Introduction

When Cynthia Manley realized she had twenty minutes left to live, she figured the best thing she could do with the time she had left was to send messages to her daughters. Her daughter, Alanna, was a student at Seattle University. She texted, “Stay strong and no matter what happens take care of you and sis. Find a way to get to California and be together soon and be a family. I love you so much.” To her other daughter, Alyssa, she wrote, “No matter what happens get your degree! Have a good life and be successful! And take care of your sister.”

What would you do if you had twenty minutes left to live? What would you say? It turned out Cynthia Manley had much more than twenty minutes to live. In fact, she and most of the state of Hawaii are still alive today. Maybe you read how in January of 2018, a state worker chose the wrong menu item for the state alert system and sent an alert to the entire island that said, “Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.” For about a half hour, many people in the state thought they were just about to die in a nuclear blast. Maybe you saw the photos of parents lowering their children down into manholes for shelter.

Northwest Catholic.org reports that a theology teacher by the name of Carter Dallas said he had four thoughts immediately after the alert. First, “Oh no I haven’t gone to confession yet.” Second, “How do I do perfect contrition?” Third, “We have to get the kids praying the rosary.” Finally, “Where’s my whiskey?”1

Fortunately, it was a happy ending for just about everyone except the guy who sent out the wrong message alert. In fact, it could have been a gift to some people. What if it caused them to think about what really mattered in life?

I wonder what I would do. I’d like to think I’d find the most crowded place I could and give my very best and my very last altar call sermon. But maybe if it actually happened, I’d be much less noble. Either way, that thought of twenty minutes left to live gives some real perspective to what’s important and what we’re doing right here.

That alert is not altogether unlike an alert that should guide how we live every day. Whether it happens in twenty minutes or twenty years, we will one day stand before God and give account for our lives. Jesus may return in a few weeks or a few centuries. But whether or not we are in the Last Days, you and I can be certain that we are definitely in our own last days. If you are in Jesus, the conversation on that day is already loosely scripted. In Matthew 25:23, Jesus said it will go something like this: “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”

It is only by faith in Jesus that we go to heaven. But there are three things you can effect on this earth that will carry beyond this earth on that day: who you become in Christ, the glory you bring to the name of Christ, and the impact you have on other people.

I’m not certain if your dog or cat goes into eternity. I do know your stuff doesn’t. Most of all, I am certain that you, God, and others are all eternal. Because His glory endures forever, everything we do to add to it endures forever as well. Because you last forever, everything you do to change, grow, and become more like Jesus will go on forever. Because the people around you are eternal, every time you touch someone’s life, that impact will go on and on and on.

Whether it happens in twenty minutes or twenty years, we will one day stand before God and give account for our lives.

Main Teaching

Today, we’re going to focus on the impact you have on others. In 2 Corinthians 5:10–11, Paul said, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others.”

What we do with people doesn’t get us into heaven—but it will go with us into heaven. Everyone who believes in Jesus goes to heaven, and everyone who goes to heaven will be rewarded according to what we’ve done with other people. And what are we supposed to do with other people? Paul showed us the first thing in 2 Corinthians 5. He said, “We try to persuade others.” That’s a huge truth because every person we lead to Jesus will spend eternity with Jesus. There’s really no better use of our time and our lives than help others know Him.

Now I wish I could give you the one formula for persuading everyone. There are some incredible tools to help. For example, a number of years ago Bill Bright wrote the Four Spiritual Laws, which quickly explain why we need a Savior and how we find salvation. I think we all would do well to look at them. However, if just telling people the Four Spiritual Laws would convert everyone, the job would already be done. The problem is that different people are at different stages in their journey toward Jesus. Some are ready to hear the Good News. Some are directly opposed to it.

So I don’t have the exact formula you can use ... View this full sermon with PRO Premium