father does. That is what we mean by the manner of life. That is, I was living eternal life among you. Are you taking the point? He says, "How I lived among you, serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews; how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to the Jews and also to the Greek, repentance toward God and faith toward Christ." What I'm trying to make you see, Paul said, "How I kept back nothing that was helpful." NLT: "Yet I never shrank from telling you the truth, either publicly or in your home." NIV: He said, "You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you." Now what I'm trying to make you see, if we want... something that is crucial about eternal life, if a man says he knows God, because eternal life is to know God and Jesus who He has sent. This knowing, what we mean by that knowing, is not just one head knowledge. And please let me tell you, it is not about how much you can preach the scriptures. It is not about how much you can pray. Please, I'm not underrating that. All of you know how much I study the Bible. All of you know how much I take time to know scriptures. But that is not what we are talking about. That is what I'm saying. When we say a man knows God, it's not so much... that is why you know that Paul said that I did not come to you with excellency of speech. It is not about how much a man is able to put scriptures together, analyze it. No, it's not really about... it is about how much you have been able to be aligned with not doing anything that is not aligned with the purpose and the will of God. That is what it means to know God. That is what it means to have eternal life. It was that knowing that he was telling them in Matthew chapter seven. He has said, "Why call me Lord, Lord, and you don't do my will?" It means you don't really know Him. If you have actually known me, you will know that the substance of eternal life is that the will of God be done on earth as it is done in heaven. In heaven, the will of God is done perfectly, freely, wholly, totally. That is how the will of God is done. So what Jesus came to do when He said He came to give life, to reconcile us back to God, is so that what God is doing too can be done here wholly, totally, freely. So when you see a man says he knows God and he's doing dead works, he doesn't know God. Because he has not been aligned. That knowing is about a work. It's about a daily life, something that you are doing. It's not about dead works. It's not about self-work. Jesus said the Son does nothing of Himself. The more you are able to come out of self and sin and the world is the essence... let me change the mic, the battery... Praise the Lord. Now, we are talking about the extent to which a man has eternal life. And that is what I'm trying to make us see. So that you notice that... you notice something about the Lord Jesus, that when He's talking about eternal life, He says that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus whom You have sent. When He was talking to men who have done several things, but not aligned with God's will, the point was not... depart from me you workers of iniquity. Now the point of being iniquity, being people who do iniquity, I want you to note the point very well. The point is about "I don't know you." So the point is that is it that Jesus don't really know them? Is it that when you talk about knowing somebody, is it that the Lord don't really know them? Of course He knows them, but He was talking in a completely different context. In the context of what? Eternal life. That is the context. The same thing will be... you get to see about the matter of knowing, knowing, knowing, knowing, that it is about deep intimacy that bring two people into a oneness that nothing is in between. This knowing, this knowing... if you know that it is this knowing that you will find when the Bible talks about Adam knew his wife. Knowing. You know it is "know" that the Bible called it. He was talking about sexual intimacy. He said Adam knew his wife. If you look at that knowing of knowing his wife, it is the same knowing you find, a man leave father and mother and become one, they are no longer two. I'm talking about oneness with God is this knowing. That is what He mean by to know God, to become so much one. And that was that knowing that Adam had initially, such that when he said, "This is goat," why did the Bible say? That was the name. "Monkey," that was the name. There was nothing, "No, no, no, I don't want that name." No, because there was a knowing between him and God. There was an alignment. That is the life. That was what left. That was what Jesus came to restore. He was asleep, he woke up. "This is the bone of my bone, the flesh of my flesh. She was taken out of me, she shall be called woman." Was there argument about it? That's because that was what God did. That was what Adam was. That was what Jesus came to restore. That is eternal life. It is this knowing that we need also to carry us through life. That is why the Bible says as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. So eternal life is a practical reality of a man who have come to see what God is doing and He is doing. So there is a doing. If there is no doing of something that you have seen and you can die for, "Oh, I know I've experienced eternal life and I'm a member of the Holiness Heavenly Church of God," that is not what we are talking about. That is not what we are talking about. That is not the substance of eternal life. A man can be a member of anything and be in any group and not have eternal life. So eternal life is something that we must look at what Jesus said. Our focus should be on Jesus. We should be looking at what He said and what He did in understanding life. Because if you are not careful, you may be a part of an organization but you are a stranger in the kingdom. That doesn't mean that eternal life don't have a local expression within a place. Paul was busy building, raising churches in different locality. Is that not true? The church in Ephesus, the church in this, the church in that. So that don't think I'm saying that once we are in a local expression, that is not eternal life. That's not what I'm talking about. There is nothing wrong with having a place, a community where you are tied and you have a local expression. Everybody should have a base. But what I'm trying to say about eternal life is that eternal life transcend just being a member of a local assembly. Eternal life is something that you have seen in God, a work that you are daily doing. It is not, "this is the work, this is the work," it is something that has to do with a daily living. Paul said, "How I lived among you. You know how I was living." This is how I was living. This is what I was doing. You have seen something you can die for in God and you are daily following that, after that. The works of God. Look at how Jesus... before we now come to that John chapter 19. John chapter... let me look, yes, we are back in John chapter 19 if I'm not wrong now. Yes, please let me quickly check my notes. John chapter 19. That is the next text now. John chapter 19. John 19:30. John 19:30. John 19:30. Let's see what the Lord said in that place. John 19:30. What did Jesus say in that John 19:30? What did He say at the end? He said, "So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, 'It is finished.'" Did He finish the work? Did He finish the work? He finished it. So I'm showing you the reality of eternal life. Eternal life actually bring us into a clear purpose. The purpose is clear. That is why Paul could say, "I do not fight as one beating the air, but I am certain." I'm not like a boxer who wastes his blows. I know the exact thing. You see, when you talk about pressure, what is pressure? Pressure is actually force in a particular definite direction. When you put force in too many things, there will be no pressure. To achieve pressure, say this person, you are pressurizing me. What are you doing? You are hitting, hitting... stop pressurizing me. What I'm trying to say is that many times as believers, we waste our blows. We waste our punches because we have not entered fully into this matter of eternal life. We will be applying force but not what? In a particular direction. Let me show you in ordinary life. Somebody finished school sat and then he started. The first three years he wanted to read mechanical engineering. He didn't finish. He stopped, he said no, what I should read is civil engineering. He left that one again, moved to civil. At the fourth year he left that one again. He said no, I thought what I should have read is computer. He started computer again. Are you following me? By the time you look at that life over the space of 20 years, there will be no progression. It will still be an undergraduate. Am I correct? Undergraduate. Why? Why? Because he's not applied where? In a particular direction. Eternal life brings us into a life that is abundant. He said, "I have come to give them life and that life abundantly." It does not bring us into a wasted life. No. It bring us into a purpose, something that is clear. Something that is so clear to us. And like I mentioned last week, we are differently purposed, we are differently graced. And I mentioned last week so that you don't think that if I'm not like Baba Adeboye, I've not fulfilled purpose. Because that is the mistake of some people. "God, I need my ministry must become a city like Bishop Oyedepo." That don't what I'm talking about. Everything Jesus did within the space of three and a half years... how many building? How many building was named after Him? So please get me very clear. In fact, what did Jesus say? He said, "Greater works will you do." So even we that are taking over will do something greater than Him. So are you taking the point? So don't be thinking of big, because that's one mistake about this matter. When you think that eternal, "Oh, it means I should have built a city." That's not what I'm talking about. When you look at the grace given to the different servant, say one He gave five, like I mentioned last week, five brought ten. The person He gave two brought four. Can you compare four and ten? But when you look at the percentage, two to four, is it not 100 percent? Five to ten, is it not 100 percent? If one, two had brought two, what is the percent? 100 percent. So it's not that one is thinking that I must bring ten. No, that's not what I'm talking about. So it is not, please, it is not the size of the work that talk about the completeness. Peter too said he's winding up, he's ready to be offered, as the Lord has shown to him. Peter who was saying that and he's ready to be offered, how many epistle did he write of the epistles? 1 Peter, 2 Peter. Did he write as much as Paul? But he too finish his own work. So please get me very clear. The matter we are pushing at is that eternal life don't raise men who are not defined, purposeful, clear, intentional, and definite. That's what I'm trying to say. Eternal life bring men into a life that is clear, something definite, something well defined, something they are going for, something that death cannot stop them from moving into. Something that is so clear to them. Something that it makes them so aligned with God, so aligned that they... there is this intimacy that makes them to, "Okay, this is the work, Baba, this is..." it is that that is the eternal life. "Baba, yes, okay, no, get this done, okay, this is how it is." That is what we are calling the life, that shared intimacy that makes you to be able to do the work because you are actually a workmanship of God created in Christ unto a work which God have prepared before the time, before time began. That is what you actually are. And that is what it means to have eternal life. Jesus said, "It is finished." And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. And let me tell you, like I've always take time to talk about this thing and to make it very clear, it is because of this matter of eternal life, please listen to me on the matter of eternal life, that make our lives to be in seasons. It makes our lives to be in seasons. Because we are differently purposed, different work is prepared, and you are actually a workmanship created in Christ. What now happens is that try to look at the natural things of life. Tomatoes don't smell like rose, but rose cannot be used for stew. It can be used for perfume. Are you getting the point I'm making? Tomatoes, by the time it has spent six months, the stock, sometimes seven months, has expired. It doesn't mean tomatoes die untimely death. The purpose has expired. You get the point I'm making. By that six month, coconut that you plant have not started life. It is still a baby. Tomatoes, on that tomatoes will run another life. I just want you to get some of these things very clear. It is purpose that put our life in seasons. Long life for tomatoes is not the same thing with long life for guava. So when tomatoes begin to think that he did not live a long life because he did not live like guava, you are only causing confusion for the people of God. Life is in season in line with their purpose. When it was finished, what did Jesus do? He gave up the ghost. There is a starting time, there is a finishing time. The worst in life is to get to the finishing line and you have not finished purpose. Because the sum total of eternal life, the ultimate trophy to win, is that at the finishing line, you have also finished purpose. That is the best of life to live. That's the greatest life to live. That's the highest life. That's the highest. That is the ultimate life to live. That is the sum total. When you say a man is blessed, ah, alábùkún fún yọ̀kùn yìí o, òun ni ẹni tó jẹ́ pé at the finishing line, he has also finished purpose. He was able to become so intimate with God. He was able to share so much with God that there was nothing of himself that dissipated the style and pressure and force. Are you understanding me? There was nothing of dead works that dissipated his style. There was nothing of the world that dissipated his style. But he was able to gather all together and was able to have pressure. So he was pressurizing that thing. He was able to build pressure, build pressure because he was able to serve, conserve. That is what Jesus meant by seek ye first the kingdom of God. It is not seek only. There are other things we do with our life. That's why people have their profession, people have this, people have that. People need to work to eat, people need... but we are doing it in a way that our life, the force of our life, don't get dissipated. We are able to carry on, carry on. We are making sure... because and that is why the real thing to make anybody, the real thing, if you are really trying to raise anybody, like Apostle Paul said, if you are really trying to raise anybody and you are really somebody who is building a kingdom for God, the issue is not about denominationalism. The issue is what Paul said. He said since the day when we heard about your faith, we did not cease to pray for you. You remember? And to give thanks. And what was the prayer? That the God of our father will give unto you what? The spirit of wisdom, the spirit of revelation in the knowledge of Him. Are you seeing it? He's talking about to be able to be aligned with God. He said we are also praying ceaselessly that what? That your eye of understanding will be what? Will be open so that you can know what? What is the hope of what? Of your calling. There is something that is a hope, there is an expectation. You are a workmanship for a work. There is a hope of this calling. If you do every other thing without the hope of your calling, it is a useless life. And that is why you notice that what they were doing, when they said I tell people, that is what it means when Jesus said I will build my church. Building church is building people into understanding this part of eternal life. That what it means to build the church of God. It is not how many building. No. It is not a physical building. All of these things will be consumed by fire. It is about... it is about building the church. It is about putting people in a way... He said the gate of hell will not prevail. It is about putting people in a way, what did the Satan do? He caused a misalignment between Adam and God. Is that not it? What did Jesus come to do? To bring alignment. So I will build my church, the gate of hell will not bring misalignment. That's just what we are saying. That we will be so aligned that God can say, "Satan, have you seen this one?" And he will say, "Ah, actually is it not because you have blessed him, is it not because..." That is what, that is the real thing about building His church. Aligned to purpose, aligned to what? Such that there is nothing you are doing that is of self, there is nothing that you are doing that is of sin. He that is born of God does not continue to sin. He may fall in sin, but he cannot continue in sin. He fall, he repent, he get, he's getting aligned. To such a point that what John said, "these things I write unto you that you sin not." We can now be able to live and be victorious over sin such that you don't do the work of self, you don't do the work of sin, you don't do the work of the world. As it says in Romans 12:2, "be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is good, acceptable, and what? The will of God." So you have been able to come out of the world, come out of self, come out of sin, and you are now able to build pressure fully aligned to God. That is what we mean by eternal life. What you now end up into is that the Father work until now and me I'm also working. The Son, whatever you see the Son do... He said as I hear, so I judge. So whatever as you are seeing them as they are living their life, it is as they hear, so they judge. I see the Father do, and that is the eternal work. That work that has been prepared for them, they are now aligned into it. Nothing is taking them from me. Self is not taking them, the world is not taking them, and they are going on, they are going on, they are going on, they are going on. Of course, what did He say? He says these things, what to eat and drink, the Father knows you have need of them. As you follow God, those things follow you. Is that not it? As you follow them, they will follow you. In other words, it's not how much... that is why the Bible told us, do not labor to be rich, labor to be blessed. What does it mean to be blessed? It is to be aligned with God. Once you are blessed, what will happen? You will be rich. The blessings of God, it maketh rich. So that's why He said those who fear God will not lack anything good. They will not lack anything good. Just they need to eat, it will come. God will work it out for them. He'll not stop, He'll be working out. So what man need to... what you need to make people come into is this life. But unfortunately, that is not what we are doing. This life is sufficient to make us sufficient. That is what I tell people. If we can daily come out of self, come out of sin, every... that's what I mean by every dead work. That's what the Bible calls dead works. The work of self, the work of sin, that of the world. Those are the dead works. Then you now do the work of God. What is the work of God? Is that one which He defined for you and you want to finish it. That is the work we are talking about and that is the life that you are living. Be able to come out of that and you are going, you are going, you are going in this direction. You will see what happens. And in that direction, you will see you begin to understand it. You begin to develop in your career. That is the career I'm talking about, the career of eternal life. You begin to go from one level because it is dynamic, from one level to another level, to another level, to another level, to another level, and then you know, "Ah, I have finished the work." Because it will be getting clearer and clearer. Just like if you look at your career, the higher you go, the clearer and defined it becomes. Is that not true? That is reality. When you first start, start, you will do... when you start, look at the system, you first do all courses. But as you are rising, 300 level, you start dropping general courses. You start... you start throwing all those one. It start becoming clearer. By the time you get to your final year, it will just be only your department, you just... That is what we are trying to say. It becomes clearer. And that is eternal life. Brethren, what I'm trying to say is that that is the ultimate life to live. That is the sum total of blessedness. That's the sum total. That's the sum total. That is what it means to be blessed. That's the sum total of eternal life. That's the whole essence of living. If we can enter into this, then you say the man is blessed. But if a man have every other thing without this, the reality, like I do tell people, the rich man has so much so to say, but there was nothing to carry at his death. What was done? The Bible says he was buried. Lazarus seemed to have nothing so to say, but at his death, what happened? Angels went to carry him. Which means what truly give our life value is nothing material or physical. What make God see something to carry is this alignment with God. Let us seem to have done no work, but he have done so much. He's so much prosperous. And that is the reality we need to understand. Because the reality is not so much how it is here, it is how the story ends. That's the reality. It is how the story ends. May it end well for us. Let's go ahead to pray this evening. May it end well for us. That's just a prayer I've been praying all my life that God... it's not so much how the story is here... God, may the story end well. That ending... Jesus said it is finished. Paul said I've finished my course. That is the real story. If the story didn't end well, you are finished. You have not achieved anything in the actual sense. You have not achieved anything. You have not achieved. You never arrive. And like I tell people, you never made it in life until you have finished the work. A time is coming when I can no more work because I don't have all the time. You are in season. If by the end of seven months tomatoes have not done anything, it will dry up. The life is finished. I never produced tomatoes. You are in season. It is your purpose that defined your season. And like I keep telling people this matter of eternal life, we should be careful about how we talk about it. We should be... when we are looking at our life as believers, long life is about purpose. Every life is in season. For some, it is 100 meter. For some, it is 200. For some, it is 400. For some, it is relay. For some, it is marathon. Depending on the purpose that you were given before time began. So it's not because somebody is so prayerful... look, we should remove some of this stupid, useless mentality that make some people to feel that they are better than some people because they... Look, I want you to talk that God help me that way. That is the God... that the story... you see, it is how it ends. And that we begin to deliberately take decision. How intimate are you with God? Do you really have eternal life? Eternal life is how much you are aligned with God. How much you have been able to break away from self, from sin, and from the world. That is eternal life. How much you can break away, break away from the works of self, from the works of sin, from the work of the world, what we call the dead works, and you can do the work of God so that you can finish it. Because when those things, when they take your time, you will not finish your work. Your life will not have pressure. You will be dissipating the force of your life, dissipating to some into the works of self, you dissipate some to the work of sin, you dissipate some to the work of the world. You are just wasting away. Look, make up your mind, I will not waste away. That is why that song we were singing at the beginning, "Lord deliver me from an empty life. Lord deliver me from a vain life. Lord deliver me from an empty life. Lord deliver me from a vain life. Lord deliver me from an empty life. This is my prayer. Lord deliver me." Some people will look as if they have so much. It's not about that, brother and sister. It is how the story will end. What is the end of the story? The issue is that did you finish your work? Did Jesus know you? Were you able to be aligned with God? How much of self died? How much of sin died? How much of the world died? That is the reality. That's why the Bible says without holiness no man can see God. How much of sin died? How much of the world died? The Bible says that worldliness is, if any man loves the world, he's an enemy of God. It is how much you can be misaligned from all of these other works and you are aligned with God so that you can do the work of God. You can be doing bá ti Ọlọ́run fẹ́, Ọlọ́run o fẹ́ bá yẹn, bá ti Ọlọ́run fẹ́, Ọlọ́run o fẹ́ bá yẹn and that can become something you are growing in. It start becoming more clearer. You start leaving general work, you start becoming more specific, you start narrowing down to your area of discipline. That is the same thing with eternal life. It start becoming more narrow, more narrow, more narrow. And at the end, the ultimate was Jesus to die on the cross. The whole thing now narrowed down. By the time He died on the cross, it is not about how many miracles He did again. It is not about what saved us, it's not how many miracle Jesus did. Jesus did miracles, but that... what saved us? By His stripes we were healed. He was wounded for our iniquity, He was bruised, the chastisement for our peace is upon Him. Everything now narrowed down and He said it is finished. May we get to the finishing line and we have finished it. Why not talk to God, that God, may I get to the finishing line and at the finishing line I have also finished. May I get to the finishing line and by that finishing line I have also finished the works. Lord, at the finishing line may I have finished. May I have finished. May I have been... may everything about self and sin and the world, may they have... may they be completely... I would have finished. It will remain only me and God, just my alignment with God. I would have finished. [speaking in foreign language]. Lord help us. Baba help us. Baba help us. Baba help us. Save us. Deliver us from an empty life. Deliver us from a vain life. Deliver us from delusion. Nothing between me and my Savior, not of this world delusive dreams. I have renounced the world and its pleasure. I will keep the way clear with nothing between. Oh, nothing between my soul and my Savior. Oh, nothing, nothing between my soul... though the world against me convey. I have renounced the world and its pleasure. I will keep the way clear with nothing between. I will keep the way clear. I will keep it clear with nothing between. I will be fully aligned, fully aligned. That is eternal life. I will know God, the only true God, Jesus whom You... I will be fully aligned, fully aligned, fully aligned. That was the glory that left us. That was the glory that left us. That was the glory... when He say He's building a church of glory, that we are not aligned with God. "Can't turn my glory." [speaking in foreign language]. That is the [speaking in foreign language] we are talking about, about being aligned with God. [speaking in foreign language]. That is that man that came back into full alignment with God. Then the glory came back. [speaking in foreign language]. That is the [speaking in foreign language] that we lost. That is the [speaking in foreign language]. [speaking in foreign language]. That is the [speaking in foreign language] that we lost. Baba please help us. Deliver us from lies. Deliver us from deception. Deliver us from the lies of this world, from the lies of the devil, from the lies of the devil, from the world and its delusive dream. Lord deliver us. Lord deliver me. Lord deliver me. Lord deliver me. Lord deliver me. Let my eyes be single. Oh, that my body may be full of light. Let my eyes be single. Let my eyes be single. Let my eyes be single. That my body may be full of light. May my eyes not be double. Oh, no man can serve two masters. No man can serve two masters. May my eyes be single. May my eyes be single. May my eyes be single. In the name of Jesus. Thank You Father. Lord, our eyes on You this evening as we live, O God, as we come to the conclusion, O Lord, of this series, "The Ultimate Trophy to Win in Life." Lord we are just praying that at the finishing line, may we have won this trophy in the name of Jesus. Lord, at the finishing line, may this be the trophy that we will carry in the name of Jesus. Lord God Almighty, deliver us from emptiness. Deliver us from vanity. Deliver us from the world and its delusive dream. Help us to see the true trophy to carry, the trophy that at the end we may end well. That is the correct trophy to carry. It is how the matter ends. That is the real trophy. Lord, may we carry the ultimate trophy in life in the name of Jesus. Thank You Eternal Father. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Let's share the grace together. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forever more. Amen. [Speaker] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission help. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class, every Monday, 5:00 PM. Adolescents and singles club, every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM. Marriage forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM. Family life seminars, regular school out-reaches, and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location, Life Camp by the first bridge, [unclear: Ilese] community, opposite the Rejoice filling station along Idanre Road, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are 080-3386-1136, 070-3361-3848. God bless you all. [background noise] [Host] These people are trying to for... to make it easier for people. [inaudible]