Thank you for listening to Servants for Christ. In all that we do, in all that we say, we want to give glory and honor to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you for tuning us in as we get into the wonderful Word of God. For the next few minutes, let's take the beautiful Word of God and share it with each and every one of you as we have a sense of anticipation to take the Word of God and to listen to its truth for each and every one. Thank you for tuning us in as we get into a new series, Reaping the Rewards. Reaping the Rewards. What benefits do we gain from spiritual cleansing? Our text will be Malachi chapter three, and we uncover insights into the tangible and the spiritual rewards that come from being cleansed and forgiven by God. I hope that you can explore and discover the scriptures of the rich blessings awaiting us through our wonderful purification and forgiveness. Malachi chapter 3. This passage addresses the people of Israel who are questioning the value of serving God faithfully. They felt that it was useless to serve God because the wicked seemed to prosper while they suffered. But God reassures them that those who fear God and think upon His name will be blessed. And he promises to make them his treasured possession on the day that he acts. And so the reward here is God's recognition and blessing upon those who remain faithful despite adversity. And so, in a world captivated by material possessions and immediate gratification, the concept of serving God often faces skepticism. And yet, throughout history, Individuals have grappled with the profound question, is there any profit in serving God? Here in Malachi's discourse, we uncover timeless truths about the value and the reward of serving the Almighty God. Let's open up with a word of prayer. Father, we gather here with hearts open to hear your word, and Lord, as the God that sees and hears us, we acknowledge that there are times when we question and value the serving of you. just as the people did in Malachi's time. Help us through your spirit to understand the deep truths of your word, to see the eternal significance of serving you faithfully. And may our time together be a reflection of our desire to honor you and to experience the joy that comes from living in obedience to your will. In Jesus's marvelous mighty name, amen. Okay, take your Bibles, as I said, to the book of Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament, and the Bible says, Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet you say, what have we spoken so much against thee? Now we're reading in the King James in verse 14 of Malachi 3. Ye have said, it is vain to serve God. And what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts, he says in verse 15. And now we call the proud happy, yea? They that work wickedness are set up, yea, they that tempt God are even delivered. And then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. And verse 18, lastly, then shall you return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not. Now our focus is on verse 14, where we read, and ye have said, it is vain to serve God. And what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? You know, when, Imagine holding in your hands a rare artifact, the Guttenberg Bible, printed painstakingly over three years. And it's not just a book, but a piece of history valued for its craftsmanship and its significance. And yet to some people, Its worth is measured only by its age and rarity, much like somehow some view serving God merely through the lens of personal gain. And so, can you imagine? In the Old Testament, there were several occasions where someone questioned the value and the profit of divine things. And I'm going to tell you, I want to draw your attention to some of these occasions when certain things of God Will question as to their value and the profit and the first one that we look at is the book of Malachi the people of Malachi's day Question and they doubted the profit And value of serving God is there any profit in serving God? George W Truett once said to know the will of God is to is the greatest knowledge and the find the will of God is the greatest Discovery and to do the will of God is the greatest achievement unquote What was Dr. Truitt saying? He was simply declaring the profit and the value of serving God. William Borden was one of the wealthy Bordens, and he gave up his wealth and his inheritance to go to China as a missionary. And many of his friends thought that he was a fool to waste his life, as they put it, trying to convert a few heathens to Christianity. He hadn't been in China very long before he contracted an oriental disease and died. And at his bedside, they found a note that he had written while he was dying and it read like this, and I quote, no reserve, no retreat, and no regrets, unquote. William Borden valued serving God and he conquered it of great profit because when we look at people in Malachi's day, We see that they felt quite differently about serving God. And they considered the matter of serving God without value or profit. And so we have said in Malachi chapter 3 verse 14, it is vain to serve God. And what profit is it that we've kept his ordinance and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? They were questioning the value of serving God and they were saying that it is vain to serve God. Well, let me see. Because when we look at the Word of God, we begin to realize how some view serving God merely through the lens of personal gain. but yet some it's worth is measured only by the age and rarity." One of the first things that we see as we look at the words and the value of serving God is how they addressed God. The expressions that they voice. Malachi speaks of what they were saying and how they address serving God. It's vain to serve God and so when you read the book of Malachi you find people saying many things about God and saying many things to God and repetitively we hear them voicing their opinions, amen. Malachi records their wearisome complaints against God in Malachi chapter 2 verse 17. You have wearied the Lord with your words and yet you say wherein have we wearied him? And when you say everyone that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord and he delighteth in them or where is the God of judgment? And so the expressions that they voiced, how they addressed serving God. Malachi records their complaints against God, but their words were harsh and they were also disrespectful because we see the resistance that they voiced. And so, Through that resistance that we see how that they outright question the usefulness of serving God. He said, what again in verse 14? Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord, yet ye say, what have we spoken so much against thee? You know what? We see that their stance depicted service as futile and unproductive. And so, along with the things that they were saying about God, they voiced their opposition to God's work. They said it's vain to serve God. And the word vain speaks of that which is foolish, insignificant, unprofitable. Instead of looking at service as a favorable matter, they viewed it as a foolish matter. And instead of looking at serving God as an important matter, they viewed it as an insignificant matter. And instead of viewing service as a profitable matter, They viewed it as a profitless matter. Their statement that's very revealing for one thing is it was a claim that they had been serving God and a charge that it was vain to do so. As for the claim that they had been serving God, the book of Malachi makes it crystal clear. They had not been serving God because for the charge and the vain to serve God, anyone who would make such a claim knows nothing about serving God whatsoever. No one who has served God or serves God would even think of saying such a thing as this. You know what? I'm glad that when I was eight years old, I knelt at an old-fashioned altar on a Sunday night. I refused to go down Sunday morning. I dug my fingers into the back of the pew. But Sunday night, something hit me and I went down. and I went down to that old-fashioned altar, and I'm going to tell you something. Many people might think how foolish it is to go down to the altar and to pray, why it's foolish to waste your time in the time of prayer. But I'm gonna tell you something, there's nothing wasteful about it. There's nothing that's vain about it. Because I thank God, every one of us, when we begin to look and realize what God can do in our lives, amen. I'm glad that we can realize, first of all, that this is how they address serving God. The expressions that they voiced and the resistance that they voiced as well. And so when we look and realize how wonderful the Lord is, we see also that not only do we see how that they address serving God, but also we see how they approached serving God, because in Matthew 2, verse 14, that they questioned the prophet of serving God. What did we say earlier about Matthew 2, verse 14? Way back, they said, what prophet is it that we have kept? His ordinance. And so in these words, we see their motive and how they approach the matter of serving God. First, we see that they had a secondary motive for serving for service because the word prophet is very enlightening because I'm glad that when we look and We realize that the word prophet speaks of gain. And in most cases, the word is used to speak of that which is gained by dishonesty and unjust methods. The word was used in a couple of interesting ways. It was used as a technical term for a weaver cutting a piece of cloth free from balloon. It was used to speak of someone expecting his or her cut or percentage in something. The people were saying that they had not got their cut from serving God. I don't know how they could have expected something for work that they never did. But nevertheless, their attitude was, if we're going to serve God, then we expect something in return. Boy, there's a lot of people out there that they're all about when they serve God, they need to get something back in return. We expect our cut out of the deal. We expect to be paid for what we do. Their words reveal that they had an ulterior motive. They did not look at serving God out of gratitude, but out of greed. They did not look at serving God as a debt that they owed, but as a means of profit. And if we were honestly to evaluate why we do what we do, We may find that we're driven by an ulterior motive. Take giving, for example. Giving is often motivated by the tax benefits received. At other times, giving is motivated by the promises in the Bible that if I give to God, he will give to me. Do we give motivated by the prospect that we get something in return? Because if the only promise that we had was that if we gave 10% that we would end up with 10% less, would we still give? If we were honest, we would have to admit that much of what we do, we have an ulterior motive. in order to be applauded. We volunteer in order to be approved. We teach and preach in order to be acknowledged. We work in order to be awarded. We want and expect our cut and percentage, but Satan accused Job of serving with an ulterior motive. Satan said to God in Job 1.9, Doeth Job fear God for naught? Satan was saying, God, do you think Job is serving you for no reason at all? It was an accusation that Job was serving God because of the blessings that it brought into his life. Satan said, in effect, you take away all that you have blessed him with and you'll see why he really serves you. Do you serve God for the cut? Do you have an ulterior motive in our service and for serving the Lord? There may be an ulterior motive, but let me give you, first of all, not only the secondary motive for the service, that they sought tangible benefits and rewards for their service, and their attitude mirrored sinking a personal cut or gain, but secondly, the supreme motive for service. They thought about serving God, that it should stem from faithfulness and obedience. Genuine service that's driven by love and devotion, not self-interest. That supreme motive for service. We notice carefully the words that they said, kept. And so, I'm glad that, what did we read in Malachi 3.14? You have said it is vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts. That word kept, that word ordinance. The words connected meaning they reveal what the ultimate motive in service should be. And the word kept literally speaks of a hedge being placed about something in order to protect. And the word ordinance means more than a law or a command. It's a word used to speak of a century or a post that stand in guard. Together the words give us the picture of a soldier or entry that is placed a certain a post to guard and to keep watch and it's a place of service God has assigned to each of us hallelujah that we could call it our post i'm standing my post every sunday when i'm in the pew hallelujah i'm standing my post when i'm in the choir I'm standing in my post when I'm preaching behind the pulpit. I'm standing in my post, hallelujah, when I'm in the Sunday school room giving the Word of God. And the one thing that our heavenly commander expects of us is faithfulness to his assignment, the submit unto the ultimate motive of service, to be faithful to God, and to motivate us, to drive us, that nothing more than to obey his commandments and to fulfill the faithful call. And so the reason that we give should be for one reason and one reason alone that he told us to give. And the reason that we should attend church is because he told us not to forsake this semblance of ourselves together in the house of the Lord. And the reason that we should serve God is because we want to obey him and be faithful to him. Hallelujah. And so I remember visiting the old ruins of the cities in Jerusalem when I was there, praise God. and how that I saw some of these old places that maybe I was walking where Jesus had walked there with John Hagee's ministry and Matthew Hagee when we were there. Makes us think. of all in the hour when the whole city and everything that was there, how things were taking place, amen, and how they are today, the dust that's on the ground, the many layers of ground, of dirt that is built up in those places of ancient days. And then, I thank God. We look and we realize that, you know what? We're reminded of Hudson Taylor that was interviewing some young people who had volunteered for the Lord's service. And he asked them several questions to find out how well qualified they were for the life they were anticipating. And one question that he asked was, and why do you wish to go to a foreign missionary? And one gentleman replied, I want to reach others across the sea because Christ has commanded us to go in all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. And another one said, I want to go because millions are dying without ever having heard of Jesus and the only one who can save them. And others had similar answers. Well, Hudson Taylor looked at them thoughtfully for a moment and then he said, All your motives are good, but I fear that you will fail. It will fail you in times of severe testing and tribulation, especially if you're confronted with the possibility of having to face death for your testimony. The only motive that will enable you to remain true is stated in 2 Corinthians of the writing of Paul's chapter 5 verse 14, that Christ's love constraineth you, will keep you faithful in every situation. So what is the ultimate motive in service? It's to be faithful to God and glorify Him because of His love our love for God. And so I'm glad that how that we address serving God, amen, when we look at being able to the enduring value of serving God. And I'm glad that how they approach serving God also. But lastly, in closing, is how that they evaluated serving God in the days of Malachi. Because since they felt that serving God was both foolish Other words, they said it is vain to serve God in verse 14 of Malachi chapter 3. And so, can you imagine the futile? What profit is it that we've kept His ordinance? Their final analysis of serving God is found in their words, we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts that they said broke down in three ways. What they alleged, the word mournfully is very descriptive of how they felt in the days of Malachi. The word means black and sometimes the word was used to speak of the color of a person's skin. It was used to describe the dark tents of the nomads. It was used to describe the apparel of people in sorrow. It was a claim that was serving God was more of a burden than a blessing. And they were saying that it was more of drudgery than delight. It was a claim that serving God was mournful in the experience. And having made the claim that serving God, they said what they alleged. They laminated their service as burdensome and sorrowful. And so their perspective portrayed serving God as a joyless endeavor. But secondly, not only how they evaluated serving God of what they alleged, but secondly, what they concluded. Their final analysis, their conclusion is very obvious in what they were saying. was, why would one serve God? And it is in vain, it is unprofitable, and when all is said and done, it is nothing but a burden. This was what they concluded. Therefore, why would one want to be able to even serve God? I have only one thing to say about their claim and conclusion. They were completely wrong Malachi in everything that they said because the best way I know how to describe them is that they were running their mouth about something that they knew nothing about. I would be foolish to tell a surgeon that there was a better way to do surgery than the way that he was performing it and practicing. I'm not a doctor and I know nothing about surgery. I would be foolish to advise a nuclear physicist in magnetic resonance imaging or ion implantation. For one thing, I don't have any idea what magnetic resonance imaging or ion implantation Implantation is but it's kind of like someone telling a pastor or a preacher how things should be done or should have been done and they've never pastored or they've never been a preacher. And so anyone who would say that it is a burden to serve God has no knowledge or experience of serving God. How can one properly evaluate something that they know nothing about? How can one say that it is vain to serve God when they have no experience to base the claim on? How can one say that there's no profit in serving God when they haven't served God? Those who are serving God will tell you the greatest joy that one can experience is found in serving our Lord. Is there any profit in serving God? Don't listen to the people of Malachi's day. Don't listen to this modern world out there that has no idea how joyful and how wonderful it is to serve a loving Savior. Don't let their analysis influence you, men and women of God. Ask those who are serving God. Let them tell you the blessing and the joy of serving God. Let them tell you the value and the profit of serving God. Have you discovered the profit of serving God? Because today would be a good day to begin the experience, the profit, and the value of serving a wonderful Lord and Savior. Because in our series, when we look and realize reaping the rewards, you can reap the rewards for all they are. Amen. And so, They said what they concluded, their assessment of service was profoundly mistaken. True servants of God experienced profound joy and fulfillment. And so the people of Malachi's time misunderstood the essence of serving God. They viewed it as futile and burdensome, lacking any tangible rewards. Those who genuinely serve God know that the joy and the blessings far outweigh any temporal challenges. And serving God is not about what we gain, but about the privilege of honoring Him faithfully. Is there any profit in serving God? Yes. The profit of serving God is found in experiencing His presence, fulfilling His purpose, and receiving His eternal reward. What should motivate our service to God? It should be motivated by love and obedience, seeking to honor God rather than seeking personal gain. And lastly, let me ask you another question. How can we combat the misconception that serving God is futile? I believe by living out our faith with joy and perseverance, demonstrating the fulfillment and the rewards that come from serving God faithfully. And so I hope and pray that you can have the enduring value of serving God as each and every one of us can be able to reap the rewards from it. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the insights that we've gained in your word and we leave this word, hopefully, that it'll find a lodging place in the hearts of those that hear it. Help us to carry with us a renewed understanding of the value of serving you, strengthening our hearts to remain faithful and steadfast, trusting in your promises, and finding joy in obedience to your will. Thank you for saving us by your marvelous grace. And Lord, may our lives be a testimony of your goodness and grace to those Around us in Jesus is marvelous mighty name