Earnest Service

And as you're taking your Bibles and turning to Hebrews chapter 6 verses 10 through 12, I would like to introduce the title to you. It is "Earnest Service." "Earnest Service" is the title for today's message in Hebrews chapter 6 verses 10 through 12, and I'd like to read that and then pray with you and then expound upon some of the truths within this text. In Hebrews chapter 10 verses 10 through 12, the Bible says, "For God is not unjust as to forget your work and the love which you have shown toward His name." Service must be toward His name. It must be for God's glory. "And having ministered and is still ministering," yes, the suffering saints here that the Hebrew book is addressed to, they are still serving even while they're suffering, "having ministered and is still ministering to the saints." They're serving one another. And then in verse 11 it says, "And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end."

So that, you know my favorite two words in the Bible are, "So that, so that you will not be sluggish." Oh, that's a great word. Everybody knows what laziness is and sluggishness is. Sluggish. You're not to be sluggish in your service here. The Bible is helping us to understand not to be sluggish so that you will not be sluggish but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Let's pause for prayer. Dear God, thank You for this text today. I believe with all of my heart that as we go verse by verse through books of the Bible that You work it out providentially for those who are here to hear exactly what is intended for them in their life today. You miraculously work through preaching in our lives. It's amazing. We give You due honor, glory, and praise for it. Help us to hear with listening ears today in Christ's name. Amen.

And so be thinking of your earnest service today as the Hebrew book is addressing the Hebrews. The author here is connecting the action of ministering that is serving to hope in Christ notice that with me in verse 10 it uses the word ministering. This is practical care for one another. Practical service is the root word from which we get deacons. The deacons have already been established in the early church and they are a model for humble service. Humility must precede service. God will not use a prideful man or woman or child. I assure you humility is the friend of ministry. I'm sorry, pride is the enemy of ministry and so humility is a necessity for ministry. Anyone who is humble is usable of the Lord. And so now you have the connected concepts of service here in verse 10 to the hope and the hope that is in Jesus Christ.

Now this hope that is mentioned in the text is an interesting word. You could kind of assign the nature of this word hope as this being a now not yet word. And there is another now not yet word in this text. It's promise. And so you have hope right now. It is a word that is for you now, but not yet. I should say not fully yet. And so to fully realize the hope that we have in Christ is upon His return. And so we have Christ and we have hope in Christ. Colossians chapter 1 verse 27 says that it is in Christ that we have hope. Okay. So He is in you the hope of glory. Christ in you the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27. But in Revelation chapter 22 and verse 12 it says, "But I am coming soon and my reward is with me to reward each as his work deserves." And so this fully realized hope or idea of hope will be then in the future.

So it's a now not yet word, which is the same concept as the promises mentioned in verse 12. The very last word in the New American Standard Bible is promises. And so this is God's guarantees, the covenants that culminate in Christ. These are God's ways of displaying Himself to people throughout all of time. And He gradually reveals more and more of Himself as the centuries have gone by. You have available to you what other Christians in prior centuries do not, the full revealed Word of God. And it is an amazing thing to be able to see that you truly have all of what you need to know everything about Jesus Christ before He returns. And this is a benefit. When you hold a Bible in your hand, you should treasure the fact that you have God's holy Word, the full counsel of God. There's not going to be more than what you have for Christians in the future. You have all. You are living in a particular time in history that is absolutely wonderful. And so praise God for this hope is now not yet word. And we have this hope it's in Jesus Christ.

Serving then is energizing your hope in God. It is exercising your hope in God and that fact that He keeps His promises. And so your faith really truly is an exercise of your belief that God keeps His promises. You know your faith, it's dead without works. James said in James chapter 2 verse 20, faith without works is dead. And so your salvation will be accompanied with service. And so those service, those acts of service, those are good works for God. And that is evidence that you're saved. And so salvation produces works. You don't work for your salvation. That's theologically backwards. It's for by grace you have been saved, not of works. Ephesians 2:8, 9 says. And so you can't work for your salvation but those who have salvation do work.

Now when we do work we have those whom we can imitate to develop our ways of serving. Imitation is a theological word in the Bible and it just simply means to mimic. Okay the Apostle Paul said to mimic me as I imitate Christ. Imitate me as I imitate Christ. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 1 he says to imitate me, and the first person is saying to the Corinthians who are living deplorable lives. And they're baby Christians. They're learning what it is to shed off the old life and to be sanctified in the word of God. And as they're learning they have the Apostle Paul and others whom he has discipled as models, as examples. And so imitate me as I imitate Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1. So we have these examples and the author of Hebrews also states that we have examples as well. He states in the book of Hebrews both positive examples and negative examples.

Can you think of people in your life who have been a very good example of Christianity? And I'm sure that you can also think of those who you know as an example of very poor Christians. That's not a good example. Well let's take a look in the text together and see both a positive and a negative example in the text. Hebrews 4:11 is an example of a negative. Okay, Hebrews 4:11 says this, "Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest." Okay, so the Israelites were an example of what it was to not rest because it says here, "so that no one will fall through following the same example of disobedience." And so the Israelites were disobedient. Do not mimic those who are disobedient.

We want to be careful who we keep company with, okay? Bad company corrupts good character. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verse 33, "bad company corrupts good character." Be very careful as to who you look up to. All the children should take note of this, but not just the children, especially youth and young adults. Listen to me. Be very careful as to whom you look up to, as to who you listen to. Who are your heroes? That really should be a subject that you should submit to your parents and to the Word of God to discern whom you listen to. Who's in your earbuds? Who are you allowing to go through your mind to get to your heart to mold your life? This is very, very important for Christians to have this skill set of discernment, to discern who they listen to. It's not that you turn everybody off in the world, you wouldn't be able to live in the world. You hear people, but you have to discern whether or not this is a true truth from God's Word that's being displayed and that you're going to listen to or that you're going to kind of like keep at bay.

Not everybody is a good Christian. Not everybody is a Christian. Not everybody who proclaims to be a Christian is Christian. And not everybody who proclaims to be Christians are dynamic Christians. Some are more mature than others. We have in 1 John chapter 2 verses 11 and 12 the examples of the fact that there are children of faith, youth in the faith, and fathers in the faith. There are stages in our faith. And so the latter goes up, I always say. When you look up to someone, make sure you look up to the right people. Look up to the elders in the church. Look up to the deacons in the church. They've been vetted. They have been ordained. They have had hands laid upon them and they have been affirmed into the office of deacon and elder. They are worthy to be mimicked. They're worthy to be looked up to. They're worthy to be asked a spiritual question. Look up to your Bible teachers. They've been vetted. They've been trained. And their life has been approved by the elderships as ones whom can teach on behalf of the church for God, for our benefit. And so be careful as to who you look up to. Not everybody should have your ear. Not everyone who sings a song or preaches a sermon or says anything to you should you take to heart. This is important.

There are negative examples out there and you even see this in Hebrews chapter 11 and chapter 4 verse 11 that there are negative examples that the Bible says exist even within the Bible. All of national Israel not only were rebellious then, I mean they were brought out of Egypt, miraculously brought through the parting of the Red Sea, rejected and sluggishly obeyed God throughout all of the wilderness. That entire rebellious generation had to die off and the young, obedient men were brought into Canaan promise. And yet still sin has crept in in his national Israel today, obedient to God? Absolutely not. They do not believe that He sent His son. They do not believe in Jesus Christ. The mass majority of Israel today do not believe that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. They don't know what to do with Hebrews chapter 13 verse 8. They don't know what to do with Isaiah chapter 53. They're lost and so they're still by majority bad examples. So there are bad examples out there and you need to know that.

Make sure you purchase good theological books. Ask your eldership before you purchase a systematic theology. Ask your eldership. Ask them seriously, is this a good author to read from? Is this a good preacher to listen to? You really should have a high sense of discernment and I'll be honest with you, there are so many more false prophets out there than there are true preachers of God's Word. There's so many heretics out there in sheep's clothing and they devour the sheep. Listen, there are people out there that proclaim to preach the Word of God that are actually wolves in sheep's clothing and their end goal is your destruction. And they're masters of their trade. They masterfully fool the undiscerning and so we're here for one another as an act of service within this text. We need to see that we help one another to know who's true. Who are the true blues out there? And many of us together, I'm speaking collectively, have lived the majority of our lives fooled in this particular area, listening to those who are shallow in their faith rather than strong in the faith. And so I celebrate with you the fact that we are coming underneath what we call sound doctrine in the Word of God. We're coming into discerning discernment. We're coming into right living before God and we look back and we all wish that we would have known more 10 years ago and 20 years ago. We really do. We're all in the same category here and I really appreciate that the author of Hebrews puts himself in the same category as his listeners and his audience when he says, "Let us press on." He puts himself with them that we're all growing spiritually.

That's the negative example. The positive example is in Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews 13:7 and yes I skipped over the whole chapter of 11, all of the faithful witnesses there. All this whole chapter of the Hall of Fame of Faith. What an amazing amount of examples we have in the faith in Hebrews chapter 11. But look with me in Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 7. Hebrews 13:7 says, "Remember those who led you, who spoke the Word of God to you, and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith." You see that? There's an element of discernment here. You must consider the result of their conduct. Jesus said it like this, "You'll know them by their fruit." Examine their lives. Don't listen to what they say. Look at what they do. And so you may be fooled by what someone says right up front, but yet when they do things that are contrary to the Word of God, that's what you yield to. That's what you truly understand. Words are cheap. Actions are expensive. And so when you look at the fruit of a man, the fruit of his lips, how does what he say land on the listeners?

Is it something that is of biblical value? Is it producing within them? Something that is producing the gospel and fruit from the gospel? Does the words of a man or a woman or a person who proclaims to be saved, are they of the Holy Spirit, which is love, and joy, and peace, and patience, and kindness, and gentleness, and meekness, and self-control? Are they demonstrating the fruits of the Holy Spirit? That's a true blue. That's the ones whom you want to consider the result of their conduct. That's one whom you want in the text here. Imitate their faith. They're the ones who are going to help lead you in the right direction.

We have all kinds of wonderful saints here at the church and they're pressing on in the faith and I appreciate so much so. And like I mentioned, earnest service is the title of today's service. I just want to message, I just want to take just a moment to acknowledge that we have an entire church filled with those who are pressing on here to serve. We have a lot of workers, a lot of ministers, deacons and elders and cleaning. We have a stalwart secretary with dynamic eldership. We have a new computer that has been installed by one of our members. We have a new stall in the bathrooms. We have new TVs that have been purchased that will be installed here soon so that all of them will work in conjunction with one another. We have a new garage door on one of the maintenance sheds that has been installed. We have a strong mowing team. Men show up and rotate and they take care of all the acreage that we have here. We have a lot of men engaged in PTI, that's pastoral training and implementation where elder David Parker and I are teaching hermeneutics, prayer and preaching. And this is a dynamic year and it's bearing a lot of fruit in men already. And so men are growing and stepping into teaching roles and they're being trained and they're willing to be taught. They're humble and guideable.

We have new members and they're thriving and growing as well. We have visitors that are enjoying the Beulah Baptist Church and getting to know folks. We have fathers that are learning how to lead their families spiritually. We have children that are obeying their parents and learning how to be godly themselves. We have youth and young adults that are remaining pure and faithful and I know that that's a difficult stage to remain pure, to deny the flesh, to flee from ungodliness, to pursue righteousness. We have widows that are volunteering during the week and serving around campus and I could go on and on, and on, and on. But for the sake of time let's go to point number one. If you're taking notes, God sees your service.

Point number one is God sees your service. Back in Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 10, "For God is not just to forget your work and the love with which you have shown toward His name." He sees your service. He's not going to forget this. He's not going to forget what you do. Dynamic saints don't need to be recognized. That's the reason why I didn't go through the whole list of names. I would have named most of you anyway. You all are engaged in serving. To be a part of Beulah Baptist Church is to exercise the gift in the time that God has given you and there are seasons that you're stronger in that and there are seasons that you're stronger in ministering to your family. There's, there's seasons that ebb and flow of service. But God sees every single bit of it. He doesn't overlook it. He doesn't ignore it. He never ceases to care for this.

The author of Hebrews connects these two facts in the text. It's impossible for God to forget and it's impossible for God to be unjust. And the way that he drives this home in the text, look at it, "For God is not unjust." Now this is a double negative. He is not unjust. And if you like math, you know the two negatives equals a positive. And so these two negative points illuminate the positive attribute of God and that He doesn't forget your service. He knows what you do. And not all service is like here on campus. And in fact, a lot of your ministering and your services off campus to one another. He's rightfully going to reward you for what you do. He's not unjust. And to be unjust means the one who had the power to do right did wrong. Okay? To do something that is unrighteous or unfaithful. It's an unrighteous deed. One who is unjust would then be deemed as unreliable and a promise breaker. God is most certainly a promise keeper. He's reliable and so He is just.

Positively, God is all-knowing and He remembers everything and He's all-powerful and He is always right. All-knowing, omniscient, and then all potent or all-powerful. So essentially, you can trust Him. You can trust God and you can trust His church because the author here is driving home. He is reliable. This gives us the nuance of understanding that God is dependable and He's unchanging. And I just want to take five minutes with you and describe to you the doctrine of immutability or the unchangingness of God. This is actually where the author of Hebrews is going in the idea of service and hope in the text. Okay, read with me in verse 17. Hebrews 6:17, in the same way, God desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose. Okay, this unchangeable God also has unchangeable purposes. And so the doctrine of immutability goes like this. God is unchanging.

In Malachi 3:6, the Bible says, "For I, the Lord, do not change." That's great. That's good news. And so the goodness of God cannot get what one Appalachian preacher said, any gooder. So God can't get any better. He is as thrice holy as He's going to get. Isaiah 6:3 says that God is holy, holy, holy. He is holy, holy, holy. That is to say that to the highest degree of holiness, that's where God is. He cannot become any holier. God's character cannot decrease. So such as our character is diminished when we tell a lie, God can't lie. The Bible says in Titus 2:1, "God cannot lie." In Numbers 23:19, God is not a man that He should lie. God's consistency is infinitely perfect. He is infinitely consistent. We're the ones that change. We're the ones that go up and down, our feelings are so flighty, our minds veer from one thing to the next over, and over, and over. But God does not change. He doesn't vary at all.

James 1:17 says this, "From the Father there is no variation." Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore." And so since God is in control and He's always good, He's always consistent, we submit to Him. We understand our feelings are flighty, we understand our emotion and our minds are finite when His thoughts are infinite. He doesn't change. He cannot lie. He is consistent. Psalm 102 verse 27 says, "You are the same and Your years will not come to an end." Then therefore, like the Hebrew audience, whether you are suffering severely or whether you're doing great, yield to the unchangeableness of God. Stay submitted to the Scriptures. Do it God's way. Seek godly advice. Remain in Him. You see, Jesus is likened as a fortress, not just a foundation of faith, but when you are in Christ, it's almost like you are in a fortress and those walls keep you safe. You're underneath the shelter of God's wings, so to speak. He is protecting you. And so if you're dealing with any type of irrational, if you're dealing with anything that takes you up and takes you down, the doctrine of immutability or the understanding of God's unchangeableness is something for you to continue to learn about and dwell upon because it will stabilize you.

Hebrews chapter 6 verse 18 says, "It's impossible for God to lie." Furthermore, serving Jesus is by serving others. If you would serve Christ, then you would be one who would serve Jesus. Jesus made this very clear in Matthew chapter 25 verse 43 when He likens those who are in prison. If you didn't visit them, you didn't visit Me. Those who are hungry, if you didn't feed them, you didn't feed Me. And so this is unto Christ. Your service to others is truly unto the Lord. And so primarily, saints minister to spiritual needs, but God often uses these means of needs, physical needs, we all have needs, to be able to get to the deeper needs. God uses the fact that we have physical outward needs to be able to get to your inner needs. Oftentimes when deacons go and minister to one of our flock, one of our fold, they go in a response to a service need, a physical need, a branch fell on top of their house, something along those lines. And when they take care of the physical need, it is seemingly like 10 out of 10 times. I mean, really what God had in store was a spiritual need to me. And so the physical need leads to a spiritual need. And that's how God works. He opens these doors. God is in control of all things. He's providential in all things. He's sovereignly in control. And as we simply serve and be obedient, it's amazing how these doors open and you leave those types of appointments saying to God, "Be the glory." I didn't intend to say or do these things, but God opened the door and it happened.

Romans 5:8 says this, "God demonstrates His own love towards us while we were yet sinners. Christ died for us." And so we don't serve just the saints, we also serve sinners because oftentimes it opens a door to be able to share the gospel, to share salvation. The servants who are laboring in love in the text here are serving not only one another, but they're also serving lost people. And so dedicated and dependable service flows then from a heart for the gospel, a heart for Christ, doing what you can do to serve Jesus, and then He uses it in mighty ways. Did you know that Matthew chapter 23 verse 11 says that the greatest among you will be your servant. And so the greatest people, those who have risen beyond the elementary doctrines of our faith, two, being sanctified. Okay, those who are progressing beyond, we've gone through the elementary teachings of the faith in Hebrews chapter 6 right here in verse 1, "Therefore leaving the elementary teachings about Christ and let us press on to maturity," not laying again a foundation of repentance of dead works. I'm not going to rehash all that we've already discovered, but Jesus Christ and the basics of the faith are our foundation. And now as you mature like a plant that grows, like a child that grows, you're going to mature in your sanctification, in your holiness, in your maturity. You're going to grow. And then those who do grow bear fruit and they serve. Okay, you're going to move from salvation to sanctification to service.

Those who are at the tip of the spear who are really, truly living out and working out their salvation, loving God and loving others are servants. They're true servants and they are the greatest among you. That's what the Bible says, "The greatest among you shall be your servant." And if you look around at this dear congregation, you will see that is so true. You see that the greatest among us are willing to pick up the trash in the parking lot. The greatest among us are willing to sweep and blow the hallways and they're willing to clean the window seals. They're willing to come here during the week and not ask and do things and serve. They're willing to plant flowers. They're willing... The willingness is incredible. They're willing to pick weeds in a cemetery when nobody knows they're there. It's incredible how beautiful the hearts of those who truly own their salvation and are being sanctified are because they are serving. And these are the and so our consistency reflects our unchanging God.

In verse 11, notice the word diligent. And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence. This diligence here, this word diligence, is not only dependable dedication but it is consistency, inaccuracy, its excellency. It's to the Lord. You're really going to keep working until that thing is polished and shining and done right because it's for God's glory. And so I would say a word of caution against sporadic service that is just kind of like a flash in the pan. Maybe it's feeling driven. Maybe it's quick to be motivated but yet it fizzles out at the end. Maybe you get inspired to do something big and then when it shows up to be the time to where you work, you fizzle out. I want to warn against that. Choose wisely where you serve and be dedicated in that. Be very consistent in that and do your due diligence in your season. By the way, wherever you serve and are serving, it's not forever. Okay, you're not signing a contract. In fact, you will see in the text today that we need to be working our way out of wherever we're serving. Master where you're serving and then hand that baton to the next generation. Let them rise up and learn from you and how you have done well in serving. And so a lack of diligence in serving, I would say, according to the text, is dishonoring to God.

The inconsistency is hard on others and it doesn't represent an unchanging God. And so we have to discipline ourselves for the purposes of godliness, 1 Timothy 4:7. Discipline yourselves for the purposes of godliness. Do what you do with consistency. Discipline yourself. Say no to good things so that you can say yes to great things, to be a great Christian, the greatest among you shall be your servants. And so this is because it is unto Jesus. In verse 10, our service is unto the Lord. It is to His name. In Psalms 23, it says it's for His namesake that God does all that He does in Psalm 23. It's for His namesake. It's for His glory. It's for His legacy. And so is our humble service. It's for His name. It's for His glory. It's for God's legacy of faith in others. It's His design. It's His plan. It's not yours. It doesn't revolve around you.

Now, let me give just a scriptural and reasonable escape. I said already that there's seasons of service, right? But in 1 Timothy 5:8 it says, "But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his own household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." Now, this idea of provision is not just monetary, but it is to be maturing in the faith as well. You will have seasons to where your family really, truly comes first before everything, and you've got to focus on them. They need you. And so whether it's elderly or whether it's elementary or there's little child, whatever the need is, you then move beyond your immediate family to serve in the church or to serve Christ according to the stability of your first responsibilities. And so your spouse comes first, your children come first, your immediate family comes first. We need to provide for our own, and we need to really, truly make sure that our family is solid. And by the way, it's very consistent throughout all of the Word of God on these concepts because the qualification, one of the qualifications for an elder to be an elder is that his household is ruled well. That is stable. Everything is fine. They're believing, they're worshiping, they're serving, they're faithful. That's a qualification. No man can preach and teach if he's got a mess at home. He's disqualified for that season, for that time. He's got to work first at home so that he can go abroad.

So we need to know that there is a scriptural and reasonable escape from this dedicated service, perhaps at the church and abroad. And I would like to share with you a nuance that I've noticed in the text that has been a tremendous blessing to me and advise us all to be praying while serving. Be praying while serving. Notice in verse 11 the word desire, and we desire, okay? That desire, where do your desires come from? Our desires come from our heart, okay? The very core of our being. And then it moves on that each one of you should show the same diligence. And if you're going to work, that is the body working, so now you've got the heart in the body. And then it moves on in the text, not only in regards to diligence, but also so as to realize. And this is to understand that realization is in the mind. You realize things. You think about things in the mind. And so now we have the heart and the body and the mind. And then as you continue to move on in the text, it moves to hope. And our hope is in Jesus Christ and His righteousness until the end. And so what do you get when you combine all of these concepts in the verse?

Well, Mark chapter 12 and verse 30 conceptualizes this when we love the Lord our God with all of our heart and with all of our soul, with all of our mind and all of our strength. And this is truly how to serve. And if you're going to engage all of these areas, the heart, the soul, and the mind, and the body in service, I would simply say to you that some of the richest blessings that I have ever and still consistently experience is communion with Christ while I'm serving. So be praying while you're serving. If you want to conceptualize this concept that I've just described to you, be praying while you're serving. Truly be worshiping God. Essentially, in order to be able to do this, you've got to grab some type of theological nuance rumbling around in your mind. Read until you find something to dwell upon, then go serve.

Until everybody that comes to Beulah Baptist Church, Beulah is a small church until you grab a mop or get on a mower. The acreage that we have and the square footage that we have is incredible. But for those who mop and for those who mow, I consistently get responses like this. I can't wait to jump on that mower and spend time with God. They look forward to just praying and zoning out and being with the Lord for four, five, six hours. It's an incredible time. I mean, it is some of the richest time this side of heaven. Communion with Christ is truly what John Owen spent the majority of his theological emphasis upon the president of Oxford, the mind of the Puritans. John Owen wrote a wonderful paperback. You should get it. Communion with Christ. It's incredible. Learning how to commune with Christ is truly, truly, truly some of the best experience. I mean, forget bungee jumping, forget skydiving, forget snorkeling the Bahamas, forget vacation. I mean, communion with Christ. And it happens while you're serving, while you're working. To be able to do these things is truly, truly wonderful.

So I recommend that. Isaiah chapter 62 and verse 5 says, "God will rejoice over you." John Owen states that this is Christ taking a great delight in His saints. "God will rejoice over you." When you are dwelling upon the Son and you are serving with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, God is rejoicing over you. God is loving you. He's bestowing His blessings upon you. It's better than a birthday. It's better than a holiday. It's better than a cruise. It's better than a vacation. Time with God is number one, the best. And so I encourage you, to be praying, to be communing, to be dwelling upon the things of Christ. And so the warning in this text in verse 12 is that sluggishness is sinfulness. And yes, I'm calling it for what it truly is. Sluggishness is sinfulness. And yet at the same time, we see that diligence is rewarded. And we see in verse 12 the word sluggishness, "So that you will not be sluggish." If the Bible says, "Don't do it," and you do it, then it's sin. And so we need not to be sluggish, God says that you should not be sluggish, then laziness is sinfulness.

Proverbs 26:15 mocks the sluggard. Ecclesiastes 10:18 says that through laziness the rafters sag, and through slackness the house leaks. So we must be diligent workers. We must be ones who are not sluggish and taking care of our responsibilities. For those who are parents in here, pay close attention to what I'm fixing to say. Because I'm going to give you the antidote for laziness. And children, I know you're nervous. This is really going to affect your life if it's applied. But I have the biblical solution for laziness. Parents, you want to get your children into high gear and serving church? Well, it's found in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 10b. The last phrase in 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 10. This takes the laziness right out of teenagers, and it highly motivates the slothful into serving quickly, and it even gets children to do their chores. Do you struggle in getting your children to your chores?

Now, let me give a little caveat here. I love all of our BBC kids. All of our Beulah kids are awesome, and I don't think that there's ever a chore that goes undone. I don't think they ever do anything wrong. I don't think they're ever lazy. But just in case, here's for the parents, and here's what the Bible says, "If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat." So yes, delay that gratification, parents. Remove those snacks. Remove that meal until your chores are done. And I guarantee you they will not miss a meal. I guarantee you the work will get done to your expectations. They will polish, they will clean, they will vacuum, they will get up on time, they will go to bed on time, you name it. If you delay that gratification, if that tummy growls a little bit, oh, believe me by experience, it works.

Moving on, show others how to serve. Teach your children how to serve. Expectations without teaching is so deflating. We must really, truly take them by the hand and not just for children. It's also for any servant. We don't just take perhaps the Bible when someone gets saved and just fling it to them and say, "Good luck." Right? It really takes some training in righteousness, how to rightly divide God's Word, how to read. Nor do we do that with the honor of service. It is truly a high honor to be a servant of the King. If they would enter into service of Christ, they need to know that they're entering into a privileged position. Here at Beulah Baptist Church, members serve. Okay? On behalf of the church, we need to be in good standing with the local church. Members have the privilege of serving. You're not going to get our children's ministry unless, right, we've seen, we trust, we know, the tech booth, piano, singing, even mowing, everything. We want members to serve. You can start greeting and get involved in the kitchen and get to know everybody on light things and start serving. That's fine. But to truly be a servant of the church, it's a privileged position to be able to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. And when you get involved, we need to do a good job in showing you how to do that.

And here's a good illustration, not just for parents or children, but for saints in the church how to train others. I call it the pilot illustration. And you know, in a plane, you've got two pilots. They both have a steering wheel. Okay? And let's just say this guy on the right is a learner and you've got the guy on the left who's a veteran. And so here's the three steps in training for service. Number one, I fly, you watch. That's first step. Okay? And so the one who is beginning to step into this privileged position of a servant needs to watch and learn and be humble. Few words, lots of listening. Okay? Watch the process. Step number one, I fly, you watch. And so the veteran is flying and the learner is watching.

Step two, we fly. Okay? And so when you step two, the veteran is saying to the learner, I want you to put your hands on the steering wheel just a little bit. I got control of this thing, but I want you to kind of learn and feel this thing out. And you stay there for quite a while and you do it together, together, together, together. This task then is slowly being handed over to the learner. And then once you get to the point to where you feel like the learner has really, really caught on, is thriving and enjoying it, then you move on to step three, which is you fly, I watch. You're still there for them as a teacher and the learner is not thrown out to do it on his own yet. He's still got that safety net of you in case he messes up, you can save the day. He's still there. He needs that. She needs that. And this is the same way with training for chores or training in the church. It needs to be a slow handoff, not a quick, flippant toss. This is truly treating the church with honor. This is truly appreciating the person who is stepping up in their faith and seeing that they are to be successful and not be dropped and fail. This is showing others how to serve. And this is training. This is equipping properly. This is setting someone one up to where they're energized and not demoralized. This is a slow handoff. And when you both know the process, you know where you're at along the process, you're both engaged in it, it really does work.

Look at verse 11 with me, "And we desire that each one of you to show the same diligence." So you, wherever you're serving, the desire is that you would show someone else. Each one show one, each one show one, each one show one. A high percentage of leadership failures are right here. They fail to train accurately. Look abroad and see those who do a great job in training. Chick-fil-A is on it. They have a great it's very consistent, very hospitable. The food is consistent. The services consist. Everything is consistent. They do a great job in training. I won't name the other places that don't do a good job in training, but you know which ones they are. You don't go through that drive-through.

Listen to me, fathers. Family discipleship is the same way. Mothers listen to me. To say it and expect it without the training is really tough on your children. But when you show them and say, "Listen, I'm going to take you step by step by step, and in a month or two, you're going to be able to do this on your own," and it motivates them and it sets them up for success. All right, I want to give you some take-home truths today. In this text, there's a lot here, but this is what has been most apical for us as a family discipleship church, and I hope that you've enjoyed so far what we've just simply talked about. And if you were to take home this truth, I would say, "Serve unto God for people." Serve unto God. Your service has to heartfully be aimed at God. You do what you do because of who you are in Christ. That's why.

But how does this work its way out? God is invisible, right? You're not going to do anything. The way that you love God is that you love others. So yes, love God and love others. Worship God, serve, love, lead, bless. We really, truly need to make it our aim to be pleasing unto God, 2 Corinthians 5:9. And we need to make it our heart ambition to do our work as unto the Lord, Colossians 3:23. Do your work as unto the Lord. And so your service is unto God. That's why you show up. That's why you do what you do. It's unto God for people. Unto God for people. And when you have that, then you're fine. You're able to truly serve unto God, and the joy that you receive is from God, and you're not codependent in a situation that you're not able to serve upon someone else's responses. You don't need the attaboys. You don't need the smiles. You don't need the pats on the backs. You don't need the recognition because you are just simply being faithful to God.

I serve, I sweat, I serve because of what Christ has done for me. I was a wretch. I was dead in my trespasses and sins, and God saved me. And now I get to serve Him. I've been bought by the blood of God's Son. He's purchased me. I'm a slave for Christ. I'm owned and operated by God. Thank you for saying thank you. And inwardly, you say to yourself, "Oh, but my reward is from God." I do what I do because the Lord has given me. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

The result is that you are no longer an emotional yo-yo. The result is that you're stable in Christ. You don't need their affirmation. You've got Christ. When you get through with a long area of service, you are fulfilled in Christ. And whatever else comes because of that is just simply icing on the cake. You're like, "Great. Man, I appreciate the fact that you recognized that that happened and everything. That's good. I appreciate that, but I'm so enriched. I had the privilege of worshiping and dwelling and communing with Christ while I was serving." And that's some richest reward that you could ever get. You can't top that, but thank you for recognizing it. So we are no longer dependent upon someone's reaction in being an emotional yo-yo, up, and down based upon what people say or think. "Oh, man, that's terrible to submit your heart to someone else's reactions. Don't go there. Your heart belongs to God. Your heart belongs to the Lord."

And so, specifically in the text, it's toward His name. Hebrews 6:10, "Your service is toward His name." It's for His glory. It's for Him. It's where the richness and the wonders really, really, really, truly are. Ministering or working or serving is toward God and to the saints. I would say along with this same concept is that you cannot be a lone gunman and serve in the church. You can't start to drift from the congregation and isolate yourself and do your own thing. You can't be underneath accountability or out from underneath accountability. And think of a lone gunman on the police force. I mean, that doesn't make any sense at all to have someone with a gun doing the police force or in the military, and neither does it in the local church. You may say, "What are you talking about?"

Let me just share this with you. I have seen over, and over, and over in these nearly 30 years where someone starts serving and becomes all about their service rather than all about God, that they start to drift from the fold, and they start to drift from worship. They start to drift from Bible study. They start to drift from friendships that have become all about what they're doing. "I'm all about my product and what I'm able to do. I'm all about my gift." And they may say that it's about the glory, but their heart is more about their service. And when you skip Bible study or when you skip worship, when you skip things, be careful and not allow what you are doing for God to become an idol because it'll wreck you. And because if you put something before the Lord, God will not tolerate this, I'm telling you. And so do not slowly drift to becoming an island to yourself or a lone gunman.

The local church has been designed by God, and there is a reason why there is an accountability system. There's a reason why there's overseers and deacons and a body. There's a reason that we... Think of the gifts in regards to one part of the body. Doesn't the body all work together? And when one of the members is out of sorts, it affects the whole body. And so God keeps unity in the local serving because they're kept underneath authority, underneath the eldership, underneath the oversight. And so make sure you do not drift away from your relationship with the one whom is over you in ministry, in serving. It's for your own spiritual well-being. It's for the unity of the church. It is really, really a risk to think that in the area in which you are serving, you become like one who thinks that this is the most important thing and everybody should be doing this, and why aren't everybody else doing what I'm doing? I'm receiving all this...all these joys. I'm receiving... Look at what I'm doing, and why aren't you? And you start looking at others in a disgruntled way.

Do you see how that is separating and becoming high-minded? That'll bite every single time. So circle back around and stay in unity. Continue in the Word. Keep a high confidence in God and your eldership and your deacons and serving, and stay in unity. Stay with the church and watch your heart to make sure that you're not drifting away. It's true for Christians that they truly can drift into that way, and so make sure that you don't do that. Make sure...so point number one. I didn't say clearly. Serve unto God for people. And a second point is each one train one. How is the gospel passed down? It's through training. It's trainers training. The Great Commission is making disciples who can make disciples, and especially in service. Be training someone in the area that you're training. Don't burn out. Equip someone to be able to do what you do. You've learned from someone, and now you can teach someone else. And so be training your future replacement. We all need to be working our way out of the job. You're not going to be the man forever. You're not going to be the woman forever. You're not going to champion this ministry or this particular part forever.

So each one train one. And then another point, point number three, strengthen your heart by serving with your hands. If you truly want to strengthen your heart, if your heart is weak, if your heart is faltering, if emotionally you're struggling, if irritability is ruling, if irrational is ruling, then 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 15 is not true for you. Christ is not Lord of your heart. Everybody knows 1 Peter 3:15 as the great verse for apologetics, to have a defense. But before that, Christ must be ruling your heart. He must be the ruler of your desires. He must be first. And as you have experienced, perhaps in times past, maybe you experienced it now, a heart that is just all over the place, the lordship, the controlling aspect of God, the sovereignty, the confidence in how He providentially works everything for His glory and your good that needs to be worked upon. And as you really, truly work on that, the way that you can strengthen your heart is to start serving in a local church.

If you're not serving, I would say to you, strengthen your heart by working with your hands. Get engaged more in the local church. You need more God, more church, more Christianity, more believers, more fellowship, more prayer, more Bible, more of what's going on around here to build you up. And you need more of what's here rather than there. Listen less of what's going on in the world and listen to more of what's going on in here and such. And so strengthen your heart by serving with your hands. It really does make the heart feel good when you get a job accomplished for the Lord. It really does make the soul to rejoice when you get an accomplishment done for the Lord. So if you have a heavy heart, if you're low on hope, if you need a friend, service in the local church is a great way to strengthen these particular areas of your own needs. There's plenty of opportunities to serve around here. Pressure washing, flowers around the front sign, the white arrows in the parking lot need to be painted, plenty of weeds to spray and pull. We need the dead plants that are around the campus to be pruned back or removed from the freeze that came through. We need a coat of sealant upon the pavers on the entrance way. We need our sheds emptied, cleaned, and then reorganized. We need, we got an old printer in the office that needs to be rolled out and lugged over to the dumps, all kinds of stuff. There's plenty of room to serve. There's plenty of things to do. And now it's up to you to be able to say if this is an area that would be helpful for the church, for you to be able to carve away something that's good in your life to say no to that and say yes to something great because the greatest among you shall be your servants.

Let's pray together. Lord, thank You so much for the opportunity to serve You. It is a privilege. It's an honor to step into and to have joys that we benefit from. I pray, Lord, if there's anyone here who is realigning their view of service that You would continue to bless them with greater understanding from today's text. May they dwell upon these things and submit wholeheartedly to depend upon You to fix what they can't fix just simply because they're being more obedient. And Father, even for the deeper needs such as salvation, for one whom here is maybe hearing of You for the first time in a new way. They're not new to church, but they're hearing of these glories and these wonders in You and they're not saved. Will You by Your Holy Spirit convict this lost soul of the sin that they're guilty of and help them to realize that their sin is against You a holy God and the punishment for their sin is death and separation from You forever in eternity. That they're dead in their trespasses and sins and that they would repent of their sin and turn to You and confess that You are Lord and Savior. That You alone died on the cross and rose again for their sin. God would just save them and grant them repentance and the ability to be able to confess You as Lord and Savior. See that they are saved, dear Jesus, and that they grow in their faith and they're sanctified. And that they become a member of the local church here and grow and learn how to study the Bible and move forward to make disciples for themselves. May this spiritual growth path be for all of us here at Beulah Baptist Church, whether we're attending or we've been members for a long, long time. And I pray this in the powerful name of Jesus.