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Amen. Psalms number 68, the verse that I wanted to focus on is verse number 19, which says, Blessed be the Lord, who daily, daily loateth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation, selah. And the title of my sermon is this, The Benefits of Being a Good Christian. Amen. The Benefits of Being a Good Christian. The title of my sermon is not The Benefits of Being a Christian. What do I mean a Christian? I'm talking about just someone who's saved. You know, someone who has the name of the Lord. Like the Bible says, if my people, which are called by my name, which shall humble themselves and pray and turn from the evil ways. So it's not necessarily someone who's living for the Lord, I mean a Christian, but when I'm talking about a good Christian, I'm talking about someone who's following Christ. You know, a disciple in a sense. Like Christ said, whosoever forsaken not all that he has, he cannot be my disciple. Being born again and being a disciple are two different things. So when you see right here in this verse, where it says, blessed be the Lord, who daily, I love that, not yearly, not every ten years, not every fifty years, but daily loateth us with benefits. What are benefits? Benefits is just good things. Blessings you can say. Amen. And I just want to remind you guys today that look, it's always worth it to live for the Lord. Always worth it. And I'm going to talk about six benefits that we get by being good Christians. I'm going to get into detail with five and then I'm going to mention number six towards the end. You know, but if you have your Bible, go ahead and go to Exodus chapter number three. Go ahead and go to Exodus chapter number three. You know, so one of the benefits, or the first benefit I want to talk about, you know, when it comes to serving the Lord, when it comes to being a good Christian, God's going to bless you, but I want to be specifically like, what benefits? Like in what way? What way, shape or form are going to be blessed by God? Because look, we can all lose faith. We can all get weak. We can all quit. It happened to the apostles. It happened to Peter. He quit. It happened to Mark. He quit. Amen. It happened to other apostles, other prophets in the Old Testament. They ended up quitting. Jonah ended up quitting. You know, he did the job, but he wasn't really happy, you know, that he had to do what he did. You know, but in the end, look, we can all have these thoughts that creep in our hearts where it's like, man, Sunday again, Wednesday night, soul winning again. Oh, man, I don't know if I can keep this up. There's literally people that are born again, saved, because we get them born again. We help them to get born again. You know, we witness to them. We get them saved on a weekly basis, but they do not come. Why? Because they think, I can't be a Baptist. Translation, I can't serve God. You know, I'm too sinful. I do this. I do that. I do whatever. So they stay away and they don't show up. But the one that says, you know what, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. They're the ones that show up. Isn't that why you're here? Because you want to serve the Lord. Amen. Because you probably realize really quickly, if you're not getting benefits from God, you're probably getting a beat down from God. Amen. And it doesn't take a genius to realize which one's the better one. You know, because, hey, I come to church and one of the reasons is I don't want to get a beat down from God. I don't want to get spanked. I don't want to get chastised. You know, I want to be right with the Lord. If I'm going to suffer, and look, the Bible promises that we're going to suffer. You know, if I'm going to suffer, I want to suffer for righteousness sake because then it's not in vain. I'll be rewarded in this life and the next. Amen. But one of the things that God will reward you with, if you're serving Him, if you're right with Him, you know, if you're a good Christian, one of the benefits He'll give you is that He'll be with you. His presence will be with you. So you stay right there in Exodus. I just want to read a few verses. You know, Philippians 4.4 says this, rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. This is the attitude we need to have. When things get tough, it's like, don't worry, the Lord is with us. He has not forsaken us. He's with us. Are you sure He's with us? Oh, He's with us. They just bombed our building. Are you sure He's with us? Oh, He's with us. Amen. Unless you're a false prophet in case you see the difference, you're like, oh, well, I see the hand of protection is gone. You know, you got your building blown up. Well, I guess God ain't with you, brother. No, no, no, no. Things can get tough, but always remember, if you're right with the Lord, and how do you know if you're right with the Lord? Just ask yourself, how's your heart? Do you have a clean heart? Well, as far as I can tell, well, as far as I can tell, then I guess you're right with God. You're a good Christian. Keep pushing forward. But you know when you have something in your heart, you know when you have iniquity in your heart. It's not hard when things go bad to say, oh, I know why this happened, because I'm doing X, Y, and Z, or I should be doing this, or I'm failing to do this. It's not really that difficult to figure out whether the bad that's coming to you is because it's sin. You know, but sometimes we may be confused, like, Job, like, what's going on? Am I doing something wrong, Lord? You know, what's the deal here? You know, but if you're like, hey, I just don't know what's going on, Lord. Hey, He revealed to me my secret faults. I already confessed, you know, possibly could confess. Then you know what? If you confessed it, and you're still getting chastised, or something bad's happening, God just doesn't want you to confess things. He wants you to forsake them, amen? Because the Bible says whosoever confesses and forsake him, two things, those people will prosper. God will continue to use you and bless you and help you to prosper, amen? You know, but what it says right here, oh, let me read Matthew 28, 18. The Bible says, Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I command of you, and, Lord, I am with you always, and I love this part, even until the end of the world, amen? He's with you always. Even when you feel like, man, I don't know if the Lord's with me, He's with you. Are you right with him, as far as you can tell? As far as I can tell, he's with you. The Bible makes it clear over and over again. 2 Chronicles 16, 9 says this, for the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him. So that's the first question to ask yourself, bad things happen. Well, how's your heart? Well, it's filled with iniquity. You know, I've just been doing X, Y, and Z so much, you know, I've been poisoning my heart. Well, get it right. Clean your hearts. You know, draw nigh to God, he'll draw nigh to you, amen? Another verse, Proverbs 15, 3, the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. So he's there. He's there with you, and of course, we know the Holy Spirit indwells in us, but you know that God's power is not upon the soul winner, that's in fornication, amen? God's power is not, you know, with the Christian that's committing adultery. It's just not. You know, those people are going to receive chastisement really bad. And of course, when you know you're doing wrong, just do what David did, Lord, restore unto me the joy of my salvation. And that's the thing, if you're obviously, you know, going through tribulations or trials or temptations or whatever the case may be, you know, those things, bad things should still happen, but you can still have peace, you can still have joy throughout those things. But you know what? When you're miserable, bad things will happen, you're just super miserable, you're just not happy. You could be like David, where you might have some sin in your life, and you need to just come to God, confess and say, I'm sorry, and have God restore the joy back of your salvation, give it back to you, amen? But here's an example, how God is there, even when you don't think He's there, sometimes you may wonder, is God really going to come through, is God really going to make things happen? You know, perfect example is the story of Shat-Jak-Mitchak and Abednego, I'm just going to quickly read it, you guys stay right there in Exodus 3, you know, but this is a great story, or a great example of what I'm talking about, that God's presence is there when you're right with Him, God's presence is there when you're a good Christian, God's presence is there when you're following Him, even when you don't think He is, because remember what happened. He says, hey, is your God able to deliver you? That's what Nebuchadnezzar said, and they said, oh yeah, our God is able to deliver us, but if not, so they're kind of saying, but we don't know if He's going to, you know, we're still not going to worship your golden image, amen? But let's just open up your ears and just quickly read it, because I love this story, and I'll pick it up in verse number 23, where it says, and these three men, Shat-Jak-Mitchak and Abednego, fell down bound in the midst of the burning fiery furnace, then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste and spake and said unto his counselors, did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, true, O king. He answered and said, lo, I see four men lose walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt in the form of the first. It's like the Son of God. So if your church is going through persecution, unless you can clearly tell, hey, our church has major sin going on, take it to the bank, God is with you, no matter how ugly it looks. I mean, look how ugly it got to the point where they got cast into the fire. I mean, once they saw the flames, I wonder what they were thinking. This is it, boys. Hey, we're about to go. It was a great run. Oh, well, seems like you aren't going to get delivered. And as soon as the soldiers grab Shat-Jak-Mitchak and Abednego, they're probably thinking, we're doomed, we're done, it's over. I guess the Lord's not going to deliver us out of this one. Then they get tossed into the fire, miracle happens. Sure enough, hey, it's clear that his presence was with them in the fire, amen? And that's how God is. He sees things even when you think he's not. You're like wondering, where are you, God? You know, these wicked people are rising against me, these wicked pastors are speaking against me, lying against me, railing against me. You know, where are you? Do something, help! But you know what, just remember, he's there. He's there if you're a good Christian, amen? And if not, he may just pull away from you and allow you to come home a little early like King Saul, amen? You know, but you're right there in Exodus chapter 3. I'll just read one verse, just to add more evidence to what I'm talking about. This is when God appears onto Moses and he tells him, hey, I've seen the affliction, I've heard the cry. Let's read it together. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters for I know their sorrows. Hey, this is for us in 2021. He knows our sorrows. We're going to go through things. Things are going to happen, financial, physical, you name it. You could be the next person that gets hit by Corona. Hopefully nobody ends up in the hospital. But to my knowledge, we've had at least two people from our church end up in the hospital. It's not fun. The bills rack up. They won't let you out. You know, they start to threaten you. Well, you can't leave if you do, you know, whatever's going to happen. It's not enjoyable whatsoever. And so keep praying for each other. Keep praying that, hey, nobody gets that bad. If you end up getting it, by all means, hopefully worst case scenario, you lose your sense of smell, I guess. But I hope nobody ends up in a hospital and a respirator, you know, fighting for their lives because that's not good. You know, that's not fun, especially when the bills start coming in. It's crazy. It's crazy. Amen. But remember, a good Christian can always take it to the bank. God is with me. Even when people start doubting you. Are you sure, Joe, the guy's with you? Look, I don't know what I've done wrong. You know, but even if he slays me, hey, I'm still going to worship him. I'm still going to trust him. Amen. Just a few more verses. You know, Psalms 34, 15 says the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry. He's watching. He's looking at you. You're righteous. Hey, you're a delight to his soul. He loves us when we do right. You know what, even if you're doing wrong, he still loves you, but the difference is he's going to chastise you. So let's motivate ourselves to do right. Psalms 46 says this, God is our riches and strength, our very present help in trouble. Our very present help. It actually gives you some hope that you're doing everything you possibly can. You're keeping the basics. I always ask people, are you keeping the basics? You know, I get hit up with questions. Brother, you know, things are going bad. I'm like, hey, just make sure you're keeping the basics. What are the basics? Bible reading, prayers, soul winning church. He's going to talk about Bible meditation. I'm doing those things. Well, how's your heart as far as you can tell? I don't know. I mean, I think I'm good. Then take it to the bank. God's just testing you because God tries our hearts. Amen. To see what you're made of, to see what missions he can use you for. It's going to happen. You know, so when bad, hey, just take it to the bank. If it's bad, bad things happen, sicknesses, you name it, hey, just remember Job before you start getting a little carried away. Lord, Lord, please. You know, I'm sorry. Because, hey, we're trying. Everybody here is here because you want to serve the Lord. You want to do right. You don't want to waste your life. You don't want to live a life of vain, glory. You know, you want to do something big for God. You want to be used by God. And by all means, you know what, we're all going to have moments of weaknesses but if you're doing right, when you look at the world and it seems like they're enjoying life like nothing, you know, they're enjoying everything, it seems like, oh, wow, man, these people are, are you sure that, you know, they're, they're, you know, basically, like really as happy as they look? The answer is always no. But they try to make it seem like the answer is yeah, you know, or try to give it away like sometimes, you know, but when they're in the public eye, you know, the world, the Hollywood celebrities, I mean, you name it, politicians, you name it, you know, false prophets, you name it. Sometimes I wonder, what's up with these guys? You know, are they ever going to get chastised? Oh, it's coming. You know, it's coming. You can take that to the bank and we'll cover that in a second. You know, but I'll just go through Hebrews 13 five and while I'm reading Hebrews 13 five, go ahead and go to Acts 12. Go to Acts 12, chapter number one, you know, chapter number 12, meet me in verse one, please. So the first benefit of being a good Christian and look, we all need this type of sermon because it's hard, you know, to serve the Lord. The Bible says endure hardness, amen. We constantly need to be reminded it'll be worth it. The suffering will be worth it. The pain will be worth it. You know, all the crap you're taking from your family and friends and neighbors in the world, it's all going to be rewarded one day. Just keep coming to church. Don't worry about what anybody else is saying. Just keep coming, keep doing what's right. Hey, at the bare minimum, God says you're getting benefits daily, you know. I don't know if anybody here is suffering majorly with health problems, but I think we're all doing pretty decent, amen. Nobody's going to have perfect health. I know I don't have perfect health. If you do, great, but we'll see you in 20 years, amen.