Living with No Regrets
Acts 20:13 – 27
Intro: Most of us have some things in our lives that we would change if we could. If we could just snap our fingers and change some things about ourselves, most of us would start snapping. I know there are some things in my past that I am not very proud of. If only we would have listened to the Lord instead of the people we were hanging out with! If only we would not have taken that first drink or puff or whatever! If only we had listened to our parents! If only… If only…. We come to regret many of our decisions.
-But as we all know, we cannot change the past. The past is gone and we can no longer touch it. However, we can change the present and consequently, the future. Now, when things from the past haunt us, we do need to deal with them and find complete forgiveness and healing. God is more than willing and able to forgive us and to take our shame away.
-Today, we’re going to look at the life of Paul from Acts 20, and see what it means to live a life with no regrets. Now don’t get the wrong idea that Paul was a perfect saint and had never done anything bad enough to regret. There was a time when Paul was so spiritually blind that he thought he was doing the right thing by killing innocent Christians. As a result of Paul’s sin, he describes himself as the biggest sinner around. In fact, he even says that he doesn’t deserve to be called an apostle because of how he used to treat God’s church. How did he ever reconcile himself with being responsible for the deaths of so many of Christ’s followers? It was only by the grace of God that he found forgiveness and healing and went on to live a life with no regrets. Here is the main thought of the message today:
Prop: You can have a life with no regrets as you faithfully serve Jesus from this day forward.
Interrogative: How do we live a regret-free life?
TS: Let’s look at Paul’s words to the church leaders from Ephesus to identify a few basics that will allow us to live with no regrets. First, let’s look at a few background verses.
Background: Paul had missed his goal of arriving in Jerusalem to worship during Passover, but he still wanted to get there before Pentecost so he could worship at the temple and encourage the church there. So in vv.13-16 Luke tells us what happened during most of the 50 day period between Passover and Pentecost.
13 We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot. 14 When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. 15 The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Kios. The day after that we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day arrived at Miletus. 16 Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.
-Now I’d like us to jump into our first major point about living with no regrets.
I. Right Living Leads to a Life with No Regrets (Acts 20:17-21)
17 From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. 18 When they arrived, he said to them: "You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. 19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews. 20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.
-This phrase, “right living” may sound like I’m overstating the obvious, but I think there really is something here for us to consider. We make choices every day. Some of these choices affect how close we will stay to the Lord and some of our decisions impact the spiritual lives of others. Whenever we face these choices, we need to remember that what we are doing now establishes a pattern for future behavior. If I go ahead and indulge in what I want to do, then it will be easier to choose 2nd best next time, and ignore what God wants me to do. So, what do we mean by right living. Our text gives us some clues.
A. Right Living means Living the Examined Life (v.18-Examined by God, by Self, and observed by Others)
B. Right Living means Living as God’s Servant (v.19)
C. Right Living includes humility and compassion (v.19)
D. Right Living means encouraging others and helping them grow (v.20)
E. Right Living means being a straight shooter with the truth (v.21)
-Right living means staying in right relationship with God, and being obedient to His will. It means making decisions based on the guidelines found in God’s word – the Bible.
-However, lest you get the wrong idea, it is not about adhering to a list of rules. God certainly gives us rules to live by, but even in the OT the Bible says that people who are just or righteous live by faith – The just shall live by faith. Right living means living by faith in God to help you make the right choices and do the right things that honor Him. If we make it our aim to honor God in all we do, and trust Him to help us, then we are on our way to living a life with no regrets. You will never regret trusting God or living right. God will honor and bless you with an ever increasing confidence in Him.
-TS: Along those same lines, let’s look at the next ingredient of a regret-free life.
II. Committed Living Helps Produce a Life with No Regrets (Acts 20:22-24)
22 "And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me-- the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.
-Paul had committed his life to Christ, and often found himself doing things that didn’t make a lot of sense to the natural mind. Why go back to Jerusalem when he knew that many of the Jews there wanted him dead? Yet, v.22 says he was compelled by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. Further, he said he did not know what would happen to him there.
-How well do you like venturing into the unknown? Most of us get rather comfortable in our routines of life and do not welcome the surprises that pop up along the way. I remember when we resigned from our first church. It is hard to be 100% objective, but we were pretty sure our time there was done. We felt we had accomplished all that we could and that the Lord had something else in mind for us and for that church. So, a few weeks later we resigned with no place to go. We weren’t sure what to do. It wasn’t long before we got a call from a pastor in Nebraska who asked us to come and work with him. God directed our path and things worked out. We went to the new church, not knowing how we were going to make it. They offered us one Sunday morning offering a month. If the people were feeling generous, we’d get to pay our bills. If not, then we’d be finding some outside work. God blessed and provided all along the way because we were committed to following Him.
-That also reminds me of my first year of Bible college. After paying the first installment on my school bill and buying the books I needed for class, I had about $160 left to my name. As I was sitting in the Sunday morning service that first Sunday, I just felt prompted to put everything I had into the offering. I knew that I would owe another $600 in a couple months, but I didn’t have it anyway, so why not? Maybe I was testing God, I don’t know; or maybe He was testing me. “Mark, do you really trust Me to come through for you?” So, I gave all that I had and somehow I made it through that year. I raked leaves, shoveled snow, cleaned and painted the college heat plant, and did everything I could to make it work. That alone wasn’t enough, but God provided through other means and I made it through. I don’t share this to bring any glory to myself – only to show that God’s grace and provision are sufficient for those who trust themselves to His care. I have no regrets about the steps I took to commit myself more fully to God and His calling on my life. There were other times that I wish I would have trusted God more and there were times when I made wrong choices. But as a whole, my life was committed to the Lord, and He had my permission to do whatever He wanted with my life.
-Are you committed to following Jesus? Are you willing to part with your own plans and the things you rely on for security in order to really follow the Lord? If not, you may pile up some regrets along the way.
-Think about it this way. Here are some things you’ll never regret: quality time with your family; quality time in prayer and reading your Bible; investing in other people’s lives so they will know the Lord and grow spiritually. Anything that brings you or someone else closer to God and to carrying out His purposes – those are the things that you will never regret. But becoming a slave to material possessions or money, neglecting your relationship with God, your family, or with other people God puts in your life – those are the things that will breed regret.
-Someone said that when this life is over, nobody is going to say, “Boy, I sure wish I had spent less time with my family and more time at work.” Nobody will say, “I sure wish I had prayed less and spent more time on pleasure and recreation.” Why not? Because when this life is over, we will be able to see the true value of the things in life. All you can take with you when you die is the love you have for God and the people He has placed in your life. With that as your only possession, how rich will you be in heaven?
-Nothing else mattered to Paul in comparison to doing what God had called him to do. He said, “I consider my life worth nothing to me….” I only want to testify to the good news of God’s grace. Folks, that is our calling as well. We are witnesses for God.
-TS: Finally, let’s talk about something that God wants to bless each of us with.
III. A Clear Conscience Follows a Life with No Regrets (Acts 20:25-27)
25 "Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.
-Somebody said, “A clear conscience is often the result of a poor memory.” Well, Paul had a clear conscience because he had obeyed the Lord and had shared the good news about Jesus with everyone God brought into his life. His calling as an apostle required that he speak the truth about God and His love to Jews and Gentiles, slaves and free people, men and women. With God’s help, Paul had been faithful in carrying out his mission. That is why he had a clear conscience. That doesn’t mean that he was perfect. Paul made mistakes, but he didn’t stay there. He allowed his mistakes to make him a better servant of Christ as he learned to share God’s love more effectively.
-What has God called you to do? Has He placed a burden on your heart or blessed you with a gift that He wants you to use for Him? Certainly this goes along with right living and being committed to God and His purpose for your life. If we do not honor God by right living and if we are not wholly committed to His will, then we will not have a clear conscience before God.
-I’m not really talking about past mistakes or sins that we have repented of. Sometimes those things still cloud our conscience until we remember that God’s grace is powerful enough to forgive us completely, and to take the guilt and shame away. What I’m talking about here is when we crowd out God’s purpose for our lives with other things that steal our time, energy, resources, affections, and devotion. God wants our love, our obedience, and our commitment to be wholeheartedly His! Whenever we place God’s purposes on the back burner of our lives, we end up brewing regret.
-If we really want to live with no regrets, then we need to ask God to help us keep our task before us. We need to ask Him to help us be about our Father’s business. We need to ask God to help us be faithful and committed to Him and His will for our lives. Regardless of outcomes, if we are faithful and committed, we can have a clear conscience before God. The results are really up to Him! Our job is to get close to Him and faithfully do what He has called us to do – which in some fashion must relate to sharing the good news about Jesus with others and helping people grow closer to God.
Conclusion: As we close today, how is your regret factor? Is your past filled with regrets? Don’t live in the past and nurse those regrets! We could all fill pages and pages with the mistakes we’ve made. But the chapter that God wants to write in your life is one called NO REGRETS! Are you willing to make this declaration today?
From this day forward, I will trust God to help me live right!
From this day forward, I will commit myself to honoring God through love and obedience.
From this day forward, I will seek to live with a clear conscience, knowing that Christ has forgiven me, and that I am doing all I can to follow Him.
-If this resonates in your heart, just take a moment to tell the Lord where you are and what you are feeling right now. Talk to Him about the things that might hinder you from living with no regrets. Then ask Him to help you work those issues out. It may take a process, and it may not be an easy road. However, it is the only road you want to be on because it is the only road that ends face to face with Jesus, with Him saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of the Lord.” Let’s pray.
