WEBVTT 00:00:01.289 --> 00:00:03.950 Welcome to Healing Scars with Pastor Burton, 00:00:04.129 --> 00:00:07.269 the official podcast of Cross Christian Fellowship, 00:00:07.290 --> 00:00:10.769 Route 66, in the heart of Albuquerque, New Mexico, 00:00:10.990 --> 00:00:14.150 where Burton is the lead pastor. We're glad you're 00:00:14.150 --> 00:00:17.769 here. Father, we thank you for bringing us together. 00:00:17.949 --> 00:00:19.789 We thank you for this time and our praise and 00:00:19.789 --> 00:00:23.469 worship with you as you speak to us and teach 00:00:23.469 --> 00:00:27.469 us and help grow our character. Open our hearts 00:00:27.469 --> 00:00:28.890 and our minds to everything that you have to 00:00:28.890 --> 00:00:31.739 speak to us today. And help us to apply it in 00:00:31.739 --> 00:00:33.380 our daily lives as we leave from here. In Jesus' 00:00:33.479 --> 00:00:40.219 name. Amen. All right. So a brief recap. You 00:00:40.219 --> 00:00:43.640 know, first few chapters, we're going to be going 00:00:43.640 --> 00:00:45.159 through a little bit more here. But it's been 00:00:45.159 --> 00:00:46.960 talking about the half -heartedness of man. And 00:00:46.960 --> 00:00:49.579 a lot of the same things that we see today. At 00:00:49.579 --> 00:00:53.479 this point, you know, the priest had become very 00:00:53.479 --> 00:00:55.380 lax. And we're going to see a little bit of why 00:00:55.380 --> 00:01:00.729 here today as well. Just a little bit. But people, 00:01:00.850 --> 00:01:03.409 you know, it's very much we're kind of doing 00:01:03.409 --> 00:01:06.329 things half -heartedly. It became very legalistic. 00:01:06.430 --> 00:01:08.510 They're doing things because they felt they had 00:01:08.510 --> 00:01:10.769 to do it, right? It was what was expected of 00:01:10.769 --> 00:01:12.890 them. It wasn't that they wanted to do it. They 00:01:12.890 --> 00:01:15.370 didn't have a joyful heart about it. Their passion, 00:01:15.450 --> 00:01:17.890 you know, and that fire that they had inside 00:01:17.890 --> 00:01:20.030 for the Lord when everything came together and 00:01:20.030 --> 00:01:21.609 the temple was rebuilt and they were able to 00:01:21.609 --> 00:01:23.450 go in and start praising and worshiping again, 00:01:23.590 --> 00:01:26.129 you know, their timelines weren't met the way 00:01:26.129 --> 00:01:27.950 that they felt, you know, that people forget. 00:01:28.540 --> 00:01:31.959 We're not the boss of God. God's the boss of 00:01:31.959 --> 00:01:35.280 us. We serve him, right? And because all the 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:37.280 prophecies and everything weren't happening in 00:01:37.280 --> 00:01:40.319 their timeline, they're very much like, God doesn't 00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:43.260 care. Why should we, right? They forgot their 00:01:43.260 --> 00:01:47.099 place. And they started letting people slide 00:01:47.099 --> 00:01:49.659 based on their prominence and their wealth and 00:01:49.659 --> 00:01:52.079 all that kind of stuff, right? They started twisting 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:55.150 the word. doing what they, to do what they want, 00:01:55.189 --> 00:01:56.650 to say what they wanted, you know, and sleeping 00:01:56.650 --> 00:01:59.049 around, and they were using it to justify themselves, 00:01:59.590 --> 00:02:02.170 all right? And that's what we're going to be 00:02:02.170 --> 00:02:08.129 looking more at today, as well as God's continued 00:02:08.129 --> 00:02:10.449 warning for the people, and he's warning them 00:02:10.449 --> 00:02:14.050 then just like he's warning us today. So keep 00:02:14.050 --> 00:02:16.789 that in the back of your mind, and we're going 00:02:16.789 --> 00:02:18.629 to go ahead and open up your Bibles, your Bible 00:02:18.629 --> 00:02:20.349 apps, whatever it is that you're using, Malachi 00:02:20.349 --> 00:02:26.710 chapter 3. verses 1 through 5. And the word says, 00:02:27.349 --> 00:02:34.449 Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare 00:02:34.449 --> 00:02:37.469 the way before me, and the Lord whom you seek 00:02:37.469 --> 00:02:40.949 will suddenly come to his temple. Even the messenger 00:02:40.949 --> 00:02:44.590 of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, 00:02:44.729 --> 00:02:48.990 he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who 00:02:48.990 --> 00:02:51.650 can endure the day of his coming? And who can 00:02:51.650 --> 00:02:55.949 stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's 00:02:55.949 --> 00:03:01.009 fire and like launderer's soap. He will sit as 00:03:01.009 --> 00:03:04.689 a refiner and a purifier of silver. He will purify 00:03:04.689 --> 00:03:08.729 the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver, 00:03:08.870 --> 00:03:13.009 that they may offer to the Lord an offering of 00:03:13.009 --> 00:03:17.439 righteousness. The offering of Judah and Jerusalem 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:20.500 will be pleasant to the Lord, as in the days 00:03:20.500 --> 00:03:25.020 of old, as in former years. And I will come near 00:03:25.020 --> 00:03:29.879 you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against 00:03:29.879 --> 00:03:32.939 sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:36.719 against those who exploit wage earners and widows 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:40.400 and orphans, and against those who turn away 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:46.639 an alien. Because they do not fear me, says the 00:03:46.639 --> 00:03:52.060 Lord of hosts. That gets kind of deep there, 00:03:52.099 --> 00:03:55.740 doesn't it? And what we're seeing here is that 00:03:55.740 --> 00:03:57.759 people are whining, they're complaining, right? 00:03:57.879 --> 00:04:00.219 They're moaning, and they're pointing the finger 00:04:00.219 --> 00:04:04.860 at God. And they're saying that he's been neglecting 00:04:04.860 --> 00:04:08.550 them, that he doesn't care, right? Like, oh, 00:04:08.569 --> 00:04:10.270 this is, all this that's going on, this is all 00:04:10.270 --> 00:04:12.090 your fault. Why don't you do something about 00:04:12.090 --> 00:04:16.930 it? Right? Trying to put the onus on him. And 00:04:16.930 --> 00:04:20.069 as if that wasn't bad enough, like, you know, 00:04:20.069 --> 00:04:25.250 like I mentioned before, they were trying to 00:04:25.250 --> 00:04:29.449 justify their sin by twisting the word to say 00:04:29.449 --> 00:04:32.730 that God had condoned their behavior or at the 00:04:32.730 --> 00:04:36.089 very least excused their sin. Right? Like, oh, 00:04:36.110 --> 00:04:41.180 it's okay. Whatever. Right? It's like, you know, 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:44.860 how sad is that? But we see it today, don't we? 00:04:45.360 --> 00:04:50.259 People want to twist it to justify the ends, 00:04:50.459 --> 00:04:56.899 right? Justify the means. You know, they've been 00:04:56.899 --> 00:05:03.620 twisting it, and they've used that twist to fit 00:05:03.620 --> 00:05:09.410 their narrative. Who else does this? Who else? 00:05:11.470 --> 00:05:16.189 Satan. Right? He omits things. He twists the 00:05:16.189 --> 00:05:19.129 word. He puts it in a certain way to fit his 00:05:19.129 --> 00:05:21.769 narrative or to the very least get you to question 00:05:21.769 --> 00:05:27.970 God, right? So people learned it somewhere. Now 00:05:27.970 --> 00:05:29.209 we know where we learned it, right? Because we 00:05:29.209 --> 00:05:31.209 go all the way back to Genesis. Adam and Eve 00:05:31.209 --> 00:05:37.550 started right there. People start to... Look 00:05:37.550 --> 00:05:39.670 to insert words even, you know, or demanding 00:05:39.670 --> 00:05:43.709 something literal to be shown of Jesus. Asking, 00:05:43.730 --> 00:05:46.949 it's kind of like taking the Bible, right? And 00:05:46.949 --> 00:05:48.829 someone saying, oh, I don't believe it. What 00:05:48.829 --> 00:05:51.089 does the Bible say about cell phones? Show me 00:05:51.089 --> 00:05:52.769 where it says something about cell phones. I 00:05:52.769 --> 00:05:55.149 want to see the word cell phone in the Bible. 00:05:56.370 --> 00:06:01.930 How ridiculous is that, right? But people do 00:06:01.930 --> 00:06:06.509 it. People do it. They don't take into account 00:06:06.509 --> 00:06:08.129 that the Bible says plenty about communicating 00:06:08.129 --> 00:06:11.110 with one another, right? That's a big part of 00:06:11.110 --> 00:06:14.949 why it says to love one another. The golden rule, 00:06:15.089 --> 00:06:18.930 it comes from the Bible, right? There's a lot 00:06:18.930 --> 00:06:20.230 in there about communication, but they're like, 00:06:20.269 --> 00:06:25.670 no, I want to see the exact words. Really? Did 00:06:25.670 --> 00:06:27.649 they even have phones back then? I don't think 00:06:27.649 --> 00:06:32.480 so. Of all the minds and genius and everything 00:06:32.480 --> 00:06:34.120 else that was going on at that time, building 00:06:34.120 --> 00:06:36.779 pyramids and everything else back in the day, 00:06:36.899 --> 00:06:38.819 I don't think that they'd even come up with a 00:06:38.819 --> 00:06:41.459 way yet to tie a couple of cups together and 00:06:41.459 --> 00:06:46.620 see if sound traveled down that line. But people 00:06:46.620 --> 00:06:50.759 do say just really silly stuff. Silly, silly 00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:54.540 stuff. And they want to see it. They demand to 00:06:54.540 --> 00:07:00.199 see it. We see it today. People... Caught up 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:03.899 in witchcraft, adultery, abusing one another, 00:07:04.120 --> 00:07:09.160 right? Cheating others. Withholding things that 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:12.300 are due. Now, come on, we have a ton of laws 00:07:12.300 --> 00:07:17.240 for business for just that very reason. Because 00:07:17.240 --> 00:07:19.040 there's a lot of businesses and business owners 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:20.399 out there that want to cheat people out of their 00:07:20.399 --> 00:07:22.360 pay because they want to keep as much as possible, 00:07:22.459 --> 00:07:24.720 right? And they're hoping, well, you know, if 00:07:24.720 --> 00:07:26.779 I do enough and nobody says anything, then I 00:07:26.779 --> 00:07:28.259 can just do it to everybody and it builds up. 00:07:29.490 --> 00:07:33.189 That's just one example of many. There's nothing 00:07:33.189 --> 00:07:38.470 different back then. You know, a lot of businesses. 00:07:40.930 --> 00:07:42.389 You know, as much as I hate to say it, there's 00:07:42.389 --> 00:07:45.949 churches out there. And I use the term kind of 00:07:45.949 --> 00:07:47.970 loosely at this point when it comes to that because 00:07:47.970 --> 00:07:49.949 I look at them more as business because they 00:07:49.949 --> 00:07:51.790 do. They like to use their people. They like 00:07:51.790 --> 00:07:55.350 to take advantage of them, right? There's that 00:07:55.350 --> 00:07:58.459 whole confusion of... Kindness for weakness. 00:08:00.680 --> 00:08:02.939 And they disguise their bullying as kindness. 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:07.000 And unfortunately, a lot of people get caught 00:08:07.000 --> 00:08:09.220 up in it. They get guilted into it, right? And 00:08:09.220 --> 00:08:12.759 they end up being taken advantage of. Not just 00:08:12.759 --> 00:08:14.579 church, a lot of businesses. A lot of businesses. 00:08:15.500 --> 00:08:17.100 There's people out there, oh, I'm your friend, 00:08:17.139 --> 00:08:18.600 but I'm going to take advantage. I need your 00:08:18.600 --> 00:08:22.220 car. Right? And they go and they get a rack or 00:08:22.220 --> 00:08:25.879 pop for drinking and driving. A lot of things 00:08:25.879 --> 00:08:30.800 happen. But, you know, people, they're there. 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:34.600 They're making a big stink. Their hearts were 00:08:34.600 --> 00:08:39.139 hardening. And it's still happening today, unfortunately. 00:08:41.820 --> 00:08:44.220 You know, and what we're seeing here, God wasn't 00:08:44.220 --> 00:08:47.179 having it. He's like, nope. He's drawn a line 00:08:47.179 --> 00:08:51.679 in the sand. He's gotten tired of people's shenanigans, 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:56.250 people trying to tell him, right? It's like, 00:08:56.250 --> 00:08:59.730 really? Who are we to tell God anything? Right? 00:08:59.830 --> 00:09:02.830 To demand like that. To point the blame at him 00:09:02.830 --> 00:09:06.049 for our own misdeeds and our own failings. But 00:09:06.049 --> 00:09:08.250 that's what they're doing. And God was at that 00:09:08.250 --> 00:09:11.190 point. He's telling people, hey, we're done here. 00:09:11.529 --> 00:09:13.470 You need to stop. You need to start looking at 00:09:13.470 --> 00:09:15.850 yourself and take accountability for your own 00:09:15.850 --> 00:09:19.009 stuff. Right? The stuff that you're doing. The 00:09:19.009 --> 00:09:24.450 stuff that you're saying. You know, but like 00:09:24.450 --> 00:09:26.450 I said, people were arrogant. They're essentially 00:09:26.450 --> 00:09:32.990 trying to gaslight God. Saying, hey, you're neglecting 00:09:32.990 --> 00:09:36.750 us. But really, what was the truth? They were 00:09:36.750 --> 00:09:39.950 neglecting him. They'd become very legalistic. 00:09:39.990 --> 00:09:41.590 You have to do this, you have to do that. When 00:09:41.590 --> 00:09:45.149 the crow crows at three in the morning, you've 00:09:45.149 --> 00:09:46.909 got to stand up and do this and face this direction. 00:09:48.169 --> 00:09:53.769 And none of it was because they wanted to. They 00:09:53.769 --> 00:09:55.350 weren't giving the way that they should of their 00:09:55.350 --> 00:09:57.309 time and their resources and their finances. 00:09:58.990 --> 00:10:02.169 They weren't spending time in the Word or studying. 00:10:05.970 --> 00:10:07.549 They're caught up in their own stuff. They're 00:10:07.549 --> 00:10:10.070 caught up in the ways of the world. And they're 00:10:10.070 --> 00:10:12.450 pointing a finger at God, and he reached the 00:10:12.450 --> 00:10:14.230 boiling point where he's like, no, enough is 00:10:14.230 --> 00:10:16.830 enough. Enough is enough, and it's time for change. 00:10:16.889 --> 00:10:20.090 I'm sick and tired of this. Stop. And if you 00:10:20.090 --> 00:10:23.350 don't stop, I'm going to make you stop. And it's 00:10:23.350 --> 00:10:27.309 going to happen right now. That's basically what 00:10:27.309 --> 00:10:30.710 God was saying, right? Enough is enough. He had 00:10:30.710 --> 00:10:33.649 enough of the sinful lifestyles and the cynicism. 00:10:35.070 --> 00:10:39.370 That's a big one, isn't it? Today we refer to 00:10:39.370 --> 00:10:42.509 it as being sarcastic, right? People get kind 00:10:42.509 --> 00:10:47.110 of snarky. It's like, oh, that Jesus stuff. Yeah. 00:10:47.870 --> 00:10:55.899 A lot of that today. So much so, they told him, 00:10:55.940 --> 00:10:58.139 hey, you know what? I'm going to send a messenger. 00:10:59.320 --> 00:11:01.299 Matter of fact, when you look at it, he's sending 00:11:01.299 --> 00:11:05.820 two messengers. He's like, we're going to right 00:11:05.820 --> 00:11:07.320 this ship. We're going to right it right now. 00:11:08.080 --> 00:11:14.179 End of story. You know, his messenger was going 00:11:14.179 --> 00:11:16.159 to go and he was going to set things right. He 00:11:16.159 --> 00:11:17.659 was going to go and he's going to weed out those 00:11:17.659 --> 00:11:20.759 hypocrites. That we're professing a counterfeit 00:11:20.759 --> 00:11:23.019 faith, and that's exactly what it is, a counterfeit 00:11:23.019 --> 00:11:26.360 faith. You know, they want to be all high and 00:11:26.360 --> 00:11:27.840 mighty. They're going to go and put on their 00:11:27.840 --> 00:11:30.679 wrists, all dressed up. Hi, how you doing? That 00:11:30.679 --> 00:11:33.559 big fake cheese -eating grin like a used car 00:11:33.559 --> 00:11:41.139 salesman. Hi. Give me your money. If you don't 00:11:41.139 --> 00:11:43.419 give, it's because you don't believe, you don't 00:11:43.419 --> 00:11:46.879 have faith. Even if you're homeless, give us 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:50.049 all your money. Sell your car. Give us more. 00:11:50.570 --> 00:11:57.049 It's not enough. Right? Oh, it's okay if you 00:11:57.049 --> 00:11:59.870 sin. Come on in. We're going to put a flag out 00:11:59.870 --> 00:12:05.129 in front of our church saying it's okay. You 00:12:05.129 --> 00:12:08.309 just come on in here. Your sin is excused. Don't 00:12:08.309 --> 00:12:12.409 worry about it. It's fine. But we see that in 00:12:12.409 --> 00:12:17.639 a number of ways. A number of flags. More and 00:12:17.639 --> 00:12:21.220 more so. You know, the people who were still 00:12:21.220 --> 00:12:23.960 acting sinfully and doing the things that they 00:12:23.960 --> 00:12:25.700 shouldn't, justice was about to be handed out. 00:12:27.639 --> 00:12:30.139 You know, the time for a purification had come. 00:12:31.659 --> 00:12:34.039 You know, and I love the fact that it talks about 00:12:34.039 --> 00:12:36.419 purification here. You know, because it talks 00:12:36.419 --> 00:12:39.159 about the refinement of pure metals, right? Those 00:12:39.159 --> 00:12:40.840 are metals that still hold weight today, hold 00:12:40.840 --> 00:12:43.000 a lot of value today. But it also talks about 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:47.059 the launderer's soap. And I think that's probably 00:12:47.059 --> 00:12:50.779 the more, or I shouldn't say the most accurate, 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:57.500 but probably the most, I don't know, what touches 00:12:57.500 --> 00:13:00.980 us a little bit more. Because the laundry is 00:13:00.980 --> 00:13:03.919 so, you think, has anybody in here, well, I know 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:06.200 at least one person in here. Has anybody in here 00:13:06.200 --> 00:13:10.879 ever had to do their laundry by hand? Marine 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:12.679 Corps boot camp, we all have to do our laundry 00:13:12.679 --> 00:13:15.539 by hand. A big concrete slab and a spigot. You 00:13:15.539 --> 00:13:17.200 go out there with your canteen cup and a little 00:13:17.200 --> 00:13:21.980 soap and a scuzz brush. You do it all by hand, 00:13:21.980 --> 00:13:23.539 and when you're done, you put it up on a wire 00:13:23.539 --> 00:13:25.080 to dry it, and you hope by the time you have 00:13:25.080 --> 00:13:26.720 to go back and get it, it's actually dry and 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:29.919 it hadn't rained the day before. Or it's not 00:13:29.919 --> 00:13:33.779 raining at that time. That's happened too. But 00:13:33.779 --> 00:13:37.659 the laundry is soap. We have to do the laundry 00:13:37.659 --> 00:13:41.610 by hand. It's a process. It takes time. And you 00:13:41.610 --> 00:13:43.210 can have, you know, maybe it's just like sweat, 00:13:43.309 --> 00:13:44.669 a little grime, a little dirt. You're in there. 00:13:44.889 --> 00:13:46.409 You have to put some elbow grease in there to 00:13:46.409 --> 00:13:50.330 scrub it. Sometimes you get those really hard 00:13:50.330 --> 00:13:52.990 stains. They're stubborn. They don't want to 00:13:52.990 --> 00:13:55.710 come out. Right? You're sitting there. You're 00:13:55.710 --> 00:13:57.169 trying to put a little soap on there first and 00:13:57.169 --> 00:14:00.250 just really mesh it in there. You're scrubbing 00:14:00.250 --> 00:14:05.190 the tar out of it. Sometimes you get those spots 00:14:05.190 --> 00:14:07.370 where it's like you rub and rub and rub and after 00:14:07.370 --> 00:14:09.029 a couple months and, you know, it's the same 00:14:09.029 --> 00:14:10.549 thing like around the knees or whatever because 00:14:10.549 --> 00:14:12.549 you're low crawling or whatever in the mud and 00:14:12.549 --> 00:14:16.029 all this other gunk and stuff and the fabric's 00:14:16.029 --> 00:14:18.409 getting a little thin. So you're afraid to scrub 00:14:18.409 --> 00:14:19.909 too hard because you don't want to tear it and 00:14:19.909 --> 00:14:22.250 have a hole in it. That's a whole other bag of 00:14:22.250 --> 00:14:24.909 worms with your drill instructors or other branches, 00:14:24.970 --> 00:14:28.950 your drill sergeants yelling at you. You know, 00:14:29.009 --> 00:14:34.080 but we're the same. The way God comes into our 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:36.500 lives and he purifies us. And we're stubborn. 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:39.299 And we don't want to change certain things in 00:14:39.299 --> 00:14:41.220 our lives. We don't want to give up certain sins. 00:14:41.240 --> 00:14:47.320 Like, really? But it makes me feel good. It makes 00:14:47.320 --> 00:14:49.320 me feel good. Do I really have to give this up? 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:52.600 It's like, you want me to give up the booze, 00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:55.779 really? It's like, I can't just go out and party 00:14:55.779 --> 00:15:00.559 all the time? You know, I have to give up sleeping 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:02.480 around all the time. I have to give up the gambling, 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:05.620 really. And we're stubborn. We're set in our 00:15:05.620 --> 00:15:07.299 ways. We don't want to give that stuff up. We 00:15:07.299 --> 00:15:09.259 like it because we bought into the addiction 00:15:09.259 --> 00:15:11.159 and don't even necessarily realize it, right? 00:15:11.379 --> 00:15:14.120 That's the tricky part of addiction is you're 00:15:14.120 --> 00:15:15.980 addicted and you don't necessarily realize that 00:15:15.980 --> 00:15:22.039 you've become addicted. And so Jesus is in there 00:15:22.039 --> 00:15:24.860 and he's scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing 00:15:24.860 --> 00:15:27.759 and put a little bit more. If you've ever had 00:15:27.759 --> 00:15:32.100 someone take a brush to you, even, it hurts. 00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:35.879 Sometimes it gets downright painful. I think 00:15:35.879 --> 00:15:37.580 everybody in here has been punched at least once. 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:44.539 It doesn't tickle. But, you know, our sin are 00:15:44.539 --> 00:15:46.460 those stubborn stains in our life that we just 00:15:46.460 --> 00:15:48.519 don't want to let go of. So they get scrubbed 00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:50.840 a little harder until they finally release and 00:15:50.840 --> 00:15:55.379 they come out, right? That chain has been broken. 00:15:57.100 --> 00:15:59.600 And we could say we've been saved, right? Our 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:01.720 life changes. Our character changes. The way 00:16:01.720 --> 00:16:04.600 we go about life changes. And it's those defining 00:16:04.600 --> 00:16:08.720 moments that we have to understand is when Jesus 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:14.340 is at work in our lives and purifying us. And 00:16:14.340 --> 00:16:16.179 he's bringing us closer and closer to the Father. 00:16:19.639 --> 00:16:23.559 You know, and as painful as it can be, whether 00:16:23.559 --> 00:16:26.259 it's physically, emotionally, mentally, all of 00:16:26.259 --> 00:16:29.419 the above, we have to remember it's because of 00:16:29.419 --> 00:16:31.779 his love, and his love ultimately is worth it. 00:16:34.299 --> 00:16:36.620 All right, so going back into our reading here. 00:16:37.740 --> 00:16:41.159 I'll remember to hit the slide this time. So 00:16:41.159 --> 00:16:48.399 Malachi 3, verses 6 through 12. So verses 6 through 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:52.000 12. For I am the Lord, I do not change, therefore 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:56.139 you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. Yet from 00:16:56.139 --> 00:16:58.679 the days of your fathers you have gone away from 00:16:58.679 --> 00:17:02.440 my ordinances and have not kept them. Return 00:17:02.440 --> 00:17:06.220 to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord 00:17:06.220 --> 00:17:10.279 of hosts. But you said, In what way shall we 00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:15.400 return? Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed 00:17:15.400 --> 00:17:19.319 me. But you say, In what way have we robbed you? 00:17:19.950 --> 00:17:22.869 In tithes and offerings, you are cursed with 00:17:22.869 --> 00:17:27.309 a curse, for you have robbed me, even this whole 00:17:27.309 --> 00:17:31.630 nation. Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, 00:17:31.710 --> 00:17:35.289 that there may be food in my house. And try me 00:17:35.289 --> 00:17:40.470 now in this, says the Lord of hosts, if I will 00:17:40.470 --> 00:17:43.970 not open for you the windows of heaven and pour 00:17:43.970 --> 00:17:48.069 out for you such blessing. that there will not 00:17:48.069 --> 00:17:51.650 be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke 00:17:51.650 --> 00:17:54.650 the devourer for your sakes so that he will not 00:17:54.650 --> 00:17:58.309 destroy the fruit of your ground, nor shall the 00:17:58.309 --> 00:18:02.029 vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field, 00:18:02.130 --> 00:18:06.309 says the Lord of hosts. And all nations will 00:18:06.309 --> 00:18:09.230 call you blessed for you will be a delightful 00:18:09.230 --> 00:18:15.150 land, says the Lord of hosts. So God... was calling, 00:18:15.250 --> 00:18:16.630 you know, it was basically going to his next 00:18:16.630 --> 00:18:18.849 issue. He's calling people out for their dishonesty. 00:18:20.049 --> 00:18:22.569 Their dishonesty in their faith and their dishonesty 00:18:22.569 --> 00:18:26.809 in giving as they've been told to do. You know, 00:18:26.809 --> 00:18:28.329 let's start because there's a couple issues here. 00:18:28.450 --> 00:18:31.710 Let's start. Faith, right? Which is a big issue. 00:18:32.490 --> 00:18:34.569 These are both issues that we see today. Faith 00:18:34.569 --> 00:18:37.470 is the biggest one, right? What is faith? Trust 00:18:37.470 --> 00:18:40.970 in God. Broken down into simplest terms, faith 00:18:40.970 --> 00:18:47.869 is trust in God. How much do you trust him? Right? 00:18:47.869 --> 00:18:51.009 And people had turned their backs. They turned 00:18:51.009 --> 00:18:53.349 their backs on him. They no longer cared about 00:18:53.349 --> 00:18:57.470 forgiveness and restoration. At least not with 00:18:57.470 --> 00:19:03.089 him. Right? And with a lot of other people, people 00:19:03.089 --> 00:19:06.029 become bitter. They were bitter. Why were they 00:19:06.029 --> 00:19:09.450 bitter? Well, you know, why was this happening? 00:19:10.190 --> 00:19:11.950 Well, it's for the same reason that it's happening 00:19:11.950 --> 00:19:16.980 today. People refused to admit their sin. They 00:19:16.980 --> 00:19:21.220 didn't want to give up their sin. They didn't 00:19:21.220 --> 00:19:24.700 want to be called out on their sin. Instead, 00:19:24.799 --> 00:19:28.619 they did everything in their power to flip that 00:19:28.619 --> 00:19:31.980 script and make themselves out to be the good 00:19:31.980 --> 00:19:36.900 guy. Every step of the way, they had to paint 00:19:36.900 --> 00:19:42.269 the light with them being the good guy. When 00:19:42.269 --> 00:19:45.869 really the reality is quite the opposite, right? 00:19:47.250 --> 00:19:49.490 Just like today, we get upset about a lot of 00:19:49.490 --> 00:19:51.609 things in our lives. Who is usually the culprit? 00:19:51.849 --> 00:19:54.430 As much as we want to say the devil made me do 00:19:54.430 --> 00:19:57.309 it, who's usually the culprit? It's usually us. 00:19:58.269 --> 00:20:00.849 We're our own worst enemy. We make the choice. 00:20:01.049 --> 00:20:04.809 No one made us do it. We chose to do it. And 00:20:04.809 --> 00:20:06.829 we created the situations that we fall into. 00:20:07.650 --> 00:20:10.839 But we don't want to admit it. Say, oh, no, no, 00:20:10.839 --> 00:20:15.440 no, I was sin free in this. Uh -uh. No. We weren't, 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:22.559 unfortunately. And the mentality that had been 00:20:22.559 --> 00:20:24.700 taken on was one in which people tried to use 00:20:24.700 --> 00:20:28.900 God's grace to justify their sin. And they saw 00:20:28.900 --> 00:20:33.099 God's grace as a free pass. You know, very much 00:20:33.099 --> 00:20:35.200 the, well, you know, he's forgiven us before. 00:20:35.259 --> 00:20:36.819 He'll forgive us again. It's all right. Just 00:20:36.819 --> 00:20:43.269 go do you. Go do you, boo. Right? Sounds familiar? 00:20:46.309 --> 00:20:48.150 You know, but I'll remind you, you know, the 00:20:48.150 --> 00:20:53.549 grace of God doesn't free us to sin. It frees 00:20:53.549 --> 00:20:58.950 us from sin. It frees us from sin. And the caveat 00:20:58.950 --> 00:21:04.970 to that is we are not to go back to it. But everybody 00:21:04.970 --> 00:21:09.519 wants to go back to it. The chain's been broken, 00:21:09.640 --> 00:21:11.539 right? The ball and chain on that ankle, it's 00:21:11.539 --> 00:21:13.680 gone. People are like, oh, no, I want to go. 00:21:13.940 --> 00:21:15.960 Put it back on. Put it back on. I want one more 00:21:15.960 --> 00:21:19.839 drink. Come on. One more fix. Let's do this. 00:21:19.960 --> 00:21:25.079 Come on. Bring it. Right? One more woman. One 00:21:25.079 --> 00:21:28.279 more man. One more machine. Ding, ding, ding, 00:21:28.380 --> 00:21:34.200 ding, ding. I turned my 20 into 200. Yes. Put 00:21:34.200 --> 00:21:40.230 the bonds back on. we're supposed to be freed 00:21:40.230 --> 00:21:42.549 from that sin, not go back to it. So stop looking 00:21:42.549 --> 00:21:45.730 at it. You've been freed. Be grateful. Walk away. 00:21:47.470 --> 00:21:49.730 The rest will fall in place. The healing is allowed 00:21:49.730 --> 00:21:53.730 to begin at that point. And the next part was 00:21:53.730 --> 00:21:58.869 tithing. Tithing at that time, especially, as 00:21:58.869 --> 00:22:01.190 much as, you know, tithing is a word that gets 00:22:01.190 --> 00:22:05.089 thrown around a lot, right? It was a tax. It 00:22:05.089 --> 00:22:06.690 was offerings. Because it also says offering 00:22:06.690 --> 00:22:10.450 here, right? But it was a gift from the people 00:22:10.450 --> 00:22:13.569 to support the Levitical priest who weren't supposed 00:22:13.569 --> 00:22:16.269 to be working. They weren't supposed to have 00:22:16.269 --> 00:22:19.490 any crops or any livestock or anything like that. 00:22:19.650 --> 00:22:22.569 So they had no means to sustain and support themselves. 00:22:23.589 --> 00:22:27.980 So especially at that time. God had provision 00:22:27.980 --> 00:22:30.640 and told people, hey, this is the tithe. This 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:32.140 is how you're going to do about it. This is the 00:22:32.140 --> 00:22:34.420 rotation it's going to be in. These are the things 00:22:34.420 --> 00:22:36.319 you're going to tithe. Because as much as a lot 00:22:36.319 --> 00:22:37.500 of people are going to say it's all about money, 00:22:37.559 --> 00:22:41.140 it's not all about money. Right? Because they 00:22:41.140 --> 00:22:44.039 were taking them food and drink and everything 00:22:44.039 --> 00:22:49.400 that they needed. Their clothing. How many people 00:22:49.400 --> 00:22:51.880 in here would be well off if they had to depend 00:22:51.880 --> 00:22:53.720 on other people to go and get them clothes right 00:22:53.720 --> 00:22:57.359 now? You had nothing and you had to depend on 00:22:57.359 --> 00:23:01.259 someone to go and get you clothes. Most of us 00:23:01.259 --> 00:23:03.339 wouldn't trust anybody to go and get us socks, 00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:06.720 let alone underwear, right? Maybe a t -shirt? 00:23:12.220 --> 00:23:14.380 But that's what the priest had to rely on. And 00:23:14.380 --> 00:23:15.880 that's what this was all supposed to go to, was 00:23:15.880 --> 00:23:17.819 to support them, to free them up so they can 00:23:17.819 --> 00:23:20.579 concentrate on the work that the Lord had set 00:23:20.579 --> 00:23:24.890 in front of them. Their own studies. Their own 00:23:24.890 --> 00:23:28.670 prayer. Taking care of the temple and all the 00:23:28.670 --> 00:23:32.130 maintenance thereof. Right? Preaching to people, 00:23:32.289 --> 00:23:34.710 teaching people, counseling people, seeing to 00:23:34.710 --> 00:23:37.369 all their spiritual needs and teaching them all 00:23:37.369 --> 00:23:39.910 the things that God had to say and all the things 00:23:39.910 --> 00:23:42.309 that God had to teach and how to apply them to 00:23:42.309 --> 00:23:52.190 our daily lives. But just like today, people 00:23:52.190 --> 00:23:54.930 get upset. Hey. Pastor, why don't you have time 00:23:54.930 --> 00:23:56.829 to come and see me? Why don't you have time to 00:23:56.829 --> 00:23:58.930 call me? Why don't you have time to go and do 00:23:58.930 --> 00:24:00.690 this? Why do we have to schedule that out so 00:24:00.690 --> 00:24:04.829 far? Right? Because nobody wants to give the 00:24:04.829 --> 00:24:06.289 way that they're supposed to. Nobody wants to 00:24:06.289 --> 00:24:08.069 support things the way that they're supposed 00:24:08.069 --> 00:24:13.869 to. So at that time, because people weren't giving 00:24:13.869 --> 00:24:15.670 the way that they're supposed to, these priests 00:24:15.670 --> 00:24:18.630 had to go out and start finding other work just 00:24:18.630 --> 00:24:24.519 to be able to eat. Let alone take care of the 00:24:24.519 --> 00:24:33.700 temple. And all that stuff costs money. All of 00:24:33.700 --> 00:24:37.119 it costs money. It all takes time. And they were 00:24:37.119 --> 00:24:41.940 being robbed of that time. So thinking about 00:24:41.940 --> 00:24:47.799 that, if you were robbed of all your time, you're 00:24:47.799 --> 00:24:50.549 expected to do all this other stuff. And when 00:24:50.549 --> 00:24:53.049 it came time to do your actual work, how excited 00:24:53.049 --> 00:24:55.190 would you be to do that work? How much fire and 00:24:55.190 --> 00:24:57.630 passion would you have to do that work? How excited 00:24:57.630 --> 00:25:00.390 would you be to get up, get dressed, and go into 00:25:00.390 --> 00:25:04.089 work that day? Not many of us. Most of us would 00:25:04.089 --> 00:25:06.589 be pretty just like, ugh. It's like, I just need 00:25:06.589 --> 00:25:09.569 10 minutes for myself, maybe a half hour to sleep. 00:25:11.349 --> 00:25:12.970 But that's what they were doing. They were working 00:25:12.970 --> 00:25:20.000 two jobs. And it wasn't like a 9 to 5. Because 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:22.019 you think about it, crops, livestock, that's 00:25:22.019 --> 00:25:24.880 a morning till evening thing, right? Sun up, 00:25:24.940 --> 00:25:28.700 sun down. Going to the markets was the same thing 00:25:28.700 --> 00:25:30.000 because you had to take all this stuff in. You 00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:31.759 had to set it up. You had to break it down. You 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:33.240 had to take it all out. You didn't get to leave 00:25:33.240 --> 00:25:36.460 anything. And then they were still expected to 00:25:36.460 --> 00:25:37.940 take care of the spiritual needs of the people. 00:25:39.019 --> 00:25:42.759 What sense does that make? Now we kind of see 00:25:42.759 --> 00:25:44.839 a little aha, why they'd become so kind of humdrum 00:25:44.839 --> 00:25:47.740 and half -hearted about it, right? It's disheartening. 00:25:48.399 --> 00:25:52.880 It's disappointing. So their time had been robbed, 00:25:53.059 --> 00:25:55.240 and people, like I said, people were giving very 00:25:55.240 --> 00:25:58.400 little to nothing at all. They weren't supporting 00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:00.240 the people God had placed in front of them and 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:06.259 said, hey, support them. They got caught up in 00:26:06.259 --> 00:26:08.759 stuff. It's that mentality of, I worked for it, 00:26:08.779 --> 00:26:11.500 why should I give any of it up? This is mine. 00:26:13.900 --> 00:26:17.720 Right? We have that same mentality today, do 00:26:17.720 --> 00:26:20.519 we not? It's like I busted my butt for hours. 00:26:20.660 --> 00:26:26.019 Why should I give any of this up, right? People 00:26:26.019 --> 00:26:30.000 become scrooges. A lot of people, they withhold 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:31.759 because they don't actually have faith in God 00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:33.599 to actually meet their needs, to take care of 00:26:33.599 --> 00:26:37.019 their needs, right? We forget that everything 00:26:37.019 --> 00:26:39.500 that we have is actually God's and God's given 00:26:39.500 --> 00:26:43.619 it to us. He's entrusted us with it to take care 00:26:43.619 --> 00:26:47.460 of it. But people don't trust in him. They don't 00:26:47.460 --> 00:26:49.319 trust in his word. They don't trust in what he's 00:26:49.319 --> 00:26:50.980 told us. They don't trust in what he's shown 00:26:50.980 --> 00:26:56.740 us. Oh, it's been so long. And so they don't 00:26:56.740 --> 00:26:59.359 give. They hoard it for themselves. Like, oh, 00:26:59.380 --> 00:27:03.660 no, I need this. I need this. I'm saving up for 00:27:03.660 --> 00:27:08.099 that, I don't know, that special something. Right? 00:27:08.960 --> 00:27:11.619 It's like, yeah, you know, I could give this, 00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:15.809 but I want to hold on to it. Because I know next 00:27:15.809 --> 00:27:20.250 year there's a brand new video game console coming 00:27:20.250 --> 00:27:22.630 out. And I want that next video game console, 00:27:22.750 --> 00:27:29.809 right? Or something along those lines. Oh, the 00:27:29.809 --> 00:27:33.329 next iPhone's coming out. But the price is going 00:27:33.329 --> 00:27:36.369 up another $500. So I need to hold on to this 00:27:36.369 --> 00:27:43.000 so I can afford that. There's a big one. That's 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:44.220 probably a little bit more relatable than video 00:27:44.220 --> 00:27:46.960 games for some people. Because I do, there's 00:27:46.960 --> 00:27:48.480 a lot of adults out there like, hey, what phone 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:50.500 do you have? Oh, you need to switch. You got 00:27:50.500 --> 00:27:52.000 an Apple? No, you need an Android. Oh, you got 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:58.460 an Android? No, you need to switch over. So people 00:27:58.460 --> 00:27:59.960 don't give. Instead, they hoard everything to 00:27:59.960 --> 00:28:03.160 themselves, and they forget what Jesus said in 00:28:03.160 --> 00:28:09.960 Luke 6, verse 38. So Luke 6, verse 38. Jesus 00:28:09.960 --> 00:28:14.750 said, Give, and it will be given to you. Good 00:28:14.750 --> 00:28:18.069 measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running 00:28:18.069 --> 00:28:21.109 over will be put into your bosom. For with the 00:28:21.109 --> 00:28:25.549 same measure that you use, it will be measured 00:28:25.549 --> 00:28:31.190 back to you. In other words, what you give is 00:28:31.190 --> 00:28:35.869 what you're going to get. People expect the world, 00:28:35.910 --> 00:28:39.400 but they want to give nothing for it. Go to work. 00:28:39.480 --> 00:28:41.180 Hey, how you doing? What's up? What you doing? 00:28:41.619 --> 00:28:43.440 Or least amount of work possible for maximum 00:28:43.440 --> 00:28:48.119 pay. Is that what you were hired for, though? 00:28:48.740 --> 00:28:52.519 Is that what's expected of you? That's what a 00:28:52.519 --> 00:28:57.599 lot of people do, though. A lot of people do 00:28:57.599 --> 00:28:59.799 it. Like I said, we have to remember, everything 00:28:59.799 --> 00:29:02.079 that we have is really a gift from God. It was 00:29:02.079 --> 00:29:04.779 never ours to begin with. And he's watching us 00:29:04.779 --> 00:29:08.549 to see how we're going to use these gifts. How 00:29:08.549 --> 00:29:10.789 we're going to use these gifts to support other 00:29:10.789 --> 00:29:14.210 people and bless other people and lift up other 00:29:14.210 --> 00:29:18.950 people and sow into the kingdom. To point the 00:29:18.950 --> 00:29:23.869 way to Jesus. Right? How we're going to love 00:29:23.869 --> 00:29:26.089 on one another with the gifts that we've been 00:29:26.089 --> 00:29:30.990 given. Okay, great. You have a car. He doesn't. 00:29:30.990 --> 00:29:34.430 Why don't you give him a ride? Right? Pastor 00:29:34.430 --> 00:29:36.410 Mike does that a lot. In fact, Brian just did 00:29:36.410 --> 00:29:41.440 that on the 4th of July. We're up at the post. 00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:44.579 One of our soldiers up there, his wife had taken 00:29:44.579 --> 00:29:46.380 off early, so he was waiting for someone to give 00:29:46.380 --> 00:29:48.000 him a ride. Well, the person who said they'd 00:29:48.000 --> 00:29:49.880 give him a ride apparently forgot because they 00:29:49.880 --> 00:29:54.119 had already left. I found that out because it's 00:29:54.119 --> 00:29:55.920 like, well, why are you waiting on her? It's 00:29:55.920 --> 00:29:57.480 like, Brian's leaving right now. Why don't you 00:29:57.480 --> 00:29:58.839 go with him? Hey, Brian, come over here. Could 00:29:58.839 --> 00:30:00.579 you give him a ride? Brian was gracious, gave 00:30:00.579 --> 00:30:02.859 him a ride. Went in there. It's like, yeah, hey, 00:30:03.000 --> 00:30:05.039 tell... I'm not going to throw their name out 00:30:05.039 --> 00:30:06.420 because I don't want to embarrass anybody if 00:30:06.420 --> 00:30:08.660 they're watching. But hey, tell so -and -so. 00:30:09.300 --> 00:30:11.019 that they don't have to worry about giving Jim 00:30:11.019 --> 00:30:15.859 a ride, Brian's taking them. Oh, why is he waiting 00:30:15.859 --> 00:30:21.319 on her? She left like a half hour ago. Oh, good 00:30:21.319 --> 00:30:23.299 thing Brian's giving her a ride, or giving him 00:30:23.299 --> 00:30:31.160 a ride. But it happens. How do we use our gifts? 00:30:31.619 --> 00:30:35.460 And here's the thing. When we withhold, when 00:30:35.460 --> 00:30:37.720 we don't use things the way that we're supposed 00:30:37.720 --> 00:30:40.160 to, when we don't give of things the way that 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:41.839 we're supposed to, when we hoard those things 00:30:41.839 --> 00:30:44.759 up for ourselves, we're like, mine, my precious. 00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:48.440 And we're like Gollum with the ring, right? My 00:30:48.440 --> 00:30:52.519 precious, my shiny. When we do this, we actually 00:30:52.519 --> 00:30:55.940 become thieves ourselves. We're stealing from 00:30:55.940 --> 00:31:02.039 God. We're robbing God. He's given us resources. 00:31:03.700 --> 00:31:07.119 He's given us material things. He's given us 00:31:07.719 --> 00:31:11.500 financial things, right? He's given us wisdom. 00:31:12.359 --> 00:31:16.079 He's given us so many things that we can use 00:31:16.079 --> 00:31:18.539 to bless others, to counsel others, to teach 00:31:18.539 --> 00:31:24.180 others, to help others. And we withhold. You 00:31:24.180 --> 00:31:25.900 got a gift to play an instrument, but you only 00:31:25.900 --> 00:31:27.619 want to do it at home or in front of a couple 00:31:27.619 --> 00:31:34.240 people. No. I did that for years. For years I 00:31:34.240 --> 00:31:36.920 did that. Matter of fact, if somebody were to 00:31:36.920 --> 00:31:38.339 come into the house, I would stop playing and 00:31:38.339 --> 00:31:47.180 I would put it away. I'm guilty of that. I know 00:31:47.180 --> 00:31:50.420 other musicians just as guilty of that. Yep. 00:31:51.319 --> 00:31:53.440 There's one hand up over there. There's another 00:31:53.440 --> 00:31:57.279 hand over there. Yeah. Guilty. If we're all on 00:31:57.279 --> 00:32:00.680 the praise team, imagine that. Using the gifts. 00:32:02.000 --> 00:32:04.059 And it's funny. Because I was actually talking 00:32:04.059 --> 00:32:06.779 about this at the Post on the 4th of July. Because 00:32:06.779 --> 00:32:10.460 we have other musicians there as well. And we 00:32:10.460 --> 00:32:12.579 got to talking and the subject that came up where 00:32:12.579 --> 00:32:15.140 we were talking about was when COVID hit. Remember 00:32:15.140 --> 00:32:16.980 when COVID hit, everything was shutting down. 00:32:17.460 --> 00:32:19.480 And there were a lot of musicians out there who 00:32:19.480 --> 00:32:22.319 depended on their gigs to pay their bills. And 00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:23.400 there were a lot of people out there like, I 00:32:23.400 --> 00:32:26.319 can't find a gig to save my life. I'm putting 00:32:26.319 --> 00:32:29.259 in for unemployment and this and that. I'm sitting 00:32:29.259 --> 00:32:32.160 there, really? I got a gig every week. What do 00:32:32.160 --> 00:32:33.640 you mean you have a gig every week? Everything's 00:32:33.640 --> 00:32:35.680 closed. When you play for Jesus, you got a gig 00:32:35.680 --> 00:32:37.900 every week. There's lots of churches looking 00:32:37.900 --> 00:32:40.720 for musicians. Go find yourself a church. Start 00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:46.000 playing. Even if you're not getting paid, it 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:49.000 feels pretty good. As a musician, when you actually 00:32:49.000 --> 00:32:50.980 get something put together and you're up there 00:32:50.980 --> 00:32:53.599 and you're performing, you're using your gifts, 00:32:53.660 --> 00:32:55.160 you're giving to other people, you're sharing 00:32:55.160 --> 00:32:58.059 that gift with other people, it feels good. It 00:32:58.059 --> 00:33:02.299 really does. Sometimes we muff things up. It 00:33:02.299 --> 00:33:04.720 happens. Anybody ever go to work and not mess 00:33:04.720 --> 00:33:09.920 something up at some point? Got a couple people 00:33:09.920 --> 00:33:12.700 in here who have driven buses or big vehicles? 00:33:13.839 --> 00:33:15.859 Well, heck, I don't even have to say that. Anybody 00:33:15.859 --> 00:33:17.579 in here who's ever been behind the wheel of a 00:33:17.579 --> 00:33:22.240 car has hit a curve at some point. It just came 00:33:22.240 --> 00:33:27.440 out of nowhere, right? But we're using those 00:33:27.440 --> 00:33:29.890 gifts. Pastor Mike is great about giving people 00:33:29.890 --> 00:33:34.190 rides almost every week. Pastor Hollins at our 00:33:34.190 --> 00:33:38.150 sister church out in Laguna, same thing. He actually 00:33:38.150 --> 00:33:39.910 went out and got a vehicle, and he does that 00:33:39.910 --> 00:33:43.970 religiously. Who needs a ride? Loads them up 00:33:43.970 --> 00:33:48.190 in that van, and they're gone, right? A lot of 00:33:48.190 --> 00:33:50.670 people are really good about that. It's like, 00:33:50.690 --> 00:33:52.710 I have this. I have the ability to do this. Great. 00:33:53.650 --> 00:33:56.190 Go do it. Use those gifts. That's what we're 00:33:56.190 --> 00:33:59.460 supposed to do. You know, we look to God like 00:33:59.460 --> 00:34:01.980 he owes us something, but the reality is he owes 00:34:01.980 --> 00:34:04.559 us nothing, and we owe him everything in return. 00:34:04.660 --> 00:34:10.280 And he asks for so little, so little, but we 00:34:10.280 --> 00:34:16.860 demand so much, don't we? And we need to remember 00:34:16.860 --> 00:34:20.199 that when we give, we need to give happily. Give 00:34:20.199 --> 00:34:23.219 because we want to with a happy heart, right? 00:34:24.549 --> 00:34:26.170 It's like you have something, you know it's not 00:34:26.170 --> 00:34:28.070 going to do you any good anymore, you don't care 00:34:28.070 --> 00:34:30.329 about it, you haven't used it in forever, but 00:34:30.329 --> 00:34:32.349 you know someone who can make a really good use 00:34:32.349 --> 00:34:34.250 of it. Like, you know what, here, let me give 00:34:34.250 --> 00:34:35.889 that to them, they're going to get some use out 00:34:35.889 --> 00:34:39.710 of it, and it makes you feel good. Because even 00:34:39.710 --> 00:34:41.329 though that blessing isn't bringing you any happiness 00:34:41.329 --> 00:34:42.949 anymore, now it's bringing you one last little 00:34:42.949 --> 00:34:44.869 bit of happiness, and it's bringing joy to somebody 00:34:44.869 --> 00:34:49.050 else. Right? Maybe you upgraded to a new coffee 00:34:49.050 --> 00:34:51.630 pot. You know somebody who needs a coffee pot, 00:34:51.690 --> 00:34:54.380 so you give them the old one. Made me a lot of 00:34:54.380 --> 00:34:55.940 great coffee. I know it'll work for you too. 00:34:56.079 --> 00:35:03.139 Enjoy. Right? See, when we give happily, we give 00:35:03.139 --> 00:35:05.619 freely, and we remember, you know, we do this. 00:35:05.699 --> 00:35:08.639 We have to, we also, we remember that God promised 00:35:08.639 --> 00:35:10.199 that he's going to reward us for our stewardship 00:35:10.199 --> 00:35:12.480 and our giving. What we give, we're going to 00:35:12.480 --> 00:35:18.039 get in return. But I'll remind you, nowhere in 00:35:18.039 --> 00:35:19.599 here does it say we're going to get all that 00:35:19.599 --> 00:35:22.079 blessing here on earth because we're not. In 00:35:22.079 --> 00:35:24.159 fact, quite the opposite. The word actually tells 00:35:24.159 --> 00:35:27.360 us our riches are stored up in heaven, right? 00:35:29.480 --> 00:35:32.059 Where rust and moths and all that stuff isn't 00:35:32.059 --> 00:35:34.260 going to get to it. Where it's going to last 00:35:34.260 --> 00:35:37.500 for eternity. And that's where it's at. That's 00:35:37.500 --> 00:35:39.599 where the bulk of our riches are, waiting for 00:35:39.599 --> 00:35:43.260 us. Because our needs will be met while we're 00:35:43.260 --> 00:35:46.920 here on earth. If we trust in God, when we look 00:35:46.920 --> 00:35:48.860 to God, when we lean to God and we depend on 00:35:48.860 --> 00:35:55.579 God. It's all going to come back to us. And really, 00:35:55.659 --> 00:35:57.840 for time's sake, I'm not going to go into it. 00:35:58.039 --> 00:36:00.260 But take a note. I'd encourage everybody to go 00:36:00.260 --> 00:36:02.199 and read it on their own time in Matthew 25. 00:36:03.920 --> 00:36:06.659 Because our giving and the way it comes back 00:36:06.659 --> 00:36:10.360 to us is very much like the three servants. All 00:36:10.360 --> 00:36:12.079 right? I'm going to paraphrase here. Basically, 00:36:12.159 --> 00:36:14.300 there is a master. He was going out on a trip. 00:36:14.860 --> 00:36:18.239 He had three servants come to him. He gave them 00:36:18.239 --> 00:36:22.889 all bags of a... basically, bags of silver. He 00:36:22.889 --> 00:36:25.909 said, take care of this while I'm gone. He goes 00:36:25.909 --> 00:36:29.349 off on his trip. He comes back. The first slave 00:36:29.349 --> 00:36:30.869 comes up, says, Master, you entrusted me with 00:36:30.869 --> 00:36:33.289 five bags of silver. I went and I invested it 00:36:33.289 --> 00:36:40.309 and I got and I doubled it. Here you go. You've 00:36:40.309 --> 00:36:44.409 done well, my good and faithful servant. Second 00:36:44.409 --> 00:36:46.469 servant comes up. You entrusted me with two bags 00:36:46.469 --> 00:36:49.650 of gold or silver or whatever. Right? I'm paraphrasing. 00:36:49.650 --> 00:36:50.909 I don't remember the exact number. I'm just kind 00:36:50.909 --> 00:36:52.650 of pulling it out of a rabbit's hat. But you're 00:36:52.650 --> 00:36:54.869 going to trust me with so many bags. I went and 00:36:54.869 --> 00:36:58.070 I doubled it. Good job. Good and faithful servant. 00:36:58.690 --> 00:37:02.949 Let's celebrate. Right? So far, everything's 00:37:02.949 --> 00:37:05.829 going good. So far, all the funds are being vested 00:37:05.829 --> 00:37:08.409 wisely and doubled. And you'll notice here with 00:37:08.409 --> 00:37:10.190 the numbers, everybody's gotten a different amount 00:37:10.190 --> 00:37:12.610 because no one's blessing is the same. Right? 00:37:14.070 --> 00:37:16.849 Finally, the third servant comes and says, I 00:37:16.849 --> 00:37:21.010 know you can be harsh. And I was afraid. So I 00:37:21.010 --> 00:37:23.110 buried it in the sand so nothing would happen 00:37:23.110 --> 00:37:31.690 to it. Here's your bag back. Ho, ho, ho, ho. 00:37:31.730 --> 00:37:37.110 You a little faith. I'm so disappointed. And 00:37:37.110 --> 00:37:40.590 then he sends him away. And notice the parallel 00:37:40.590 --> 00:37:44.699 here. Sends him away into darkness. where there's 00:37:44.699 --> 00:37:47.719 pain and gnashing of teeth. Hmm, where does that 00:37:47.719 --> 00:37:51.980 sound familiar? Yeah, not anywhere we want to 00:37:51.980 --> 00:37:55.139 go, huh? Quite the opposite direction. I said, 00:37:55.159 --> 00:37:57.739 it's kind of the cliff notes. Read it for yourself. 00:37:58.199 --> 00:38:00.760 It's great, but it applies. It's the same thing. 00:38:00.800 --> 00:38:03.360 When we give and how we invest is how it's going 00:38:03.360 --> 00:38:06.019 to come back to us and how we're going to be 00:38:06.019 --> 00:38:08.679 celebrated when we go on to be with the Father. 00:38:10.360 --> 00:38:14.030 All right? So we have to invest the gifts that 00:38:14.030 --> 00:38:17.929 we have so wisely. And in doing so, we show our 00:38:17.929 --> 00:38:22.309 love for him. We show our trust in him. We show 00:38:22.309 --> 00:38:29.530 our relationship with him. Our character. It 00:38:29.530 --> 00:38:33.570 all comes back to him. So I'm going to tell everybody, 00:38:33.750 --> 00:38:37.070 when it comes to the way you give, of everything, 00:38:39.239 --> 00:38:41.840 We all need to take time and evaluate ourselves. 00:38:45.559 --> 00:38:47.920 Giving of our time, our talents, our resources. 00:38:49.480 --> 00:38:55.139 Are you giving the way that you should? And in 00:38:55.139 --> 00:39:00.440 doing so, we all need to keep in mind, again, 00:39:00.639 --> 00:39:03.539 this is indicative of our trust and our relationship 00:39:03.539 --> 00:39:08.780 with God. So in asking ourselves if... We're 00:39:08.780 --> 00:39:11.380 giving as we should. We're actually asking ourselves, 00:39:11.739 --> 00:39:16.500 do I truly trust God? And do I truly trust God 00:39:16.500 --> 00:39:21.440 with my life and meeting my needs? Because the 00:39:21.440 --> 00:39:25.380 answer to that is the actual litmus test that 00:39:25.380 --> 00:39:27.980 you're using to measure where your relationship 00:39:27.980 --> 00:39:30.619 truly is with God and what you need to work on. 00:39:34.039 --> 00:39:38.179 But make no mistake in doing so. He loves you. 00:39:38.940 --> 00:39:41.679 He wants you to come home. That's why he's given 00:39:41.679 --> 00:39:44.739 us these warnings saying, hey, if you do this 00:39:44.739 --> 00:39:46.980 and you turn back and you do what's right and 00:39:46.980 --> 00:39:49.219 you do what I've commanded, it's all going to 00:39:49.219 --> 00:39:53.260 be okay. I forgive you. I love you. Come back. 00:39:55.139 --> 00:39:57.420 I want to be able to bless you. And not only 00:39:57.420 --> 00:39:59.340 do I want to bless you, but I want to bless you 00:39:59.340 --> 00:40:05.679 so much that your cup overfills. I want to bless 00:40:05.679 --> 00:40:08.019 you so much. that it's coming out of the windows, 00:40:08.199 --> 00:40:10.380 and you don't even have enough places to store 00:40:10.380 --> 00:40:14.900 it all. I don't know. I think of that, and I 00:40:14.900 --> 00:40:16.599 get this picture of Scrooge McDuck in his vault, 00:40:16.659 --> 00:40:19.179 and he's just going down all the coins. Woo -hoo! 00:40:20.920 --> 00:40:23.900 But you take that picture, and God wants to bless 00:40:23.900 --> 00:40:26.719 you so much more. But you have to trust in him. 00:40:26.860 --> 00:40:29.559 You have to be willing to give, because giving 00:40:29.559 --> 00:40:31.639 is how we love our neighbor. It's how we love 00:40:31.639 --> 00:40:37.099 on each other. All right? It's on us to open 00:40:37.099 --> 00:40:40.579 the door and let him into our lives so that he 00:40:40.579 --> 00:40:45.400 can bless us as well. And on that note, let us 00:40:45.400 --> 00:40:52.260 pray. Lord, we come before you in thankfulness 00:40:52.260 --> 00:40:55.000 for all these reminders of how we've misstepped 00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:58.559 as a people, how we've misstepped individually. 00:41:00.500 --> 00:41:02.760 We thank you for allowing us to see the errors 00:41:02.760 --> 00:41:07.469 of our ways. And know that we can lean into you 00:41:07.469 --> 00:41:10.389 for help to fix them. And we can correct these 00:41:10.389 --> 00:41:13.789 errors through you and with you. We ask for your 00:41:13.789 --> 00:41:15.650 guidance and your hand of blessing as we move 00:41:15.650 --> 00:41:18.610 to do so. We ask for your forgiveness for all 00:41:18.610 --> 00:41:21.570 of our transgressions and our missteps. And we 00:41:21.570 --> 00:41:24.309 ask that you help to remove those temptations 00:41:24.309 --> 00:41:27.150 from our lives so that we can fill that space 00:41:27.150 --> 00:41:29.570 with the things that are truly important to fill 00:41:29.570 --> 00:41:34.489 that space with you instead of the world. Help 00:41:34.489 --> 00:41:37.269 us to take all that you've spoken to us and apply 00:41:37.269 --> 00:41:42.909 it to our lives as we leave here today. We love 00:41:42.909 --> 00:41:47.849 you. We pray for your guidance in these troubled 00:41:47.849 --> 00:41:52.010 waters of our life. All of his people said, amen 00:41:52.010 --> 00:41:54.110 and amen. Remember, as you leave here today, 00:41:54.349 --> 00:41:57.110 you're loved, you are blessed, so go and be the 00:41:57.110 --> 00:42:25.820 church. Have a great week, everybody. Until next 00:42:25.820 --> 00:42:28.199 time, take care and God bless.