1 00:00:06,120 --> 00:00:09,840 OK, God bless you, please take your seat. 2 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:23,030 The volume down a little. Please. 3 00:00:23,030 --> 00:00:24,470 Let's pray. Let's pray together. 4 00:00:25,830 --> 00:00:29,470 Father, we want to thank you once again for another special 5 00:00:31,230 --> 00:00:35,470 day in your presence. The preaching of Your Word has 6 00:00:35,470 --> 00:00:39,320 always been accompanied by Your manifest presence. 7 00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:44,680 We ask that once again you bless your Word and that you cause 8 00:00:44,680 --> 00:00:49,800 Your word to bless your people. We give you praise, We give you 9 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:53,280 glory in Jesus precious name, Amen. 10 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:57,600 It's always great to be here. I'm excited to be here. 11 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:02,240 It's been a while since I took the, the, the the restroom to 12 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:04,040 preach the gospel in this church. 13 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:06,480 So I'm excited to be here once a while. 14 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:08,880 I'm on the drum and at that time, I'm here as a preacher. 15 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:12,560 And so in whichever capacity I find myself, I think it is a 16 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:16,000 blessing to bless people with the word of God. 17 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:23,480 You know, I always say that it's an opportunity never to be taken 18 00:01:23,480 --> 00:01:26,360 for granted when I get when I have to preach to people like 19 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:28,760 you. Because you see, the Bible 20 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:32,760 described those of us who are here in a very interesting way. 21 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,800 The Bible says that for you are a chosen generation. 22 00:01:35,960 --> 00:01:38,720 This is the description that the Bible gives us. 23 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:41,400 Those of us who are here this morning, the Bible says for you 24 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:46,280 are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. 25 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:48,760 And I'll hear this. It says you have God's very own 26 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:50,640 special people. What a blessing. 27 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:55,080 And that is why when there is an opportunity to speak to God's 28 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:58,440 very own special people, I don't take it for granted. 29 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:02,480 So I'm truly excited to be here and very thankful to the 30 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:04,920 leadership of the church for this opportunity. 31 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:08,240 I want to speak this morning very briefly, very, very briefly 32 00:02:08,240 --> 00:02:12,040 on a subject I entitled Serving God, Serving God. 33 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:20,240 I have found through my study of Scripture that for everything 34 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:24,080 that God does, He has a purpose in mind. 35 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:27,600 I have found all through Scripture, right from the Old 36 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:30,360 Testament dispensation through to the New Testament 37 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:34,680 dispensation and even to the epistles, that there's nothing 38 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:36,920 that God does simply for amusement. 39 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:41,680 Everything He does, He has an exact rationale and a purpose in 40 00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:46,040 mind. Before Jesus was born. 41 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:50,280 Before Jesus was born, there were mirrors of prophecies 42 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:54,280 regarding the breath of Jesus, explaining that the birth of 43 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:58,320 Jesus was not just for fun. There was a specific reason for 44 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:00,360 which Jesus was going to be born. 45 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:03,840 And that is why in the book of John, when John saw Jesus 46 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:07,720 coming, he said, behold, this is the Lamb of God, the one who had 47 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:10,840 been proposed to take away the sins of the world. 48 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:14,760 So for everything that God does, he's got a reason. 49 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:19,040 And the Bible says that for this reason was the Son of God, Jesus 50 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:22,080 manifested that he might destroy the works of the enemy. 51 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:27,080 And so everything that God does, it's not, you know, it's not 52 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:30,360 done just for fun or just because something has got to be 53 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:32,800 done. But everything that God does, he 54 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:38,360 does it because he has a reason. You remember when Jesus was 55 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,320 getting ready to call a number of people who would eventually 56 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:46,720 become his disciples, The Bible says he went and he saw Peter 57 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:51,040 and he said to Peter and a few other people that were there, he 58 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:54,600 said follow me. And the reason for which I'm 59 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:57,000 asking you to follow me is very clear. 60 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:00,720 Jesus said the reason I'm asking you to follow me is so that I 61 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:07,560 will make you vicious of men. So every time God does a thing, 62 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:10,560 he's got a purpose and a plan in mind. 63 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:19,320 OK, I am looking at the story of the people of Israel, and I'm 64 00:04:19,320 --> 00:04:23,440 realizing that even with the ups and downs of the people of 65 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:27,600 Israel, God had a reason. God had a specific purpose for 66 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:31,000 them. Now you and I know that the 67 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:35,800 people of Israel have been kept in captivity in Egypt, and God 68 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:39,040 is looking forward to deliver them from this captivity. 69 00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:44,400 And in God's attempt to deliver them from captivity, God is 70 00:04:44,400 --> 00:04:47,720 raising a particular deliverer. I'm talking about Moses. 71 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:54,040 God comes to Moses and God gives an instruction to Moses and that 72 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:59,160 instruction that God gives to Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell 73 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:02,920 him God puts his purpose clearly written in there. 74 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:05,400 Please come with me. Exodus chapter 8, verse one. 75 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:11,240 Now this is God giving an instruction to Moses with 76 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:14,880 respect to the captivity that the people of God find 77 00:05:14,880 --> 00:05:20,680 themselves in, in, in in Egypt. The Bible says, then the Lord 78 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:27,520 said to Moses, go to Pharaoh and say to him, this is what the 79 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:34,960 Lord says, let my people go so that they may serve me. 80 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:38,600 Now please appreciate the fact that, you know, God gives the 81 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:42,040 instruction specifically to Moses and says, Moses, I need 82 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:43,960 you to go tell Pharaoh this thing. 83 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:47,920 Now, the important thing is that He has to let my people go. 84 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:52,040 But like I told you, everything that God does, He has a purpose 85 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,600 in mind. So the reason why God is asking 86 00:05:56,040 --> 00:05:59,840 Moses to tell Pharaoh to let His people go is not just for 87 00:05:59,840 --> 00:06:03,920 amusement. God was not saying let my people 88 00:06:03,920 --> 00:06:06,600 go so that they can come out and just come and dance. 89 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:11,600 No, for everything He does, because there is a purpose, He 90 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:16,040 said, let my people go so that eventually these people who are 91 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:18,720 going out of captivity will be able to serve me. 92 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,520 So the ultimate destination is not just to come out. 93 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:27,280 The ultimate destination is that after you are out, you'll be 94 00:06:27,280 --> 00:06:31,440 able to serve me. For. 95 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:34,880 I mean, a number of us here are, are UBC students. 96 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,440 You know, I was a UBC student in in in 2017 when I did my 97 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:42,520 master's in forestry and I remember I have a very vivid 98 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:46,600 memory of when I received the e-mail that I have been admitted 99 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,280 to to study in UBC with my scholarship. 100 00:06:50,000 --> 00:06:53,200 I was so excited, but guess what, people of God, that 101 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:55,160 excitement would only bring me here. 102 00:06:55,720 --> 00:06:58,760 Once I am here, there is another purpose for which reason I was 103 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:02,800 brought to the school. So I cannot be in school and 104 00:07:02,800 --> 00:07:07,640 only be smiling about my success of getting the admission, my 105 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:10,240 success of getting my scholarship and stay here 106 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,440 without studying because as long as I am here, there's a purpose 107 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:15,120 and a rationale for which I am here. 108 00:07:15,760 --> 00:07:19,200 And so irrespective of the fact that I have moved from one stage 109 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:22,680 of my educational ladder to another level, I don't sit down. 110 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:25,720 I study because I am in the I have a purpose to achieve. 111 00:07:26,800 --> 00:07:30,520 The Bible says the people of Israel were brought out of 112 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:33,040 captivity, but the instruction was very clear. 113 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:38,320 Go and tell Pharaoh that let my people go for the overarching 114 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:40,760 reason that they will come out and serve me. 115 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:46,120 Now you see, because this was so important to God, God did not 116 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:49,280 just say this once. In Exodus chapter 8 verse one, 117 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:53,080 God is speaking to Moses and tells Moses, go tell Pharaoh, 118 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:56,200 let my people go so that they will come out and serve me. 119 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:00,000 As though Moses did not hear this, so God had to repeat 120 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:01,760 himself. Exodus Chapter 9 verse one, 121 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:08,640 please, the exact same thing he says Moses, I need you to go to 122 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:11,240 Pharaoh. Give him this instruction. 123 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:14,240 Tell him that this is what the Lord is saying. 124 00:08:15,040 --> 00:08:19,960 Let my people go again for a particular reason, that they 125 00:08:19,960 --> 00:08:23,000 will come out and serve me. People of God, please hear me on 126 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:26,040 this. The story of the people of 127 00:08:26,040 --> 00:08:31,560 Israel is a typology of what happens in our lives as 128 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:32,440 Christians. Today. 129 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:36,360 I'll explain that. The people of Israel were taken 130 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,159 out of captivity and brought into freedom. 131 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:43,360 Now that is exactly what happens to us as Christians. 132 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:45,840 The Bible says in the book of Colossians, the Bible says that 133 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:49,160 for we have been translated, we have been moved from a place of 134 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:53,400 slavery to a place of freedom. It says you have been translated 135 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:56,760 from the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of his own dear 136 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:59,880 Son. So the purpose for which the 137 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:02,880 people of Israel were brought out is the same purpose for 138 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:06,080 which we have also been saved out of captivity into the 139 00:09:06,080 --> 00:09:11,840 Kingdom of his dear Son Jesus. So we have a purpose to serve 140 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:16,840 the living God. Now we talk about serving God. 141 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:19,640 What does it really mean to serve God? 142 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:22,440 What does it really mean to serve God? 143 00:09:22,680 --> 00:09:27,840 Now it's, I think it's very crucial that we, we understand 144 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:31,760 what it means to serve God because you see, the, the body 145 00:09:31,760 --> 00:09:36,960 of Christ has succeeded in attributing the terminology 146 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:39,840 servant of God to a certain class of people. 147 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:43,680 We have succeeded in only looking at people who are 148 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:47,360 preachers, who are men of God, who are pastors, who are 149 00:09:47,360 --> 00:09:51,040 prophets, who are what have you. And we call those people, you 150 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:54,560 know, we we have that coined terminology for those people and 151 00:09:54,560 --> 00:09:56,960 we say these are the servants of God. 152 00:09:58,920 --> 00:10:02,760 That is not entirely false, but that's not also entirely true, 153 00:10:04,600 --> 00:10:08,880 because true in the Scriptures you will find people that were 154 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:13,120 men of God, women of God, that the Bible calls them servants of 155 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:15,680 God. A typical example is the prophet 156 00:10:15,680 --> 00:10:17,680 Elijah. The Bible called, specifically 157 00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:21,360 called him the servants of God. Another example is Elijah the 158 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:24,080 prophet. You know, we, we even had kings 159 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:26,760 like the King David that the Bible would call, you know, 160 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:29,080 servants of God. So that is actually accurate. 161 00:10:29,320 --> 00:10:33,800 But there's still more to it because being a servant of God 162 00:10:33,920 --> 00:10:36,640 is not a title that is bestowed upon a person. 163 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:41,640 Being a servant of God is actually a lifestyle. 164 00:10:41,640 --> 00:10:46,720 Please let's move ahead. Serving God is a lifestyle of 165 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:51,840 loving obedience, voluntary submission, and purposeful 166 00:10:51,840 --> 00:10:55,640 service to others aimed at bringing glory to God. 167 00:10:58,960 --> 00:11:02,560 And that is why all across scriptures you'll find people as 168 00:11:02,560 --> 00:11:04,920 a matter of fact. As a matter of fact, there was a 169 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:08,520 man in the Scriptures who was not even a man of God. 170 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:11,040 He was a businessman. And guess what? 171 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:14,800 God himself called that man a servant of God. 172 00:11:14,800 --> 00:11:16,480 Come with me. Job chapter one, verse 8, 173 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:20,880 please. The Bible says then the Lord 174 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:25,640 said to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? 175 00:11:25,640 --> 00:11:27,600 And this is God Speaking of a man. 176 00:11:29,200 --> 00:11:32,120 Job was not a preacher like I'm doing this morning. 177 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:36,880 Job wasn't. But the Bible says God, speaking 178 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:41,240 to Satan, said, have you considered my servant? 179 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:46,720 Now the person who creates the benchmark to determine whether a 180 00:11:46,760 --> 00:11:49,440 person is a servant of God or not is God himself. 181 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:53,960 And God by his standards, says this man Job has passed whatever 182 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:55,480 it takes to be called my servant. 183 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:01,800 So I'm trying to let you understand that you don't need 184 00:12:01,800 --> 00:12:04,880 to be holding the microphone to be considered a servant of God 185 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:11,720 because serving God is actually a practical lifestyle of loving 186 00:12:11,720 --> 00:12:16,440 obedience, voluntary submission, and purposeful service to others 187 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:19,800 aimed at bringing glory to God. Now please appreciate my choice 188 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:22,800 of words here. I choose the words loving 189 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:28,560 obedience because, you see, to obey is better than to 190 00:12:28,560 --> 00:12:32,560 sacrifice, the Bible says. And some of sometimes we obey 191 00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:36,720 simply out of compulsion and sometimes it's very possible to 192 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:40,240 obey out of fear. But when a person laughs, you 193 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:43,800 know, obediently, you know, laughs what he's doing. 194 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:45,920 It's a it's a whole different case all together. 195 00:12:46,240 --> 00:12:51,520 Now in Job chapter one, verse 8, there he says there is no one on 196 00:12:51,560 --> 00:12:56,000 earth like him. Now God starts by saying, have 197 00:12:56,000 --> 00:13:00,040 you considered my servant Job? He doesn't end there. 198 00:13:00,600 --> 00:13:04,920 He helps us to understand what qualifies this man to become his 199 00:13:04,920 --> 00:13:08,200 servant. So he said there is no one on 200 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:09,240 earth like him. How? 201 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:10,800 How do you mean God? Listen to this? 202 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:14,040 He said he is blameless and he is upright. 203 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:17,520 He is a man who fears God and shunts evil. 204 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:21,760 Now to be blameless and upright connotes that you are lovingly 205 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:25,480 obedient. To be a man who fears God 206 00:13:25,480 --> 00:13:28,960 connotes that you are a person who is willing to submit 207 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:32,720 yourself entirely voluntarily at the tenets and and everything 208 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:40,920 that God says. So we see here that serving God 209 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:44,560 is not a title that is bestowed on people, no, far more than 210 00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:47,240 that. It is a lifestyle of loving 211 00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:51,840 obedience, voluntary submission, and purposeful service to 212 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:53,360 others. And I want to dwell on this for 213 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:55,280 a bit. Purposeful service to others. 214 00:13:56,640 --> 00:13:59,640 You know, there was a time that Jesus was, was telling a story 215 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:06,920 and he said that his coming was going to be like a king who was 216 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:10,600 in his glory. And you know, he will, he'll be 217 00:14:10,600 --> 00:14:13,800 speaking to his people and he will tell them that when I was 218 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:17,520 hungry, you did not feed me. When I was thirsty, you did not 219 00:14:17,520 --> 00:14:19,720 give me water to drink. He said I would. 220 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:22,640 He would tell them that when I was living in prison you did not 221 00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:25,200 come to visit me. And when I was naked, you did 222 00:14:25,200 --> 00:14:28,360 not come to clothe me. And the Bible says the people 223 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:31,200 who ask the king, where did we see you naked? 224 00:14:31,200 --> 00:14:33,720 And we did not clothe you. The Bible says that people who 225 00:14:33,760 --> 00:14:37,160 ask the King, where did we see you in prison, that we did not 226 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:39,760 come to visit you. And Jesus said something very 227 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:43,000 important. He said, Whatsoever you do to 228 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:46,280 the least of my brothers, you do unto me as well. 229 00:14:49,400 --> 00:14:54,200 So Jesus is literally implying that if we are able to serve 230 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:58,920 other people, then we are in turn serving him, Jesus. 231 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:05,360 And that is why I coined that definition to say that serving 232 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:11,160 God is a lifestyle of purposeful service to others, again, aimed 233 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:13,480 at bringing glory to God, not for amusement. 234 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:17,920 So we know what it means to serve God. 235 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:22,800 Let's go ahead now we want to ask ourselves why should we 236 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:25,920 serve God? Why should I serve God? 237 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,840 And I I I'm beginning to use a lot of whys nowadays when when 238 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:33,400 you close from church and you find it last was it 2 weeks ago 239 00:15:33,840 --> 00:15:36,760 I was here playing the drums and the origin kids. 240 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:40,360 One of them came here and I was, you know, was trying to play 241 00:15:40,360 --> 00:15:42,520 along with me and I said no, hold on, don't play that way 242 00:15:42,520 --> 00:15:44,560 play this way. I was telling, you know him the 243 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:48,400 rhythm and then he's like, OK, he does it for a while and then 244 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:51,640 it's like, but why? And I said because that's what 245 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:53,200 makes it nicer. Place it for a while. 246 00:15:53,200 --> 00:15:55,560 He says, but why is that nice sign not the other one. 247 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:57,360 So there's always a why somewhere. 248 00:15:57,640 --> 00:15:59,080 So I have a why here for you today. 249 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:02,280 So why should I serve God is the question. 250 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,920 Why should I serve God? There are I don't think that 251 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:10,960 we'll be able to do justice to all the reasons why we have to 252 00:16:10,960 --> 00:16:14,080 serve God. So I have an it's, it's an 253 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:18,040 inexhaustible list of, of, of of reasons why we should serve God. 254 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:20,240 But let's see a few of them come with me. 255 00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:22,920 The first one. The first one is that there will 256 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:28,080 be a difference between those who serve God and those who do 257 00:16:28,080 --> 00:16:30,400 not serve him. I'm not making this up Church. 258 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:31,640 This, this is from the Scriptures. 259 00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:37,840 There will be a huge difference between those who serve God and 260 00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:40,080 those who do not serve him. Come with me to the book of 261 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:44,320 Malachi, please. Malachi chapter 3 from the 17 to 262 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:47,640 18. Now please look at the context 263 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:51,080 of the Scripture. This was a time when the people 264 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:56,160 of Israel were seriously lamenting, OK, They were saying. 265 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:59,000 They were complaining and saying, look, it looks like our 266 00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:03,760 service to God is proving futile because we have seen people who 267 00:17:03,760 --> 00:17:06,119 are not serving God. We have seen people who are 268 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:10,760 wicked, you know, exhibiting some appreciable, you know, 269 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:12,839 achievements of, of, of prosperity. 270 00:17:12,839 --> 00:17:15,359 These guys are doing so well, but they are wicked people. 271 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,520 And we serve God and there's nothing happening for us. 272 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:20,319 And they were seriously complaining. 273 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:24,560 But in the midst of these people, there were a few others 274 00:17:24,560 --> 00:17:27,560 whom the Bible calls remnants. These are people who are still 275 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:30,800 serving God irrespective of what was happening around them. 276 00:17:31,880 --> 00:17:37,080 And God noticing this speaks through Malachi and he said to 277 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:40,040 them that on the day when I act, this is God speaking. 278 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:43,800 On the day when I act, says the Lord Almighty hear this. 279 00:17:44,120 --> 00:17:48,000 He says these people who are the remnants still serving me, He 280 00:17:48,000 --> 00:17:50,440 says they will be my treasured possession. 281 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:55,560 I'll say that again, God is speaking and he said on the day 282 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:59,120 when I act regarding these people who are remnants and 283 00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:01,840 still serving me in the midst of whatever is going on in the 284 00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:05,080 world, He says on the day when I choose to act, says the Lord 285 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:08,960 Almighty, these people who are the remnants, they will be my 286 00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:13,440 treasured possession treasure. When some something is a 287 00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:15,880 treasured possession, it's not just a possession, it's so 288 00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:18,200 treasurable. I'm not willing to let it go. 289 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:23,520 He says I will spare them just as a father has compassion and 290 00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:28,120 spares his son who serves him. What a beautiful promise from 291 00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:31,280 God. So in the midst of the fact that 292 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:34,880 they are serving God, it looks as if in the human sense and in 293 00:18:34,880 --> 00:18:38,240 the human mind it looks as if they are not achieving anything 294 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:43,280 with all the service to God and God speaking through the prophet 295 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:46,800 said, when it is time for me to act, they will be my treasured 296 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:49,240 possession. I will spare them just as a 297 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,280 father has compassion and spaces or his son who serves him. 298 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:57,200 Now look at verse 18. He says, and you will also see 299 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:02,320 again the distinction between the righteous and the wicked and 300 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:05,480 between those who serve God and those who do not serve. 301 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:09,520 This is God speaking. God said that when it is time 302 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:14,320 for me to act, it will be so crystal clear as day and night 303 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:17,880 the difference between those who serve me and those who do not 304 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:20,240 serve me. I travelled outside of the 305 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:23,680 country recently and when I was coming back, I got to YVR and 306 00:19:23,680 --> 00:19:27,120 then there was a loud shout. They said all Canadian passport 307 00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:30,920 holders and permanent residence to the left or the others to the 308 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:34,480 right. Yeah, for some people it is 309 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:37,880 possible to group them together. But for some other people, 310 00:19:37,880 --> 00:19:41,080 because of the oath of allegiance that we have, we have 311 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:44,920 sworn to, to, to pay our taxes and, and to be good citizens in 312 00:19:44,920 --> 00:19:47,400 Canada. We were asked to be in one 313 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:50,960 single line and to be treated perhaps differently from the way 314 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:54,320 the others are being treated. The Bible says that then the 315 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:57,800 Lord will come and he'll be able to descend between them that 316 00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:00,280 serve God and them that do not serve him. 317 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:04,720 I want, I want to be one of the people in the queue of them that 318 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:07,920 serve God. Yeah, I want to be one of those. 319 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:10,960 And this is my intention for you, that you also become one of 320 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:14,080 the people that desires to be in that queue because the Bible 321 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:17,600 specifically says that God will come and He will make that 322 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:21,400 distinction, that incontestable distinction between them that 323 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:23,400 serve Him and them that do not serve Him. 324 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:26,080 Let's go to the second point, please. 325 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:33,920 Yeah, one more. Now, serving God invokes the 326 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:37,120 protection powers of God. I like this one. 327 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:41,880 Serving God invokes the protection powers of God. 328 00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:45,720 Now, I've told you that this is not an exhaustive list of, of 329 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:49,960 all the, you know, the blessings and the benefits that comes with 330 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:52,920 serving God, but these are very salient ones, and I really want 331 00:20:52,920 --> 00:20:56,640 us to pay attention to them, that serving God invokes the 332 00:20:56,640 --> 00:20:59,600 protection powers of God. Come with me to the Book of 333 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:05,040 Revelation. Now, the Book of Revelation is a 334 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:08,760 very interesting book, very apocalyptic in nature. 335 00:21:08,760 --> 00:21:12,200 It's got a lot of, you know, revelational stuff happening in 336 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:15,640 there. John the Revelator was writing 337 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:19,600 this one here and he said that, you know, there are 338 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:25,200 characteristics of every Angel. OK, there are characteristics of 339 00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:28,600 every Angel, but there are these 4 angels. 340 00:21:28,600 --> 00:21:31,840 Please follow me carefully. There are these 4 angels whose 341 00:21:31,960 --> 00:21:36,320 duty, what they are empowered to do is to destroy and harm the 342 00:21:36,320 --> 00:21:38,360 land and the sea. This this is their duty. 343 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:43,120 They are empowered so in response to the destruction that 344 00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:46,120 people are causing in, in response to the sinful nature 345 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:48,520 that the people on the earth were exhibiting. 346 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:52,320 There are 4 angels who have been empowered with a sole 347 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:55,800 responsibility of destroying the earth, destroying the land, 348 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:57,440 destroying the sea. This is what they do. 349 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:02,440 And in the vision John the Revelator said that even though 350 00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:07,040 these 4 angels are in existence, he says, then I saw another 351 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:11,160 Angel aside these four. He said, I saw another Angel 352 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:15,400 coming up from the east having the seal of the living God. 353 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:21,400 And this Angel was shouting with a loud voice to the four angels 354 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:23,080 who have the power to destroy the earth. 355 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:26,480 And he said he called out in a loud voice to the four angels 356 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:29,600 who had been given the power to harm the land in the sea. 357 00:22:29,880 --> 00:22:32,520 What was what were they? What was this Angel telling the 358 00:22:32,520 --> 00:22:36,920 four angels? He says he told them do not harm 359 00:22:36,920 --> 00:22:41,120 the land or the sea or the trees until something happens. 360 00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:45,200 He says don't harm the don't execute your powers yet. 361 00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:48,800 Hold on. Ceasefire and so we put a seal 362 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:57,160 on the foreheads of the servants of our God so angels, I'm not 363 00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:01,440 taking away what you are bestowed to do. 364 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:02,600 I'm not taking that away from you. 365 00:23:02,600 --> 00:23:03,800 This is what the Angel is saying. 366 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:06,400 He said, look, I'm not stopping you from doing what you are 367 00:23:06,760 --> 00:23:10,360 created to do. I'm only telling you to put an 368 00:23:10,360 --> 00:23:15,280 abrupt halt on your execution powers now, because the people 369 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:19,320 who serve God have to be marked with a with an indelible mark so 370 00:23:19,320 --> 00:23:21,480 that the destruction will not come upon them. 371 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:25,440 There is a divine exemption for those people who serve God 372 00:23:25,440 --> 00:23:28,040 diligently. And for that matter, hold on 373 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:31,120 ceasefire. Let me mark them before you have 374 00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:38,400 any action. And so serving God in itself 375 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:41,120 invokes that protection dimension of God. 376 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:42,960 As you know, there are so many dimensions of God. 377 00:23:43,120 --> 00:23:45,920 There's the mercy dimension of God, the protection dimension of 378 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:48,720 God, but serving God provokes that dimension. 379 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:54,880 Let's go to the Third Point. The Third Point is that God 380 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:58,040 promised blessings to those who serve him. 381 00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:01,240 God promised blessings to those who serve him. 382 00:24:01,240 --> 00:24:05,120 Look at these people of God. I keep saying that whenever you 383 00:24:05,120 --> 00:24:09,280 find a scripture where God is speaking, and specifically those 384 00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:15,480 scriptures where God says this is me, I am the Lord and I'm 385 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:18,680 speaking, you really got to pay attention to that particular 386 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:21,000 scripture because that is God's word himself. 387 00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:22,800 The Bible says Psalm 89, verse 34. 388 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:26,560 The Bible says my covenant will I not break, neither will I 389 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:28,760 alter the words that is going out of my lips. 390 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:30,840 This is God speaking. He says my covenant. 391 00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:34,520 I will not break, neither will I alter the words that is going 392 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:37,000 out of my lips. So when God speaks and he says I 393 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:41,040 would do this, you can count all your hopes on it that He will do 394 00:24:41,040 --> 00:24:43,720 it. Now this is one of the areas 395 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:47,320 where God puts His word in and says, look, I will bless you if 396 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:49,000 you choose to serve me. Let's go ahead. 397 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:53,760 If you go to the book of Exodus, the 23rd chapter and the 25th 398 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:59,800 verse, God is speaking. The Bible says you shall serve 399 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:05,560 the Lord your God, and he shall bless your food and your water, 400 00:25:06,360 --> 00:25:08,840 and I will take away sickness from among you. 401 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:12,800 I'm speaking to intellectuals and scholars here today. 402 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:18,080 You understand mathematically on how in conditional conditional 403 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:23,760 statements, if X is equal to 5, then the following statements 404 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:24,920 must be true. Am I? 405 00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:26,600 I'm not a mathematician, but I hope I'm correct. 406 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:31,440 I'm a forester. Now, if one condition is true, 407 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:34,640 that feeds into the next condition, and so the 408 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:38,440 prerequisites for the next portion to work is that the 409 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:41,200 initial condition must have been satisfied and fulfilled. 410 00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:47,160 OK, The Bible says that you shall serve the Lord your God as 411 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:50,480 long as you keep your sight of the bargain, and you serve the 412 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:53,480 Lord your God. The Bible says he's too faithful 413 00:25:53,480 --> 00:26:03,680 to fail. In the book of Hebrews, the 414 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:07,360 Bible says that for the Lord is not unjust to forget our labour 415 00:26:07,360 --> 00:26:11,440 of love. So here he says, as long as you 416 00:26:11,440 --> 00:26:13,720 keep to your side of the bargain, you serve the Lord your 417 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:15,680 God. He says there's something that 418 00:26:15,680 --> 00:26:19,000 the Lord will do. What he will do is that he shall 419 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:22,280 bless your food, he shall bless your water, and that he will 420 00:26:22,280 --> 00:26:24,440 take away sickness from the midst of the people of God. 421 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:26,680 Hear this. This is what we do when we go to 422 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:28,760 God and we pray to God using the Scriptures. 423 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:34,920 Yeah, when we go to God and we say God, we pray for your 424 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:37,800 healing to take place. And the Scripture tells us to 425 00:26:37,800 --> 00:26:40,720 remind him of his own words. And we come in, we say, Father, 426 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:43,920 you asked us to serve you and that you will bless our food, 427 00:26:44,240 --> 00:26:46,360 you will bless our water, and you will take our waste sickness 428 00:26:46,360 --> 00:26:48,120 from us. We have done our part of our 429 00:26:48,120 --> 00:26:50,640 part of the bargain. We pray that for you. 430 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:54,200 Look from your holy habitation and let your faithfulness that 431 00:26:54,200 --> 00:27:00,280 has never failed be shown to us. And our God listens because once 432 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:04,120 we keep our side of the of the conditional statement, our God, 433 00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:07,240 the Bible says it's impossible for him to disappoint us. 434 00:27:08,840 --> 00:27:15,800 So as I'm ending the what I want to end with this is is how how 435 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,680 people can serve, how you can serve. 436 00:27:18,920 --> 00:27:24,160 Now please realise, like I said from the beginning, that being a 437 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:27,080 servant of God is not a title that is bestowed upon us. 438 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:29,360 It is a lifestyle. Please take us back to the 439 00:27:29,360 --> 00:27:31,080 definition. I think that's on the 4th slide. 440 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:36,560 Yeah, it's a lifestyle of loving obedience, voluntary submission 441 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:39,560 and purposeful service aimed at bringing glory to God. 442 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:43,760 So in our desire to to become servants of God, in our desire 443 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:49,000 to serve, we want to ask ourselves how can I serve God in 444 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:52,640 any capacity I find myself in? How can I exhibit, exhibit these 445 00:27:52,640 --> 00:27:57,200 attitudes? So in the church, for instance, 446 00:27:58,080 --> 00:27:59,840 we have so many avenues to serve. 447 00:28:01,200 --> 00:28:05,240 You know, our, our sister is playing the piano beautifully. 448 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:07,840 Christiana is here operating the slides. 449 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,120 We have people who come here very early in the morning to set 450 00:28:11,120 --> 00:28:13,960 everything up, set the speakers up and all of that. 451 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:16,080 And then there's another opportunity to serve. 452 00:28:16,320 --> 00:28:18,560 We need people to be serving the, the communion. 453 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:20,640 I hope today the whole church is going to come down and serve 454 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:22,040 communion to the whole church as well. 455 00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:27,480 But in any capacity you find yourself to serve, ask yourself, 456 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:30,600 is this an opportunity for me to love God obediently? 457 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:34,120 Is this an opportunity for me to voluntarily submit to the 458 00:28:34,120 --> 00:28:37,480 dictates of God? And then is there an opportunity 459 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:41,000 for me to purposefully provide service to other people that 460 00:28:41,000 --> 00:28:44,200 will bring glory to God? So in the church, I want you to 461 00:28:44,200 --> 00:28:46,560 think through what can. You don't need to be a singer. 462 00:28:46,760 --> 00:28:48,760 You don't need to be a drama. You don't. 463 00:28:48,760 --> 00:28:51,840 But whichever capacity is it, you know, just calling people 464 00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:55,600 and praying for them, saying God bless you, this is purposeful 465 00:28:55,600 --> 00:28:57,120 service and it stays with the people. 466 00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:00,040 It's a blessing to them. And God considers that service 467 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:05,520 even in our workplaces or in our schools, You know, is there an 468 00:29:05,520 --> 00:29:07,960 opportunity where you can provide service to other people 469 00:29:07,960 --> 00:29:10,840 to bring glory to God in whichever capacity you are in 470 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:14,360 our God is too faithful that when you provide the service to 471 00:29:14,480 --> 00:29:18,480 to God through people or in any capacity, he will fulfill all 472 00:29:18,480 --> 00:29:20,800 these things that we've talked about, including the blessings 473 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:22,480 that he promises. The Lord bless you. 474 00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:24,200 Please, let's pray. Let's pray together. 475 00:29:29,080 --> 00:29:32,440 Father, we want to thank you once again for the privileged 476 00:29:32,440 --> 00:29:36,120 opportunity to serve and to serve you. 477 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:41,400 We ask that, Oh God, You will give us that grace, that 478 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:44,680 ability, and the enablement to be able to serve. 479 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:51,240 We ask that Your grace that empowers each one of us for 480 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:53,200 service will be poured out on us. 481 00:29:53,760 --> 00:29:57,000 And Father, we know that Your side of the bargain is always 482 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:00,520 true, and You will never fail. And because of that, we bank our 483 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:03,560 hopes on You. We shall be careful to return 484 00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:05,680 the glory to You and to You alone. 485 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:09,320 When all is said and done, we give You praise and we give you 486 00:30:09,320 --> 00:30:12,280 glory in Jesus precious name, Amen.