1 00:00:08,450 --> 00:00:12,570 Jesus, I want to thank you God, for meeting with us as we sung, 2 00:00:12,690 --> 00:00:15,450 as we sung our songs of praise to you, Lord God. 3 00:00:15,450 --> 00:00:19,930 And I pray, Lord God, that as we, as we, as we listen to your 4 00:00:19,930 --> 00:00:23,130 word, Lord God, as we open our Bibles today, Lord Jesus, that 5 00:00:23,370 --> 00:00:25,450 that you would mould us and change us. 6 00:00:25,450 --> 00:00:28,770 Lord God, I pray, Lord God that you would, you'd, you'd convict 7 00:00:28,770 --> 00:00:32,049 us on areas where we need to repent, Lord Jesus, where we 8 00:00:32,049 --> 00:00:34,530 need to turn around and come back to you. 9 00:00:34,530 --> 00:00:37,600 Lord Jesus, I pray, Lord God, you'd come for us where we need 10 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:39,400 comforting. Lord Jesus, I pray, Lord God, 11 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,440 for those who join the break, ask for prayer. 12 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:45,960 Lord Jesus, and, and, and we pray for extra grace. 13 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:47,960 We pray that you would change situations. 14 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:51,400 Lord Jesus, I ask you, God, that, that you would move, Lord 15 00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:54,640 Jesus, Lord God, that you would, you would mend broken hearts or 16 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:58,120 Jesus, you would bring finances where finances are needed. 17 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,640 You bring jobs, you bring whatever needs happening or God, 18 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:03,720 you do it. Lord Jesus, we ask it in your 19 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:06,360 name, Amen. Amen. 20 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:10,640 So we are continuing in the book of Malachi. 21 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:14,080 So if you want to find Malachi, it's right at the end of your of 22 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:16,680 the Old Testament, just before you get to Matthew. 23 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:23,240 And what we looked at last time is that Malachi is teaching us. 24 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:27,720 He's God's messenger and he is teaching us what it looks like 25 00:01:27,720 --> 00:01:34,080 to be God's chosen people, that those who through faith accept 26 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:38,800 God's free gift of grace that we don't live the same. 27 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:42,360 We don't stay the same. If you've accepted Jesus as your 28 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,840 Lord and Saviour, you can't stay the same. 29 00:01:46,160 --> 00:01:50,080 His grace comes, his spirit lives in you and you just 30 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:53,640 change. You become more like him and 31 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:56,440 that now the part of the see there's a side effect. 32 00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:00,160 See when if you take, if you, if you take certain medicine or 33 00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:03,120 whatever, you there's a list of things that say side effects on 34 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:06,040 it, where there's a side effect of following Jesus. 35 00:02:06,440 --> 00:02:10,440 And that side effect is that you become more like him that you 36 00:02:10,440 --> 00:02:14,720 become devoted to him that you don't you, you, you want to 37 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:18,160 sacrifice your life for him. Because when, as we've done 38 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:22,320 already this morning, we sing of how amazing is that God, you're 39 00:02:22,320 --> 00:02:26,200 so good, you're wonderful God. When we get that deep down 40 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:28,520 inside, it's not just words that we say. 41 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,200 We actually we want to. There's nothing we wouldn't give 42 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:35,520 up for him because he is so amazing. 43 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:38,240 So I'm going to. So can anyone remember? 44 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:39,880 Here's a here's a memory test for you. 45 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:44,800 Last time I spoke two weeks ago, I taught you some Hebrew. 46 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,440 Can anyone remember the word I taught you? 47 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:51,160 Amazing. Well done. 48 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:55,280 That makes me feel really good when people 1/2 No, it makes me 49 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:57,960 it does make me feel good. I I mean, I honestly expect most 50 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:00,240 people to walk out there and forget everything I say, but 51 00:03:00,240 --> 00:03:02,080 actually that you remembered that that's brilliant. 52 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,680 Yes, half get that Gods are halves. 53 00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:10,280 He he loved Jacob, that he loved Israel, which we looked at the 54 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:14,440 fact that that meant that out of every nation, every people 55 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:18,280 group, every tribe in tongue, God chose Israel and it was 56 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,840 through Israel that he chose to make himself known. 57 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:25,120 He chose to make him. He chose to love them, meaning 58 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:27,920 that he chose to make his covenant through them, that 59 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:32,920 through Jacob he would bring the world back to himself At Babel, 60 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:36,960 the Tower of Babel, you know, remember that the nations were 61 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:41,680 scattered to the ends of the earth, and it was through Jacob 62 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:46,480 that God wanted to undo that. See God, God has always wanted a 63 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:49,640 people made-up of every tribe and tongue. 64 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:52,960 And so he desires to do he desire to do that from the very 65 00:03:52,960 --> 00:03:55,040 beginning. And so he was said he was going 66 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:58,720 to do that through Jacob, through Jacob's descendants, 67 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:00,920 through Jacob's descendants. He was going to send the Messiah 68 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:05,000 who was going to bring an end to to injustice and suffering and 69 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:07,800 he was going to do away with the curse of death. 70 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,520 But as we know, as you read the Old Testament and as Paul 71 00:04:12,520 --> 00:04:17,320 underlines in his book to the Romans, that many people who 72 00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:20,920 were descendants who could trace their lineage back to Abraham, 73 00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:25,200 they weren't true Israel. Paul says there were Israelites. 74 00:04:25,280 --> 00:04:28,360 There are Israel who isn't true, who aren't true Israel. 75 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:32,080 And what he meant by that is that you read it in the Old 76 00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:34,960 Testament. God, he chose Israel. 77 00:04:34,960 --> 00:04:39,320 But many of them they said we don't want you, Yahweh as our 78 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:41,000 God. We don't want to be in your 79 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:43,120 family. We want to worship the bars and 80 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,080 the asturas. We want to worship other gods. 81 00:04:46,760 --> 00:04:50,440 And what we'll see what you see in Jesus time is that they were 82 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:54,160 no different. I mean, pick in Jesus time the 83 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:58,280 the most religious, the most, most people, the people who look 84 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:02,760 like they were most following gods, the Pharisees, they they 85 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:04,680 were people who we would have all looked at and gone. 86 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:07,680 That's what it looks like to be a follower of gods. 87 00:05:08,440 --> 00:05:12,160 And Jesus looks at them and says you're not children of the 88 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:14,960 Father. You're not real Israelites, 89 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:19,600 you're not true Israelites. And what what what it meant was 90 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:22,920 that your righteous deeds, you're all your good things that 91 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:24,560 you're doing. You're not doing them to please 92 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:27,520 Yahweh. You're doing them because you 93 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:31,240 want, you're interested in your own status, your own position at 94 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:34,880 the table, your own wealth. And actually Jesus says that, 95 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:38,240 that actually you say you worship Yahweh, you. 96 00:05:38,280 --> 00:05:41,280 But when Yahweh himself, when God himself stepped into the 97 00:05:41,280 --> 00:05:45,040 world through Jesus Christ, you wanted to do away with him. 98 00:05:45,280 --> 00:05:49,000 You wanted to kill him, proving that you never loved Yahweh in 99 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:52,320 the 1st place, you never loved God in the first place. 100 00:05:53,080 --> 00:05:56,560 You see the Pharisees, they would boast about their lineage. 101 00:05:56,760 --> 00:05:59,920 They'd say, you know, they'd go, this is who my father was and my 102 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:03,040 mum was, This is who my great grandparents were all the way 103 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:05,520 back to all the way back to Abraham. 104 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,080 They they'd say this is how amazing everyone is. 105 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:12,680 But Jesus quite clearly was said, and Malachi is saying 106 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:19,080 here, that you are not saved, you are not counted as God's 107 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:21,880 children because of your parents. 108 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:27,440 You are not in his family. Your parents may be amazing, 109 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:30,600 your grandparents may be. You may have some famous 110 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:34,960 Christian in your heritage. Doesn't matter squat. 111 00:06:35,920 --> 00:06:39,240 Do you have faith in Christ Jesus? 112 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:42,480 Jesus died. He shed his blood so that we 113 00:06:42,480 --> 00:06:45,040 could enter into his family through faith. 114 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,560 If you don't have faith in him, it doesn't matter how great your 115 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:52,000 parents were, it doesn't matter if you were a Jew living in the 116 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:54,640 1st century who could trace their lineage all the way back 117 00:06:54,640 --> 00:06:56,560 to Abraham. It doesn't matter. 118 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:59,840 God goes well, I know Abraham, but I don't know who you are. 119 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:06,960 God. See Jesus he chooses us, but we 120 00:07:06,960 --> 00:07:09,040 have to accept him through faith. 121 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:12,680 We have to church. My question to you this morning 122 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:18,440 is have you accepted him? Have you walked in the good of 123 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:21,440 his grace? Have you accepted his faith? 124 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:29,640 You see Jesus says in in John chapter 8 verse 41, he says he 125 00:07:29,640 --> 00:07:35,640 says this you are doing, he's talking to the Pharisees and the 126 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:38,520 Pharisees are claiming that they are children of Abraham because 127 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:41,400 they can, they can do all the that they've got all the IT 128 00:07:41,400 --> 00:07:43,560 written down. And he says you are doing the 129 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:47,040 works of your own father, IE not gods. 130 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:49,960 We are not illegitimate children. 131 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:54,080 They protest only. The only father we have is God 132 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:57,680 himself. Jesus said to them, If God were 133 00:07:57,680 --> 00:08:03,280 your father, you would love me. I have come here from God. 134 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:07,800 I have not come on my own. God sent me. 135 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:10,320 Why is my language not clear to you? 136 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:13,400 Because you aren't able to hear what I say. 137 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:19,440 You belong to your father, the devil and you, and you want to 138 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:23,520 carry out your father's desires. He was a murderer from the 139 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:29,520 beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in 140 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:31,760 him. When he lies, he speaks his 141 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:37,520 native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 142 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:42,799 He's Jesus saying you may be able to trace your lineage back 143 00:08:42,799 --> 00:08:48,120 to great people, great followers of gods, but you don't love me. 144 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:51,240 So therefore you're not my child. 145 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:54,920 You, you, you are, you are children of the enemy. 146 00:08:54,920 --> 00:09:00,920 And in in Matthew 2012 and 23, he makes it very clear. 147 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:03,240 He says you are not children of God. 148 00:09:03,280 --> 00:09:06,160 Instead you are children of the snake. 149 00:09:06,320 --> 00:09:10,080 You are a brood of Vipers. And what he's doing there when 150 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:14,040 he calls them snakes, he's meant he's, he's hyperlinking back to 151 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:18,680 Genesis 3 where God says to, to to Adam and Eve and the the 152 00:09:18,680 --> 00:09:21,640 serpent, he says there will be enmity. 153 00:09:22,360 --> 00:09:26,120 There was strife between your children and your children, 154 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:30,360 between the children of Eve and the children of, of the snake. 155 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:33,560 And now the snake is, this is, is a spiritual being. 156 00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:36,320 OK. But and what God's not saying is 157 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:38,840 the snake is going to have physical children. 158 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:43,120 But as you look through Scripture, you see that that 159 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:45,200 there is a choice that people have. 160 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,840 And God says you're either following me and you're my 161 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:52,360 children or you're children of the snake. 162 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:56,680 We get this with the big arch evil people of the Bible, kind 163 00:09:56,680 --> 00:10:00,560 of starting with Cain. It says sin is crouching out 164 00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:02,240 your door. Cain, what are you going to 165 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:03,680 choose to do? You're going to choose to be 166 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:05,840 mine or are you going to choose to be one? 167 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:08,200 One with the serpent. Are you going to be one with the 168 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:12,120 deceiver, with the one? Well, the murderer, the liar, he 169 00:10:12,200 --> 00:10:16,880 chooses to be with the serpent. We have, we have people like 170 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:19,720 Pharaoh, like Nebuchadnezzar, who who are described in kind of 171 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:23,400 snake like ways. We even have the great arch 172 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:27,200 nemesis Goliath. He he's he's not called a snake, 173 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:30,280 but when he'd read how he's described, he described his 174 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:35,560 armour is scaly, just like a serpent, all bringing links to 175 00:10:35,560 --> 00:10:37,480 say he is that he's not a child of God. 176 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:42,440 He's a child of the serpent. Even in the tribe of Israel, 177 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:46,360 we've got we've got the tribe of Dan are described as a serpent 178 00:10:46,360 --> 00:10:48,640 and they're they're the first tribe that really kind of just 179 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:53,880 completely rebel against gods. And in the in the New Testament, 180 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:57,080 Jesus, here he comes the Pharisees who are saying, look 181 00:10:57,080 --> 00:11:00,520 at us, look how amazing we are and he's saying you ain't 182 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,960 children of gods. You are deluding yourselves. 183 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:08,440 Instead, you are children of the serpent. 184 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:19,760 You see, what are you? Who is your God? 185 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:26,080 Who are you following? Who are you following church? 186 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:32,960 See, our status as children of gods is not down to who your 187 00:11:32,960 --> 00:11:37,480 parents were. It is down to do you have faith 188 00:11:37,800 --> 00:11:43,520 in the blood of Jesus Christ. The writer of the Hebrews says 189 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:48,840 this. Find it. 190 00:11:57,910 --> 00:12:06,030 He says he that's Jesus did not enter by the He did not enter by 191 00:12:06,030 --> 00:12:10,070 the means of blood of goats and calves, but he entered the most 192 00:12:10,070 --> 00:12:12,830 high place once and for all by the bloods. 193 00:12:12,950 --> 00:12:18,760 Thus by play entered the most high place once and for all by 194 00:12:18,760 --> 00:12:21,960 his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 195 00:12:22,160 --> 00:12:26,760 The blood of goats and bulls and ashes and the ashes of a heifer 196 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:31,960 sprinkled on those who are seminary unclean, sanctify at 197 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:35,000 them so that they are outwardly clean. 198 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:39,120 How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal 199 00:12:39,120 --> 00:12:42,880 Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleansing 200 00:12:42,880 --> 00:12:47,400 our consciences from the acts that lead to death, so that we 201 00:12:47,400 --> 00:12:53,920 may serve the living gods? You see, Church, every single 202 00:12:53,920 --> 00:12:58,480 one of us scripted teachers, no matter where you were, no matter 203 00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:02,760 where you were born, were once children of the serpent. 204 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:06,840 We were once under wrath. We were once under condemnation. 205 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:10,560 We were once rebellious. We were once, once against God. 206 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:16,200 We were once spiritually dead. Scripture teaches us but Christ, 207 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:20,680 but Christ stepped in, but Christ shed his blood so that we 208 00:13:20,680 --> 00:13:23,320 could be purified, so that we could enter in. 209 00:13:23,320 --> 00:13:26,920 See, we were once children of the serpent, which brings death 210 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:29,560 and slavery. But through faith, we can now 211 00:13:29,560 --> 00:13:33,000 become children of God who brings life and freedom. 212 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:34,440 I mean, that's amazing, isn't it? 213 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:38,760 How wonderful is that that we that we get to through the blood 214 00:13:38,760 --> 00:13:41,840 of Jesus Christ, we get to walk in true life. 215 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:44,280 I mean, the world would say, you know, you don't want to become a 216 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:46,880 Christian because you have to abide by all these rules and 217 00:13:46,880 --> 00:13:49,960 then that's not true life. We'd say there is no life apart 218 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:52,880 from Christ. There is nothing apart from 219 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:56,400 Christ. See, see what all we have to do, 220 00:13:56,400 --> 00:13:59,160 all we bring church, all you bring to the table is your 221 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:03,320 faith, just trusting in the blood of Christ Jesus. 222 00:14:03,680 --> 00:14:06,520 But faith isn't a one time thing. 223 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:10,440 Faith isn't a well, I prayed a prayer when I was a little kid 224 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:13,520 and I said sorry to God and now I just do whatever I want. 225 00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:19,720 Faith actually we're and Bethan quoted it last week when she 226 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:23,280 talks about James. James says that true faith is 227 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:29,560 displayed in how we act, what we do now, it's not that if you, if 228 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:33,920 you act really nicely and you pray all the time and you and, 229 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:37,880 and, and you read your Bible that that earns you favour with 230 00:14:37,880 --> 00:14:40,360 God. It's not that way round. 231 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:42,480 Actually. You can't earn favour with God. 232 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,720 And also if God love, if, if you've experienced God love, you 233 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:49,600 don't read your Bible and do good deeds and and pray because 234 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:52,480 to, to, to try and pay him back. You can't do that. 235 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:55,240 No, no, no, he shows his love for us. 236 00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:59,040 We grasp how amazing he is in part anyway. 237 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,640 And then just a natural outworking of that is you want 238 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:07,560 to be like him because he is so amazing, because he is so good. 239 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:12,120 See that the Scripture tells us over and over and over again 240 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:16,080 that we accept God's goodness through faith. 241 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:20,080 It is a gift of grace that God gives to us, and it's by faith 242 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:24,440 that we enter in. And that is where the Jewish 243 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:27,080 people of Malachi's time were failing. 244 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:33,480 Like some of us, they had identified as believers of gods. 245 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:39,320 They'd said we're children of gods, but their actions showed 246 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:43,000 something different. As Jesus would say, your actions 247 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:46,600 prove that you are not my children at all, but children of 248 00:15:46,600 --> 00:15:49,520 the serpent. Let's read Malachi. 249 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:54,240 Let's read Malachi. Malachi chapter 1, verses 6. 250 00:15:54,600 --> 00:16:01,160 To the ends of that chapter it says a son honours his father 251 00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:05,400 and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the 252 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:08,800 honour due me? If I'm a master, where is the 253 00:16:08,800 --> 00:16:11,240 respect due me? Says the Lord Almighty. 254 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:16,120 It is your priest who show contempt for my name. 255 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:20,280 But you ask, how have we shown contempt for your name? 256 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,200 By offering to file food on my altar. 257 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:28,200 But you ask, how have we defiled you by saying the Lord's Table 258 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:32,040 is contemptible? When you offer blind animals and 259 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:36,760 sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame, 260 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:39,080 diseased animals, is that not wrong? 261 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:41,040 Try offering them to your governor. 262 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:44,840 Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you, Says the 263 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:47,920 Lord Almighty. Now plead with God to be 264 00:16:47,920 --> 00:16:52,400 gracious to us with such offerings for your hand. 265 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:56,960 From your hands will he accept you, says the Lord Almighty. 266 00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:01,720 Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors so that you 267 00:17:01,720 --> 00:17:05,119 would not light useless fires on my altar. 268 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:12,079 I am not pleased with you, says the Lord Almighty, and I will 269 00:17:12,079 --> 00:17:14,839 accept no offering from your hands. 270 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:19,680 My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun 271 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:23,720 rises to where it sets in every place incense and pure offerings 272 00:17:23,880 --> 00:17:29,000 will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the 273 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:33,200 nations, says the Lord Almighty. But you profane it by saying the 274 00:17:33,200 --> 00:17:37,720 Lord's table is defiled and it's food is contemptible. 275 00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:45,040 And you say what a burden and you sniff at it contemptuously, 276 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:48,320 says the Lord Almighty. When you bring injured, lame or 277 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:53,960 diseased animals and offer them as a sacrifice, should I accept 278 00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:55,800 them from your hands? Says the Lord. 279 00:17:56,760 --> 00:18:01,480 Curse is the cheat who has who has an acceptable male in his 280 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:05,560 flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices A blemish animal 281 00:18:05,560 --> 00:18:08,920 to the Lord. For I am a great king, says the 282 00:18:08,920 --> 00:18:14,280 Lord Almighty, and my name is to be feared among the nations 283 00:18:16,120 --> 00:18:18,400 church. Who do you worship? 284 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:23,600 Who is your gods? Who do you belong to? 285 00:18:25,120 --> 00:18:29,160 You see, the Jews claim that they were Yahweh's, that they 286 00:18:29,160 --> 00:18:31,320 belong to him, that they were his chosen people. 287 00:18:31,560 --> 00:18:35,160 But Malachi says you don't show God the respect that he's Jew, 288 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:39,720 you don't honour him, you don't show him the glory, the weight 289 00:18:39,720 --> 00:18:44,640 that he deserves. Malachi is reminding us that our 290 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:49,960 status, as I keep saying, as children is not based on who 291 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:56,520 where you came from, who your parents are, but faith in Christ 292 00:18:56,520 --> 00:19:01,040 Jesus, in God alone. You see, the way that they were 293 00:19:01,040 --> 00:19:02,560 not can I get a drink of water, please? 294 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:06,040 Someone could. The way that they were not 295 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:08,480 showing in the Old Testament times, the way they weren't 296 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:15,080 showing respect for God is that they were offering blame, sick 297 00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:20,680 animals, this sacrifice. And Gee, and God says to them, 298 00:19:21,680 --> 00:19:23,720 you wouldn't even dare offer these. 299 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:27,120 You wouldn't offer these sacrifices to one of your own 300 00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:30,360 rulers, to someone who you would consider important. 301 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:36,920 And so he goes as far as saying that I wish that someone would 302 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:40,360 shut the doors to the temple, meaning I wish someone would 303 00:19:40,480 --> 00:19:45,240 shut the doors to my presence because you insult me so much 304 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:48,320 with your pretend worship. Thank you very much. 305 00:19:57,600 --> 00:19:59,520 So who do you belong to? Church. 306 00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:04,560 Do you belong to Jesus? Do you belong to Christ? 307 00:20:06,640 --> 00:20:11,280 Or do you belong to the serpent? Which do you follow? 308 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:16,240 Are you devoted to Him? Are you devoted to Christ? 309 00:20:18,760 --> 00:20:20,720 See. What Jesus is saying, and what 310 00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:24,320 Malachi is saying is that God's children, they are devoted to 311 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:28,920 him, they love him, they sacrifice for him. 312 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:34,760 You see, in the Old Testament, Leviticus 1/3 tells us that an 313 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:36,680 acceptable sacrifice looked like this. 314 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:40,360 It was a burnt offering from the herd that you that was meant to 315 00:20:40,360 --> 00:20:44,960 be without defect, and you must present it your first fruits to 316 00:20:44,960 --> 00:20:49,440 the entrance of the tent, so that it may be acceptable on 317 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,720 your behalf. You see, sacrifice for the Jews 318 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:56,920 it meant. It meant bringing your first and 319 00:20:56,920 --> 00:21:01,040 your best for them. They were farmers, so they they 320 00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:03,680 either grew crops in the field or they looked after sheep or 321 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:06,400 goats and cows. And God doesn't care what you 322 00:21:06,400 --> 00:21:10,240 bring, but he says bring your first and bring your best. 323 00:21:10,440 --> 00:21:14,320 And the reason why he says bring your best is because we give our 324 00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:19,960 best to the ones we most love, the ones we most cherish. 325 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:23,960 So God's saying, that should be me, shouldn't that be me? 326 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:28,720 And so they were to bring their best to gods and show that they 327 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:31,280 loved and show that he was the most important thing in their 328 00:21:31,280 --> 00:21:33,080 life. And they were to bring the first 329 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:35,960 because actually it meant that they trusted him. 330 00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:39,480 See, if you're a farmer and you're growing, you're growing a 331 00:21:39,480 --> 00:21:43,160 field of crop. What what the Israelites were 332 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,240 doing in Malachi's day, they grow, they grow all their 333 00:21:46,240 --> 00:21:48,280 fields. And then they'd look at a corner 334 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:50,800 of the field and go, well, that's been a bit drowned. 335 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:52,800 That not very good. That bit. 336 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:55,760 Well, God wants wants some, some of my crane. 337 00:21:55,920 --> 00:21:59,240 He's not going to eat it anyway. So let's give him that bits the 338 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:01,680 leftovers. They were look, they were, they 339 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:04,120 were, they were if they were growing, if they were, if they 340 00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:07,720 were cattle farmers, they'd have their they'd get their all 341 00:22:07,720 --> 00:22:11,280 their, all their cattle that was born that year and they'd look 342 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:14,840 at them and go, well, there's the there's the lame one, right? 343 00:22:15,160 --> 00:22:17,200 God, you can have that one. I mean, it's not going to matter 344 00:22:17,200 --> 00:22:18,280 to you. What are you going to do with 345 00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:19,480 it? You can just have that one. 346 00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:24,080 No, what they were meant to do is give the very first, the best 347 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:27,400 one that came first, the best. But if you're growing crop, you 348 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:29,480 gave the first crop that you grew. 349 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:31,560 And what that does is what you're doing is you're saying, 350 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:35,160 God, you are the most important. Again, I'm going to give you the 351 00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:38,720 first because actually I'm trusting you because if you grow 352 00:22:38,920 --> 00:22:43,280 a crop and you give the first to God, you've not got anything. 353 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:46,440 You're you're relying that the rest is going to grow. 354 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:49,120 You're relying on God to bring the rest of what you're saying 355 00:22:49,120 --> 00:22:53,880 is that whether the rest comes or not, I trust in you. 356 00:22:54,120 --> 00:22:57,760 I trust in you, I trust that you're good Gods see for that's 357 00:22:57,760 --> 00:22:59,720 us. That's that's bringing bringing 358 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:02,280 the first of our money, that's bringing the first of our 359 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:06,520 energy, that's bringing the 1st of our of, of, of what we have 360 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:09,400 not going well. I've spent everything, whether 361 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:11,920 that's money or energy or whatever in God, you can have 362 00:23:11,920 --> 00:23:14,440 what's left over. You know, I'll go to Home group 363 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,440 if I've got enough energy left at the end of the day, right? 364 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:21,280 God says no, flip it. You prioritise spending time 365 00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:25,240 with me in the family of Gods and then you with the rest that 366 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:28,720 I will give you. You work and you have you, you 367 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:31,240 and have time. Have fun with that. 368 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:37,320 It's putting him first, see. But the the Jews, that's not 369 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:40,440 where they were at. They were sacrificing what they 370 00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:42,960 had left, what was left in their pockets. 371 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:49,920 And my question whilst I was reading this was had the Jews 372 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:54,000 become so disheartened with life? 373 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:59,240 Remember, it was 100 years since they'd come back from exile. 374 00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:00,920 They believed the Messiah was going to come. 375 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:02,520 They believed the world was going to change. 376 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:04,320 They believed that everything was going to be amazing. 377 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:06,920 Now that they've been set free from Babylon in the, in the 378 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:08,640 Persian Empire. They thought everything was 379 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:10,400 going to be amazing. But, but it wasn't. 380 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:14,040 People were still sick. People were still dying. 381 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:17,080 They, they, they weren't really free. 382 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:21,040 So had they had they got so disillusioned with God that 383 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:23,440 they, they thought that's all he's worth. 384 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,080 My circumstances aren't great, so that's all I'm going to give. 385 00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:33,520 Or maybe they truly believed that this was worship. 386 00:24:34,520 --> 00:24:37,000 Maybe they were bringing their leftovers and thinking, well, 387 00:24:37,000 --> 00:24:40,440 that's all God wants. God just wants what I do my 388 00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:42,480 best. And God, if there's anything 389 00:24:42,480 --> 00:24:45,000 left, if you give me anything left, then I'll give it to you. 390 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:48,440 And they did, they believe that that was worship. 391 00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:53,640 You see, church, we can delude ourselves. 392 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:56,080 We're very good at deluding ourselves. 393 00:24:56,360 --> 00:24:58,520 Actually, we're very good at deluding others as well. 394 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:02,520 And you can, you can delude everyone in here that you're an 395 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:05,520 amazing Christian. Do you love Jesus, that he is 396 00:25:05,520 --> 00:25:08,360 the most important person in your life and nothing comes 397 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:11,920 anywhere close to that. But it's not true. 398 00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:17,880 You can fool others. You can even fool yourself, but 399 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:23,080 God says you cannot fool me. You can't fool me. 400 00:25:23,160 --> 00:25:25,560 Remember the Pharisees, Jesus, Jesus told a story about a 401 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:29,080 Pharisee in Luke 18. He said, he said he told the 402 00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:31,480 story and it was really popular in that time that they would 403 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:33,520 have times of prayer during the day. 404 00:25:33,720 --> 00:25:37,400 And what the Pharisees would do, they would make sure that they 405 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:39,400 were out and about during those times of prayer. 406 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:42,560 This is why Jesus says go to your room and pray privately. 407 00:25:42,640 --> 00:25:44,840 He's not against public prayer meetings. 408 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:47,360 What he's saying is, is what the Pharisees used to do is go 409 00:25:47,560 --> 00:25:49,360 right. 2:00 is my time of prayer. 410 00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:54,160 I could be at home or I could be in the temple and I could and I 411 00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:56,320 could, oh, it's 2:00. Oh, it's my time of prayer. 412 00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:58,120 Look at everyone. Look everyone, I am actually 413 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:01,920 stopping and I am praying. I am amazing, I am wonderful. 414 00:26:02,120 --> 00:26:05,160 And whilst I'm at it, rather than telling you how good God 415 00:26:05,160 --> 00:26:08,480 is, I'm just going to just list off all the really good things 416 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:12,520 I've done this week so you can know how amazing I am. 417 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:16,960 And Jesus, no, God doesn't want that. 418 00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:19,600 God doesn't hear that. God says, I wish you'd shut the 419 00:26:19,600 --> 00:26:21,720 temple doors. So I can't, I can't, I can't 420 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:23,080 hear that. Remember? 421 00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:26,200 Then there's a tax collector who just comes before God and he 422 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:31,280 goes, I'm useless. I'm a I'm a despicable man. 423 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:35,800 But God, I ask you to forgive me and what I have, I give to you. 424 00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:38,600 And God, Jesus, like that is what I want. 425 00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:43,880 That is who I want. That is who it is who I accept. 426 00:26:45,160 --> 00:26:47,080 You see the Pharisees, they were deluded. 427 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:52,080 Are we? Are we deluded? 428 00:26:52,080 --> 00:27:00,930 See the church, This is serious. This is really serious. 429 00:27:03,010 --> 00:27:08,490 Sacrifice, worship. It means putting Jesus first 430 00:27:09,090 --> 00:27:14,490 everywhere, not just coming to a Sunday service for an hour or 431 00:27:14,490 --> 00:27:17,280 two. It means that Jesus is #1 432 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:19,960 everywhere. It's not even having a load of 433 00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:22,760 good things in your life, and Jesus just tucks in on the end. 434 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:27,520 No, no, Jesus is above and 2nd to none. 435 00:27:27,600 --> 00:27:32,240 That's what sacrifice means. See, God says, if I am not 436 00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:37,360 number one in your life, eventually I'm going to shut the 437 00:27:37,360 --> 00:27:40,080 doors. I'm going to shut the doors to 438 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:41,600 my presence. I'm going to shut the doors to 439 00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:45,040 my temple. In Revelation, John is given 440 00:27:45,040 --> 00:27:51,120 this image and Jesus says that if your worship, if you're half 441 00:27:51,120 --> 00:27:55,800 hearted, if your lukewarm worship was a drink of water, 442 00:27:56,400 --> 00:28:02,480 I'd sip it and spit it out. That's what he feels when we 443 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:07,680 come to him half hearted. That's what he feels. 444 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:10,760 He says one day. This is why it's so serious as 445 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:17,680 one day you will meet me face to face and some of you bless you, 446 00:28:18,040 --> 00:28:25,840 some of you will say Jesus, my friend, my Saviour, and he'll 447 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:28,680 say I never knew you, who are you? 448 00:28:28,680 --> 00:28:32,360 And you'll say, but, but, but I went to church a couple of times 449 00:28:32,360 --> 00:28:34,720 a month. I even once went to a Home 450 00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:36,920 group. You know, someone put a prayer 451 00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:40,680 request request online and I put a prayer emoji. 452 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:45,840 You know, surely I know you Gods, they say away from me. 453 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:48,760 You never did the works of my father. 454 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:51,240 You didn't build my father's Kingdom. 455 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:54,320 You didn't worship me as first in your life. 456 00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:57,960 Jesus says there are two paths, just two. 457 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:01,840 There's a big old, wide one where we live for ourselves. 458 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:06,840 We do what we want to do. You might even serve God when 459 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:10,360 it's on your terms. You might even give when it's 460 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:16,520 convenient, but it's for you. Or you live down the narrow path 461 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:21,360 of sacrifice and service of gods. 462 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:25,320 Yeah, sometimes you go wrong, but you come back on it and you 463 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:26,840 repent. You say, sorry God, I want to 464 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:30,360 get right with you. And he says the narrow path is 465 00:29:30,360 --> 00:29:39,040 the path that leads to life. See in John, in Revelation John, 466 00:29:39,520 --> 00:29:42,720 John writes a personal letter from God to the Church of 467 00:29:42,720 --> 00:29:45,680 Ephesus. And he says to the church in 468 00:29:45,680 --> 00:29:48,000 Ephesus, you've done amazing stuff. 469 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:53,240 You've done wonderful works. Everyone thinks you're great but 470 00:29:53,240 --> 00:29:58,160 you, I hold this against you. You have forgotten your first 471 00:29:58,240 --> 00:30:00,880 love. You don't love me above 472 00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:03,760 everything else. I am not the most important 473 00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:08,880 thing in your life. And some of you maybe sat there 474 00:30:08,880 --> 00:30:14,480 thinking, don't judge me. You don't know who I am. 475 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:16,560 You don't know what my life's like. 476 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:21,280 You know, I, I, I have a relationship with Jesus just 477 00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:24,160 because it doesn't look like serving, just because it doesn't 478 00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:27,160 look like giving, just because it doesn't look like, like, like 479 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:30,520 singing my heart out on a Sunday or turning up to a prayer 480 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:32,440 meeting. I still have a, a, a 481 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:35,280 relationship with Jesus. He knows what's on the inside 482 00:30:35,280 --> 00:30:39,280 and you don't. I say, you're right, God does 483 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:41,040 know what's on the inside and I don't. 484 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:45,920 And for some of you, that should be a real encouragement because 485 00:30:45,920 --> 00:30:49,920 I know some of you have real struggles. 486 00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:53,840 You really struggle. You, you financially, 487 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:59,000 physically, you really struggle. And so when you do give, when 488 00:30:59,000 --> 00:31:03,720 you do give of your time, your energy, your money, God is so 489 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:06,640 pleased with you. It may not be as much as you 490 00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:11,240 wish it could be, but he sees it and he loves it. 491 00:31:11,240 --> 00:31:14,680 Just like the widows might He see this woman who comes and 492 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:17,840 gives just, it feels like a pathetic amount of money into 493 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:22,520 the offering. Jesus says she is amazing. 494 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:25,160 She is wonderful. You look at her on the outside, 495 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:30,400 you think she just turned up, She just gave a few pence and 496 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:33,520 she says no, no, no. I see her struggles and I see 497 00:31:33,520 --> 00:31:35,480 how hard it is for her to do that. 498 00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:38,120 And that is a massive sacrifice for her. 499 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:44,760 But also we need to be a war. It needs to be a warning because 500 00:31:44,840 --> 00:31:50,040 Jesus does see what's inside. So he does see when you're lazy. 501 00:31:51,680 --> 00:31:55,440 You know, I really just can't be bothered to go to Home group 502 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:56,680 this week. I'll just say I'm. 503 00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:02,520 I'll were you. I'm not pointing fingers. 504 00:32:02,520 --> 00:32:06,040 Anyone here, by the way, between you and Jesus If you feel 505 00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:09,840 guilty. Yeah, I Jesus knows. 506 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:12,640 Jesus knows. He knows when we're being false. 507 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:15,240 He knows when we're being lazy. He knows when we're being fake. 508 00:32:15,240 --> 00:32:19,680 And we're just pretending to be kind or to be must be loving. 509 00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:23,720 He knows who we really are. Church. 510 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:29,000 Are you deluding yourself? Are you deluding yourself? 511 00:32:29,600 --> 00:32:31,840 See, I've got a couple of questions I want to ask you. 512 00:32:31,840 --> 00:32:34,960 These are this is not exhaustive, but I want to just 513 00:32:34,960 --> 00:32:38,600 ask a couple of questions just to see, just to give a litmus 514 00:32:38,600 --> 00:32:43,520 test of is Jesus really number one in our lives? 515 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:49,720 Because he wants you. He wants every bit of you see, 516 00:32:50,320 --> 00:32:53,440 number one, this one's to do with time. 517 00:32:54,600 --> 00:33:00,880 If you somehow magically got an extra hour tomorrow afternoon, 518 00:33:00,880 --> 00:33:04,640 for example, what would your first thoughts be? 519 00:33:05,320 --> 00:33:08,960 Would it be to spend in prayer? Would it be? 520 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:12,000 I've always wanted to to. I've been meaning to try and 521 00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:14,200 serve someone, to go and spend time with someone, to go and 522 00:33:14,200 --> 00:33:17,160 look after something for someone to serve them. 523 00:33:17,720 --> 00:33:21,960 Or would it be yes, I can watch another episode of that series 524 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:25,240 that I'm bingeing on Netflix. What would it be? 525 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:31,640 You see, Ephesians 5 says look carefully then how you walk. 526 00:33:31,920 --> 00:33:37,000 Not as unwise but as wise. Making the best use of your 527 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:40,080 time. How about your decision making? 528 00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:42,920 What you let, what you, how you make choices? 529 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:49,200 Do you consider God's words? Do you go to more more? 530 00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:52,320 Do you go to older mature Christians when you've got big 531 00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:55,800 life decisions to make? Or do you just go make that 532 00:33:55,800 --> 00:33:57,680 choice? Please Jesus, bless me. 533 00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:00,520 What do you do? What do you do? 534 00:34:01,120 --> 00:34:06,880 See the Bible says in Proverbs, Trust not in your own heart and 535 00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:10,719 and not on your own understanding in all your ways 536 00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:14,800 acknowledge Gods and he will make your paths straight. 537 00:34:15,560 --> 00:34:17,840 How about your money and we're going to talk about money later 538 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:21,639 on in this series. But but does your spending if 539 00:34:21,639 --> 00:34:24,000 people look to your bank account, would your spending 540 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:29,760 reflect a heart of generosity, a heart of giving or would it 541 00:34:30,000 --> 00:34:33,239 would they find that it reflected funding your own 542 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:39,280 pleasures and comfort? Matthew 6 says For where your 543 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:42,880 treasure is, there your heart is also. 544 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:45,719 What you spend your money on is what you worship. 545 00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:52,600 How about your minds? Do you drift when you're bored 546 00:34:53,000 --> 00:34:56,719 to stress and anxiety? Do you? 547 00:34:56,719 --> 00:35:01,160 Do you start putting into your mind things that aren't helpful? 548 00:35:02,360 --> 00:35:05,360 Do you Do you numb it with endless scrolling? 549 00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:08,800 Or do you focus on God's promises? 550 00:35:10,640 --> 00:35:14,120 Scotians 2, Scotians 3. Sorry, says set your mind on the 551 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:17,680 things above, not on the things that are on earth. 552 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:20,720 And finally, this is kind of a coverall. 553 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:27,080 Does your life belong to Jesus? Is there anything in your life? 554 00:35:27,440 --> 00:35:33,760 If Jesus were to say put that away, you'd say, I can't do 555 00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:35,960 that. There was a rich man who once 556 00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:38,720 came to Jesus. He was desperate to follow 557 00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:40,680 Jesus. He was desperate to enter 558 00:35:40,680 --> 00:35:42,600 heaven. He was desperate to be in the 559 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:45,440 Kingdom. And Jesus said great, go and 560 00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:47,520 sell all your stuff and follow me. 561 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:50,760 And that man went, can't do that. 562 00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:56,000 He walked away sad because he loved his stuff more than he 563 00:35:56,000 --> 00:36:01,040 loved Jesus. What things if Jesus was to say, 564 00:36:01,480 --> 00:36:07,040 go without that, would you be? Don't know if it's that or you, 565 00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:15,160 Jesus, I'm choosing that. Matthew 10 says Whoever loves 566 00:36:15,160 --> 00:36:21,880 father, mother, son or daughter more than me is not worthy of 567 00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:25,560 me. See, if we say with our mouths, 568 00:36:25,840 --> 00:36:32,760 I belong to Jesus, but we don't live for him, then we're 569 00:36:32,760 --> 00:36:38,520 probably not his. See whoever confesses with their 570 00:36:38,520 --> 00:36:42,040 mouth, Jesus says you may, you may be saying, well, you know, 571 00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:43,640 scripture says, you know, whoever confesses with their 572 00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:45,680 mouth, they're they're, they're gods. 573 00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:48,480 And I confess with my mouth. It doesn't matter what I live. 574 00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:53,120 We can programme a robot to say Jesus is Lord. 575 00:36:53,160 --> 00:36:56,000 I didn't try it this week, but I'm sure I could ask the I, the 576 00:36:56,440 --> 00:36:59,720 AI on my phone to say Jesus, Lord, I'm sure it'll do that. 577 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:04,360 It may, may come with some sort of other words, but we can do 578 00:37:04,360 --> 00:37:06,520 that. It is not saved. 579 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:11,200 Anyone can say Jesus Lord, but it's faith. 580 00:37:11,200 --> 00:37:15,240 It's the belief and the faith is faith. 581 00:37:15,240 --> 00:37:21,400 True faith has the fruit, has the side effect of living for 582 00:37:21,520 --> 00:37:24,880 him. It produces fruit, a desire for 583 00:37:24,880 --> 00:37:29,680 Christ. Not that you are perfect, but 584 00:37:29,680 --> 00:37:33,960 going down the narrow path, it is about messing up every now 585 00:37:33,960 --> 00:37:38,920 and then and then going, Jesus, I'm sorry, coming back onto the 586 00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:45,720 path and living for him. So in a bit we're going to take 587 00:37:45,720 --> 00:37:49,640 communion. But before we do, I believe 588 00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:54,400 every single one of us, me included, God is going to reveal 589 00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:55,920 things that we need to repent of. 590 00:37:56,640 --> 00:38:01,480 Areas of our lives where we're not putting in first. 591 00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:06,520 And so we're going to ask God, you know, examine us. 592 00:38:06,520 --> 00:38:09,880 Scriptures say before we take this meal, we are to examine 593 00:38:09,880 --> 00:38:12,680 ourselves. And if the Holy Spirit brings 594 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:15,240 anything to mind, we are to repent. 595 00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:20,640 We'd say sorry if we need to say sorry to someone else, and it's 596 00:38:20,640 --> 00:38:26,880 possible to now we do that. And then we come by grace and 597 00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:30,880 eat and drink, remembering what he has done for us. 598 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:36,880 See, God declares this, this I love this. 599 00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:40,960 God declares that the nations will worship him. 600 00:38:41,760 --> 00:38:43,440 We're all the way back in Malachi. 601 00:38:43,840 --> 00:38:47,320 Jesus hasn't even come yet. God is declaring the nations 602 00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:49,520 will worship me. I will be great among the 603 00:38:49,520 --> 00:38:55,040 nations. Will He make His name great 604 00:38:55,040 --> 00:38:58,400 through you? Will you let him? 605 00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:02,280 Church, we exist the world out there. 606 00:39:02,800 --> 00:39:06,160 We exist for them to bump into Christ. 607 00:39:06,280 --> 00:39:10,080 We exist so that Jesus would get more glory, and he gets more 608 00:39:10,080 --> 00:39:15,280 glory by us not being perfect, but by growing more like Him and 609 00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:17,560 being beacons to the world out there. 610 00:39:17,560 --> 00:39:22,040 So church, will God be glorified to the nations through you? 611 00:39:22,040 --> 00:39:25,000 And by the nations, I don't mean that you need to go back to the 612 00:39:25,000 --> 00:39:26,960 USAI mean you're going to go back to the US this week. 613 00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:30,240 But you don't need to go to Africa or to Asia or whatever. 614 00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:32,400 The nations are right on your doorstep. 615 00:39:32,600 --> 00:39:34,440 They are the person who you live next door to. 616 00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:35,920 They're the person who you work with. 617 00:39:35,920 --> 00:39:39,440 They're the person in your family who doesn't know Christ. 618 00:39:39,680 --> 00:39:42,920 Will you be a beacon of hope to them? 619 00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:47,000 Will you follow Christ? Will you walk down the narrow 620 00:39:47,000 --> 00:39:51,280 path and some of you may be thinking you made it very black 621 00:39:51,280 --> 00:39:53,160 and white. It sounds like you said this 622 00:39:53,160 --> 00:39:56,000 morning, you're either living for Christ or you're not. 623 00:39:56,680 --> 00:39:57,920 Well, it is that black and white. 624 00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:01,480 It is that simple, but I do you know, you may be saying, but how 625 00:40:01,480 --> 00:40:04,160 about where it says about getting in by the skin of your 626 00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:07,280 teeth. Paul talk, Paul talks about, you 627 00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:11,320 know, getting it getting into eternity as one who passes 628 00:40:11,320 --> 00:40:14,240 through the flames, you know, for all eternity you'll you'll 629 00:40:14,240 --> 00:40:17,000 have this kind of just smoky smell on you because everything 630 00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:20,480 you did was was useless. It into the Kingdom was burnt 631 00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:24,080 up. I say, yeah, that that can 632 00:40:24,080 --> 00:40:27,680 happen. That can happen if Jesus is your 633 00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:31,000 Lord. But you decide not to give, not 634 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:34,320 to show up, not to, to live for him completely. 635 00:40:34,640 --> 00:40:40,120 Maybe you'll get in by the skin of your teeth, but why would you 636 00:40:40,120 --> 00:40:43,360 do that? Why would you do that when Jesus 637 00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:46,440 is so amazing? If you truly believe everything 638 00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:49,200 we've just sung this morning how good God is, how he gave up 639 00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:52,320 everything for us, how he died to have you. 640 00:40:52,600 --> 00:40:55,960 He shed his blood so that you could be in love with him and he 641 00:40:55,960 --> 00:40:58,440 could have you as a son, as a daughter, not so you could just 642 00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:03,200 be like, all right, OK, No, no, he loves you so much. 643 00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:05,720 Why would you? Why would your aim be? 644 00:41:05,880 --> 00:41:07,840 I'm going to get him by the skin of my teeth. 645 00:41:09,640 --> 00:41:13,120 No, God wants us. He loves us and he knows the 646 00:41:13,120 --> 00:41:17,920 best for us is that every single day, even when we doubt it is to 647 00:41:17,920 --> 00:41:21,400 give up everything we have to follow him. 648 00:41:21,520 --> 00:41:24,440 And for some of us that may look like giving more. 649 00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:27,400 For some of us, that may look like spending time with other 650 00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:29,520 people. I don't know what it looks like 651 00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:32,360 in your life, but that's what God's going to do in your with 652 00:41:32,360 --> 00:41:37,720 you right now. You see, God is our Father, He 653 00:41:37,720 --> 00:41:43,880 has given himself for us, and we, you are his children. 654 00:41:44,680 --> 00:41:51,280 He fully accepts you, and He asks you to come by faith and 655 00:41:51,280 --> 00:41:57,240 worship Him and Him alone. See, Malachi is teaching us what 656 00:41:57,240 --> 00:42:02,320 it looks like to be a chosen people of gods, a people sold 657 00:42:02,320 --> 00:42:07,640 out for Christ, which is displayed through sacrificial 658 00:42:07,640 --> 00:42:14,560 living for Christ, for him. So I'm going to pray and I'm 659 00:42:14,560 --> 00:42:18,000 just going to ask God to reveal to us to open our hearts. 660 00:42:19,280 --> 00:42:22,760 And as I do, I'm going to ask you to do business with gods. 661 00:42:22,800 --> 00:42:25,480 Ask him, what do I need to repent of? 662 00:42:26,040 --> 00:42:29,360 What am I not putting first? What? 663 00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:30,640 Sorry. Where am I not putting you 664 00:42:30,640 --> 00:42:35,080 first? Say sorry and then as you feel 665 00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:39,400 right, one after the other, just come take bread and wine. 666 00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:42,280 It's gluten free and it's alcohol free. 667 00:42:42,600 --> 00:42:44,640 So everyone should be able to take it. 668 00:42:45,160 --> 00:42:50,960 And we're going to worship gods. So Lord Jesus, I, I pray God 669 00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:56,080 that you would, if you would come and reveal to us right now, 670 00:42:56,160 --> 00:42:58,920 Jesus, you are the God of gods, the Lord of Lords. 671 00:42:59,680 --> 00:43:04,720 And Jesus, you deserve our all. You deserve our everything, Lord 672 00:43:04,720 --> 00:43:07,040 God. There's nothing beyond you, Lord 673 00:43:07,120 --> 00:43:08,920 Jesus. So look, we pray right now that 674 00:43:08,920 --> 00:43:13,400 you would open our hearts and You would reveal to us where 675 00:43:13,400 --> 00:43:15,880 we're not living sacrificially for you. 676 00:43:16,640 --> 00:43:20,080 Go where we're not putting you first in our life. 677 00:43:21,560 --> 00:43:23,080 Come Lord Jesus.