Peter Tan-Chi - Live A Fulfilled Life
Greetings in the wonderful name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I'm so excited to begin a new series. It's called No Regrets: Radical Mindset, Life to the Full. A Life Well Lived. Is it possible to live a life of no regrets? You will be suprised. As we go through the series I pray that you will indeed experience what God intended for each one of us to live a life that is meaningful, that is full of purpose, joy, and peace. The truth is, by the time you reach the age of 30, more or less you would have experienced regrets. Disappointments. You see, regrets comes in many forms, major or minor financial regrets, relationship regrets. Let me give an example of financial regrets.
Years ago, Google with its founder by the name of Larry Page offered their company to George Bell, who was the CEO of Excite and you know what was the price offered for complete take over? $1 million and that amount was reduced to $750,000. But George Bell did not buy Google. Can you imagine? Today, Google is worth over $1.4 trillion. What about disappointments, when it comes to relationships? One of the most painful and touching story I read was about Thomas Carlyle. a Scottish writer and historian, married to a wonderful lady by the name of Jane Welsh.
Now the story goes something like this. Thomas was a very prolific writer, but he often neglected his wife. One day, his wife Jane got sick. It was terminal. And Thomas did not realize the seriousness of the sickness. He kept on writing and the wife died. In the funeral service, of course, you can see the sadness of the husband, Thomas. When he went back to the house he went to the room, sat down beside the bed of his wife and he noticed there's a table and a diary. And when he opened the diary, this is what shook him. He read on one of the pages, something like this. "Yesterday, he spent an hour with me. It was like heaven. I love him so much". And Thomas began to look at the other pages and he read another entry. "I listened all day to hear his steps in the hall, but now it is too late, I guess he won't come today".
When Thomas read these words, he began to sob. He did not realize how his wife looked up to him, how his wife loved him and how he has neglected her for so many years, he ran and went to the grave and he began crying. And while he was crying, this is what he said, "If only I had known, if only I had known, if only". You see, it was too late . The wife died. Thomas tried to write again, but he could not. He became a recluse. And I submit to you as somebody once said the saddest two words in the English language, "if only". That is because "if only" indicates that there was a possibility that the tragedy could have been avoided. Do you have that kind of story? If only. If only I did this. If only I did not do this. But the good news that I want to share with you is simply this. It is possible starting today, to live a life of no regrets.
What you have done in the past you cannot change. Your regrets in the past is past. Satan would like you to live in the past. Wishing that that didn't happen, but God's word tells us, our God is amazing. our past mistakes can become something good. If you learn how to deal with regrets. As we go through this series, you will learn. how to overcome regrets. But today I want to focus on how do you live a life of no regrets. To live a life of no regrets, What does it mean? You think of the end point. What you like to happen? And then you work backward. My professor used to share with us the importance of thinking about what you like to happen at the end of your life. We have this exercise of writing your own epitaph, writing your own tombstone. What would you like people to say? To me, what is more important is not what people will say. What would your loved ones say? What would your family members say about you when you leave this world?
But more importantly to me, the most important is what will God say when you die and you meet Him? My prayer is that you begin to think of what you really want God to say about your life so that you will begin to act now based on what you like to happen at the end? That is exactly what Jesus did. Do you realize Jesus wanted His disciples to be prepared. That's why in Matthew chapter 25, Jesus shared with them what is going to ultimately happen to everybody. Matthew chapter 25 has to do with the second coming of Jesus or the day when we will see Jesus face to face. Why? Because that is the final and ultimate destiny. of everybody in this world. Sooner or later, you and I will see the Lord face to face. Are you ready? So let's look at Matthew 25 so that you and I will learn how to live a life of no regrets, or you minimize your regrets. Let's look at the Bible.
Notice, in Matthew 25:13 The whole context of Matthew 25 has to do being prepared because Jesus is coming again. The phrase "Be on the alert" is used three times - in Matthew 24 and Matthew 25. Be ready, be ready. Do you notice, "be ready you do not know the day nor the hour". The application for us today is you do not know how much time you're going to have in this world, how long you will live, be ready. Do you notice Jesus is now telling them how to be prepared to live a life of no regrets. He talks about a man going on a journey. And then he entrusted his wealth his possessions to three slaves. I call them managers so that it is very applicable to you and to me. How do you apply Matthew 25 in your life? and in my life to avoid a life of regrets.
I want to help you process this amazing story amazing parable to prepare us. I call this the 4 R's. To avoid regret, remember the 4 R's. The first R means ROLE. Role is an expected behavior of an individual by virtue of his social standing or his position. For example, if you are a father, your role is to be a father. If you are a basketball player, there are various positions in a basketball team: center, forward guard, point guard, shooting guard. What is your role? When I was playing basketball during my time, my role was forward. Do you know your role? In the parable of Jesus, he tells us clearly what is our role? The first thing you must understand Repeat after me. What's your role? I am a manager, not owner. One more time manager, not owner. Why is that important?
Let's look at the Bible. That's the word "doulos" meaning slaves, but for today's language, I like you to apply that to your life. Let's call you manager. Notice the word entrusted. So your role is to be a manager, not the owner. You are given a very important role. The Bible tells us in Psalm 50:10-12 The Bible is very clear. God owns everything. In fact, it is so emphatic that God wants you to know as believers He owns us twice. What do I mean? Look at 1 Corinthians 6:20 Do you notice something? God bought us. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He paid for us. We were enslaved to the sin market, but He died for our sins. He paid the ultimate price. So the Bible tells us This is something so crucial. God owns us twice by virtue of creation and by virtue of redemption. I'm reminded of the story of a little boy with a kite. He was flying his kite. He spent a lot of time making his beautiful kite and then the string broke. He lost the kite. So he went around looking for it. He could not find it.
One week later, he found his kite. But this time it was being sold in a bazaar. So he went to the bazaar and he told the store owner, this kite is mine. The store owner said, "It's not yours. I bought it from somebody else. If you want it, you pay for it". And the little boy, because it had sentimental value, he loved his kite he bought it, he paid for it. And then he hugged his kite. He said, "You are mine twice. First, I made you. Second time, I bought you". That's how we are with God. God owns everything, but he bought us also. So he owns us twice. Once you understand your role, you should learn to also love your Master because He chose you. Because it is love that will help you do your work to go beyond what is expected. So learn the idea of being devoted your Master. The next R is the word RESPONSIBILITY. It's one thing to know your role and your purpose, but you must also know your responsibility.
What do I mean? Let's look at the Bible. It says, The word entrust implies responsibility for you to take care of. And what was the responsibility? Notice, In other words, the idea of five talents, two talents, one talent was decided by the master based on the abilities of his managers. The word talent is a weight It is around 33. kilos. It's heavy. When it refers to gold, 33 kilograms of gold. Meaning in today's value, it's over a hundred million pesos. If it is a talent of silver, it simply means around 2 million pesos. Either gold or silver, I want you to notice something what was entrusted to the managers, what does entrusted to the slaves were something very precious. In other words, it is not a small amount of money, hundred million pesos or 2 million pesos. It is something very important.
So you have a responsibility. What is the meaning of the word manager? In simple terms, a steward or a manager is one who administers that which belongs to someone else. I like what Randy Alcorn says, So do you know understand to live a life of no regret you must understand your role. You're the manager, not the owner. Secondly, you must know your responsibility. Your responsibility is to manage what God has entrusted to you. My responsibility is to manage carefully what God has entrusted to me for His benefit for His glory. That is why a responsible person has to be intentional, not accidental. You have to be intentional in finding out what the master wants, and that's why you need to learn to read the Bible. The average Christian, sad to say, in America? I don't know about the Philippines statistics, less than 10% have read the entire Bible, much less studied the whole Bible. They go through life being careless, not really knowing what God our Master wants, what Jesus wants.
So you need to be intentional. As I've studied the Bible, I've become intentional in my life. I know that God's mission for my life is to make disciples. So whatever I do, in our family business, in my activities, in all relationships, I ask myself, would this contribute to the mission that God has given us which is to go and make disciples? So, everything I do is in line with God's purpose for my life. Be careful of inventing your own purpose and then telling God, "that should be my purpose for my life". Learn to be intentional, be responsible. You will notice the managers understood. They were responsible. Why? Look at what they did. Immediately he went to work. He understood what the master wants. I want you to notice the word "immediately" with eagerness, that's being responsible. He went to work immediately.
The other one, same. He went to work. He doubled. But the last one, I don't know what in the world he was doing. He hid the talent. Lazy. Irresponsible. What are we responsible for? What did God entrust to us? For many people, when they think of this parable they only think of money. They think it's all about giving. No, no. This parable deals with the whole principle of stewardship. What has God entrusted to us? Can I tell you? God has entrusted to us time. Do you know your life on earth is a trust. The amount of time you have on earth is God's gift. It's God's trust to us. Talent, your abilities, what you can do, what you're good at is to be used for God. Treasure, everything you possess. That's something entrusted to you. Truth.
The reality is God has given us amazing truths. The truth about forgiveness, the truth about how can we experience genuine salvation how can we go to heaven you know the story of Jesus how He died on the cross. These are precious truths. Don't keep this to yourself. You are responsible. Family. All of us have families. What are you doing about the family God has entrusted to you. Influence. All of us have influence. Relationships, platforms, position what are you doing with your influence? And lastly, opportunities. Not all of us have equal opportunities for some you have more opportunities for some less. Regardless, God wants you to be faithful.
The next R. RECKONING. The Bible is very clear. There'll be a day of reckoning. What does it mean, reckoning? Notice, the Bible says, They settled accounts. The word reckoning as the idea of what? In Romans 14, the Bible tells us In other words, God will examine our lives. The Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, In other words, Paul is saying it should be your ambition in life. to be pleasing to the Lord because there will be a day of reckoning. To be pleasing, that should be your ambition. You notice something, all of us we must all appear no exceptions, referring to believers. We must all - I, you - we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. That is the meaning of the word reckoning. We will give an account, so that the saw that "each one" notice the word "each one" again.
I cannot do it for you. You cannot do it for me. Each one will be judged by the Lord. So that each one may be recompensed, notice, good or bad. In other words, God will examine our lives. Therefore, I suggest do not wait for that day. Begin to examine your life today. Do not wait until tragedy happens. Do not wait. until there is a big problem so that you will learn to examine your own life. Be like a pilot of any airplane. A pilot of any airplane will always check that the direction of his flight. Why? Because of the principle of one degree over 60 miles. What does it mean? For every 60 miles, if you are one degree off, you are one mile off your destination. Imagine if you travel for 600 miles, you are 10 miles off. The further you travel with one degree off the further you will be away from your destination.
And there are many people today who have not learned this principle. They go through life in the wrong direction. Day by day, I have made it a point in my own life to practice self-examination. You know, the Bible is very clear. Paul tells us to examine your own life. In fact, in the book of Corinthians he tells us, Every day, I am learning to live as if today is the last day of my life. Just this morning. I reminded my wife I said, "Honey, should today be the last day of my life. I want you to know I love you". And I have no regrets At the end of the night. it's good for you to examine your life have I lived my life in accordance with what God wants me to do? It's called day by day. You live as though this is the last day of your life, but you plan long-term. I plan long-term, but I live day by day. Why? Because the truth is, you do not know when you are going to see the Lord. Live a life of no regrets, examine your life. So. How do you avoid regrets?
The first R, know your role. Next, you must know your responsibility. Next, you must know there's going to be a day of reckoning. And one more word I like you to remember, REWARDS. Remember, rewards or regrets. Life is about choices. If you choose wisely, rewards. If you don't choose wisely, regrets. The Bible tells us, And then the Bible tells us, exactly the same thing happened to the one who had two talents. He said, "you gave me two talents. Now I'm giving back to you two more". The commendation was exactly the same, word for word, syllable per syllable. What are those words? It says, This is what I noticed, the rewards for the faithful servant are as follows. Number one, the amazing commendation. The master said, well done and faithful slave. The master was happy. The master was pleased. He says, "well done good in faithful slave".
My prayer is that you and I will hear this at the end of our lives. When we stand before the King of Kings. And He would say, "well done, good and faithful manager" faithful slave. The next reward is this Promotion. The reward of a faithful manager is more promotion, higher promotion, more responsibility. You were faithful with a few things. I will not put you in charge of many things. And then, the next reward is joy. As managers, we're supposed to do what we are supposed to be doing. But notice, our Master is good. He rewards us. What you do on earth, impacts your eternity. The Bible tells us. Our reward is amazing. Our destiny is amazing. In Revelation 2:26, the Bible says, Do you notice, the reward of faithfulness to him who overcomes, who keeps my deeds until the end, faithful to the end. I will give him authority, notice the word I will grant him authority over the nations.
In the book of Revelation chapter 22 verses 3 and 5 talks about the same thing. Our amazing destiny, our amazing future. The Bible tells us, someday you got to see the big picture. To live a life of no regret you must see the big picture what's going to happen at the end. Notice, no more curse. His bond-servants, His managers will serve Him. You see the destiny of our future when all of this environment will change, no more sun, God is our light, but what will we be doing? The Bible is very clear. You know what you and I will be doing. You'll be busy serving the King of Kings. You and I will be reigning. whatever it is, the reward is amazing. What about you? Are you prepared to meet the Lord someday? And will you hear Him say, "well done, good and faithful servant".
Now, either it's going to be rewards or regrets. Let's look at the last manager. What happened to him? Look at what the master said about him. You notice the consequences. Even what he has is taken away. What are the consequences? What are the regrets to be called by the master? Wicked, lazy slave. Wow. That's painful. And then to lose what has been given to you? Take it away. Notice, this is the law of life What is Jesus saying? Jesus is saying, if you apply, if you practice, if you obey me, the more you will have.
For example, like in any sports, if you practice, you get better. But if you are lazy, you don't practice even your skills you will lose it. Even in the corporate world If you don't do your job properly, even your position will be taken away from you. The third manager, the third slave was not rewarded. In fact, it's a life of eternal regrets. Why do I say regret? Look at what the Bible is saying. The master described the third manager as worthless slave. You know why? This slave did not even do anything. for the master. What the master has entrusted to him What if he do? Look at me Nothing. He did not steal it. He did not gamble it away. What did he do? Nothing By simply doing nothing.
What does it mean? Why is he described as wicked, lazy and worthless? Can I tell you why? He does not care about the interest of the master. He is his own boss. He only cared about himself. And that to me are the evidences of somebody who really do not know their master. This is a picture of many church people today. They think they are Christians, but if you ask me, the third manager does not know the Lord. Why? Look at how he described the Lord. He said, unfair, unkind, harsh, hard This man does not know the Lord. In verse 30, the consequences get worse. People have often asked me, what is the meaning of that last sentence? Throw away the worthless slave. Do you notice? worthless good for nothing. Friends, how will you know if you are a follower of Jesus or not? I want to ask you, are you serving the King of Kings? Do you consider the Lord as your Master? Do you know Him as your Lord? Notice in this story, the master said, this slave is worthless. not doing anything. throw him into the outer darkness. What is the outer darkness?
People often ask me in that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Isn't that a description of regret you weep and your gnash your teeth. This to me is deep, deep regret. This term is used three times. Outer darkness in the Bible and the term weeping and gnashing of teeth is used seven times in the new Testament. And it's all about something that you don't want to be in. It's bad news, wherever that place is, I don't want to be there. Some people say this is hell. Some people say this is a dark place reserved for those who are not faithful, whatever it is as of today, I want to tell you something I don't want to be there. and that's the meaning of avoiding the ultimate regret. The regret that there is no other solution. How do you avoid having the same tragedy same regrets as the third slave?
May I suggest, may I remind you what I've shared with you before. To avoid this so that you won't be like the third slave, you must remember your role. Be devoted. You must serve the Master with devotion. So remember the word devotion. Don't just serve out of duty, but out of love. Everything must flow out of love. Devotion. Love Him because our Master loves us. He's a good Master. Next, when it comes to responsibility, what must you do? You must be intentional. It is incumbent upon you to live a life of intentionality. Find out really what the Master wants. Study His word. Listen to Him. Be intentional, not accidental. When it comes to reckoning, what must you do? You must live a life of self-examination. Examine your life day by day. Don't wait for the day of judgment to be examined.
Today, learn to examine your own life. As somebody once said, Ask the Lord to examine your life. Are you living in a way that's pleasing to Him? What must you do to be faithful to the end, to avoid the destiny of the third manager? You must depend on the Lord. Depend on the Holy Spirit. Without the Lord, without dependence on the Holy Spirit, you have no power to do what God wants us to do. What God wants you to do. So live a very dependent life. When you depend on the Holy Spirit, God gives you supernatural power. If your life is dependent on the Lord, if you are dependent on the Holy Spirit, your mindset will be radically different. What do I mean? You will learn to ask the right question. This is one question that will transform your life. What do I mean? For most of us, we ask the wrong question. We ask, "what will I do with my time, what I do with my possession now that I'm so blessed"? That is the wrong question. For others, they ask "what will I do with what God has blessed me with"? That question is not good enough. The right question is, "Lord, what do You want me to do with what You have entrusted to me"?
That is the right question. You ask the owner "Lord, what do You want me to do with what You have entrusted to me, not even what You have given me, what You have entrusted to me"? That my friend is something that if you learn to regularly have this Spirit-filled mindset when you want to buy a pair of shoes, when you want to buy bags, when you want to buy a shirt, you ask the Lord, "Lord, is this what You want me to do"? "Is this the pair of shoes You want me to get"? If you have free time, do you say, "Lord, what do You want me to do with Your time that You have given me"? It is no longer my time. It's His time. It's a very Christ-centered life. When you want to raise your children. Can you honestly say now, "Lord, what do You want me to do with the children You have entrusted to me"? No longer my children, God's children. All your loved ones belong to the Lord.
Remember I told you, be devoted to the Lord. Be intentional. Examine your life. Be dependent on the Lord. Holy Spirit. That's the acronym for the word DIED. Until you have died to your life. As Paul said in Galatians 2:20, Until you have died to yourself, you will not be able to live a life of no regrets. To die to yourself, is to live a life of no regret provided you live for Jesus. As we close, Let me share with you What happened last Wednesday. I requested the permission of Henry Sy Jr. to share this with you. You see, last Wednesday, we were together in the hospital and Henry shared with me how this year and last year was the best year of their lives with Jan. He narrated how Jan and the family became so close. How Jan lived a life that is so Spirit-filled that it was the peak of her spiritual life.
And then Henry told me, no regrets because for him, Jan has lived her life to the full. And the relationship, no regrets. The best of terms. When we had the meeting with all the specialists, with the doctors, I remember that night in the conference room, you have the different doctors and Mr. Henry Sy shared this. He said, "I know for a fact, should the Lord take my daughter home, it's okay. Because she will be in a better place. She will be in heaven". And I looked at the faces of the doctors. They were shocked. They were so inspired because here's a man who understood how to live a life of no regret. You see, once you know, God owns everything and you live daily based on His will you learn to hold onto things loosely. You don't try to grab. You surrender everything.
Kindly allow me to read the text of Big Boy Sy. I am sure this was said with a lot of pain, with a lot of tears, but this is from his heart. "Our dearest daughter Jan Sy is now with the Lord, Jesus Christ already. Blessed be the name of the Lord, You give and take away. My heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be Your name". This is an amazing testimony. I praise God for Big Boy's unwavering faith. Let's continue to pray for him and the family and Princess. May God continue to strengthen them.
And I praise God for our brother. He can honestly say, "one day I will surely see Jan again because Jan is in a much better place". To God be the glory. So what about you today? Will you live a life of regret? Or are you going to be willing to prepare right now, starting today, as you move forward, live a life of no regret. Live one day at a time, give your best to the Lord. If you're with your loved ones, love them.
Remember the principle, God owns everything and we are his manager. Let's be faithful to our Master. Perhaps some of you. Have never understood that God owns everything you've been grabbing on. You have been holding on to things as if they are yours. Well, today you finally understood to live a life of no regret. You must recognize your role. You must realize your responsibilities and you must realize there's going to be a day of reckoning. And lastly, you want to live in such a way that you will hear Him say, "well done, good and faithful servant". If that's your desire. I want to pray for you.
Lord Jesus, I realize You own everything that we are not owners. We are managers. Lord, forgive me. When I think my possession is mine. Today, I surrender them back to You. I pray You will help me be a good manager. Be a good steward of Your possession. Help me live my life in such a way that is going to be pleasing to You. Remind me everything I have belongs to You.
Now to those who may not even have any relationship with Jesus. You have religion, but you are not sure that Jesus is your Lord and Savior because your life does not reflect any relationship with Jesus. I want you to pray this prayer with me.
Lord Jesus, I don't think I recognize You as my Lord and my Savior. I've gone through life without really considering You as my Lord and my Savior. I repent of that sin. Lord Jesus. Today, I ask You to be my Lord be my Savior. I come before You confessing, I've been selfish. I need You, Jesus. I invite You as my Lord and my Savior, I accept the forgiveness of my sins. Thank You for dying on the cross. And Lord, I ask You to change my heart. Thank You for the gift of forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. Help me live my life for You and for Your glory. Amen.