I brought backups for brackets for my notes. Just never know. Trying to use technology, because then I don't have to wear the glasses. I can raise the print size, make it easier. But it is good to be here today. Appreciate the opportunity to bring God's word before you. And I pray that, truly I do pray, that God will bless you through his word. And in our verses, we open up in Isaiah 55, which is back where we are this morning. He promised that his word won't return unto him void. And we can have the confidence as God's people, as we continue to witness and don't always see results, that His Word will not. It will go out and it will prosper. And it will not return unto Him void. So let us be faithful in that. But let us go to Isaiah chapter 55. And we're just going to reread verses 6 and 7 as we discuss what is your life purpose. That's what I want you to think about today. Whether you're in Christ, or whether you have yet to receive Christ as your Savior. Isaiah 55, verses 6 and 7. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thought. And let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we come once again before you, and especially, Lord, myself, as John 15, 5, you said, without you, I can do nothing. Father, I'm ever so mindful of this on a daily basis, and even more so now as I prepare to bring your word before your people. I pray that the Holy Spirit would work through me, give me clarity in my speech, and allow me to say only that which you would have me to say. And Lord, that the word might penetrate the hearts of all that are here. And Lord, we truly do have the confidence that that word won't return to you void. But Father, we do pray that you would work a work in the hearts of a lost sinner today and bring them to Christ before it's everlasting today too late. And that we might see the evidence of that even before the doors close and the services are ended. Father, forgive me for my failures, my shortcomings. Cleanse me from all unrighteousness that would hinder you from blessing these people. And Lord, may your truth truly go forth in all your churches today, and especially here. In Jesus' name, amen. You know, when we were kids, Many of us would say, when I grow up, I want to be this, or I want to be that. Some get to adulthood, and they still say, when I grow up, I want to do this or do that. I used to tell people at work, I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up, even though I've been doing the same thing in different facets for 30 years. But I joke because I really don't like what I do. I don't like internally enjoy it, but I do well at it. Lord's blessed me. And it's what he's used and I praise him for it. But I think this isn't what I was supposed to do. You know, when I when I grow up, I'll know I'll really do what I want to do. Then we grow older and teen years come along upon us and young adult years follow. And during these years within within an individual, We start to contemplate who we are in this big facet of this world that we live in, in this cosmos, and how we play a part. and everything that's around us. And why are we here? What are we here for? It starts sometimes even in preteen years and goes into teen, really sort of culminates a lot of times in young adult, though I see many young adults and I think they really need to contemplate a little more about that because they're living so carelessly and freely like there is no tomorrow. And they don't have a responsibility that is going to quickly come upon them before they even realize it. Then soon before we know it, life has passed us by. And we start to get into what we consider the golden years. You know, my parents always said, I don't know why they call it the golden years, because right now it seems rough to us. But, you know, this life, soon this life, as we get to the golden years, we realize that this life will soon be over. Have we accomplished, we start to think, have we accomplished the things we desired, that we felt we needed to accomplish before this life has ended? And have we figured out our life purpose? and have we fulfilled it? Those are questions that a lot of times, as we continue to grow older, we continue to seek those things in our life. Hopefully we do, and I think a lot of people do, especially as we get continually older and older, and we get to the golden years of retirement, and then we start getting ailments in our body, some earlier in life than others, but the body just starts breaking down, and you realize that life, as we know it here in our physical bodies, really is not going to be much longer for me, you know? And am I satisfied with what I've gotten out of life? Have I really understood what my purpose is? And am I confident and am I assured that I've fulfilled it? Because all of us desire to go to our graves with a feeling that we've left it all on the field, as they say, as the adage goes. And that we've really done everything within us to truly make a mark in society and even more closer realm within our own family and the people that we touch on an everyday basis. Even now in general, each of us have reached the halfway point of this year, I was thinking. It's June. It's the end of June, soon ending. And we probably have thought or contemplated, where's the last six months gone? What have I really done with this time? Sometimes I do that with the end of the day. Sometimes my coworkers say, James, what have you really done with your time? It's like, you just mind your business. I enjoyed it. I have this heart monitor thing, just as a side note, checks my heart rate, my sleep, and all that. One time I turned to one of my colleagues, I said, it just said my heart rate was 49. I must be calm. He's like, well, obviously you don't do anything. Then again, what did I say? Mind your own business. I knew I shouldn't have brought you into this conversation. We think to ourselves and we say, what have I really done with this time over these past six months even? Have I done anything to fulfill my purpose here on earth? Before we know it, it'll be December. And another year will come and go as we aimlessly, many of us, just live our lives to ask ourselves the same question. Where has it gone? You know, they say the definition, I've mentioned this before, of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. But many of us live our lives aimlessly over and over again, just, you know, worried about getting through the day, getting a good night's sleep, and waking up and see whatever today brings. And when it's done, just go back to bed and start the cycle. We live our own sort of Groundhog Day, don't we? you know, like the movie did where he just kept waking up. Well, a lot of us really do this and sometimes we get caught into that cycle ourselves. And I'm hoping by the end of this message today that we'll be encouraged to be more cognizant of this, and that when we see ourselves slipping into this aimlessly living of life, that we'll shake ourselves and pull ourselves out of it. That we might truly be focused on what our life purpose is. And we'll understand what our life purpose is. So as you sit here and you listen to this message today, when I talked about that, many were here last year. Same time. When was that? Well, it was Sunday, June 28th. Listening to God's Word. I don't know exactly who is preaching from the pulpit, but you're listening to God's Word. And I ask you, those that were here, what's different in you from that point to now? Are those differences differences that put you closer to God? Or are those differences differences that put you farther from the realm of God? Those are things that we should ask ourselves. Continually. You know, we're used to doing it at the beginning of the year as we create new resolutions and all this kind of stuff that are gone by January 2nd. But they sounded great on January 1st when we committed to them. And January 2nd, we have to say, did I write those down? Because I can't remember them anymore. Well, it wasn't that big anyways. And we continue on. But those are things. Are these changes that take place in our life, we should always ask ourselves, are they changes that put us closer to the bosom of God or farther from the bosom of God? You heard the Gospel preached last year. You've heard the Gospel preached this January. If you're here without Christ, maybe you're here and you continue to reject Him. And so you let it pass away with inaction. That's what I'm talking to now is those without Christ that may have been here a year ago, may have been here a few weeks ago, may have been here a month ago, two months ago. Will you do the same today? Will you continue to let the change be no change and be filled with inaction when it comes to turning toward Christ and through repentance and faith, turning to Him for everlasting life? Maybe you're here. right now and you weren't present a year ago. I ask you though, what will you do? about god in your life right now that's the importance you know we live in a society that's truly always driven to find out our life's purpose specially now more than ever there seems to be the mantra uh... from an eclectic type viewpoint of you know what is your purpose the sad thing is they have a wrong focus you know of going about it but there's this thing that in general that you need to find out what your purpose, from the health and wellness people, from the motivational speakers, and all this kind of stuff, to be all you can be, is the Army's quote, but bring it out into the society, and just be all you can be, and that's enough, and you'll have a great life and a great afterlife. Maybe you that are here have asked yourself this very question, what is my life purpose? You know, and years ago, I used to. I used to contemplate, what am I here for? Especially as the Lord was working on my heart, you know, before he brought me into the power of salvation and through redemption, my conversion experience back in August of 1979. There's a number of days I sat, you know, in church and heard the word, as I couldn't date my wife unless I went to church. So I went to church and I heard the word of God. I grew up in a Protestant church and all I heard was be a good person, don't do heinous crimes. and you'll be okay." But then I heard something different. And I started asking myself, what is my purpose in life? What do I want out of life? And am I just going to aimlessly go off with no plans, no directions, no focus? Until God's Word told me in Isaiah 55, 6 and 7, Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found. Call ye upon him, while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord. And he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Now we read, even as children of God, we read God's scripture Hopefully we read it every day. Many times we read it and it sort of goes in one ear or internally and externally, passes by, and we really don't have much memory of what we just read. But I think all of you should be able to somewhat remember what happened that day. You might not remember the month and year. I try and keep it focused. Not that my salvation relies on me memorizing it, you know, but it keeps me focused that I am a child of God. And this was the point. And it always lets me also go back and say, am I any different from that point when God redeemed me in August of 79, when he brought me to the cross, when he brought the reality of this very scripture to my heart and soul, and opened up my darkened heart, and filled it with his love and with the realization that without him I would stand as a sinner in need of a savior guilty of hellfire and brimstone for the sin that I stood guilty in judgment for and I needed to carry the penalty would one day be carried out and he brought me into his loving arms. To find life's purpose for your life you must go to the one my friend who knows all. That's what I realized when I contemplated life's purpose before that night in August of 1979. I came to the realization that I would never understand what life's purpose was for me until I went to the one who knew it all. The Lord God, Jehovah, you must go to the one, like I did, who breathed the very breath of life into you and controls your heartbeat as you're listening to me. Every time that beat takes, every time you inhale and exhale, He is the one who controls that and He is the one who knows. what is best for you, and He knows what life is for you. And the first thing that's for you all who are here is to seek the Lord while He may be found. Repent of your sin and look to Jesus Christ before it's ever lasting too late. There is no greater need for you if you're here without Christ. If you want to fulfill your life purpose, is to seek the Lord while he may be found. Turn to him through repentance and faith and look to Jesus Christ for everlasting life. But for us who are here that never truly sought the Lord, I say to you again, you need to seek God for life. Before you understand what your life purpose is, you must seek God for life itself. I'm not talking about the breath that you're breathing. the heartbeat that's pumping inside, the physical portion of the life that exists within you now. But you are dead in your trespasses and sin, my friend. And you need to seek God for life itself. Life eternal, that is. For eternal damnation is what awaits you. In John 3, verse 18, it says, He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already. because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." My friend, you might say, well, I don't feel lost. Well, my friend, each of us came into this world lost and on our way to an everlasting hell. And we continue that path, and we'll just continue that without Christ, without repenting and turning toward Christ. We need to seek God, lost friend, first and foremost for life itself. This passage we read earlier also was not a suggestion, but it was a command in Isaiah. He didn't say, if you'd like to, I would love for you to seek the Lord. He didn't put those connotations on it, did he? He didn't put those premises. He said, seek the Lord while he may be found. In fact, it's an urgent plea. And it becomes more of an urgent plea when you realize that for you. Even David was brought to a place where he understood and said, Behold, I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. Even David had to understand that to be a child of God. And he understood that more once he was a child of God. What he needed to understand more than anything before that was Isaiah 55-6. Seek the Lord. while he may be found. And through God's grace and Holy Spirit, still working even back then, he did. And he was redeemed. And many of you here today, in Christ, the same thing happened. But on your own, my friend, there's none that understandeth. There's none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way. They together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good, no not one. Romans chapter 3 verses 11 and 12. You might think that there is some good in you that God will look down. We've heard this from the pulpit before, even our pastors talking about. Many people and many people on TV will make you want to believe that there's some kind of scale of justice even in God's kingdom. And as long as the good works, the good things that you do, outweigh the bad things, that you'll be okay and God will say, it's alright, I'll bring you in. But the fact is, is that scale of justice will never tilt to the scale of good because God's Word says there is none that doeth good. No, not one. So instead of continuing to battle over that, my friend, just repent. Repent and believe. Realize that God's Word is true, and it's true for you. If you've not truly sought God for eternal life through repentance and faith, then I ask you now to seek Him. How? through the Son, the Father of sins, Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes unto the Father but through Him. And it's here that you hear this, and you'll hear it again tonight, and you'll hear it again Wednesday, and you'll hear it again Sunday, as long as you continue to come back. Because, my friend, life is not life without Christ. And you must have Christ. But you must seek the Lord while He may be found. When is that? That's right now for you. While you're hearing the Word. Many will seek life's purpose though. Maybe you'll be one of those. Through other means. Through other gods. Little gods. But only those that seek the Son the Father sent will have sought wisely. And only those who have sought the Father's Son have found Him. will only discover life's purpose. when they have turned from themselves through penance and faith and into salvation, experience salvation, forgiveness of sins through the work that Christ did for your sin debt that you stood guilty once before God. That could be today, my friend. Romans 3, 23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And then in chapter 6, verse 23, because the wages of sin is death. And one day, sinner, Unchanged, you'll be cast into the lake of fire where the worm doth not and the fire is not quenched. We talked about this a little bit this morning, some of us, about some of these people on TV like Joel Osteen and all this, that just want you to feel good about the love of God. My friend, God's love is great. He's letting you hear this Word right now. He's letting you breathe His air right now. He's letting your heart pump right now. He is a God of love, but He's also a God of justice and righteousness. And He cannot let sin go unpunished. And we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God outside of Christ's work in us and through us. And so until you have that work applied, through repentance of faith and turning toward Christ, you stand guilty of sin and death, and one day without death. Revelations 20, 14, and 15 says, in death and hell were cast in a lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast in a lake of fire. But those that seek him can quickly discover the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Seek him now. Jesus said unto him, I said it earlier, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. That is as true when he said it, as it is right now as I read it. It's important. You know a man named Zacchaeus, You've probably read about Zacchaeus even if you don't read your Bible much. You've probably heard in days when you're a kid about wee little Zacchaeus up in a tree. He sought Jesus one day. And Jesus' response to him was this, This day is salvation come to this house. For as much as he also is a son of Abraham, for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." That's over in Luke 19, verses 9 and 10. My friend, the Word of God is true today as it was back then, and it will be true tomorrow as it is today. But tomorrow may not come for you, but today is here. Seek Him while He may be found. Repent today from your sinful state. then life's purpose is provided to you as a child of God. But right now your life purpose, my friend, is to seek God while he may be found. But let's discuss life's purpose for the child of God, because I know some out there that's children of God, that know Christ as their Savior. So we need to understand our purpose in life. Because there's a greater goal. There's a greater purpose for us in Christ that we need to take hold of. And we need to grasp and to internalize if we're truly to carry out the purpose that God has for our life. And that is, first of all, the service of God. Turn over to Joshua chapter 24 verse 15. I haven't had you turn too much. I didn't print anything in bulletins because we didn't have any bulletins. Sister Jackie's out. Joshua 24 15 says, and if it seemed evil unto you to serve the Lord, Choose you this day whom ye will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. If you're a child of God, you need to make this declaration in your life. If you're a husband, if you're a wife, if you're a father, or you're a mother, you need to make that decision for your household. And you need to make that declaration clear to all those that enter your household. That you may choose who you want to serve, you may do what you want to do, but as for me and my house, We'll serve the Lord and make that evident. We don't need to make it arrogant. We don't need to make it without love, but we do need to make it. We do need to declare it as far as that goes. I ask you, are you serving God, redeemed sinner? Yes? If so, then I ask why? Thinking, what? Why would you ask me why I'm serving God if I'm a child of God? because that's important. It's not just important that you serve God, but you must understand and you must clarify within your heart and your mind and your soul why, why you are serving Him. See, service in and of itself is empty, without a true purpose, without a true focus, if that true focus isn't right. Is it for self-satisfaction? is it that others may see it and praise you for it. Sadly, this is true for many. We're too often a self-centered people. And even myself get caught up in sometimes that we need to chastise ourself. I talked about judging in Sunday school, how judgment needs to start with us. We need to continually judge ourselves. The judgment of God might not come upon us through chastisement. But my friend, we need to understand that our service, if it's to be the service for our life purpose before God, it should be done that Christ may receive glory in and through us for no other reason. That's why we serve Him. We need to clarify that. We need to do that daily, because our flesh will fight against us, and our flesh will try and seek some glory from it, and seek some self-praise from it, and some self-satisfaction. But my friend, any time that we buy into that, and we allow our flesh to grasp some of that self-satisfaction, we take the glory away from the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings. our Savior, our Redeemer, and He's the one who deserves it all, and He's the one who should get it all. We also, our purpose is to seek the kingdom, God's kingdom continually. Matthew 6.33 says this, but seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Seek ye first. Our life purpose, child of God, is to seek first the kingdom of God. We in Christ should seek daily to have the righteousness of Christ worked out within us and through us within our life. If we continue to seek His active presence and His presence would flow out from us to those around us, how much greater living witnesses would we be? Think about that. Unfortunately, though, many Christians are alive in physical form, but we're dead witnesses, aren't we? And that's not good. We need to seek continually the kingdom of God. That is, that lost souls would turn to Christ. That we might find the lost sheep that God still has yet to save. That we might be faithful. We need to be living witnesses. We can't be dead witnesses. Have you ever seen anybody in a casket, and I don't say this frivolously, but have you ever seen anybody after they've left their body and they've gone to glory? Have you ever seen that body do anything productive? No, why? Because it's without life. Well, my friend, if you have the life of Christ in you, then we need to not be like a body in a casket without life. We need to be a living witness, seeking the kingdom of God to be fulfilled within our presence, and fulfilled within our presence. Do others see you seeking the kingdom of God? starting with your family. That's something we should ask ourselves. Also, our life purpose is doing the Father's will. John 3.34 says this, Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work. What is the Father's will for His children today? Have you ever thought about that? Well, it's to fulfill the will of Christ. That's the will of the Father, is that we would fulfill the will of Christ. To actively live for Him. To actively hide His words in our heart that we might not sin against Him. To actively commune with Him. To actively witness for Him. To actively be a reflection of Christ in and through us. That's what it's all about. That's our life purpose, also, as a child of God. What else is our life's purpose as a child of God? As we continue to those golden years and we see those days ending, we need to finish the divine task. John 17.4, Jesus said, I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. You know, Paul said over in 2 Timothy 4, verses 7 and 8, he said, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at the day, and not to me only, but to all them also that love his appearing. Child of God, are you committed, even in your golden years, to finish the course? To finish the race strong? You know, sometimes we get in, and trust me, I don't run. But there are runners out there. You'll never see me running, except to the bathroom in the middle of the night. That's about it. You know, there's runners out there, and there's some runners that they do it just because they feel like they have to. And if they run a marathon, say it's a 5K, we'll go with the little one, because I wouldn't even make that one. But say a 5K, and they get like, they've never run a 5K before. They might have run a couple miles, but not a 5K. So all they're concerned about is passing it. So they get halfway, and they're like wearing down, they're like, well, I'm just, it really don't matter, I just need to cross it. So the last third of it, they just walk it, and they cross it. Now they finished it, but did they finish it strong? Well, in life, my friend, as a child of God, we need to finish life strong for Jesus Christ. We need to be as strong as we are now Internally, I'm not talking physically. We don't have control over our physical bodies. They break down. The world pours upon things upon us through trials and temptations, and our physical abilities break down and things from, again, the results of just general sin work in itself, meeting itself out in our bodies. But my friend, they can't control the heart. Can't control your soul. Can't control your connection to Jesus Christ. And that's where you stay strong, in your witness, in your walk, in your testimony, in being active, no matter how much you can even get a breath. I knew a guy when I was 15, I went to a hospital with my neighbor lady. That's a weird way to say it, neighbor lady, but she was my neighbor lady. She was a free will holy roller Baptist. So they did the tongues and everything. We won't get into how that's not scriptural. But we went up and we visited a guy who was dying of cancer, of lung cancer. I don't know if he was lost or not. But back then in those days, show you how old I am, you could actually smoke in hospitals, even to patients. How many remember that? Yeah. And he had a cigarette lit. He only had two days to live, dying of lung cancer, and he had a cigarette lit, and he was smoking that cigarette as he was laying in bed. First of all, I thought, this is crazy. There's oxygen and everything. You're letting people smoke? And then I thought, I'll never smoke. And then a couple years later, I found myself smoking for a few years. Things we say. But he had ashes on it. His ashes were this long. this long, so long that I couldn't even comprehend how the weight alone didn't make him break off. And he tried to break him off, to hit it on an ashtray, and he didn't even have the strength to knock him off there. I'm saying all this to say this, saying all that to say this, even if you get to that point, And hopefully you're not smoking a cigarette at the time. But even if you get to that point of strength in your body, my friend, you can still finish the course strong. You can still finish the course strong for Jesus Christ with a witness, even in your actions, and sometimes, many times, even in our inactions, by the spirit of how that we become, go out being absent from the body and present with the Lord. No greater way is that. Quickly, we can also find life's purpose as a child of God by completing the course joyfully. See, it's not just important that we complete the course and that we complete it strong, but we need to complete that course joyfully. We need to let the world know that this isn't suffering for the child of God going through this life as a child of God. It's exciting. It's exhilarating. And there's nothing greater than when Christ is inside us. If they don't see that, how are they going to desire the Christ that we live for? And maybe that's the problem. Maybe you don't have the Christ that provides joy, and you need Christ. But my friend, as a child of God, let not this world put upon us, or our flesh put upon us, discouragement and depression and frustration, that we lose our joy for Christ, because that is our life purpose as well, to be a witness to the world around us. Acts 20, 24 says, but none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy. and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God." But my friend, the key word for this purpose is that the goal was that we would finish it with joy. And then lastly, our goal is ultimately attaining Christlikeness. That's our life purpose. From the moment that we know Christ our Savior, our life purpose is also that we might attain Christlikeness. Philippians 3, 13 and 14 says, brethren, I count on myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. And one day, my friend, we will attain Christlikeness, won't we? When we're absent from the body and present with Him, we no longer see through a glass darkly, but we see Him face to face. What a day that will be when Jesus I shall see. Do you truly internalize that when you sing that song? As we get older, we do more and more, don't we? We look forward to that day because we see all that is in and what is waiting and what this world of sin is bringing upon. But my friend, the greatest thing that we should seek from the other side is not that we'll be free from this sin that so easily besets us, but that we'll be like Christ. We'll finally be like Christ the way God intended us to be. you know, in the very beginning before sin, wretched sin, took effect in his body. In closing, folks, if you're here without Christ, seek God while he may be found. That is your one and only purpose right now in life, is to seek God while he may be found. If you're in Christ, you need to fulfill these life purposes. You need to realize that the purpose for your life is not what you deem the purpose for your life to be. It's what his word deems for our life to be. And then we need to do it with joy. We need to do it with joy. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, we thank you for this morning you've given us. Oh, what a day that will be when Jesus we shall see. Father, we have contemplated today through Your Word what our life purpose is before You. And Father, I brought to these who are without Christ, they have yet to see the need for Christ as their Savior, yet to see themselves as a sinner, lost and undone, where their purpose is to seek Thee while You may be found. Now is the time. Now is the accepted time. Redeem them, Lord. May you find glory in breaking their heart and opening up their stony heart to see Christ high and lifted up. And then bring repentance and faith to them before it's everlasting too late. Father, as a child of God, united here with others of my brothers and sisters in Christ, I am grateful for thy salvation. Let me never take it for granted, but let me not take it for granted by living out my purpose that you've laid forth within your word, that I might fulfill the work of God, that I might do it joyfully, that I might do it self-sacrificially. and Lord, that I might do it for your honor and glory. Forgive us for our failures, cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and may you mete out what you would have to be done to service this morning. For it's in Jesus' name, amen.