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Amen. All right, well, we're there in Ecclesiastes chapter number 7. And we've been going through this series for the last couple of days on the subject of Seven Habits of Highly Effective Christians. And of course, this was based on a book that's actually just a business book, a leadership book, called The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. And I was having our leadership class read through this book together. And as I was reading it, every time I went to a new chapter and learned about a new habit, I kept connecting biblical principles with those habits. And I thought, you know, this would make a good basis for a sermon series. That's what we were doing. And I'm reading to you from the book, but it's primarily coming from the Word of God and showing these principles from the Word of God, of course. And the series is called The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Christians. And the word effective means adequate to accomplish a purpose producing the intended or expected result. And that's what you want in your life. You want to be effective. You want to accomplish your purpose. And you want to produce the intended or expected result. And today, we're going to talk about what is the intended or expected result. On Wednesday night, we began the series with an introductory sermon called Inside Out. And we learned about the fact that if we're going to change, if we're going to grow, it needs to begin from the inside and work itself out. This morning, we learned about habit number one. And it was be proactive. And it was about taking initiative and putting effort into what we do. Tonight, we're looking at habit number two. And habit number two is this. Begin with the end in mind. Begin with the end in mind. Are you there in Ecclesiastes chapter 7? Look down at verse number eight. The Bible says this. Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. And the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. The Bible here tells us that better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. And the reason for that is because a lot of things start off well, but they don't end up well. And God says, look, it's better to end well than to start well. And that should be encouraging for many of us, because you might look at your life and say, I didn't really get off to a good start. I didn't really get off to a good start when it comes to my spiritual life or my Christian life. But the Bible says that better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. And habit number two is this. Begin with the end in mind. And from this moment forward, have the end in mind. Now, you're there in Ecclesiastes 7. And look down at verse number one, the first verse in the chapter, Ecclesiastes chapter 7. And let me just give you a couple of things to write down. And I'd like you to write these down if you're able to. Number one, beginning with the end in the mind allows you to live with purpose. Why would you want to live your life with the end in mind? Because it allows you to live with purpose. Ecclesiastes chapter 7, look down at verse number one. A good name is better than precious ointment. And the day of death than the day of one's birth. Notice the Bible says, here God is telling us that some things are better than other things. He says in verse 8, better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. He says in verse 1, a good name is better than precious ointments. And then he says, and the day of death than. The word than there is referring to the fact that it's better than the day of one's birth. And when you read that, you might think to yourself, that's kind of odd. Because we normally are excited, right? When someone is born, when a new life begins, when a baby is born and there's a birth, we're excited about that. We're happy about that. And usually, when there's a death, we are mourning over the loss. And we see one as positive and one as negative. But God says that death and the day of death is better than the day of one's birth. Notice verse 2. He says, it is better to go to the house of mourning. And when he says house of mourning here, you could look at that as referring to like a funeral. He says, look, it's better to go to the house of mourning, to go to a funeral where you're mourning someone's death, than to go to the house of feasting. He says, it's better to go to a funeral than to go to a party. You say, well, that's kind of morbid. Why would God say that? Well, notice what he says. He says, for that is the end of all men. He says, here's why it's better to go to the house of mourning than to the house of feasting. Because everyone's life is going to end with a funeral. Unless you live through the tribulation and you live to the rapture, we're all going to die at some point. He says, better is to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men. He says, look, everyone is going to die at some point. Now, why don't you notice the last part of verse 2. He says, and the living will lay it to his heart. When the Bible says there that the living will lay it to his heart, here's what he's saying. He's saying those of us that are alive should consider that our lives will one day come to an end. The living should consider that they will not always live. You ought to live your life with this idea that your life will one day come to an end. I want to read to you just a little excerpt from the book here. And it's a little bit of a lengthy excerpt. I'll read it as quickly. And this part of the book is actually a well-known part of this book. It's been called or referred to as the funeral exercise. And I'm going to go ahead and read it for you. It says this. In your mind's eye, see yourself going to the funeral of a loved one. Picture yourself driving to the funeral parlor or chapel, parking the car, and getting out. As you walk inside the building, you notice the flowers, the soft organ music. You see the faces of friends and family you pass along the way. You feel the shared sorrow of losing and the joy of having known that radiates from the hearts of the people there. As you walk down to the front of the room and look inside the casket, you suddenly come face to face with yourself. This is your funeral, three years from today. All these people have come to honor you, to express feelings of love and appreciation for your life. As you take a seat and wait for the services to begin, you look at the program in your hand. There are to be four speakers. The first is from your family, immediate and also extended. Children, brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents who have come from all over the country to attend. The second speaker is one of your friends, someone who can give a sense of what you were as a person. The third speaker is from your work or profession. And the fourth is from your church or some community organization where you've been involved in service. Now think deeply. What would you like each of these speakers to say about you and your life? What kind of husband, wife, father, or mother would you like their words to reflect? What kind of son or daughter or cousin? What kind of friend? What kind of working associate? What character would you like them to have seen in you? What contributions, what achievements would you want them to remember? Look carefully at the people around you. What difference would you like to have made in their lives? And this is an exercise in the book that he actually wants you to go through and to think through these things. But the question is this. When you are gone, what will you have left behind? If you were able to attend your funeral, if you were able to be present at your funeral, and you know, for those of us that are saved, I don't know, you know, we're gonna be in heaven, obviously. I don't know if God allows us to look down at our funeral. The Bible says that we're encompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. But if you were allowed to look down at your funeral and people who know you, people who love you, your friends, your family, your coworkers, your church family got up to speak about you, got up to give words about you, what would you want them to say? This is living with the end in mind. And why would you want to begin with the end in mind? Here's why, because it allows you to live with purpose. Because the living should consider that they will not always live. Go with me to the book of Philippians if you would, Philippians chapter number three in the New Testament. You've got the book of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. And let me say this as well. Not only should the living consider that they will not always live, but the living should consider what are they living for. You gotta ask yourself, when we talk about this, begin with the end in mind, live your life with the end in mind. You gotta consider, what are you living for? What is it that you are trying to accomplish with your life? Are you there in Philippians chapter three? Like you look down at verse number 13. Notice the apostle Paul. He wrote these words, and the apostle Paul was a very accomplished man, someone who accomplished, a very effective Christian, a very effective soldier for the Lord Jesus Christ that accomplished much with his life. And he says this, Philippians 3, 13. "'Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, "'but this one thing I do.'" He says, "'Forgetting those things which are behind, "'and reaching forth unto those things which are before.'" Notice, he says, "'I press toward the mark "'for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.'" When the apostle Paul says there, "'I press toward the mark,' what he means by that is that in his mind, there was a goal. There was something he was trying to accomplish. There was something he was trying to do with his life. And the problem that I see with many Christians and even non-Christians, those of us that maybe have found ourselves living non-effective lives, is that we're kinda just going through life aimlessly. You get up, you go to work, you go home, you eat, you sleep, just so that you can get up and go to work and go home and eat and sleep, just so you can get up and go to work and go home and eat and sleep. And in between there, you might throw in some YouTube videos and in between there, you might throw in a vacation or two. But we basically just live our lives not really trying to accomplish anything. And here, today we're learning, tonight we're learning about the fact that if you wanna live an effective life, you gotta live with the end in mind. You gotta realize that your life is gonna one day come to an end and what you're going to accomplish needs to be accomplished while you are alive. The apostle Paul accomplished so much for God because he kept pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. I believe if you would have talked to the apostle Paul, he would have all, and I said, hey, Paul, what are you up to? What are you doing? He would have always had a to-do list. I always told you, even in his writings, you'll hear him say, yeah, I wanna go to Spain. I wanna go visit the believers in Rome. I wanna go here and I wanna go there and I wanna go start this church and accomplish this. And you know what? In my life and in your life, we always oughta be working toward something. We oughta be trying to accomplish something. We oughta be pressing towards the mark. Now obviously, my mark and your mark might be different. As a pastor, my mark might look like a ministry we wanna start or some sort of a new church function that we want to accomplish. For you, it might be having to do with your career. And for all of us that are parents, it ought to be with our children and if you're married, with your marriages. But the point is this. You oughta live with the end in mind. Living with, beginning with the end allows you to live with purpose. It allows you to live on purpose. It allows you to not live aimlessly. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter number three. You're there in Philippians. If you just go backwards, you'll have Philippians, Ephesians, Galatians, 2 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians. While you turn there, let me read to you a little section from the book here. He says this. It's incredibly easy to get caught up in an activity trap, in the busyness of life, to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it's leaning against the wrong wall. It is possible to be busy, very busy, without being very effective. If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us closer to the wrong place faster. And the point is this. In your life, you oughta consider. You oughta really ask yourself, when I'm dead, what do I want people to say about me? We're gonna look at it here in a minute, but the Bible talks about the fact that our lives are as a tale that is told. When I'm gone, what do I want my wife to say about me? When I'm gone, what do I want my kids to say about their dad? When I'm gone, what do I want the church family here, of Verity Baptist Church, to say about their pastor? When I'm gone, look, here's what we're saying. When you live with the end in mind, you can live on purpose, you can live with purpose, because you oughta consider what you're living for because you oughta consider the fact that you will not always live. Go to 1 Corinthians 3, look at verse 12. Now, in 1 Corinthians chapter three, we have this famous passage about the judgment seat of Christ. Let me just take a moment to speak to you about it before we jump into the text. This is, of course, the judgment of believers. There are two judgments the Bible tells us about. There is the judgment of unbelievers called the great white throne. Those who are not saved will stand before the great white throne, and they will be judged for their sins and thrown into hell. If you're saved tonight, praise the Lord, you'll never have to stand at the great white throne. You won't have to stand there to be judged. However, there is a judgment for believers called the judgment seat of Christ, where God is not gonna judge us based on our works to see whether we're gonna go to heaven or not. That's already been paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ, but at the judgment seat of Christ, he will judge our works to see how to reward us, what he's gonna reward us for. And in 1 Corinthians 3, the apostle Paul is talking about the judgment seat of Christ, and he's using this analogy of fire to explain how this is going to unfold. And this may very well be literal as well, but look at verse 12. The Bible says this, and if any man build upon this foundation, now the foundation there, he's referring to Jesus Christ, right? Because we're saved, we build our foundation on Jesus Christ, the rock of Jesus Christ. He says, now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, and these things here, these are materials of high value, gold, silver, precious stones, and these represent things that will last forever, things that are eternal. These are things that are not gonna get consumed by the fire. If you put gold or silver or precious stones in a fire, they're not gonna get consumed, they'll just get refined. So he says, if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, but then he says there's other things that you can build as well. He says wood, hay, stubble. This represents things that will not last. These are things that are temporal. These are things that will get burnt up with the fire. If you put wood in a fire, it will eventually get consumed. If you put hay in a fire, it will eventually get consumed. If you put stubble in a fire, it will eventually get consumed. Now I want you to notice what the Apostle Paul is teaching us here in verse 13. He says this, every man's work shall be made manifest. The word manifest means it'll be revealed, it'll be made known. He says, we're gonna be able to see what you gave your life to. We're gonna be able to see what you gave yourself to in life. He says, every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it, and he's talking about the day of judgment, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work. Notice of what sort it is. The fire is gonna try what kind of work it was that you gave your life to. Notice verse 14, if any man's work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. God says, look, this is how I'm gonna reward you. He said, I'm gonna take all the work you've ever done your whole life, and I'm gonna throw it into this fire. He says, some of it is going to hopefully have been that which was eternal, gold, silver, precious stone. Some of it is going to be that which is temporal, wood, hay, and stubble. He said, I'm gonna throw it into the fire, and he says, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. Notice verse 14, if any man's work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. So once the fire consumes all your work, whatever's left over, that's what you're gonna get rewarded of. Now look, you're not gonna get any rewards for wood, hay, or stubble. That's gonna get burnt up. The only way you'll get rewarded in heaven during the millennial reign of Christ is for the amount of gold, silver, precious stones that you have in that day of judgment. Notice verse 15, if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss. But he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. Now let me just say this, I'm not preaching about salvation tonight, but let me just show you this. In verse 15, the Bible teaches us that it is possible to be saved and do absolutely no works. In fact, the Bible says that there's gonna be some people who are gonna get to heaven at the judgment seat of Christ. Everything they'd ever done is gonna get put in the fire. And the Bible says if any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss. He's not gonna have any rewards, but he himself shall be saved. You say, well, how could this be? Well, if you think about the fact that at Verity Baptist Church, we will have 80, 70, 80, 90 soul winners go out every week and preach the gospel and get people saved. Think about the amount of people that we knock on doors, we get them saved, and those people never come to church, they never get baptized, they never read the Bible, they never do anything for God. They get saved, but they never accomplish anything for God. Those people are gonna be standing at the judgment seat of Christ one day, and everything they ever did in life is gonna get burnt up. Now they will still be saved, the Bible says. They shall be, they shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. So this verse is teaching us that it's possible, don't let somebody tell you, well, if you're saved, you're gonna have works. Well, then the Apostle Paul must have been confused, because he says, look, it's possible for someone to be saved and to do no works. But here's what he's saying, you don't wanna be that guy. You don't wanna be the guy that everything you have was gold, excuse me, wood, hay, and stubble. You want everything you had to be gold, silver, precious stones, and sometimes when you preach these things, go to me if you would to the book of James, James chapter number four, towards the, if you start at the end of the New Testament, the book of Revelation and head backwards, you'll have Jude, third, second, and first John, second and first Peter. Revelation, Jude, third, second, and first John, second and first Peter, and then you have the book of James, James chapter four. And while you turn there, let me just say this, sometimes when you preach these things, people, they get really picky about, what exactly is gonna be gold, silver, precious stones, and what exactly is gonna be wood, hay, and stubble. And here's what I would say, what I would say to you is this that if you can identify that what you are doing has eternal value, then you'll probably get a reward for it. And you know, I'm hesitant to even give an illustration, but let me just go ahead and give an illustration. And I'll give the illustration of bowling. And I don't know of anybody in our church that is part of a bowling league, and if you are part of bowling league, I don't know it, so I'm not picking on you. But I just think this is a silly illustration. You know, let's say you join a bowling league, and just every Friday night, you spend two hours, three hours, you know, you're a grown man, you come home from work, you have dinner, you put on your bowling shoes, and you head out to your bowling league. And look, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with bowling, I'm not saying there's anything sinful with you going, you know, I don't know how bowling leagues work. There's alcohol involved, obviously, you don't want to avoid those things. But you know, maybe it's a Christian bowling league, and you're just out there, and you're just bowling away, or maybe it's all, you're just all by yourself, just every Friday night, you spend three hours bowling, all by yourself. You know, well here's the thing, that's a huge waste of time. There's not gonna be any rewards connected with that at all. Now you know, if you take your kids, and you spend time with your kids, and you fellowship with your kids, then maybe there is some eternal value there. But do you understand what I'm saying? The point is not what you're doing, the point is, what kind of sword is it? Is there any investment in what you're doing? You know, if you go and play basketball, all alone by yourself, big waste of time. You take your kids, you take some, you know, church guys out there, and you fellowship together, hey, now you're doing something spiritual. The point is this, what we do, we ought to do with the mindset of what will be said about us when we're dead. You don't want your kids saying, my dad would go bowling every Friday night while we stayed home, you know, and twiddle our thumbs. You know, what you'd want them to say is, hey, my dad would take me bowling all the time. My dad would spend time with me. You know, and that's just a silly illustration, but the point is this, when you live with the end in mind, when you begin with the end of mind, you begin to live with purpose. Living, beginning with the end of mind allows you to live with purpose. Well, let me give you a second thought tonight. Not only will beginning with the end in mind allow you to live with purpose, but beginning with the end in mind will allow you to live with perspective. Beginning with the end in mind will allow you to live with perspective. Now let me read to you. You're there in James chapter 4, but let me read to you from the book here real quick. It says this, returning to the computer metaphor. And throughout the book, he'd been using this metaphor of a computer. He says, returning to the computer metaphor, habit one, which if you remember, habit one is what we learned about this morning, being proactive, taking initiative, putting effort, not worrying about what you can't control, but working on that which you can control. He says, habit one says, you are the programmer. Habit two says, write the program. Habit one, being proactive, says, look, you are the programmer of your life. You're the one that gets to decide where you're going to put effort, where you're going to take initiative, what you're going to do. Habit two, begin with the end in mind, says, so then write the program. Since you get to decide where you invest your time, where you put your initiative, where you put your effort, since you get to decide where you're going to put your energy, then begin with the end in mind allows you to have some purpose. Well, where should I put my energy? Where should I be putting my effort? And beginning with the end in mind allows you to live with perspective. Notice there in James chapter 4, the first thing that you need to have perspective of is a perspective of time, a perspective of time. James chapter 4, look at verse 13. Go to now, ye that say, today or tomorrow we will go into such a city. Don't you know people who live their lives like that? What are you doing? Sometimes you look at young people, you say, what are you doing? Well, today or tomorrow I might go get a job. Today or tomorrow I might do my schoolwork. Today or tomorrow I might start serving God. He says, go to now, ye that say, today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year, and buy and sell and gain. Sometimes guys, grown men, married men, will complain about their finances or their careers. And I try to encourage them, I say, man, you have to do something. Maybe you need to start a business. Well, I don't know how to start a business. Well, maybe you need to read a book. Maybe you need to learn a skill. Maybe you need to figure out something you could do. And you talk to guys sometimes, and sometimes you just want to shake them. You talk to them, it's like, well, today or tomorrow, I'll continue there a year, and buy and sell and gain. Notice what God says, verse 14. He says, whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow, for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appearth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. He says, look, you don't know that tomorrow is not guaranteed to you. You don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. You don't know what's going to happen. Look, whatever you're going to do, do it today. Get some perspective of time, and realize that what I'm going to accomplish, don't say, hey, today or tomorrow I'll become a better father. Become a better father today. Spend more time with your kids today. Well, today or tomorrow I'll become a better wife. No, become a better wife tonight. Well, today or tomorrow I'll become a better husband. No, become a better husband tonight. Become a better husband today. Become a better employer today. Become a better employee today. Hey, decide today. Get some perspective of time, and realize, I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. So whatever I'm going to do, I better do it today. Go to the book of Psalms if you would, Psalm 39. If you open up your Bible right in the center, you're more than likely following the book of Psalms, Psalm 39. Look at verse 4. Psalm 39 and verse 4. See, beginning with the end in mind allows you to live with perspective. And you ought to have some perspective of time, and realize that you don't have a lot of time. Your life is but a vapor that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. Psalm 39, look at verse 4. Lord, make me to know mine end. Notice what the psalmist says here. He says, Lord, make me to know mine end. He's saying this. Help me to begin with the end in mind. Help me to live my life knowing that my life will one day end. He says, Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days. He says, help me to remember and realize that I won't live forever. There's only a certain amount of measure of days that I have. He says, what it is that I may know how frail I am. Behold, thou has made my days as in hand breath, and mine age as is nothing before thee. He says, verily, verily, every man in his best state is altogether vanity, sila. Go to Psalm 90 in verse 9. You're there in Psalm 39. Just flip over to Psalm 90 in verse 9. Psalm 90 in verse 9, notice what the psalmist says. He says, for all our days are passed away in thy wrath. He says, we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are three score years in 10, and if by reason of strength they be four score years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow. Notice what he says, for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Here's what he's saying. He says, you gotta live with some perspective of time. Don't say, oh, tomorrow. I'll start reading my Bible tomorrow. I'll start being a soul winner tomorrow. I'll start tithing tomorrow. I'll start living for God tomorrow. No, live for God today. Get some perspective of time, and realize that tomorrow's not guaranteed to you. You don't know what tomorrow will bring forth. Go to the book of Matthew, if you would. Matthew chapter number six, first book in the New Testament. Should be fairly easy to find. Matthew chapter six. Not only does beginning with the end in mind allow you to live with the perspective of time, but beginning with the end in mind allows you to live with the perspective of treasure. Because let's face it. As human beings, treasure or things are something usually many people live for, just the next thing, the next toy. You know people like that, or they're just, they always have some new things, some new gadgets, some new, you know. It's just, that's what their lives is about. It's about this view, you know, whether it's clothes, or whether it's an electronic, whether it's some sort of a vehicle. They're just living for things. Matthew chapter six and verse 19, the Bible says this. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth. And let me just say this. I don't believe that God is against you having nice things. But you ought not live for nice things. He says, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. He says, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. You know, he says, hey, when you live for things, realize that things in this earth, they get destroyed. Moth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal. He says, you ought not live to lay up for yourselves treasures upon the earth. Go to Matthew chapter 16, Matthew 16. And while you turn there, do you remember the story of the rich fool, who he built up his riches, he built up his barns, and he said, now I can eat, drink, and be merry. And God said, thou fool, for your soul will be required of you tonight. When you live for things, you will live an empty life. But beginning with the end in mind will allow you to not only live with the perspective of time, but will allow you to live with the perspective of treasure. Now in Matthew 16 and verse 26, we have a very famous passage that's often used about salvation. And I believe that that is the correct interpretation. Matthew 16, 26, it says this, for what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? This is often used in the context of someone dying and going to hell. Hey, what is a man profited if he gains the whole world? What is the point if you're just the most rich, the most famous, the most accomplished person in the world, and then you die and go to hell? You lose your own soul. He says there's no point in living for things if you die and go to hell. But what I want you to notice is that in the book of Luke, in fact, go there if you would, Luke chapter nine, Matthew, Mark, Luke. In Luke chapter nine, we find the same principle, but now applied to Christians. And of course, if you read the gospels, you'll remember that Jesus often repeated himself, just like a preacher. If you listen to me preach for any length of time, you'll hear me say a lot of the same things, a lot of very similar things, because preachers often repeat themselves and they apply it differently. In Matthew 16, 26, this famous verse is talking about an unsaved person who gains the whole world and then they lose, he loses his own soul. In Luke chapter nine and verse 25, we find the same thing, but I believe that this passage is applied to a believer. Notice what he says. He says, for what is a man advantage if he gain the whole world and lose himself or be cast away? Now notice, in Matthew 16, he said, if he shall lose his own soul. Here, we're not told that this guy lost his soul, but we're told that he shall lose himself and that he shall become a castaway. And if you remember, Jesus taught about the fact that they who will find themselves shall lose themselves. And he's talking about the fact that if you try to live for self, if you try to live for self, you'll lose yourself. Because when you live for self, all you have at the end is yourself. There's nothing that you actually, you will lose your life that way. And here he says, if he gain the whole world and lose himself or be a castaway, you don't have to turn there. But in 1 Corinthians 9, 27, the apostle Paul said this. He said, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means when I preach to others, I myself should be a castaway. And here's what he's saying. He's saying, look, if you live, even as a believer, if you live for things, if you gain the whole world, but you get to the judgment seat of Christ and your life was worthless, he said, what advantage did that get you if you lose yourself or if you're a castaway? Paul said it this way. He said, if I start off in the ministry right and I end up wrong, then I'm a castaway. Then I got disqualified. Then I didn't finish right. And Paul's saying, look, better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof. 1 Timothy 6, 7, you don't have to turn there. The Bible says this, for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. Go to 1 Corinthians, if you would, 1 Corinthians chapter nine. 1 Corinthians chapter nine. And we're talking about beginning with the end in mind. Why do you wanna do that? Well, you wanna begin with the end in mind because it allows you to live with purpose. It allows you to live with purpose and allows you to live on purpose. The living should consider that they will not always live and the living should consider what they are living for. We wanna begin with the end of mind because it allows you to live with perspective, perspective of time, that I don't have a lot of time, that tomorrow's not guaranteed to me, but also perspective of treasure, that if I live my life to lay up treasure, if I live my life for just nice vehicles and nice homes and nice clothes and nice things, and there's nothing wrong with having nice things, but if that's what your life is about, you will have wasted your life. You will not be advantaged. There'll be nothing that your life would have meant and lived for. And that's what we read about in the book. If you spend your life, if you spend your life fighting to climb that ladder of success, just to get to the end and realize that the ladder was leaning against the wrong wall, you will have wasted your life. Here's point number three. Beginning with the end in mind allows you to live by priorities. Beginning with the end in mind allows you to live by priorities. Now, I don't wanna spend too much time on this because we're actually gonna dig into this on Wednesday night with habit number three, which is to put first things first. But let me just say this. Beginning with the end in mind allows you to prioritize what should actually be important in your life. In the book, he says this. Habit two is based on principles of personal leadership. When you live with the end in mind, you can begin to lead yourself. You can begin to lead yourself in the right priorities and realize that there are some things that just don't matter. There are some things that just, they're not necessarily bad things, but they're just not things that have any eternal value. First Corinthians chapter nine, look at verse 24. Notice what the apostle Paul said. He says, there's no ye not, that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize. He says, so run that ye may obtain, verse 25, and every man that striveth for the mastery. He says, every man that striveth, what does that mean? That's talking about being proactive. The word strive means to put forth great effort to try to achieve something, so try to accomplish something. He says, and every man that striveth for the mastery, what's the mastery? That's the goal. That's the mark. That's the perspective. He says, is temperate in all things. The word temperate means self-restrained. He uses the example of an athlete, and you and I can think about maybe like an Olympic athlete, and you can think of these guys who spend years and years and years training. What are they training for? For the Olympics, where they're going to strive for the mastery, where they're gonna try to go for the gold, where they're gonna try to accomplish something, and that purpose allows them to live their life with priorities. An Olympian is not gonna drive through a McDonald's at midnight and get a McFlurry. You know, they've got a very intense training regimen. They make sure they're eating all the right things. They make sure they're getting the right amount of sleep. They make sure they're working out and exercising. Why? Because they have a goal, because they have a purpose, because they're trying to accomplish something. And look, if people will do it, he says, now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we, an incorruptible. If an athlete will live a temperate life for a piece of gold, for a medal of silver, then why should you and I not live a temperate life for the rewards that will last for eternity in heaven? He says, they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we, an incorruptible. He says this in the book. He says, management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right thing. And the question for you tonight is not, are you doing things right? The question is, are you doing the right things? Beginning with the end in mind allows you to live your life in such a way that you'll have perspective, that you'll realize that you don't have a lot of times, that you'll have purpose, that you'll realize that not everything is something you need to be chasing, and that you'll live by priorities and begin to realize, this is what I need to do. This is what I need to accomplish. This is what actually matters in my life. Go to the book of Philippians. Philippians chapter three, we'll end right here. Philippians chapter three. You there in 1 Corinthians? If you go past 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians. Philippians chapter three in verse 13, he says this. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended, he says, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before. He says, I press toward the mark. So what is it that effective Christians do? They are not only proactive, as we learned this morning. They not only take initiative and put effort and work on that which they can control, but as we learned tonight, they begin with the end in mind, because better is the end of a thing than the beginning. When you begin with the end in mind, that allows you to live with purpose. When you begin with the end in mind, that allows you to live with perspective, perspective of time, perspective of treasure. When you live with the end in mind, that allows you to live with priorities. So you don't get to the end of your life having struggled and fought to climb the ladder of success just to realize that it was leaning upon the wrong wall. Let's bow our heads in our word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, I pray that you would help us to learn this principle of beginning with the end in mind. Lord, help us not to have fought well in the wrong fight. Lord, help us not to have lived and strived and put effort and energy into things that we'll find out at the Judgement Day of Christ just didn't matter. Lord, I pray that you would help us to be effective Christians that are proactive, but that are also living with the end in mind. In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen.