TO SAVE A LIFE: SAVED FROM MEANINGLESSNESS

LORD, we just wanna thank you, GOD, for this wonderful afternoon. I
pray, LORD, that you would just begin to speak to each and every one of
us. LORD, I pray for an understanding, LORD, GOD, of purpose. LORD,
allow this word, LORD, GOD, all the more to be understandable from
our hearts that our lives are not without meaning but our lives has
always been made for a reason, that our lives has always been made
for a purpose. I pray, LORD, GOD, that we will discover our purpose
today, in Jesus name. Amen.

I like to ask you; what is the reason you wake up in the morning? Ano
ang dahilan ng pagbangon mo tuwing umaga? It sounds a very simple
question but its very important one. What is the reason that makes you
want to get out of bed? Maybe some of you are thinking, Why do I
wake up every morning? I wanna eat breakfast. No, I am not talking
about that. What am I referring to is your purpose; the reason why you
wanna get out of bed.

Heres the reality; every one of us longs for meaning. Gusto natin ang
buhay natin may kwenta. You dont just want to be somebody na wala
lang. You want to know that your life matters, that your life counts.

They dont have clear purpose in their lives end up in three things.

CONSEQUENCES OF NOT KNOWING ONES PURPOSE:

1. They dont live as long. How many of you wanna live that long? Find
the purpose. Find a reason.

Research they found out that people who dont have a clear purpose
in life dont live as long as much as those who have a clear reason or
 purpose to their lives. If I ask you, what is the purpose of your life?
Why are you here? Why are you alive? Its not enough of just simply
breathing, eating and waking up every day. Deep inside of you long
for meaning. Isnt that true? We want to know that there is a reason
for you being alive. Its not just enough to be alive, sana nga ganon
lang eh but deep inside us we want to know that our lives matter,
that our lives count. We long to know our purpose.

2. They are not as productive.

People who do not have a clear purpose are not productive. What do I
mean by that? How many of you dumaan ang isang buong araw and
you realized at the end of the day, you didnt really do anything and it
felt?

3. They are not happy and they are not well

A guy by the name of Victor Frankl, let me just share to you a little bit of
his story; In September of 1942, a young doctor, his new bride, his
mother, father, and brother, were arrested in Vienna and taken to a
concentration camp in Bohemia. It was events that occurred there and
at three other camps that led the young doctor - prisoner 119,104 - to
realize the significance of meaningfulness in life.

Etong si Victor Frankl actually wrote a book entitled The Meaning of

Life. In that concentration camps, he lost, literally, everything. He lost
his wife, pinatay yung asawa niya. He lost his father and mother. If you
think about it there is no reason for him to go on living. After that, he
reflected on what happened at the concentration camp. One of the
things that he realized was this; the people who were most likely to
survive the concentration camps were people who had a sense of
future, who still had a sense of hope, who still had found purpose for
living. But then again, we struggle with meaninglessness. I want you to
turn your bible with me right now in

Mangangaral 1:1-3
1Ito ang mga katuruan ng Mangangaral, ang anak ni David na hari
ng Israel.2Napakawalang kabuluhan! Napakawalang
kabuluhan; lahat ay walang kabuluhan,sabi ng
Mangangaral. 3Nagpapakapagod ka nang husto sa pagtatrabaho sa
mundong ito.Ngunit para saan ba ang mga pagpapagod na ito?

I want you to understand that the author of Ecclesiastes is none other

than Solomon.

Sino si King Solomon? Solomon is one of the greatest kings that ever
lived in the history of the world. Some people even say that he was one
of the richest, if not, the richest king.

The bible says of the description being given in his Kingdom that during
that time, silver was just as common as stones. Can you imagine silver
was something as common as ordinary rocks? People dont really give
much attention to silver. Can you imagine if lumabas ka and theres just
silver everywhere? That is the kind of wealth that Solomon experienced
during his time. Gold was abundant. He has silver, he had gold, and he
had everything. 5 To give you a description of what kind of life that he
had and in away, yung authority niya to say these things, lets proceed
to chapter two.
I find this very interesting, you know why? Solomon was not a failure in
terms of the worlds standards. A lot of people would think they
probably would find meaning in wealth in being successful. How many
of you have said to yourself, Kung makukuha ko lang yan, if I could
only reach this salary, I will be happy. I will be fulfilled. I will be
satisfied. Kung sasagutin niya lang ako, ako na ang pinaka masayang
tao. Kung magkakaron lang ako ng ganitong pamilya. Kung mabibili
ko lang tong cellphone na to, I would be so happy, I would be so
fulfilled.

Sometimes we think that these are the things that would give meaning
to our lives. But I want you to understand that there is a guy, here is a
person who has been there. He has authority to talk about these
things, why? Simply because he has done it! Sabi niya dito, these are
the things that Solomon engaged himself with;

Ecclesiastes 2:3 (NLT) 3

3 Sa pagnanasa kong makamit ang karunungan, ipinasya kong

magpakalasing sa alak.

What is wine? people do find pleasure in those things. Why do people

do drugs? You know why? Because its pleasurable, lets not even fool
ourselves. There is a certain pleasure get from out of that. Why do
people drink wine? Because its pleasurable! Solomon tried all those
things. Sabi dito, I sought some wine, I engaged myself with wine.

While still seeking wisdom, guess what? Hindi naman siya yung klase
ng tao na uminom na lang and doesnt really care, no. He was wise. He
studied. He was not just a kind of person who wastes his life in a bar,
no. He was a man who was intelligent and wise. Even in that aspect he
engaged himself in that pleasure and yet, sabi niya in the end of it all, it
was meaningless.

Ecclesiastes 2:3 (NLT) Sa loob-loob ko'y ito na ang pinakamainam na

dapat gawin ng tao sa maikling panahong ilalagi niya sa mundong ito.

Ecclesiastes 2:4 (NIV) 4 4 Nakagawa ako ng mga dakilang bagay.

Nakapagpatayo ako ng malalaking bahay at ginawa kong ubasan ang
paligid nito.

Mangangaral 2:7-8 (NIV) 7 Bumili ako ng mga aliping babae at lalaki.

Ang mga alipin ko'y nagkaanak na sa aking tahanan. Ang kawan ko'y
ubod ng dami, walang kasindami kung ihahalintulad sa kawan ng
mga haring nauna sa akin. 8 Nakaipon ako ng napakaraming pilak
at ginto mula sa mga lupaing nasasakupan ko. Marami akong mang-
aawit na babae't lalaki. Marami akong asawa at pawang
magaganda. Wala nang hahanapin pa ang isang lalaki, lalo na kung
tungkol din lang sa babae.

Some of us buy CDs, some of us use Spotify, go on iTunes, buy some

songs; Solomon bought singers. Ano ka? He had them sing live for him
every day. If there is some kind of pleasure in getting kind of that, he did
it. Hes the man.

Cmon, isnt this every guy, every mans dream? Some guys were
thinking, If I could only have this girl, kung sasagutin niya ko, Ill be
happy. You dont know what youre talking about. Solomon had a
harem of relationships. The bible says that he had three hundred plus
wives and seven hundred concubines. Even magbilang ka ng two years,
and he slept with every woman a different woman every night all
two years have lasted and hindi pa niya tapos makasama lahat ng babae
niya.

Wow! These are not ugly ladies; these are the most beautiful ladies in
the land. You will think like, If I could only have like Solomon, I would
be happy. Guess what, he did it! This is like every mans dream. You
might think that if he could find meaning his purpose, he might find
reason, but then, it was still meaningless.

Mangangaral 2:10 (NIV) 10 Wala akong ginustong hindi ko nakuha.

Ginagawa ko ang lahat ng aking magustuhan. Nalulugod ako sa
aking mga ginagawa at iyon ang pinakagantimpala ng aking mga
pinagpaguran.

In other words, whatever he saw, he got it. If we were in the mall, he

had the money, he had the power, and he had the wealth. He passed by
a car and he wanted that kind of car. Whatever he saw, whatever his
eyes desired, he got it.

Ecclesiastes 2:10 (NIV) Nalulugod ako sa aking mga ginagawa at iyon

ang pinakagantimpala ng aking mga pinagpaguran.

A lot of you work but how many of you take delight in your work? Some
of you dread the thought of working. You dread the thought of,
Monday na naman bukas. Monday na naman, papasok na naman ako.
Si Solomon don pa lang panalo na eh.

He took delight in his work.

Mangangaral 2:11 11 Pagkatapos, inisip kong mabuti ang mga

ginawa ko at ang pagod na aking pinuhunan. Nakita kong ang lahat
ay pawang walang kabuluhan; tulad lang ito ng paghahabol sa
hangin.

Ravi Zacharias is one of the apologists in our time; sabi niya; I am

absolutely convinced that meaninglessness has not come from being
exhausted of pain; meaningless comes from being exhausted of
pleasure. And that is why we find ourselves. (R. Zacharias, Can Man
Live Without God)

What am I trying to explain? How many of you experience this; buong

gabi ka nagDOTA? Why do you do that? Yes, its true that at that
particular moment you were finding pleasure in it and you engage
yourself in it. But at the end of the day after the night has pass, guess
what, theres that sense of Hanggang doon na lang ba yun? Oo naka-
killing spree ka. Oo, Godlike ka but so, what? At the end of the day, end
of the night, emptiness.

Have you ever gone through a night being with friends in a bar partying
all night, drinking with your barkada and you were happy. You found
pleasure. Eventually, the night is over. You go back to your room or
house. Early in the morning, may hangover ka, susukasuka ka. Then you
look at yourself and see in the mirror, you stare at your room and
realized, Was that it? Then you do it all over again. Every time you
finish doing it, rather than being fulfilled or satisfied, you feel a
greater degree of emptiness. Ito yung sinasabi niya of being exhausted
of pleasure. We dont really have to go too far in history using Solomon
as an example.

Kurt Cobain was the lead singer of the rock group Nirvana. By the way,
what happened to Elvis? Amazingly, at the peak of his career he died on
an overdose of drugs. Many people suspected suicide. Now why would
people do that? Why would somebody who has reached the peak of
their career suddenly take their lives that when they reach the top, they
have realized, there was nothing there.

Just like the story Hope for the Flowers, the caterpillars reach the top
but there was really nothing there. Solomon was saying that;
meaningless.

Now, Kurt Cobain was also the same fame, female, fortune. At the
peak of his career, he got a gun pointed at his mouth and blasted his
brains out; he committed suicide. May suicide note siya that was found
beside his dead body. In that suicide note, he was saying that, I cannot
fake it anymore. Hindi ko na kayang pekein. I cannot fake it to the
people that think that Im really enjoying myself. Im not enjoying
myself every time I come out on stage. This guy had a million
followers.

How many of you know Manilyn Monroe? Who would have thought
that someone so beautiful where men would love to be around them?
If the guys have three Fs, fame, female, fortune, the girls would have
three Gs gold, guys and glory. Manilyn Monroe had everything. She
had gold, she had money. She had glory, she was famous. She had guys
wanted to sleep with her and be with her and love her. But can you
imagine at the peak of her career, why would somebody who has
experienced all that, threw herself off a building and commit suicide?
Meaninglessness.

Pastor, parang nakaka-depress nang nakaka-depress. Kung sila na may

tagumpay sa buhay ay meaningless, paano pa ang buhay ko?

Michael Jackson probably knows in our generations. This guy had his
own theme park. He didnt commit suicide but he died in the overdose
of drugs. You know why? He just wanted to go to sleep. He cant even
afford to sleep. Nasobrahan sa sleeping pills, patay.

Eh ikaw nga ang sarap ng tulog mo eh. Some people cannot even buy
sleep. They tried but they cant. Meaningless. After saying all that, you
might think that, If those people who are supposedly successful have
their lives meaningless, how much more my life? How much more to
somebody who, probably, have not experienced success but rather
failure or pain?

I want you to understand that we have to find purpose, we want to find

meaning. Were gonna look at the story of Joseph;

Genesis 45:1-7 (NIV)

1 Hindi na mapigil ni Jose ang kanyang damdamin, kaya pinaalis niya

ang kanyang mga tagapaglingkod na naroon. Nang sila na lamang ang
naroon, ipinagtapat ni Jose sa kanyang mga kapatid kung sino siya. 2
Sa lakas ng kanyang iyak, narinig siya ng mga Egipcio, kaya't ang
balita'y mabilis na nakarating sa palasyo. 3 "Ako si Jose!" ang
pagtatapat niya sa kanyang mga kapatid. "Buhay pa bang talaga ang
ating ama?" Nagulantang sila sa kanilang narinig at hindi nakasagot. 4
"Lumapit kayo," sabi ni Jose. Lumapit nga sila, at nagpatuloy siya
ng pagsasalita, "Ako nga si Jose, ang inyong kapatid na ipinagbili ninyo
sa Egipto. 5 Ngunit huwag na ninyong ikalungkot ang nangyari.
Huwag ninyong sisihin ang inyong sarili sa ginawa ninyo sa akin. Ang
Diyos ang nagpadala sa akin dito upang iligtas ang maraming buhay. 6
Dalawang taon pa lamang ang taggutom, limang taon pa ang
darating at walang aanihin sa mga bukirin. 7 Pinauna ako rito ng
Diyos upang huwag malipol ang ating lahi.

Here was a man who has not really experienced success. Well, at this
point, he already did. But you know what is more troublesome? Its
when you are not experiencing success but youre experiencing failures,
problems and trials that are sometimes without end.

Story of Joseph

If you were Joseph like here you are, you were trusting and believing
GOD for things. GOD gave you things that you never ask when you were
young that one day youre gonna become a ruler. But rather than this
dream is helping you, it seems that this dream was destroying you. It
did not mean anything. It appeared to be meaningless.

Sometimes, thats what we feel especially when we go through pain and

trials. Its one thing to experience meaninglessness at the peak of your
career or the peak of enjoying yourself into something na parang,
Hanggang ganito na lang ba to? Is that it? But then, its another
thing to experience meaninglessness when things dont make sense at
that level when youre suffering.
Finally after years, his brothers came to Egypt. They didnt recognize
him at first and when he introduced himself, they were scared. They
didnt even want to come near Joseph because they thought Joseph is
gonna be angry. Then, Joseph tells them, Dont even distress or dont
even be angry at yourselves. It was GOD.

I realized something, the reason Joseph immersed victorious out of

those trials, the prison and even slavery was because in the midst of
the pain he found reason to survive. He found meaning. He found
purpose. It is so important that every one of us finds purpose. Let me
just give you four quick things or ideas why we need purpose. What are
the benefits of purpose?

BENEFITS OF PURPOSE

1. Focus

You need to have your life focus around a purpose. When that
purpose is GODs purpose then you have the power of the
universe around disposal.

You start to have meaning in your life when you find purpose.
And the reason why you have purpose is because it gives you
focus.

I need to ask you a question; do you have work to do? Im not

talking just a job or something that you do but have you ever
come to a point of your life that you know this is what GOD has
called me to do. This is what Im called to do. This is my work. Not
only that; its not only work to do but to know what it is, to know
how that work functions, to know how to live it out and to do it
with all might.

Sometimes we think that the reason kaya ngkakamali tayo is

because we dont have the ability. But the reality is this; people
fail not because they do not have it in them but because there
are not able concentrate. They dont know the element of
concentration.

Like, I look at you right now and guess what? I see a lot of people
not being able to concentrate. Youre here physically pero your
mind is distracted. You are out of focus. How many times we are
like that?

You cant get anything out of the lesson because you dont know
how to concentrate. Concentration is powerful.

I was telling this in the one p.m. service that even in animations
like, example, those anime characters like Naruto. Before he can
ever do Jutsu, he needs to concentrate. Dragonball, before they
could even turn into some kind of Super Saiyan they would do
concentration. That is so true. There is so much inside of that and
yet we totally miss out on those things. You miss out on the truth,
the principle. Kaya di ka gumagaling eh.

Well, hindi naman sa hindi ka magaling pero kulang ka sa

concentration.
Papasok ka sa office, bukas nga yung computer mo, Facebook
naman yung laman. Tapos nagtataka ka kung bakit hindi ka napo-
promote. Hindi sa hindi ka magaling, hindi ka marunong mag-
 concentrate. Sabihin mo sa katabi mo, Focus. Ibig sabihin ng
focus, yun nga eh, concentrate. Ang pag-ibig kailangan ng
concentration. Nagtataka yung iba sa inyo kung bakit hanggang
ngayon wala pa ring asawa eh distracted kayo.

Sabi niya, This one thing I do. Say it with me, One thing. He
knows how to focus on one thing. He doesnt do many things.
Some people take pride of being a jack of all trades, master of
none. If you notice, the highly paid people in the world dont have
to be good at everything; they just have to be good with one
thing. Sabihin mo, One thing.

Philippians 3:13-14 (NIV) 13 But one thing I do: Forgetting what

is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on
toward the goal to win the prize for which GOD has called me
heavenward in Christ Jesus.

2. Passion

The benefit of purpose is passion. For many people clarifying

their lifes purpose becomes the key to unlocking their passion
for life. The passion becomes the fuel that propels them forward
in expressing their purpose

2 Corinthians 5:14 (NIV)

14 Ang pag-ibig ni Cristo ang naghahari sa amin, sapagkat

natitiyak naming may isang namatay para sa lahat, kung kaya't
ang lahat ay maibibilang nang patay.
 What is a driving force behind Paul and his achievements?
Passion. Love. When you find purpose, not only do you find
meaning, you find passion.

3. Discipline

When you have purpose in life, one of the results of purpose is

you become disciplined. Nagkakaroon ka ng disiplina. The reason
people are so undisciplined is because, really, they dont have a
clear purpose in life.

4. Fulfillment

You need to understand that up until you discover your purpose,

you will never be fulfilled.

Thats why despite people being successful in terms of success

that his world offers, they find their lives meaningless. I realized
success doesnt equate meaningfulness. Purpose equates to
meaningfulness. Thats why people can be successful, people can
be wealthy. But still, yung buhay nila meaningless simply
because they have not found purpose. When you find your
purpose, there is a certain sense of fulfillment.

John 10:10 (NIV) 10 I have come that they may have life, and
have it to the full.

Its not just enough for you to be breathing, eating, sleeping and
working, GOD wants you to have a life where you can find
fulfillment to the fullest of your potential and capacity to the
fullest of your capabilities. That is the kind of life that wants you to
have. GOD does not want you to have a life to live in mediocrity.
GOD does not want you to have a life na mediocre lang, average
lang; GOD wants you to have your life in all its fullness.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) 11 For I know the plans I have for you,
plans to prosper you not to harm you, plans to give you a hope
and a future.

Thats what weve been talking all this time every Sunday
declaring that word to you. I know the plans I have for you GOD
has a plan and a purpose for your life.

The only way to find meaning is to discover that purpose. The

only way to find fulfillment is to discover that purpose and that
purpose can only be found in knowing Jesus, GOD and His voice;
knowing that Hes real.

Is it possible that there is more to you than you actually see

yourself? Maybe you at the person seated next to you, maybe you
look yourself in the mirror and you dont see anything. Maybe you
even hate your life. You look at your life meaningless and thinking
youre not even handsome or beautiful, bright or intelligent;
youre just nobody. Whats the possibility that what GOD says
about you is; Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) 11 For I know the plans I have
for you, plans to prosper you not to harm you, plans to give you a
hope and a future.
I want us to stand up right now. People, dont leave todays service
without knowing GODs purpose for your life theres more to you
than meets the eye. You have to believe that. There is a reason
why youre here. Theres a reason why youre experiencing that
trouble and problem. Maybe you think that its just a mistake, a
bad luck or something. No, no, no! Joseph was thrown into the jail
for the reason. Finally, when Joseph was in front of his brother, his
brothers were still afraid that he may get back on them. Sabi ni
Joseph sa kanila, Dont be afraid. Dont you understand that you
ended for evil the LORD has intended for good? Maybe its true.
Maybe there are things that the devil, Satan, intended to happen
to your life. Why did GOD allow you to suffer that molestation?
Why did GOD allow you to suffer being left by your mom and dad
to work somewhere else abroad? Why did he allow you to suffer
going to a broken family? Why did he allow you to suffer being
taken out of that job or failing that grade? Sabi ni Joseph, I find
meaning in this because what you intended for evil, the LORD,
GOD, all this time has been intending you for good. I promise you,
something good is going to come out on that problem, on that
kind of life. There is purpose there. I want us to pray right now;
Father, I pray this afternoon, LORD, GOD, that each and every one
of us will begin to discover purpose in our lives. Yes, LORD, its
true, there are a lot of things right now that does not make sense;
some painful things, some trying things.

Father, right now I declare that they will learn to trust you and
believe that you are in control. The same way that Joseph saw that
you were in control, that you were still in control during the time
that he was in jail, You were in control. During the times, LORD,
GOD, he was thrown in the slavery, You were in control. During the
time that he was thrown in that well, You were in control. Father, I
declare, LORD, GOD, that we will learn how to trust you and have
faith and believe, LORD, GOD, that you have a purpose in our life. I
speak purpose and meaning in the life of every person here right
now. Father, I declare that we will be set free from
meaninglessness. Right now if you wanna be set free, if you are
that person whos tired; sawa ka na na ang buhay mo walang
saysay, walang meaning, walang kwenta. Right now, if that is you,
GOD wants to deliver and sets you free from that oppressive spirit
of meaningless life. If you are that person right now who wants to
be delivered, who wanna be set free, you wanna be saved; I want
you to raise your hand right now. Father, in the name of Jesus, you
see these hands being raised up, LORD, GOD, I declare, LORD,
GOD, that theyd be set free right now from every form of
meaningless. I declare every doubt bound, in the name of Jesus. In
Jesus name, I pray that starting today you will begin to open our
eyes and you will begin to see the very reason for what we are
created for, in Jesus name. Amen.