If Only - A Life Haunted by Regret
Pastor Tan Thai
The sermon analyzes the regret of 'if only' - an emotion that haunts people and prevents them from living in the present. Apostle Paul teaches us to forget what is behind and press forward toward what is ahead, aiming to obtain the heavenly calling in Christ Jesus. The sermon calls believers to accept Jesus Christ for salvation and avoid eternal suffering in hell.
The sermon opens with a concrete example of the internet economic bubble from 1999-2001, when the Nasdaq index rose from 3000 to 5000 in four months, but then collapsed, causing millions of people to lose money and lament 'if only I had sold before' or 'if only I hadn't been greedy'. This is just one small example of persistent regret in human life, not only about money but also about decisions with grave consequences for one's future.
The regret of 'if only' appears in many aspects of life: unhappy marriage, drug addiction, small mistakes with serious consequences, and even returning to the past to regret choices that cannot be changed. Since God created the world, Adam and Eve were tormented by regret when they ate the forbidden fruit, and they blamed themselves for the rest of their lives. Historians also record the nation's regret about Emperor Quang Trung Nguyen Hue - a gifted ruler who died young, causing people to imagine that if he had lived longer, Vietnamese history might have changed. Even when suffering overwhelmingly like Job in Scripture, people wish they had never been born at all.
When consumed by regret, we become prisoners of the past. Our reason and emotions circle around questions that can never be answered satisfactorily. The past that has passed no one can recapture; only memories and remnants remain, and sorrow over what is done will drain our vitality and will to live. Therefore, Apostle Paul in his letter to the believers in Philippi taught: 'Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.'
According to Scripture, each of us has only one life to live on earth, and we will all appear before the Great White Throne to be judged according to our deeds. Those whose names are not written in the Book of Life will be cast into the lake of fire. The renowned mathematician Pascal reasoned that if Scripture is true and he does not trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, he will lose everything and suffer eternally in hell. Conversely, trusting in Christ costs him nothing in this life. The sermon closes with a call to action: choose to trust in Jesus Christ like Pascal and countless others, because on the day of final judgment, no one will have any other opportunity to lament 'if only'.