 Let's get into our study. Malachi chapter 3. We're going to be looking at the subject. It's really a question Is it vain? to serve God Worthless vain is it futile? To serve God so beginning at verse 13 reading the verse 18 Malachi chapter 3 Your words have been harsh against me says the Lord Yet you say what have we spoken against you? You have said it is vain to serve God What prophet is it that we have kept his ordinance and that we have walked his mourners before the Lord opposed? So now we call the proud blessed for those who do wickedness are raised up Yes, those who tempt God go free and those who feared the Lord spoke to one another and the Lord listened and heard them So a book of remembrance was written before him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on his name They shall be mine says the Lord of hosts on the day that I make them my jewels And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked between one who serves God and One who does not serve him as we've been going through the book of Malachi We've seen that this book contains an account of the people who are arguing with God Here Malachi exposes their hearts by referring to their attitude That is revealed by the way that they argue and I want to say it that way their attitude is revealed by the way That they argue and God addresses that because he says in verse 13 Your words have been harsh against me Now the word harsh in the original language speaks of words that are arrogant Were they're using offensive language against him their hearts are hardened And so he's speaking about their attitude your arrogant attitude has angered me is what he is saying here and So I want to develop my introduction with you tonight by making it very clear that It isn't that God does not have the patience to endure their questions There are more than a few places in scripture that contain people actually asking questions of the Lord It's an unhealthy attitude if we come to the point of thinking that God is not capable of answering our questions It's not that God has a problem with them asking questions because we see again Questions very often being posed to the Lord in scripture in Job 1324 The question is asked why do you hide your face and regard me as your enemy? Psalm 10 verse 1 Why do you stand a far off? Oh Lord? Why do you hide in times of trouble? Lamentations 520 why do you forget us forever and forsake us for so long a time? Jeremiah 12 one Lord you always give me justice when I bring a case before you now Let me bring you this complaint. Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are evil people so happy and so you go in your scriptures in your read them and you find over and over again throughout the Bible That there are questions posed of the Lord. They ask God questions So it's not that God is unable to understand us. It's not that God is far from us and doesn't recognize that we are human beings with with Weaknesses and all I mean the psalmist in Psalm 103 verse 14 says it like this. He knows our frame He remembers that we are dust and so it's not that God is is challenged or intimidated By questions it's not that he thinks that we'll never have any questions You know in my walk with the Lord over the years When I was especially as a new believer going through my times of struggle, I Thought that I was actually almost blasphemous in in having questions in Needing answers and I discovered long ago that God isn't intimidated by my questions And he knows that I am simply dust animated dust He knows that he knows my weaknesses. He knows my frame. He knows my propensity To think that he may be against me because things aren't happening the way that I would like him to happen at this moment Though therefore God must be mad at me you know Job was an individual I mentioned him a moment ago Job is an individual who had questions and and It's interesting when you read the book of Job How God actually dealt with Joe because when you read the book of Job you see that From the third chapter of the book of Job all the way to the 37th chapter God allows questions to be posed So you have the third chapter all the way to the 37th and there's a series of questions Throughout the book of Job that are being asked and God allows that and he allows those questions to be posed before he answers But it's interesting how the Lord responds because when you look in Job chapter 38 for example verses 1 through 3 It reads then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said and this is how he answered Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Then he goes on to say now prepare yourself like a man. I Will question you and you shall answer me How would you like that if the Lord did that to you? Who do you think you are a little worm Who are you who are asking questions like you've got all the knowledge of the universe Who are you to approach me with that attitude? And so it's not that the Lord was threatened by the questions of Job He's gonna show him some things in just a moment, but He does remember our attitudes as we speak to him Now after the Lord begins his series of questions, it's interesting how Job responds to God's questions You see that in Job 42 where it says in verses 1 through 6 Job answered the Lord and said I Know that you can do everything and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you You asked who is this who hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand things too wonderful for me, which I did not know Listen, please. Let me speak You said I will question you and you shall answer me. I Have heard of you by the hearing of the ear But now my eyes see you Therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes I've heard of you with the hearing of my ear Now what is interesting about that to me is when you begin the book of Job in chapters 1 and 2 And God makes the declaration concerning Job. He says he's a righteous man But Job says what I have believed has been taught to me, but now I have personal experience with you There are levels of knowledge that you can have there's the Intellectual possession of knowledge you you have knowledge in the sense that you've studied about certain things and thus you're able to speak about them So there's the intellectual possession of knowledge and there's the experiential Understanding and what's good in Christianity and what God would have for us is to not simply have the intellectual content but also the experience and The knowledge that God would have us to have is not simply the accumulation of information filling up notebooks or notes on the side of my my Bible but filling up my heart with practical understanding and So Job was simply saying what I had received I've obeyed but now I have a practical experience with the God of the universe and that has caused me To abhor myself in dust and ashes to put my hand over my mouth and realize I have no right to question you I have no right to he came to that understanding again. It's not that the Lord doesn't allow for our lack of understanding It's just that his ways are not our ways and his understanding is higher than ours ever can be on the face of the earth I say of 558 and 9 says it like this for my thoughts are not your thoughts Nor are your ways my ways says the Lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth So are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts So his anger is directed towards the dishonor and disrespectful arrogance that they're showing him We need to remember that he's the king of the entire universe and he is to be feared he's to be reverenced and So the point that we have here in the introduction is what gives these sinners the right to question him in Romans chapter 9 verse 20 Paul said indeed. Oh man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing form say to him who formed it? Why have you made me like this? And so the Lord is speaking to this attitude that they have you see the priest as we've been going through Malachi We've noted this have not honored the Lord And they've been influencing the people to be the same way And that's what normally happens a student will become like the teacher So the priest was to be an example yet the people Though the priest was not a good example The the people were equally guilty because they weren't being faithful to the truth You see the fruit of the ministry is that that people are saying that it's useless to worship God And they've learned to doubt the goodness and kindness of God through the faithless priests He says in verse 14 you have said it is vain to serve God What profit is it that we kept his ordinance and that we have walked as mourners before the Lord of hosts? So that's the fruit of their ministry Now they're saying we have mourned over our sin We've tried to obey and it's proven to be useless. What's the point? Why try any further? God doesn't care. He doesn't even notice how hard we're trying Now up to this point as we've been going through Malachi We've noticed that they've made many many comments concerning the Lord. They have said God doesn't love us They've said he isn't worthy of our sacrifices They've said he's unjust. He doesn't deserve a full tithe and now he is unreasonable to call us to repentance And and notice their self-assessment when they say we have kept We have kept his ordinance and we have walked as mourners So for them serving the Lord doesn't make sense. It's a waste of time because it doesn't pay off And listen if we observe his law, we're still no better off if we didn't So what's the point? They're saying you have said the one who worships before the Lord gains nothing What riches do we gain? Because we have kept his word because we have walked in humility before the Lord of hosts. So this is what they're saying So what do we gain in what way does it pay off? Just what benefit do we derive from serving God now? We'll look at this closely here That's a common way that people look at righteous expression Religious expression rather and that is what do I get out of it? What do I get out of it? We could we could speak about this off the top of my head for a long time I have to be careful that I don't But I believe that in these last days That's becoming more and more evident How does a person select a place that they go and worship and serve the Lord? How do they select that place? Is it is it? You know and this is this is not a knock. This is an observation This isn't a judgment on people's hearts if it sounds that way forgive me That's not my intent when I'm trying to say is this is what I have observed and and I believe this to be true as I Develop this it's vain to serve the Lord. What do we get out of it? Sometimes we can select a place because we feel good when we're there You know, I like the personality of the of the of the minister. I enjoyed the music Doesn't require an awful lot out of me to be there I don't have to do anything. I just show up I can sometimes hide in the crowd and I Am invisible and I want to be that way not many demands in any way shape or form made and And what we do is we end up Really with this attitude, what do I gain and what we're gaining from that experience is is not spiritual So much as just the experiential just pleasurable. It's just something that I enjoy at this moment What am I going to get out of going there? What am I going to get out of being there? I Pray that the Lord will help us each one of us in this room and who may hear this message someday I I do pray that the Lord helps us to say, you know, the reason I go to where I go is Because when I walk out, I want to I want to serve and love Jesus more and I've learned something about him that helps me to not just survive But to be a helper to somebody else and to thrive in the circumstances I find myself in The Bible when we go through the word of God is intended to equip us for works of service It's intended to build us up in our faith. It's intended to reveal who God is to us and to help us to worship him in spirit and truth And so if I go to church just with the attitude of what can I gain in a profit profitable way? What am I going to add to myself in a personal way? That isn't spiritual then what I'm doing is I'm actually acting in the flesh and We're looking for something to entertain me and not to edify me and It's not hard to get into that place where you select the place that you go to Not on the things that are making you better in your walk with God But the profit that you feel you're gaining from being there So this is a common way that people look at religious expression. What do I get out of it? What do I get out of serving God? In Job 21 verses 14 and 15 Job said concerning the wicked They say to God depart from us for we do not desire the knowledge of your ways Then they go on to say who is the Almighty that we should serve him and what profit do we have if we pray to him? So they believe the best religion brings the greatest advantage in the things of this life and so for them worship is about them and how they feel Jude 19 in the New Testament book of Jude verse 19 Jude 19 reads these are sensual persons who cause divisions not having the spirit and So as this is taking place and they're asking that question He says in verse 15. So now we call the proud blessed and those who do wickedness are raised up Yes, those who tempt God go free So in spite of all we've tried to do for him Still the proud and the wicked are blessed and we suffer so it just doesn't pay to follow God now Sometimes it seems as if the genuinely righteous people get the short end of the stick Doesn't it? It does you don't have to answer Often genuinely committed believers Seem to have very difficult times in their lives In Psalm 73 verses 2 and 3 It reads as for me My feet had almost stumbled my steps had nearly slipped for I was envious of the boastful when I saw the prosperity of the wicked Psalm 73 12 behold these are the ungodly who are always at ease They increase in riches He says my feet had almost slipped. I see the prosperity of the wicked. They're always increasing There used to be a show a long time ago. I think was called something like the lifestyles of the rich and famous and They still have shows like that to this day that I guess are intended to make Ordinary people envious and covet You know and they show these these jets and they show these mansions and And they show these luxurious cars and and then you go and look at yours Afterwards Marie and I my wife and I used to go to Model homes when they're opening up just to look at them then I'd come home and I say I live in a dump I live in a dump. This is a dump And that's not hard to do is it? I mean and sometimes you'll see this and you'll say this is this seems unfair It seems as if the righteous don't don't always get treated right And I'm sure we've all felt that way in one way or another Why do others prosper and it doesn't seem that I do? You may be making an honor An effort to honor the Lord, but you wonder as much as I want to serve the Lord Why does it seem that evil is winning? These these people I look around to these people don't fear the Lord They very seldom ever mention him and yet their lives seem to be pleasurable and they seem to have everything that they want All you got to do and is look around you and I know we all do that in one form or another we observe, you know The world we live in and so you're out there working with your hands as hard as you can do in the best that you can and Then you read the newspaper about a baseball player who makes thirty two point eight million dollars a year To play to play baseball Or are you read about a football player? This is Chicago Bear? quarterback who He has a contracted price of a hundred and twenty six million seven hundred thousand dollars over seven years Throw a football LeBron LeBron James Makes sixty four point eight million dollars a year to play basketball Floyd Mayweather Boxer three hundred million dollars in a year Actor Tom Cruise seventy five million dollars Jay Z that great intellectual philosopher His net worth is five hundred million dollars Beyonce's is four hundred and fifty million dollars Paul McCartney some of you may remember that Old man His net worth is one point two billion dollars and you say you're outside of entertainment value and again I'm not knocking this I'm simply you know pointing something out you know use your gifts and and and do well and There's nothing wrong with having success. So I hope it doesn't come off that way But these are people that are enormously enormously wealthy But I don't see anybody Marching against them calling them one percenters Which I find is interesting So as long as they entertain us, I guess it's okay So I don't think making a good amount of money is evil in and of itself and it's not necessarily wrong I I'm in favor of free enterprise But sometimes you can think but why them Why them? Why do things go so well with them and things don't seem to go well with us You raise your kids the best that you can And they don't want to follow the Lord with all their hearts You do the best that you can on your job You're honest. You're there on time. You work a full eight hours, but you get passed up for promotions all the time You do the best job that you can at home As a wife you're doing the best you can to raise the kids and care for the home But your husband doesn't appreciate it You try to follow the Lord as a man But your wife says I don't like the way you've become you're boring And I don't want to be with you anymore I've seen that and It does in the back of your mind. You say this isn't seem fair. Why do the wicked prosper? Why why do they seem to always be at ease? Why? Why does that evil co-worker that I have was so profane and doesn't work a full 40 and yeah, he comes back with pictures of him in in Maui and And for me, you know going to seal Beach is an excursion We make our own sandwiches why It seems sometimes that those who tempt God go free from any bad happening now or ever It seems that way again looking at poor Job Job in chapter 21 verses 7 through 13 asks Why do the wicked live on growing old and increasing in power? They see their children established around them their offspring before their eyes Their homes are safe and free from fear The rod of God is not upon them Their bulls never fail to breed their cows calved do not miscarry. They send forth their children as a flock They're little ones dance about they sing to the music of tambourine and harp They make merry to the sound of the flute. They spend their years in prosperity Go down to the grave in peace So Job had that question, but he says in in chapter 21 verse 18 They're like straw before the wind Like chaff that a storm carries away King David said in Psalm 37 Do not fret because of evil doers nor be envious of the workers of iniquity for they shall soon Be cut down like the grass and wither as the green herb Trust in the Lord do good Dwell in the land feed on his faithfulness Delight yourself also in the Lord. He shall give you the desires of your heart And he went on to say in verses 9 and 10 for evil doers shall be cut off But those who wait on the Lord they shall inherit the earth for yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more Indeed you will look carefully for his place, but it shall be no more What seems to be What's gonna last forever very often is God simply giving them a space to repent and Instead of us envying them. We need to think of their end What ends where they end up with because of the rejection of God that means that as believers We actually cultivate what has been called an eternal perspective and we hold on to the Lord through all the Seasons of our life knowing that God is in control and he honors the love that we have for him as well as our obedience In in Habakkuk chapter 3 verses 17 through 19 The prophet writes though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines Though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food Though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I Will be joyful in God my Savior the sovereign Lord is my strength He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. He enables me to go on the heights Even if it doesn't seem to be going well yet, I will trust him. That's the key the key So in the case of Israel and people are complaining against God and Self-righteously they're protesting that they're doing the right things and yet they're not profiting Again in verse 14 they had said we've kept his ordinances walked as mourners to no profit They thought outward appearance was enough They walked in sackcloth and ashes pretending to be grieved when in reality they were pretending to sorrow over their sin This is something then you read your Bible that you'll notice This is something that they the nation had done earlier in the history in the book of Isaiah and Isaiah The question is asked why have we fasted they say and and you have not seen it Why have we humbled ourselves and you have not noticed yet on the day of your fasting you do as you please and exploit all your workers your Fasting ends in quarreling and strife in and striking each other with wicked fists You cannot fast as you do today and expect your voice to be heard on high So why does it seem that? It's vain to serve the Lord and So God is dealing with that Again, he said you have said in verse 14. It's vain to serve God. What profit is it? Now we call proud blessed those who do wickedness are raised up those who tempt God go free it seems as if they get away with it and They go free. There's nothing that's done But the fact is no that's only what you see at this moment You're not going to tempt God and go free because ultimately the Lord is going to deal with you But it goes on to say in verse 16 those who feared the Lord spoke to one another and the Lord listened and heard them So a book of remembrance was written before him and those for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on his name They shall be mine says the Lord of hosts on the day that I make them my jewels And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked Between one who serves God and one who does not serve him and so Verse 16 those who feared the Lord spoke to one another The Lord listened and heard them so in the midst of this ungodly nation a remnant of sincere believers are meeting Notice how these people are described It's they are described as those who feared the Lord these are those who hold God in awe and Reverence in some rather Proverbs 3 7 and 8 Do not be wise in your own eyes fear the Lord and depart from evil for it will be health to your flesh and strength to your bones Proverbs 9 verse 10 the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom the knowledge of the holy one is understanding Proverbs 14 27 the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to turn one away from the snares of death fear of the Lord has Certain evidences and blessings that go along with them if there's anything that is lacking in the church today I Would say it's the fear of the Lord for the fear of the Lord is to depart from evil and There are many professing Christians who haven't departed from evil actually continue to practice it and feel that it's okay and acceptable to God But that's not true when a person continues to practice that which God forbids It's only demonstrating they have no reverence for him and they have no Respect for his word. They don't they don't believe what God is saying It's it's the attitude that Israel has where we can do evil and God will still bless us and Yet there are a group of people that are meeting that we're looking at in verse 16 those who fear the Lord and they're speaking to one another one another So that tells me and it tells us Those who fear the Lord were speaking to one another tells us that they were encouraging each other to do the right thing listen as a believer Make the practice make it your practice to be an encourager to other people to do the right thing Make that your practice that you're going to be someone who exhorts and encourages other people as you are Desiring to serve the Lord to to do the right kind of thing one of the Might as well go here and share a story with you Story time I don't know how to put this because I don't want it to take too long I wasn't I didn't prepare this story. So I'll just kind of share it quickly Coming out of the background I came out of you know the craziness of a kid and the stuff I did when I got saved I Started thinking that from when I first got saved that God's word was true, and I ought to obey it That doesn't mean I did that doesn't mean that I I've ever been a hundred percent Faithful to God, and I certainly don't want to give the impression that even at this point in my walk that I am because I'm not I'm I'm still moving in the direction God would have me. I'm still growing up And I say that openly and honestly as a fact But I always had one thing and that was I I want to do the right thing I want to do the right thing. I want to be a person who fears the Lord I want to be a person who's blessed by God and that that started when I was first saved But I I had friends that I was around after I got out of the army, and I was going to a to a particular church In my area wasn't a Calvary ministry, but I went there on on Thursdays Thursday nights and Sunday nights, and I made friends there I Started encountering people who had been raised as Christians who Didn't have that that that attitude It was kind of like this is what we've always been. This is this is how Christians are and Me I had the zeal of a newborn Believer I just just was saved man. I came out of the alcohol I came out of the drugs that came out of the the line in the stealing in and all of that garb that goes along with that lifestyle I came out of that. I've been washed. I'm clean. I'm free and I want to be around people who who are examples to me to help me to learn how to be a Man to learn how to be a man of God and So naturally I would I would want to be with guys and and be around young women Who were serious about their walks with God because that's how I'm gonna grow Is to be around people who encourage me in that because I know how easy it is to backslide How easy it is to just you know to get depressed or bummed out about something and and just go right back to what you used to do I know that because when I started to walk with the Lord I'd be walking real well and then then I'd stumble and then I'd find myself wanting to go back or going back Then I'd have to dust myself off confess and forsaken and repent and God helped me and then move on again And that was a pattern. And so I learned within the first three or four years of my walk with Christ I need people around me that can be examples who can show me how to successfully Navigate this life as a Christian. I need that I Do I need that Because the world isn't going to show me how to follow God It's not going to show me how to abstain from evil It's not going to teach me how to not want that drink or to smoke that that joint or to sleep with that girl It it isn't going to teach me not to do that. It's going to encourage me to do that By saying it's all right and I knew enough as an early believer that I needed help and so I was around people who were raised Christian and It wasn't at a Calvary ministry because I was going to a different ministry at that time and my walk with the Lord very slowly Began to to go down rather than to climb And I couldn't put my My finger on I didn't know What's wrong? Why am I walking away from what I felt was the most important thing that I've ever done Which has come to faith in Christ. Why am I not as on fire now as I used to be? There are a lot of reasons, but one of them was The people I was around whom I I loved very much We're not on fire for Christ themselves And I didn't realize that until one day. I was going with some friends who invited me to go to a move See a movie. This is back in 1973 Yeah, they had movies then And There was a young woman Seated next to me as we're driving to the movies And I turned to her and I started I asked her are you Christian, you know, it's a conversation. Are you Christian? No Why not? That's that that was a reasonable question. I thought Why not? Why aren't you Christian? I'm interested So she started sharing with me why she's not a Christian. I Said really now I'm a new Christian. I just got out of the army I'm not well versed in scripture But I I want to talk to her and I do and I tell her you need the Lord You need Jesus man. Jesus will change your life. He'll he'll he'll he'll fill you to the top One of my friends later on takes me aside and says oh you shouldn't have done that You shouldn't you were pressuring her you shouldn't pressure her And I thought him is that what I'm doing I'm pressuring people Is there something wrong with me? I Honest to goodness that's something there must be something wrong with me Because I want them saved and my friends don't and my friends have been Christians all their lives Something's wrong here Okay, here you go second part of the same story All of you have heard me talk about Luke 736 through 50 Many times if you're in my church the woman who washes Jesus's feet with her tears Or did that come from and why is she so precious to me that I repeat this one? Portion of scripture likes the only one I know Right other people say you know can't you tell me a different scripture? Come on. Ah, you do it too much Because she Her story changed my life. That's why Because I was reading as a new believer I got there and Jesus said paraphrase the one who's been forgiven much loves much BAM love you Lord for forgiving me so much and Listen, it's easy to forget how much He forgave you and you just start doing the thing and Then here's the second part of that You begin to influence other people. You shouldn't push your faith on other people You shouldn't say why because you're not on fire anymore You just don't know it You have you have gotten away From where you first came in to the degree that you don't understand people who are not even as bad as you were Before you got saved and now we condemn and now we judge and now we say things about I don't understand how they You've forgotten where you came from or maybe you don't remember or maybe you never saw yourself as bad as God Knew you to be But when you finally have the mirror of the word of God and you see yourself for what you really are What you really are in the light of his countenance in in In comparison to his holiness, God forgive me a sinner God be merciful to me a sinner because that's what I am and without you I can do nothing when you understand that and you built your life on that your life changes Then you become an influence to other people for all of you To love God and you hold each other up When you're falling we were in military. We were running And in the army you run everywhere and None of us are marathoners None of us are tremendous athletes. We're all getting fatigued and we're running everywhere We go and it's the end of the day and we're running towards our barracks and we're going up a hill There's a guy next to me actually Yeah next to me his name was Larry and Bill and I my friend Bill and I are running next to Larry and Larry starts slowing down because he can't make it up the hill and I'm no great athlete And I also know that if Larry falls out We've got to all come around and pick him up and go back up the hill a second. I ain't gonna do that So I without thinking put my arm underneath his arm and Bill got gets on the other side and We lift him up. We don't carry him, but we lift him up and We can't we run with him in our arms up the hill till we get to the top of the hill Let him go and then he just is able to coast down. We finish the run. How do I remember that? He wrote me about two months ago Larry did I led him Bill, and I led him to faith in Christ in 1971 And he said I was writing he says I was preparing a Bible study Dave and I thought of you and The Bible speaks concerning carrying one another and I remember when you and Bill carried me as I was running With you and that became an example to me of what people should do for one another. We carry each other through our struggles That's what you're supposed to do, and that's what I'm supposed to do because we're in the race together and Sometimes we want to drop out But you got a brother or a sister next to you who will put their arm around you and say I'll run with you step by step We're gonna make it together. That's The community of believers. We don't leave anyone behind You carry them with us That's what we're supposed to do and that's When it says those who feared the Lord spoke to one another So thank God for friends who love us enough to share with us and encourage us Hebrews 3 13 Exort one another daily while it is called today. Let's any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin Hebrews 10 24 and 25 let us consider one another in order to stir up loving good works Not forsaken the assembling of ourselves together as a matter of some but exhorting one another and so much the more as you See the day approaching those who feared the Lord spoke to one another They were encouraging one another to walk solidly with the Lord and notice verse 16 the Lord listened and heard Them the word heard means paid attention to them The psalmist says it like this on 3415 the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous his ears are open to their cry And he says their faithful works were noted by the Lord. They they were noted in what is called his book of remembrance Now when he speaks concerning a book of remembrance that was written before him This book of remembrance is a way of stating that God does not forget. God does not forget their good works God does not forget anything. He doesn't need to jot down notes in case he forget But God bears in his own eternal mind a remembrance of the person's thoughts words and actions the actions of his people Like it says again in Hebrews 6 verse 10 God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love Which you have shown toward his name and that you have ministered to the saints and do ministered God remembers What you've done? He says in verse 17 They shall be mine says the Lord of hosts on that day that I make them my jewels when he speaks of the making them My jewels my special treasure This is another way of saying that they have great value to him Deuteronomy 7 tells us in verse 6 You are a holy people to the Lord your God the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for himself a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth and As his children he will he will spare them on the day of his judgment when he comes again The Psalmist said in Psalm 103 verses 10 through 14 He has not dealt with us according to our sins nor punished us according to our iniquities as they heavens are high above the earth So great is his mercy towards those who fear him as far as the east is from the west so far Has he removed our transgressions from us as a father pities his children so the Lord pities those who fear him He knows our frame. He remembers We're dust He says in verse 18 Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked between one who serves God and and one who does not serve him It will be evident who truly served the Lord who served him with sincerity and true faith Someone said this is the one who served him both privately and publicly in righteousness and true holiness in spirit and in truth with faith and Fervency with reverence and fear Hardly and willingly seeking his glory without any dependence on their services These are the ones who are are righteous the others are ungodly They're the ones who only outwardly serve the Lord, but they have a selfish heart in it They do it according to their own invention According to traditions of men and they don't do it according to the will of God You see in the day of God's judgment the genuine believer will be easily distinguishable from the hypocrite today it's it's Sometimes it can be difficult to know who is genuine and who's not because it's easy for us to to pretend Faith it's not hard It's not hard To to find a Bible to quote a scripture to have an appearance of a Faith We're in a political season and A lot of politicians will dust off their Bibles and sometimes the dust is so thick they almost choke When they dust it off, it's not hard To pretend to be righteous and some well and sometimes you don't know the difference Because that person can come off in such a righteous form that sometimes you Feel convicted because they seem so much better than you And in reality, they don't know the Lord at all. They're just Well, the the Greek word was hypocrite. They're just great actors. They they've put on so well again, we don't run around trying to make judgments on somebody's True faith in Christ or not that's not up to us to determine But there are times that there are those who They're very good at at blending in Very good at appearing righteous In 1st Timothy 5 24 and 25 Paul said it like this. He said the sins of some men are obvious Reaching the place of judgment ahead of them But sins of others trail behind them In the same way good deeds are obvious and even those who are Not cannot be hidden, you know, some sins are obvious. Some people that guy's drunk He's got a ball of you and that's that's real obvious That guy's all drunk. Yeah, that's a sin. That's an obvious sin But some guys some guys can be in church And just as drunk as that guy on the street corner, you just don't know they are listen On Sundays after church, it's happened more than once When the trash is being dumped they have found, you know, half pints empty That somebody was downing before they came into church They're out there drinking I guess that's what it takes to listen to me for 40 minutes. I'm not sure I mean, but they they bring the bottle in they drink it and they drop it in the trash Not But you don't know What are you going to do walk up and stand real close and Try and smell their breath You might be sorry Right some sins are obvious And some follow behind Pharisees during the time of christ Were model religious people When jesus said your righteousness needs to exceed the righteousness of the of the scribes and the Pharisees those who heard him said Then who can be saved Because they were so scrupulous in their religion That they even even tithe of their their mints, you know, their herb their their cumin they That you know the herbs they would tithe, you know, they they prayed on street corners They they gave sums of money. They wore their their phylacteries Little boxes with prayers in them on their foreheads and on their on their wrists and and people knew that these were Pharisees These these were the righteous people on the on the in the planet And these these were people who could quote the masters and and and the rabbis of ages ago And and they were the people that that you would model yourself after and jesus said your white wash tubes Beautiful on the outside but inside you're full of decay and dead men's bones Think about that for a minute So when you're looking at These people you would have said I can never measure up to their religiosity. I could never be as righteous as that Some men sins follow after them. They're not obvious We we can't distinguish that we simply Have to trust that the lord can But he says in verse 18 You shall again discern between the righteous and wicked between one who serves god and the one who does does not serve him in that day There won't be any confusion As to who belongs to him And who doesn't and that day when the lord reveals all of this It'll be very obvious And i'll close with one last observation and that is we looked at the parable of the wheat and the tares And how that the tear It's called darnell the tear when it first buds and begins to grow Looks identical to wheat it looks identical and You don't know whether it's darnell or actual wheat until it's fully mature And then it becomes evident because it doesn't bear fruit the church today In general Throughout this nation is filled with tears Filled with tears who look like the real thing And I again forgive me if it sounds like i'm judging i'm not I'm speaking the truth. It's fact There are many who claim to love jesus But their lives Though on the outward may appear to be okay their sins That are unrepentant of Are what dominate their lives They never read the word because they don't care about it They never pray unless they need something They go to church when it's convenient Some go to church just to pray on the women or pray on the men They go to pray but Not pray God help us in these last days We we we need we need In this nation an awakening We need to wake up We're us the church is asleep We're allowing evil To not only fester but take over And we're just silently saying I can't judge people You're not judging people, but you most certainly are judging the fruit I haven't been called to judge people but I am a fruit inspector And if there isn't any of the fruit of the spirit there If there's no fruit of righteousness there if there's no hunger for the things of god there If there's no desire for righteousness if there's not a desire to walk in holiness if there's not a hatred for sin And a growing embracing of who christ is and a and a desire to love him more daily There's something wrong with my walk There's something wrong. I might not even have one I may have convinced myself that I'm a christian because I raised my hand or I went forward at an invitation But my life never changed It's the same My dad told me this and I'll close with this my dad said David he said what caused me to come to faith in christ Was the change in your life He said I knew you needed god And I saw what god did in you And that awakened me to the claims of christ He said your sister Madeline She is the best girl I've ever known. He said I knew that I was never as good as her But I was a lot better than you He said so when I knew you came to faith in christ. I said well, of course he needs god But when I saw your sister who was so good come to faith in christ I said to myself if that good little girl needs jesus how much more do I know Listen the quality of your life Speaks volumes Volumes to people Because what you are speaks so loudly They can't hear a word you're saying Sometimes That's why it's been said preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words Because that's what our life listen. We were bought at a price Therefore we glorify god with our body and our spirit which belong to him God is our master. He owns us That's why jesus would ask the question. Why do you call me lord lord and do not the things that I say? If you love me keep my commandments That's christianity anything less than that is a sham Anything less than that isn't real People say oh you christians you're under grace. You don't have commandments Did you know there are more commands in the new testament than you have in the old? Did you know that? Because that's the word of how a believer is to live in this world And what we have today is a shabby understanding of grace That gives me permission to live in sin and think i'm going to heaven. It's a great deception That is on the church today We need to repent We need to say god be merciful to us because to be honest with you. I haven't taken you seriously Because there's a day coming when you will make the difference so obvious So obvious those who belong to you and those who don't I don't want to be tear. I want to be wheat So god work in my life That the wheat may be real