Your life is short when you compare it to the times, seasons and ages that are ahead. The Bible tells us clearly there's a millennial age when Christ will come, our life here is our stewardship for that age. The work to get saved has been done by Jesus, but after that He calls us to do something with our life. All the hardship now is nothing compared to what God has prepared for those who love him
We've been having a great series recently looking at eternity. What I want to do is, I want us to open your Bible with me in Titus, Chapter 2. I want to continue from where I was, but I'm starting another a series. It's mainly because what I was sharing is: I've tried to lift your perspective about eternity. I want to just use one more illustration that may help to do that, I just need one man to help me, just one guy. Quickly, one guy. Len, you'll do. Oh here's one, Ian. Ian will be great. Now I want you to watch this and all you're going to have to do Ian, I want you just to stand here and I want you just to take one step - not even a big step - about one foot. Just take one foot forward, okay. Just stop there.
Your life in relationship to the millennial reign represents that one step that Ian just took now and compared to the millennial reign, just go out about two and a half to three kilometres and you get how much your life is in relationship to what God has just in the millennium for us. So if you think your life is long, it's short when you compare it to the times and seasons and ages that are ahead. The Bible tells us very clearly there's a millennial age when Christ will come and our life here is our stewardship for that age. Your life is so short, one step, compared to nearly three kilometres. Think about that.
So this life we've got is incredibly short. It's over very quick and it is your apprenticeship. Where you benefit from it is where you actually fulfil your apprenticeship which will be in eternity. We need to get an eternal perspective. Don't think short term and about what God can do for me today and tomorrow. Begin to think what I can be and prepare in my life for eternity, because that's only the millennial reign. That's only 1000 years. It goes on for ages and ages and ages and forever and forever, but at least that bit you can get a perspective. One step, two and a half to three kilometres. You see the comparison. Let's make our lives count now.
All the hardship now is nothing compared to what God has prepared for those who love him. Amen! Gives you a bit of perspective. Thank you Ian. Okay, open your Bibles to Titus, Chapter 2 and I want to just speak and start to share with us over the next two or three Sundays as I can; I want to speak to us about this theme, Zealous for Good Works. How many felt the women today as they shared about what they were doing? Could you feel the passion in there and the fire and the love? That's what I'm talking about - zealous to do something for God. And the question is, well of course we shared in Ephesians, Chapter 2 and Verse 8 and 9 how the work to get saved has been done by Jesus, but after that He calls us to do something with our life.
And we saw how Jesus has prepared for us good works, that He prepared before we were born, and one of the staff said well: how do I discover what those good works are and then walk in them? That's a good question isn't it? So we want to answer that question as best we can. It's given me a lot of food for thought and so I want to just spread it out over a couple of Sundays because I have the feeling and sense in my spirit that God is trying to shift this as a church. So for about six weeks we've been trying to gain eternal perspective, so you begin to make your life count. Now we need to get some applications around it, so I want to just start to look over the next two or three weeks or whatever, at a series and we're looking at being passionate or zealous to do good stuff, to do good works.
So what I want to do today is I want to just lay some foundation around that. If I don't do that everyone ends up running around doing this and that and striving and they miss the whole point, so I want us to get first of all a good foundation for this. So I'm going to outline - what I outline today is going to help you get perspective and understanding and we're going to anchor it around two key things you'll need to know. So I know this will be of great help for you, but we want to lay it out systematically, so in Titus, Chapter 2, let's read it. Verse 16, it says they profess to know God but in works deny him, so He's saying that there are some people who say they know the Lord, but actually the lifestyle or what they do actually denies that that's a reality.