From His Heart is the teaching ministry of Dr. Jeff Schreve. We exist to speak real truth; real love and real hope from the loving heart of God to a lost and hurting world.
#Religion
#Servant of God
#Honor
#Doubt
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#Fear of the Lord
#Reward
#Eternity
#Jeff Schreve
#Malachi 3:13-15
#Proverbs 24:30-34
#Hebrews 3:13
#Isaiah 29:13
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From His Heart: Jeff Schreve | Does It Pay To Serve Jesus | March 17, 2022
- male announcer: Welcome to "From His Heart," where today Pastor
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- Jeff Schreve is in his brand new series, entitled "Return To Me,"
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- to help you rekindle your first love for the Lord Jesus.
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- If you are struggling in life today, you'll learn the answer
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- to this question, "does it pay to serve Jesus?"
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- ♪ There is truth, there is love, there is hope ♪
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- ♪ that you've always dreamed of. ♪
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- ♪ He can heal ever scar with real truth, real love, ♪
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- ♪ real hope, from his heart. ♪♪
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- Jeff Schreve: We've been in a series on the book of Malachi,
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- and we have this message today, and one more message,
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- and we run across in Malachi a series of questions
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- that the people of God are asking God.
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- They're not doing well spiritually, not at all.
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- As I told you last week, they were much like the church of
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- Laodicea, they had lukewarm worship, their hearts were far
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- away from God, and they were just people that kind of did
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- their religious duty.
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- But they weren't walking with God, and they weren't close to
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- God, and they asked God all these questions, and so we run
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- into a series of questions.
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- "How have we robbed you?
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- How how have we despised your name?
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- How have you loved us?"
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- They have all these questions.
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- Well, this is the sixth question they ask, and it's a question
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- of purpose.
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- Is it-- does it pay to serve the Lord?
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- And they had come up with the conclusion that it doesn't
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- because they were looking around, and they were seeing how
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- people that were pagan nations and people that didn't follow
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- the Lord, they seem to be doing well, and these people weren't
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- doing well, and they made the conclusion, you know, when it
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- comes to that question, does it pay to serve the Lord, they say,
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- I don't think it pays.
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- Malachi chapter 3, I'll begin reading in verse 13, the Lord
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- says this, "'Your words have been arrogant,'" harsh, hard,
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- 'cruel against me,' "says the Lord.
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- 'Yet you say, 'What are you talkin' about?
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- How have we spoken against you?'
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- You have said it is vain,'" useless, pointless, futile,
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- "''to serve God; and what profit is it that we have kept his
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- charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord
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- of hosts?'
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- So now we call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers
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- of wickedness built up but they also test God and escape.'"
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- They said it's vain to serve God, it's pointless, it's
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- useless, it doesn't work, it doesn't pay.
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- Maybe you feel like that.
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- You know, there are two classes of people that can start to ask
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- that question, there are the honest people that are suffering
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- and hurting and they don't understand and they honestly ask
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- God, Job is a good example.
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- Lord, I don't understand this.
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- I'm walking with you, and I am suffering so much, and these
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- other people, they don't give a flip about you and a rip about
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- you, and that you seem to be blessing them, God, I
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- don't understand.
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- Asaph, Psalm 73, said the same thing, had the same thing go
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- through his mind.
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- Jeremiah in Jeremiah 12, the same thing.
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- God, I don't understand.
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- So, there are honest questioners, but then there are
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- bitter doubters, and bitter wonderers saying, you know, I
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- just don't think that it is worth it to serve the Lord.
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- Now, whether you're an honest questioner or whether you're a
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- bitter doubter, God has something for both groups, and
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- if you think about the question, what factors are involved when
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- we start to believe the lie that serving Jesus is useless?
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- Because knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord, the
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- Bible clearly says that.
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- When we start to believe the lie that it is in vain, that it is
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- pointless, it is useless, why do we get like that?
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- What is going on that would cause us to come up with
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- that conclusion?
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- Well, I want you to notice with me three factors, and they all
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- have to do with perspective.
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- Factor number one, when we start to question does it pay to serve
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- the Lord, is it worth it to serve the Lord, number one, we
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- have a faulty perspective, a warped perspective.
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- We're not seeing things correctly, we're not seeing
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- things clearly.
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- And that's what these people had in the book of Malachi.
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- Remember Malachi was written in about 430 BC.
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- God's people were enslaved by Babylon, taken off to Babylon,
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- and they came back, and they were so excited to come back.
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- I mean, can you imagine, you have been living in Babylon, and
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- you long for Jerusalem, because Jerusalem is the holy city,
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- that's where God's put his name, and you want to come back there,
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- and you want to fire up the worship again, and so they came
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- back, with Zerubbabel, 50.000 of them, and they came back, and
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- what did they come back to do?
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- They came back to rebuild the temple, 'cause it had been
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- destroyed, Solomon's beautiful temple had been destroyed by
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- Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians.
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- They came back to rebuild the city.
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- They came back to rebuild the wall.
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- They came back to rebuild their worship and the sacrifices.
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- And they were so excited, but you know what they found?
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- They found that it was tough, that it was hard, and they began
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- to do what so many of us start to do, they began to slip away
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- and leave their first love, and they started to engage in
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- spiritual compromise.
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- And when you compromise spiritually, you're not going to
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- be able to see clearly.
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- You're gonna look at a mirror, and everything is going to
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- be distorted.
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- Now, we need to remember this, spiritual compromise is a
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- constant enemy.
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- It was an enemy to them, it was an enemy in the New Testament,
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- it's an enemy today.
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- No one is immune to spiritual compromise.
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- And how does spiritual compromise take place in a life,
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- in a church, in a denomination, how does that happen?
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- Well, the Bible tells us how that happens.
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- It happens little by little by little.
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- Solomon said this in Proverbs 24, "I passed by the field of
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- the sluggard, And by the vineyard of the man lacking
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- sense; And behold, it was completely overgrown with
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- thistles, Its surface was covered with nettles; and its
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- stone wall was broken down."
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- Just a broken down, weed infested, no fruit on the vine
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- kinda vineyard.
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- He said, "When I saw it, I reflected upon it," I thought
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- about it.
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- He said, "I looked, and received instruction."
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- And this is what he heard, no doubt from the Lord.
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- "'A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the
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- hands to rest,' Then your poverty will come in as a
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- robber, And your need like an armed man."
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- What did he learn when he saw the broken down, weed
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- infested vineyard?
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- He learned this, that didn't get like that overnight.
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- It got like that little by little by little by little.
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- Little compromises will take you away from the truth, will take
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- you away from the Lord.
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- And what happens when you start to compromise spiritually?
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- Well, it produces corruption, and it produces a hardness of
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- heart and blindness of eyes.
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- The Bible says in Hebrews 3:13, "But encourage one another day
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- after day as long as it is still called today, lest any of you
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- should be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin."
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- Sin hardens your heart, it hardens my heart.
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- It's just a universal truth that if you start to participate in
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- sin, your heart will start to get hard, and you don't hear the
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- the conviction and feel the conviction from the Lord like
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- you used to.
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- Sin will harden your heart, and it will blind your eyes to
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- the truth.
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- Jesus told that church in Laodicea, he said, "You say
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- you're rich and in need of nothing, and you don't know that
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- you're wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked."
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- You can't see, you're looking into this distorted mirror, and
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- you're not seeing the truth.
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- That's what happens when we start to compromise, and these
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- people were living in compromise,
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- spiritual compromise.
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- Constant enemy that will harden your heart and put blinders on
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- your eyes and you start to question, well, is God good, is
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- this even worth it?
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- A faulty perspective, factor number two, why do we start to
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- believe the lie that it is not worth it to serve the Lord?
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- Well, not only a faulty perspective, but secondly, we
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- have an external perspective, an outside perspective.
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- We could almost say a religious perspective.
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- We start to view the Christian life not as a relationship, but
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- as religion, as things that we do.
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- So, these people said, verse 14, "You have said," the Lord says
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- about them, "'It is vain,'" pointless, useless, "'to serve
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- God; and what profit is there if we have kept his charge, and
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- that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of hosts?'"
- 00:09:57.198 --> 00:10:01.002
- Now, these people don't see the scoreboard right, they don't see
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- things clearly, because their hearts are hard, and their
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- blinders are on, and so they say, well, Lord, we've kept
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- your charge.
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- You've kept my charge?
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- You're divorcing your wives, you're robbing me, you're
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- questioning my love, you're bringing your crummy offerings,
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- you're defiling my altar, you're despising my name, and you're
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- saying that you have kept my charge?
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- Oh, yeah, well, Lord, we've done all-- we've checked all
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- the boxes.
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- Did I bring my offering to the Lord?
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- Check, even though it was not the full tithe.
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- I brought it, I put two bucks in the offering plate, Lord, check.
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- I came and I brought my lamb, you know, the one that I found
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- that ripped up in the field, that one, I brought that one,
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- so, check, I'd get points for that, and you start playing the
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- points game with God, and you did all these things outwardly,
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- and the Lord says, listen, I don't see your outward things,
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- but what I do see is your heart.
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- God doesn't see as man sees.
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- Man sees the outward appearance, God looks at the heart.
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- And so, this external perspective, hey, I've done this
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- and that and the other, we go through the motions of
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- Christianity, but it's not real.
- 00:11:17.145 --> 00:11:22.083
- Isaiah 29, the Lord says this, "Because this people draw near
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- with their words And honor me with their lip service, But they
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- remove their hearts far from me, And their reverence for me
- 00:11:29.190 --> 00:11:32.827
- consists of tradition learned by rote."
- 00:11:32.827 --> 00:11:35.864
- They just go through the motions.
- 00:11:35.864 --> 00:11:37.999
- It's just-- they're just hitting a default setting and they pray.
- 00:11:37.999 --> 00:11:44.272
- But how do people pray?
- 00:11:44.272 --> 00:11:45.807
- When you go through the motions of prayer, what you'll find is
- 00:11:45.807 --> 00:11:48.710
- your prayers are just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
- 00:11:48.710 --> 00:11:53.014
- It's like hitting play on a recorder.
- 00:11:53.014 --> 00:11:56.417
- We forget that a walk with God is all about heart.
- 00:11:56.417 --> 00:11:59.587
- The eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that he
- 00:11:59.587 --> 00:12:02.123
- may strongly support those whose heart is completely his.
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- God doesn't see as man sees.
- 00:12:05.927 --> 00:12:07.262
- Man sees outward, God looks at the heart.
- 00:12:07.262 --> 00:12:09.597
- And God says, Proverbs 26, verse 23, "My son, give me your heart
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- and let your eyes delight in my ways."
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- It's all about heart.
- 00:12:18.173 --> 00:12:19.908
- You remember what Jesus said to Peter in John chapter 21 when
- 00:12:19.908 --> 00:12:23.812
- he's restoring Peter?
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- Peter, the man who denied Jesus three times, he says to him
- 00:12:25.180 --> 00:12:29.717
- three times this, question, "Peter, do you love me?
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- Do you love me?
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- Do you love me?"
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- It's all about a love relationship with the Lord.
- 00:12:40.628 --> 00:12:43.331
- It's not about keeping external rules.
- 00:12:43.331 --> 00:12:45.400
- Christianity is not a religion, it's a relationship with God,
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- and it's a heart thing.
- 00:12:49.671 --> 00:12:51.940
- Now, remember this, God always has a remnant.
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- In any church, in any group, when you talk about the people
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- of God, there are the true people of God that are the
- 00:12:57.645 --> 00:13:01.382
- smaller group, the remnant, and then you have the big group,
- 00:13:01.382 --> 00:13:05.687
- quote unquote, called the people of God.
- 00:13:05.687 --> 00:13:07.689
- This big group, this verses 13 to 15 group, those people
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- weren't believers by and large.
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- They served God for gain, not for love.
- 00:13:15.063 --> 00:13:18.132
- But look what verse 16 says, "Then those who feared the Lord
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- spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard
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- it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for those
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- who feared the Lord and who esteem his name."
- 00:13:26.875 --> 00:13:32.614
- Hey, not everybody was like the ones that were insulting God.
- 00:13:32.614 --> 00:13:36.918
- There were some who feared the Lord, there are some who revered
- 00:13:36.918 --> 00:13:40.388
- his name, there are some, and they met together, and they
- 00:13:40.388 --> 00:13:44.425
- talked with one another, and they encouraged one another, and
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- God says, I'll remember them.
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- I'll remember them.
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- The fear of the Lord, it's the beginning of wisdom, it's the
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- beginning of knowledge.
- 00:13:52.400 --> 00:13:53.735
- Solomon said, "The conclusion when all has been heard is fear
- 00:13:53.735 --> 00:13:56.604
- God and keep his commandments because this applies to every
- 00:13:56.604 --> 00:13:59.474
- person, for the Lord will bring every act to judgment,
- 00:13:59.474 --> 00:14:01.943
- everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil."
- 00:14:01.943 --> 00:14:05.980
- What was wrong with the people in verses 13 through 15?
- 00:14:05.980 --> 00:14:09.050
- They didn't fear God.
- 00:14:09.050 --> 00:14:11.586
- Hey, when you fear God, the one who fears God best is the one
- 00:14:11.586 --> 00:14:15.323
- who loves him most.
- 00:14:15.323 --> 00:14:16.891
- The fear of the Lord is love on its knees.
- 00:14:16.891 --> 00:14:22.196
- So, when we start to question, hey, we have a faulty
- 00:14:22.196 --> 00:14:25.333
- perspective, number one.
- 00:14:25.333 --> 00:14:26.668
- Number two, we have an external perspective, we think it's all
- 00:14:26.668 --> 00:14:29.103
- about just checking the box and we show the Lord our boxes are
- 00:14:29.103 --> 00:14:31.539
- all checked.
- 00:14:31.539 --> 00:14:32.874
- And number three, we have a short sighted perspective.
- 00:14:32.874 --> 00:14:36.010
- A short sighted perspective, look at verse 15, "So now we
- 00:14:36.010 --> 00:14:40.682
- call the arrogant blessed; not only are the doers of wickedness
- 00:14:40.682 --> 00:14:45.386
- built up but they also test God and they escape."
- 00:14:45.386 --> 00:14:49.891
- Oh, they get away with it.
- 00:14:49.891 --> 00:14:51.826
- Those-- you want to know who the blessed people are?
- 00:14:51.826 --> 00:14:54.495
- They're the ones who are arrogant before the Lord,
- 00:14:54.495 --> 00:14:57.098
- they're the ones who are engaging all kinds of
- 00:14:57.098 --> 00:14:59.334
- wickedness, they're the ones who are blessed.
- 00:14:59.334 --> 00:15:02.003
- God doesn't bless us, he blesses them.
- 00:15:02.003 --> 00:15:05.707
- And they test the Lord, and they escape.
- 00:15:05.707 --> 00:15:09.110
- A short sighted perspective.
- 00:15:09.110 --> 00:15:11.312
- They're just looking at everything in this life
- 00:15:11.312 --> 00:15:13.948
- right now.
- 00:15:13.948 --> 00:15:16.017
- They're not thinking about eternity.
- 00:15:16.017 --> 00:15:19.220
- Lots of people live like that.
- 00:15:19.220 --> 00:15:20.588
- They just think right now, right now, what's gonna make me happy
- 00:15:20.588 --> 00:15:24.225
- right now, for the moment?
- 00:15:24.225 --> 00:15:27.061
- I'm lactose intolerant, but I wanna have ice cream 'cause ice
- 00:15:27.061 --> 00:15:29.998
- cream will make me feel good right now.
- 00:15:29.998 --> 00:15:32.066
- And two hours from now, I'm gonna be sick as a dog, but
- 00:15:32.066 --> 00:15:34.802
- what's gonna make me feel good right at this second, at
- 00:15:34.802 --> 00:15:37.238
- this moment?
- 00:15:37.238 --> 00:15:38.606
- That's how some people live.
- 00:15:38.606 --> 00:15:40.141
- It's a terrible way to live.
- 00:15:40.141 --> 00:15:41.476
- Hey, we can't let the temporal trump the eternal.
- 00:15:41.476 --> 00:15:46.581
- You can't let the just the temporal things, the temporary
- 00:15:46.581 --> 00:15:49.650
- things say that's more important than the eternal.
- 00:15:49.650 --> 00:15:53.955
- No, hey, your life is a drop in a bucket on this earth.
- 00:15:53.955 --> 00:16:00.161
- If you live to be 100 years old, you say, that's a long life,
- 00:16:00.161 --> 00:16:04.999
- yeah, that's a long life, 100 years old.
- 00:16:04.999 --> 00:16:08.536
- Clint Eastwood says nobody wants to.
- 00:16:08.536 --> 00:16:10.138
- The only person that wants to live to be 100 is the person
- 00:16:10.138 --> 00:16:12.440
- who's 99.
- 00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:13.775
- Most of us don't want to live that long, you know?
- 00:16:13.775 --> 00:16:15.743
- You've seen 100 year old people, most of 'em don't look
- 00:16:15.743 --> 00:16:18.212
- very good.
- 00:16:18.212 --> 00:16:19.580
- It's like, oh, Lord take me before then.
- 00:16:19.580 --> 00:16:20.915
- But if you live to be 100, that's a long life.
- 00:16:20.915 --> 00:16:24.585
- But then you're gonna live for 100 billion years, for eternity,
- 00:16:24.585 --> 00:16:31.059
- billion years to to a power of a billion, forever in either
- 00:16:31.059 --> 00:16:35.997
- heaven or hell.
- 00:16:35.997 --> 00:16:38.032
- You're not gonna be thinking much about the little hundred
- 00:16:38.032 --> 00:16:41.035
- years compared to the 100 billion years.
- 00:16:41.035 --> 00:16:45.173
- We get this shortsighted look, and we look at people, and we
- 00:16:45.173 --> 00:16:48.543
- say, well, they're doin' good, and they're not serving God, and
- 00:16:48.543 --> 00:16:51.012
- they're doin' good, and they're not serving God, and look how
- 00:16:51.012 --> 00:16:53.514
- wealthy this person is, and they don't care about God, that
- 00:16:53.514 --> 00:16:56.784
- person's an atheist.
- 00:16:56.784 --> 00:16:58.753
- Well, so what?
- 00:16:58.753 --> 00:17:00.154
- I don't care if they have $100 million.
- 00:17:00.154 --> 00:17:03.591
- That person who's an atheist is gonna die and go to
- 00:17:03.591 --> 00:17:08.129
- hell forever.
- 00:17:08.129 --> 00:17:09.697
- I feel sorry for them.
- 00:17:09.697 --> 00:17:12.300
- I don't want them to die and go to hell.
- 00:17:12.300 --> 00:17:14.469
- So what if you have a lot of money?
- 00:17:14.469 --> 00:17:16.270
- Life is way more important than money.
- 00:17:16.270 --> 00:17:19.607
- We need money to live, but life is not about money, and the love
- 00:17:19.607 --> 00:17:22.743
- of money, the scripture says, is the root of all sorts of evil.
- 00:17:22.743 --> 00:17:28.015
- You gotta get the long look.
- 00:17:28.015 --> 00:17:29.484
- Henry Blackaby used to say, take the long look in life.
- 00:17:29.484 --> 00:17:33.621
- The long look like Moses took.
- 00:17:33.621 --> 00:17:36.257
- It says in Hebrews chapter 11, "By faith Moses, when he had
- 00:17:36.257 --> 00:17:39.694
- grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter,
- 00:17:39.694 --> 00:17:43.231
- choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of
- 00:17:43.231 --> 00:17:45.867
- God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering
- 00:17:45.867 --> 00:17:51.172
- the reproach of Christ greater riches then the treasures of
- 00:17:51.172 --> 00:17:54.775
- Egypt; for he was looking to the reward."
- 00:17:54.775 --> 00:17:59.714
- He was living with a long look.
- 00:17:59.714 --> 00:18:02.917
- He was looking to the reward.
- 00:18:02.917 --> 00:18:04.385
- So he says, hey, if I have difficulty now, maybe that's for
- 00:18:04.385 --> 00:18:09.524
- my whole life, maybe for this hundred year life, it's just
- 00:18:09.524 --> 00:18:13.227
- racked with difficulty, but what's on the other side?
- 00:18:13.227 --> 00:18:17.498
- See, we don't live for right now, we live for eternity, and
- 00:18:17.498 --> 00:18:23.070
- we must not forget that God is just and good.
- 00:18:23.070 --> 00:18:28.743
- So, verse 16 again, it says this, "Then those who feared the
- 00:18:28.743 --> 00:18:32.113
- Lord, they spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and
- 00:18:32.113 --> 00:18:38.553
- heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before
- 00:18:38.553 --> 00:18:42.557
- him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem his name."
- 00:18:42.557 --> 00:18:46.861
- God writes that down, a book of remembrance.
- 00:18:46.861 --> 00:18:49.130
- You know, this was written in the time of the Persian kings,
- 00:18:49.130 --> 00:18:51.832
- and the Persian kings had a book of chronicles, a book of
- 00:18:51.832 --> 00:18:55.303
- remembrance, and they would write down the good things, and
- 00:18:55.303 --> 00:18:58.139
- they would remember it.
- 00:18:58.139 --> 00:18:59.840
- Esther chapter six, the king can't sleep, and he has the
- 00:18:59.840 --> 00:19:05.079
- person come, read me from the book of the chronicles, read me
- 00:19:05.079 --> 00:19:08.182
- from the book of remembrance, and they read about how Mordecai
- 00:19:08.182 --> 00:19:11.452
- thwarted a plan to kill the king, and all of a sudden it was
- 00:19:11.452 --> 00:19:14.956
- like, well, what have we done for Mordecai?
- 00:19:14.956 --> 00:19:16.557
- Well you haven't done anything for him, king.
- 00:19:16.557 --> 00:19:18.326
- Well, we're gonna do something special for Mordecai.
- 00:19:18.326 --> 00:19:21.162
- And God used that, but here was the thing, he had a book where
- 00:19:21.162 --> 00:19:24.565
- he wrote that down.
- 00:19:24.565 --> 00:19:25.933
- God has a book, and he writes down those who fear him.
- 00:19:25.933 --> 00:19:29.403
- Verse 17, "'And they will be mine,' says the Lord of hosts,
- 00:19:29.403 --> 00:19:32.373
- 'on the day that I prepare my own possession, and I will spare
- 00:19:32.373 --> 00:19:35.443
- them as a man spares his own son, who serves him.'"
- 00:19:35.443 --> 00:19:40.014
- Now, when it says, "They shall be my own possession," that is
- 00:19:40.014 --> 00:19:43.417
- my special treasure.
- 00:19:43.417 --> 00:19:46.287
- Exodus chapter 19, the Lord says that you're gonna be my special
- 00:19:46.287 --> 00:19:49.557
- treasure, my own possession, and I'll spare you just as a man
- 00:19:49.557 --> 00:19:54.495
- spares his own son.
- 00:19:54.495 --> 00:19:55.930
- "So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the
- 00:19:55.930 --> 00:19:58.165
- wicked, between the one who serves God and the one who does
- 00:19:58.165 --> 00:20:00.735
- not serve him.
- 00:20:00.735 --> 00:20:02.069
- 'For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all
- 00:20:02.069 --> 00:20:04.739
- the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that
- 00:20:04.739 --> 00:20:08.042
- is coming will set them ablaze,' says the Lord of hosts, 'so that
- 00:20:08.042 --> 00:20:10.845
- it will leave them neither root nor branch.'
- 00:20:10.845 --> 00:20:12.947
- But for you who fear my name the sun of righteousness will rise
- 00:20:12.947 --> 00:20:17.585
- with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about
- 00:20:17.585 --> 00:20:21.088
- like calves from the stall."
- 00:20:21.088 --> 00:20:23.724
- Hey, does it pay?
- 00:20:23.724 --> 00:20:25.059
- When the Lord comes back in holy, righteous judgment, you
- 00:20:25.059 --> 00:20:30.798
- better believe it pays.
- 00:20:30.798 --> 00:20:32.667
- Life is not about what happens to you right now, right here,
- 00:20:32.667 --> 00:20:36.103
- whether you get that promotion, whether you have this good thing
- 00:20:36.103 --> 00:20:39.307
- happen to you or that good thing happen to you.
- 00:20:39.307 --> 00:20:42.009
- Life is about how God is gonna use your life.
- 00:20:42.009 --> 00:20:44.378
- It's not your story, it's his story.
- 00:20:44.378 --> 00:20:46.180
- We're all living for his glory.
- 00:20:46.180 --> 00:20:49.283
- And we, as Christians, need to be living for a, well done, my
- 00:20:49.283 --> 00:20:54.822
- good and faithful slave.
- 00:20:54.822 --> 00:20:56.757
- That's a life well lived.
- 00:20:56.757 --> 00:20:58.859
- And when you hear from the Lord, well done, my good and
- 00:20:58.859 --> 00:21:01.028
- faithful slave.
- 00:21:01.028 --> 00:21:02.396
- Hey, Stephen was a great preacher, but In Acts chapter 7
- 00:21:02.396 --> 00:21:07.168
- he preached a sermon and he brought the house down, so
- 00:21:07.168 --> 00:21:10.538
- to speak.
- 00:21:10.538 --> 00:21:11.872
- 'Cause the Sanhedrin didn't like it, they stoned him to death.
- 00:21:11.872 --> 00:21:15.343
- You say, what's the deal, God?
- 00:21:15.343 --> 00:21:16.711
- Why didn't you protect Stephen?
- 00:21:16.711 --> 00:21:18.913
- Hey, God has a plan, he doesn't check with you or me how that's
- 00:21:18.913 --> 00:21:22.249
- gonna work out.
- 00:21:22.249 --> 00:21:23.784
- Stephen said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit," and Jesus,
- 00:21:23.784 --> 00:21:26.721
- who sat down at the right hand of the throne of God, when
- 00:21:26.721 --> 00:21:29.757
- Stephen was dying, he stood up.
- 00:21:29.757 --> 00:21:32.560
- "I see Jesus standing at the right hand of the throne
- 00:21:32.560 --> 00:21:35.396
- of God."
- 00:21:35.396 --> 00:21:36.764
- He gave Stephen a standing ovation, and he welcomed him
- 00:21:36.764 --> 00:21:39.100
- into glory.
- 00:21:39.100 --> 00:21:40.434
- Stephen wasn't living for the here and now, he was living for
- 00:21:40.434 --> 00:21:44.472
- the amen at the end, he was living for the, well done, my
- 00:21:44.472 --> 00:21:47.341
- good and faithful slave.
- 00:21:47.341 --> 00:21:51.479
- The Lord is coming back to judge, and when you start
- 00:21:51.479 --> 00:21:54.982
- thinking of life in terms of the long look, it changes how you do
- 00:21:54.982 --> 00:22:00.221
- things, because you say, hey, one day, I'm gonna stand before
- 00:22:00.221 --> 00:22:05.159
- God, and he is going to judge me, and he is going to open up
- 00:22:05.159 --> 00:22:11.031
- the book of remembrance.
- 00:22:11.031 --> 00:22:12.500
- Am I one who feared him?
- 00:22:12.500 --> 00:22:14.235
- You know, in the New Testament, the Bible doesn't talk so much
- 00:22:14.235 --> 00:22:17.104
- about the book of remembrance, it talks about the Lamb's Book
- 00:22:17.104 --> 00:22:19.473
- of Life.
- 00:22:19.473 --> 00:22:20.841
- Is my name written in the Lamb's Book of Life?
- 00:22:20.841 --> 00:22:22.643
- Have I put my faith and trust in Jesus and Jesus alone?
- 00:22:22.643 --> 00:22:27.415
- Now, you mark this down.
- 00:22:27.415 --> 00:22:28.849
- If you serve God because it pays, it doesn't pay.
- 00:22:28.849 --> 00:22:37.858
- Matthew chapter 7, Jesus said, "Many will say to me, 'Lord,
- 00:22:37.858 --> 00:22:41.429
- Lord, did we not preach in your name and in your name cast out
- 00:22:41.429 --> 00:22:45.366
- demons and in your name perform many miracles?'
- 00:22:45.366 --> 00:22:47.535
- Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you.
- 00:22:47.535 --> 00:22:51.405
- Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'"
- 00:22:51.405 --> 00:22:53.908
- You thought you could use me.
- 00:22:53.908 --> 00:22:56.744
- God is not gonna be used.
- 00:22:56.744 --> 00:22:59.313
- But, listen, if you serve God because you love him, it pays
- 00:22:59.313 --> 00:23:07.121
- for all eternity.
- 00:23:07.121 --> 00:23:09.123
- It pays beyond anything your mind can imagine, 'cause God is
- 00:23:09.123 --> 00:23:13.761
- a good God, and the Bible says "What eye has not seen, nor ear
- 00:23:13.761 --> 00:23:18.299
- heard, nor has it even entered into the heart of man, all that
- 00:23:18.299 --> 00:23:21.969
- God has prepared for those who love him."
- 00:23:21.969 --> 00:23:27.274
- Do you love him?
- 00:23:27.274 --> 00:23:30.444
- Hey, you answer the question, do you know that Jesus loves you?
- 00:23:30.444 --> 00:23:34.915
- Do you care?
- 00:23:34.915 --> 00:23:36.617
- Do you know he died to save you?
- 00:23:36.617 --> 00:23:38.419
- Do you care?
- 00:23:38.419 --> 00:23:39.987
- Son of God and King is he, but he died upon a tree.
- 00:23:39.987 --> 00:23:45.526
- Do you love him?
- 00:23:45.526 --> 00:23:47.061
- Does it matter?
- 00:23:47.061 --> 00:23:48.863
- Do you care?
- 00:23:48.863 --> 00:23:52.500
- Jeff: This month, we're continuing our verse by verse
- 00:23:52.500 --> 00:23:54.702
- journey through the book of Malachi.
- 00:23:54.702 --> 00:23:56.537
- We're learning how to return to him and regain a heart for God.
- 00:23:56.537 --> 00:24:00.241
- So, how is your heart toward God?
- 00:24:00.241 --> 00:24:02.676
- Does he live inside?
- 00:24:02.676 --> 00:24:04.478
- Do you know for certain that you belong to Jesus?
- 00:24:04.478 --> 00:24:07.381
- If not, you can know today.
- 00:24:07.381 --> 00:24:09.550
- Just pray this prayer with me.
- 00:24:09.550 --> 00:24:11.185
- Lord Jesus, I need you.
- 00:24:11.185 --> 00:24:14.088
- I know that I'm a sinner and I'm lost, and I can't save myself,
- 00:24:14.088 --> 00:24:18.826
- but I believe, Jesus, that you are God in the flesh, that you
- 00:24:18.826 --> 00:24:22.696
- died on the cross for my sins and rose again from the dead.
- 00:24:22.696 --> 00:24:26.133
- And right now, Jesus, I open my heart to you.
- 00:24:26.133 --> 00:24:29.436
- Come into my life, forgive me of all my sins, and make me the
- 00:24:29.436 --> 00:24:33.507
- person you want me to be.
- 00:24:33.507 --> 00:24:34.875
- Save me, Lord Jesus.
- 00:24:34.875 --> 00:24:36.510
- I surrender my all to you.
- 00:24:36.510 --> 00:24:39.446
- My friend, if you'll pray that kind of prayer and mean it, the
- 00:24:39.446 --> 00:24:42.650
- Lord will come in, and your life will never be the same.
- 00:24:42.650 --> 00:24:46.420
- I'd love to hear from you to know that you're watching, to
- 00:24:46.420 --> 00:24:49.423
- know that God is using this broadcast to make a difference
- 00:24:49.423 --> 00:24:51.759
- in your life, to know that you just prayed that prayer to
- 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:54.962
- receive Christ as Savior and Lord.
- 00:24:54.962 --> 00:24:57.398
- Please, take the time to call that toll free number, write me,
- 00:24:57.398 --> 00:25:00.334
- email me, let me know what's going on and how we can pray
- 00:25:00.334 --> 00:25:02.937
- for you.
- 00:25:02.937 --> 00:25:04.271
- You really are important to God, and you're important to us, and
- 00:25:04.271 --> 00:25:08.509
- we're here for you.
- 00:25:08.509 --> 00:25:11.312
- announcer: Today's message, "Does It Pay To Serve Jesus?"
- 00:25:11.312 --> 00:25:14.815
- is from the new series called "Return To Me," and it's
- 00:25:14.815 --> 00:25:18.352
- available in the format of your choice when you call
- 00:25:18.352 --> 00:25:20.754
- 877-777-6171 or go online to fromhisheart.org.
- 00:25:20.754 --> 00:25:29.463
- Jeff: The people in Malachi's day had lost their fear of God,
- 00:25:29.463 --> 00:25:33.334
- they had lost their heart for God, they had lost their passion
- 00:25:33.334 --> 00:25:36.036
- for God, and they were just going through the motions of
- 00:25:36.036 --> 00:25:39.273
- their worship.
- 00:25:39.273 --> 00:25:40.608
- Does that sound familiar?
- 00:25:40.608 --> 00:25:41.942
- So many people today give God the scraps of adoration, and
- 00:25:41.942 --> 00:25:45.512
- they bring him leftover worship from a lukewarm heart.
- 00:25:45.512 --> 00:25:49.316
- Needless to say, God hates it when we do that.
- 00:25:49.316 --> 00:25:52.620
- And this month we're in a new series of messages called
- 00:25:52.620 --> 00:25:55.289
- "Return To Me."
- 00:25:55.289 --> 00:25:56.624
- It's a verse by verse study of the book of Malachi, the last
- 00:25:56.624 --> 00:25:59.693
- book in the Old Testament.
- 00:25:59.693 --> 00:26:01.528
- Now, this series is designed to help you reawaken your passion
- 00:26:01.528 --> 00:26:05.199
- for the things of God and restore a healthy fear of God
- 00:26:05.199 --> 00:26:08.669
- and renew your worship of the King of kings.
- 00:26:08.669 --> 00:26:11.972
- This new eight message series is my gift to you this month when
- 00:26:11.972 --> 00:26:15.943
- you support From His Heart Ministries.
- 00:26:15.943 --> 00:26:18.045
- Your support allows us to broadcast in your area and
- 00:26:18.045 --> 00:26:21.215
- around the world each week, so thank you for coming alongside
- 00:26:21.215 --> 00:26:24.785
- of us as we help people across the globe get right with God.
- 00:26:24.785 --> 00:26:28.722
- I hope you'll get your series, "Return To Me," today.
- 00:26:28.722 --> 00:26:32.993
- announcer: To get your copy of the new eight message series,
- 00:26:32.993 --> 00:26:35.796
- "Return To Me," you can make your gift when you call
- 00:26:35.796 --> 00:26:38.599
- 877-777-6171 or go online to fromhisheart.org.
- 00:26:38.599 --> 00:26:45.673
- And know that your support allows "From His Heart" to be
- 00:26:45.673 --> 00:26:48.142
- seen around the world in 182 countries every week.
- 00:26:48.142 --> 00:26:52.246
- Thank you and God bless you.
- 00:26:52.246 --> 00:26:54.815
- "From His Heart" is the viewer supported broadcast ministry of
- 00:26:54.815 --> 00:26:58.085
- Dr. Jeff Schreve, who believes that no matter how badly you may
- 00:26:58.085 --> 00:27:01.955
- have messed up in life, God still loves you and has a
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- wonderful plan for your life.
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- Find out more about that when you go to fromhisheart.org.
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- ♪ Real truth, real love, real hope, from his heart. ♪♪
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- ♪♪♪
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