It Pays To Serve The Lord
Key Passage: Exodus 8:21
Date: June 7, 2024
Exodus chapter number eight tonight. Exodus chapter number eight. We have been on the study of the life of Moses now for months, and we are going to continue on with that tonight. Exodus chapter number eight, and we are at the plagues, the ten plagues where God is delivering the children of Israel out of Egypt. Of course, last Wednesday, at the last part, we really focused on: God wants to deliver his people from the oppression of this world so they can properly serve God as he wants them to. That is the whole truth of this. God does that in your and my life. If you are his child, he will go after these false gods that have their oppression in our life.
We have tried to just go through these false gods. There are so many of them in Egypt. We really will not go at that angle tonight as far as a specific false god, but the Lord will. He will come to maybe an oppression that has been in your life for years, maybe from childhood, and he will shoot at that thing, and he wants to deliver you from that, so you can serve him more properly.
We are in Exodus 8. Let me out. Hit me the first plague. Help me out, just say, if you know it out loud. It was the water turned to blood. Good. Then the second plague was the one more night with those stinking frogs. How many, how many listened to that song? Anybody listen to that song since then? Good, you know it? Good, good, good, good. Good deal. How many have looked it up since we covered that? Anybody looked it up since we covered that? Good, something you have. Good, good, good. You enjoy it. That is great.
And then the third plague was, yeah, as soon as you go in there and say, you are coming. Brother Steve’s getting it. There you go. That is it, brother Steve. You got it going over there. Lice. As soon as you are going to their house, are you coming to church tomorrow? No, we are not coming. Why not? Well, we got lice, you know. And you have been in there for ten, fifteen minutes. Isn’t that the way it works, you know?
And then the fourth one we covered at the very end of last Wednesday is these flies, right? Remember, we discussed that wonderful subject of why, how was it the flies corrupted that land? And we talked about how those flies, they like to lay their eggs in just filth or manure, and fertilized, amen. And we have horses behind it. They are not ours, they are our neighbors, but there are fields, most of them have been over our house. And there have been times my wife says, why do we have so many flies around here, you know? Because there is manure in the backyard, that is why, you know. But not only that, they want to eat something. And, well, we are just grossed us all out right at the beginning, you know, right before they eat, that thing, whatever is in their stomach comes up and out onto their food, and it liquefies it a little bit, you know, so they can slurp it up there, you know. So, y’all ready to move on now today? Amen, amen.
We are going to jump in right there. A couple of things we did not cover last week and just a bit tonight. We are in verse number 21, Exodus 8 and verse number 21. If you would, would you please stand just to show the word of God respect tonight. Exodus 8 and verse number 21 of God’s word. And you are there, would you say amen tonight? Good deal, good deal. By the way, I so appreciate it. Sitting here thinking, I know a lot of you are tired, been busy, whatnot, but you are faithful. That is so key, just to build a good, strong, sturdy Christian life, that is faithfulness. It just, God requires that in stewards. That is a found faith. I appreciate your faithfulness. That is awesome. Praise Lord. Four, verse number 21 right there, 8:21. “Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, our sin swarms of flies upon thee and upon thy service upon thy people and into the houses, and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen”—now that is where the children of Israel lived, that is their neighborhood—“and I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there.”
Can I just say a tiny little note there? I imagine there was a fly here and there in the land of Goshen, but no swarms. Notice that. “That no swarms of flies shall be there, to the end, thou may I just know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth, and I will put a division between my people and thy people. Tomorrow shall this sign be.” And the Lord did so, and there came a grievous swarm of flies into the house of Pharaoh. Maybe it started there in Pharaoh’s house, looks like. And into his servant’s houses, and then to all the land of Egypt. The land was corrupted. I mean, just disease. You cannot eat anything because flies swarms or flies everywhere. The land was corrupted by reason of the swarm of flies.
And would you pray with me that God just this short amount of time would really give us what we need tonight? Would you pray for that? Father, Lord, we come and Lord, I cannot give the people what they need for sure, no way I could on my own. Lord, Father, I come to you. You can meet the need of every individual here tonight, so diverse, but you can do it, Lord. And I pray through your word, Lord, and through your Spirit, and Lord, through not a good preacher, just a simple preacher, that you meet the needs of the people, Lord, please. Father, let us leave being encouraged and strengthened and excited about living for you. Lord, would you show us how it really does pay to serve you? Let the people see that clearly. Would you speak to their hearts about that? And Father, we will thank you and praise you for it. Father, we are trusting you for that because we are asking in Jesus’ name and in his merit that he earned for us on the cross. So I will thank you for it, and Jesus, then we pray. Amen.
Thank you so much for staying. You may be seated, by the way. That would be the title for the internet. It pays to serve the Lord would be the title for.
Up to this point, up to this point, the water turned to blood. Well, that affected the children of Israel also. They had a hard time finding water also, and their strings and the Nile River and all that was turned to blood there. They had problems there too. The frogs, one more night with those. Pharaoh’s poor decision, one more night, you know, and that even hurt the children of Israel again, you know. Then the lice, it seems like it affected them too. But now these flies, and the Bible says, no, hold on here. These swarms of flies, they are not going to get into the children of Israel. I am going to divide them for just a moment.
Now let us talk about these first three plagues for just a moment and how they did affect the children of Israel. You know, we live in a sin-cursed world. You understand that. It is cursed. It is a messed up world. And us Christians, we are born again, we are on our way to heaven, we are on our way to wonderful, with the Lord Jesus Christ, amen. I am looking forward to that. I mean, we are going to have peace, we are going to have joy. I think it would be the first time in all your life that you will be able to have total rest. I mean, just like, I mean, just total relaxation. I mean, no worries. You will be with Jesus Christ, you will feel his love. I think it will just, it will come through your body. I think you will be able to feel it every part of you, but just be able to feel his love. And it is wonderful we get home with the Lord. But we have a pilgrimage here where we are affected by this sin-cursed world. And some of the plagues on this world affect you and I. Christians have troubles too.
You have heard the verse, Job 5:7, “Yet man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward.” We like to have a bonfire sometimes out the edge of our house sometimes on Sunday night. If we get out here early enough, we will go crash around the bonfire, you know, and all those sparks will just fly up, you know, because you have a fire. And the Bible says, hey, that is the way trouble is. And do not think just because we are living for the Lord, we will not have any troubles. You are going to have trouble in a sin-cursed world.
The children of Israel, they were plagued somewhat at the beginning of these. There were problems in their life. You and I are going to have problems in our life. And it affects us. The news, of course. We are all thinking about that with the tragedy up there at Covenant Christian. And we live in a sin-cursed world that does affect even Christians. The Bible talks about Matthew 5 that he causes it to rain on the just and on the unjust. And these first plagues, they affected both. By the way, do not fall for this prosperity gospel. If you do right, you get saved, you do right, you will never have problems, friend. That is a lie. We live in a sin-cursed world.
Now, can I say this? And I have said it often. Some of you probably say it better than I can at this point. But if we are going to blame anybody, we do not blame God. God made it perfect in the beginning. Man, the Garden of Eden, those rose bushes, I do not think they had thorns like they have now. There was no death. We were not even man-eaters at, I mean, man, meat-eaters at this time, that time. Boy, I have to get that right. Shoot. I mean, it was wonderful. There was no death. There was no hospital. There were no funerals. None of that in the Garden of Eden. It was a wonderful, perfect place.
What happened? That high hurricane jurors, Sheripan got proud. “I will, I will, I will, I will, I will.” That old pride corrupted this universe, and it brought that down to the Garden of Eden, and Adam and Eve, he went there, and you know the story. They fell, hook, line, and sinker for it, and they took that fruit, and Eve was deceived, and Adam, he knew what was going on, he took it, and both of them, both of them, even he was in the transgression, the Bible says, and Adam, that first man, and death by sin. And that curse fell across this universe.
Friend, I am saying if I am going to blame anybody for this, do not listen to the devil. He is the one that corrupted this whole thing, and he will turn around and blame God and try to get you mad and bitter at God. If you get mad and bitter at anybody, get mad and bitter at the devil. He is the one that is behind it all. He does not come but for three things: to steal, kill, and destroy. That is what it is always about. Sin, Satan, and yes, us. We took sin. You know, my hands up too. And so be careful of that. Yes, we are going to have problems. We live in a sin-cursed world.
These first three plagues affected the children of Israel. We have some fellows that come up here, play basketball. It is just two fellows. They have come to church here before. Good guys. I like them, very likable guys, super respectful. But it was school time today, you know, in our little school back here. And with everything, we are trying to take extra precautions and whatnot. I had to go out and say, “Hey guys, man, I love you guys playing here. Great guys.” One of them, his grandpa has come here many of the times, but I said, “Look, I have to ask you during school time not to play up here.” I hated to do that because I like those guys. Are we living in a sin-cursed world? And it affects this world. And sometimes have to face the reality of it. These first three plagues affected the children of Israel, so it really did.
Can I say this, though? In the midst of it all, hey, the Lord helps us through it, he guides us through it, he gives us promises going through it, he gives us the grace to make it through it. He is giving you everything you need to make it through this cursed world. In the midst of this warped, messed up world, he will answer your prayers. It is amazing. Hey, I can face uncertain days because he lives.
Look over it, if you will, in John 16. It is a great verse kind of along this line before we change gears for just a moment. Look in John 16 and verse number 33. John 16 and verse number 33 of God’s Word. John 16:33. It is a wonderful. It may be the verse you need to memorize. I think that is somebody, Brother Joshua, I think prayed tonight and he said, “Lord, just give us something we can hang on to.” This may be the thing you hang on to tonight right here. Wonderful. By the way, hang on with the Bible, you will be all right. Great promise right here. John 16:33, God’s word there. Look at it. He says, “These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.”
I memorized this verse a whole year or two ago. I have done forgot it, I think. I do not think I could quote it to that, but it was significant when I memorized it because I was, I was messing up memorizing it. I really was, and God taught me a lesson through that. Now I was memorizing, this is what I was memorizing as I began to, on my way to work a lot of times, I work on verses. But I was saying, “These things I spoke to you, that ye might have peace in the world.” Did you notice how I messed up? That is what, look at it. This is how I was messing up. You look at, you read as I am trying to, I will show you how I was messing up. “These things have I spoken unto you, that ye might have peace in the world. Ye should have tribulation, would be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.” What did I miss? That is the key part.
Man, I went back and I said, am I quoting this thing right? And I said, I messed it all up because I missed out on the most important part. “These things I was spoken to you that in Jesus, in me, ye might have peace.” That is the key. That is the key to all of it, that in me you might have peace. “In the world, ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.”
That spoke to my heart when I was memorizing it a couple of years or two ago. Be of good cheer. Do not walk around depressed and sad and blue and talk about every negative thing in the world. Hey, be of good cheer. Why? I, Jesus, I have overcome the world. Is it a messed up world? Yes. Do we bear some of the consequences of it? Yes. But hey, Jesus has overcome this thing. And in Jesus, that is the key. In Jesus, you can have peace, right in the midst of trouble, you can have peace. Peace that passeth all understanding. Perfect peace because your mind has stayed on him. Oh, let me challenge you tonight. In the midst of all these things, keep your mind on Jesus. Keep your focus. Look unto me. Look at under Jesus. Look at under Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. That is in me ye might have peace. So do we have problems? Yes. Do we bear some of the consequences of the plagues that are on this earth because of it? Yes? Yes, yes, yes. How many got Uncle Arthur going on in your body somewhere tonight? How many got Uncle Arthur? You do not know what I am talking about? All right. Everybody said, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.” That is part of the curse. But that is all right. You can have peace in the midst of the whole, and he has overcome the world.
Now let us keep going. Let us keep going. Look at verse number 22. We have already read it. Let us go back to it. Exodus 8, verse number 22. And it says there, “And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell”—that is God’s people, the children of Israel, your saved, your child of God, born in, grafted in—“in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there, to the end, thou mayest know that I am the Lord in the midst of the earth.”
Can I say even though we do have, just we bear some of the consequences of a sin-cursed world, it still pays to serve God. Oh, it pays, it pays, it pays. Not only does it pay for all eternity to serve God, but it pays to serve God even down here. Oh, friend, it is the best life you can live. You will never regret it. It is a wonderful thing. You know, sometimes you will begin to question, does it really pay to live for the Lord? Every once in a while you go through that stage, well, it looks like the wicked is doing so good. By the way, when you go through that, there are two good songs that I recommend you reading: Psalm 37 and then flip those numbers around, Psalm 73.
Look over in Psalm 37, and we will look at 73 in this minute here. Psalms 37, and the whole Psalm really centers around that. I think David was going through a time in his life when he is, does it pay to serve God? And he says, “Hey, fret not thyself because of evil doers. They will soon be cut down like the grass.” That is the way he starts off the chapter. God does. But I want you to see this. Look at verse number 25. David is an older man now, and God is speaking through him. Look at Psalm 37. Let us look at verse number 25. Psalm 37, verse number 25 of God’s word. He said, “I have been young, and now am old.” Anybody want to say amen right there? Anybody will be honest and like, you know, after volleyball, anybody want to say amen right there? After volleyball, he said, “I have been young, now am I old.” Yet, have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.
David said, I have lived long enough to know. He said, I am not a young man anymore. I have lived long. I have been watching, and I guarantee those righteous people that go through hard times, but they are never forsaken. God is always overseeing, taking care of his people. He said, what about those martyrs? Hey, they have a crown of life right now, and they are going to receive it one day when Jesus comes back. They are doing mighty good. Friend, he said, the righteous are never forsaken. Never have them. He said there is seed, there are children. You see some people sometimes on the side of the road begging for bread and whatnot. Friend, no, wait a second. I am not trying to be mean, but somewhere along the line, somebody messed up because the Bible said, “The righteous are never forsaken, nor their seed begging bread.” That is what the Bible says. You have a promise not only for you, but you have a promise for your seed after you. You live for the Lord Jesus Christ, and I said, “Hey, I will never forsake you, and I will help out with your children also.” Pretty good promise. Because at the end of the day, money only goes so far. He said, “But I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” Now, I understand that is talking about spiritually over there. I understand that, but I think it just happens to apply a little bit physically also. Friend, it always pays to serve the Lord. Now you are going to go through a tough time, but it pays.
You said, “Well, I have been giving a tithe to the church. You know, is that really paid?” I always say, do not ask somebody that has been tithing for a couple of weeks because you tithe for a week or two years, something is going to break down, you are going to get tested. But you talk to anybody who has been tithing for a couple years and ask them, Malachi 3:10, is that still? Does he rebuke the devourer or not? I mean, how many of you got a tire that has been holding up a whole lot longer than it should? You know, you do not tell me. I mean, yeah, how has it worked for you? I mean, I drove Brother Marlin’s truck during the 271, and it is still going. I mean, come on now, you know, wow. And it is just shabby for that to happen. I mean, something is going on. I am teasing. I like it. But he said, “You rebuke the devourer.” That is true. I am just saying, friend, you talk to all, you talk to all these people. Tom Kent, and I am getting ahead of myself, but Tom Kent turns 90 on Monday. Ask him if it pays to serve the Lord all these years he has been serving the Lord. It always pays to serve the Lord. Always does.
Sometimes I see some people, they are just trying to the world’s way of getting ahead, and just get caught up in this rat race and compete with the Joneses to get more and all that are just trying to get, get, get. And I want to say, “Hey, go over there, Matthew 6:33, and seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” And God said, all these things, I take God’s way. It pays to do it. At the end of the day, the blessings the Lord maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow therewith, Proverbs. It pays to serve God. By the way, the cheapest of God’s blessings—it is still a blessing, but the cheapest of God’s blessing is money. It is still a blessing. Money is not the root of all evil; the love of money is the root of all evil. But it is the cheapest of God’s blessings. And there are so many. You can have a whole lot of money being bad health. You know, do not do you a whole lot of good. You can have a big old nest egg and camper and go to Florida in the wintertime and whatever in the summertime, and you can have all that. And if your children are breaking your heart and your grandchildren are breaking your heart, it is pretty sad. I am just saying there are some things worth a whole lot more than money. It really is.
This is interesting. Max Jukes was born about 1720. Jukes was an atheist. He married an ungodly lady woman. Years later, about 1900, American pastor and educator Albert Winship wrote a book entitled Jukes—Edwards. In it, he had traced the prosperity of these two men. This Jukes and Jonathan Edwards—remember Jonathan Edwards was part of the Great American Great Awakening with back in the day pastor. Max Jukes, he had studied, he had found 540 of descendants, his descendants. He did his best to study it out. Of the 540 for Max Jukes, the atheist, and married a very ungodly woman, 540 their descendants: 310 died as paupers, just penniless, if you know what paupers is, what you said. 150 of the 540 were convicted criminals. There were seven murderers, over 100 drunkards, and 190 female prostitutes. And he said, “Tomorrow I will show you there will be a clear sign.” And yes, God, does it serve to pay you? Does it pay to serve you? Excuse me, I am getting that mixed up. Does it pay to serve you?
The Lord will show you. He is very capable. He will show you. Look over in Second Peter, if you would, please. Second Peter chapter number two is a great verse. Second Peter chapter number two, Second Peter chapter number two. And would you look at verse number nine? Second Peter 2:9. “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation.” Boy, Joe, you are going to be tried. But he knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. He knows. Job, Job, how are you doing? He is doing real good now. Yes, yes. He went through a time of trial for about a year, year and a half, and it was tough. I am not going to say that was easy. But all these 4,000 plus years, people get the blessing out of Job’s example. He has been getting rewards for it. God gave him ten more children, gave more influence twice as much. It always is in the end of the day. Now, you are going to go through times of trials, but it always is in the day. It pays the struggle. It does.
I mentioned Psalms 73. Would you go over there, please, tonight? Just real quickly, Psalm 73. Just a couple of verses from Psalm 73. If you ever just battling this, does it pay to serve God or not? Read Psalm 37 and Psalm 73. Great chapters on this subject. Look over in chapter 73. We are going to read a little bit over here. Psalm 73. We are going to start in verse number one, if you would, please. Verse number one. Psalm 73, verse number one. When you find that, would you say, “Amen?” Look at verse number one. “Truly God is good to Israel,” I mentioned already, if you are born a Christian, you are grafted in, you are one of his, “even to such as are of a clean heart.” That is very important. He looks at the heart. “But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well-nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as their garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than heart can wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily.” That is what is going through this thing. Why? They are just doing so good.
Jump down, verse number 16. Verse number 16. “When I thought to understand this, it was too painful for me, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought to desolation, as in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. I was so foolish and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee. Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by thy right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon the earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all that go a whoring from thee. But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.”
At the end of the day, friend, you will see it always pays to serve God. Always does. Do not get your eyes on the wicked. Sometimes they will seem prosperous, but that is just short-lived. They will be soon cut down. It is not the end of the story. Oh, no, not at all, not at all.
Let us go over to Psalm 37. We have already been in 73. Let us go over Psalm 37 real quickly there, just a bit tonight. By the way, if you are going through times or trials, I recommend just read Psalms. It is such a good book if you are going through hard times. Psalm 37. Let us look at a couple of verses here in Psalm 37. Look at this first part here. We will start in verse number one here also. “Fret not thyself because of evil doers.” Do not fret because of them, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity: For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed. Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. For evil doers shall soon be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.
Jump down to verse number 16. Verse number 16. “A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked.” Man, they got so much. Hey, you got a little bit, you are better off a little bit, and you are righteous, and you have got a whole bunch of your wicked. That is what he is saying. Oh, yeah, always true.
Verse 25. Verse 25 ago, we have already read it. “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” Look at verse number 35 right there. “I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found. Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.”
I was a youth director. I had a teenage boy named Mark, and God just changed his life. And he said, “Pastor, or I wasn’t a youth pastor. Hey, Brother Paul, I got a verse. This is my verse, my life’s verse.” And so what is it? Mark, and he showed me that verse right there. He loved it. He was all about it. “Mark the perfect man.” He said, “Look at that right there. The Bible says it.” “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord: he is their strength in time of trouble. And the Lord shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.”
Praise Lord for young couples that serve the Lord. They will not regret it. Spend their life serving the Lord. It is the best life. We have messed up so very much, or at least I have, but you know God has been so good to us. You just do right. God takes care of all that other stuff. You serve the Lord. It pays to serve the Lord. Yes, you are going to have some trials. You are going to get some of those plagues, but somewhere along the line, God says, “All right, no more on my people.”
It is a wonderful thing. I mentioned Tom Kent already, turned 90 on Monday. He lives not in a mansion, but he lives in a pretty comfortable house, a nicer neighborhood in the area here. Many of you have been over there. Been married forever, him and Miss Marie. They love each other. How many have been over there? Both of them sick? You know why they want to get better? Why do they get better? So I can take care of them. That is what they are both saying, you know. Someone along the line has got to get better for you, you know. They are married forever. People love them. I heard people, everybody loved honoring them on Sunday. They are loved. A couple set back, it was not this night. There is another couple set back there, right where Brother Joshua Mitchell is. Me and Brother Allen met them out at Sol’s wedding a couple weeks ago. They are already saved. They went to another church over here, and they knew the Kents. And we told them we are going to honor the Kents on Sunday. You know why they came Sunday? Not to hear me preach. They came just to be a part of honoring the Kents. And there are people who love them. They are loved. I do not know how much longer they have here on earth, but God has given them a good life. It pays to serve the Lord.
I thought about Elvis Presley. I thought about the end of his life. Died at 42, just on so many different types of drugs, uppers and downers. He had his own doctor to give him whatever kind of drug he wanted. Miserable. Divorced. Going through girlfriends just because they had some money. He overdosed twice before he died. One of them left him in just a brief coma. His later shows towards the end, Elvis, and let us be honest, but his later ones, he slurred so much you could not understand. He did not even finish most of the later shows. He was just so messed up on drugs. He was so messed up at the end. He did not want to leave Graceland. They tried to bring the studios in the end because he would not leave. And I am not trying to be mean, but he died on the toilet, drugs all in his system. He was so miserable. Friend, I am saying it always pays to serve the Lord.
And God is somewhere along the line. He says, “No, no more to my people. No, they have had enough of this sin-cursed world. I am going to take care of my—I have never seen the righteous forsaken.” I had other things. I do not think we will go to those. And I have told this story a lot, but I think so much, and this is more personal to me, but I think about my mom and dad. They were a young couple when they got saved, and Dad had a good job. It was not filthy rich, but they had a good job. And Dad was a little bit older, Mom and Dad got married. And they were getting fairly close to getting their house paid off, very young. Of course, back then, houses did not cost what they cost nowadays. You know what I am talking about. Boy, I hate it for the young couples buying houses nowadays. But they got saved, man, they sold out. Dad quit his job. They sold their house. They moved up to Chattanooga, Tennessee, went to Tennessee Temple University back in the day under Lee Roberts, you know, and had a new car. Came up in a new car, wrecked it real quick in Bible College. You know Bible College, you are going to get tested. They lost their new car, you know.
And Dad graduated Bible College there, and Lee Roberts used to hire guys just to go forty hours a week to go soul-winning and try to give him saved and get them in church, get them down the aisle. A little bit different in that day and time. And Dad did that for Lee Roberts for a while. And then we traveled. You know, I was a little fellow, we traveled a little bit of church, a little church about to fold, maybe twenty people. And Mom and Dad, we would go there and live there for about a month or so, trying to get the church built up, start a little bus route or so-winning program, whatnot, and all. You know, when you are running twenty, you are running forty, you have doubled, amen. That is pretty encouraging, you know. I mean, you only brought twenty, but that is encouraging. And we did that for a while, and assistant pastor Dad and all these things. And the last part of Dad’s life, he did everything from selling insurance to having his own pest control, had his own business, just him. Never, never got rich, but man, everywhere he went, he would just go leading people to the Lord.
In fact, the reason why I quit so many jobs, life insurance and pest control, because his boss would always get mad at him. “Hey, you are supposed to be out there getting business!” And Dad would be out there winning souls. His boss one time, “Hey, you are supposed to be selling life insurance.” And Dad said, “I am. Eternal life insurance. I am giving it to him,” you know. I have seen Dad walk away from a good paying job and take a lower paying job just because they wanted to win souls. Mom and Dad never were, never had been rich. You have heard me tell this. They live over here in Forest View. But Dad lives on Hallelujah Lane now, and he is in heaven, you know. But Mom lives over there now. And a little before Dad passed, a little before he passed, they got their house paid off. Dad wanted that so when he is gone, Mom would be all right, you know. House paid for. They would come to church, you know, here. And we started the church a little bit. They moved up here and all that. You know all the story. Dad loved it. You know, Dad, Dad, any church Dad went to over the years, he loved it at the beginning. Then a couple years into it, well, you know, Dad just had moving in his blood. So he would say, he would always say, “That is the best church I have ever been to.” And I was wondering, is Dad going to change? He had been going to church for a while. He never changed, you know. I think he is a little biased on that, you know. But I am just saying that Dad died happy. Dad did.
And remember we had some of you around way back in the day. Remember we had Brother Dad Day? Kind of like we honored Brother Warren and Tom Kent, some of these older men, we gave him a plaque. We had a little video. You can go on YouTube and find the video, you know. And Dad had led thousands of people to the Lord. Dad never liked to preach, but I mean, just Dad, Dad loved church. He loved life. He loved people. Now he had a lot of sickness. I mean, you know, he had prostate cancer that had spread some, and he could not go door to door, but he would still come to church, and sometimes he had had two bags underneath you could not tell it so it could not go to door to door, but he had Dad, Dad. I remember Dad telling me, he said, “Paul, I went to Hardy’s over there. I knew it. He did not go to Hardy’s. He went. He went to Hardy’s door to witness to people.” He said, “I got two of them over there.” I knew he was talking. He said, “I led two people over.” I mean, one time he called, he pocket-dialed us before they moved up here. We were up here, and they were in Florida still. And Dad called, Tammy answered, you know, when we had landlines, you know, and Dad had called, but he did not know he had called. And Dad, he always had stick shift, a little Toyota Nissan pickup trucks. You know what I am talking about, the back of the other? Me, I would always love them, you know. That is Dad.
And he had a little stick shift, and he was driving down these little roads, and he would find somebody on the side of the road, he would start witnessing to him. Now, he had pocket-dialed. Tammy just listened. And Dad was never tactful in his soul-winning, and I do not recommend you do it quite like my dad did as far as soul-winning. He would just pull up somebody. I have heard him do it. “Going to heaven when you die?” I mean, he would just boom right here out. He would just ask the right up, you know. And I am not saying, do it like that, but that is what Dad did it, you know. And he would witness to him, you know, and I think they said they were saved. And then Dad rode down the road, and you could hear him. He is in his truck. He said, “Amen. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord.” He is just in the truck by himself, you know, just having a good old time. Then they would pull up by the next person. “Hey, going to heaven when you die?” That is just the way he was.
They lived over here, Forest View Drive. And toward the end, me and Dad went and got a riding lawnmower. He was one of the, I enjoyed the day because we spent most of the day looking for a riding lawnmower. And it was not brand new. We did not, Dad did not do that. You know, he is old school. You do not pay all that money. But it looked new. And he was proud of that riding lawnmower because he wanted it for Mom. He knew he was leaving. And that is the way Dad passed.
And you have heard me tell the story. Across the street from Mom and Dad, there is a house there, and it had a six-foot-tall, I would say six-foot-tall privacy fence. You always went, “What in the world is going on?” All you can see is the porch light was on sometimes or blinking sometimes. Everybody in the whole neighborhood, what is going on? Big old dogs in that yard. And the talk of the neighborhood was, the teenager of the neighborhood said, an ex-KISS member—remember the KISS rock and roll group way back in the '70s, you know? Vinnie Benson lived over there, you know. At first we were like, “Nah.” Sure enough, he did. And he was changing over from being trying to change over from being a man to a woman. And I talked to him one time, you know, he came over and just something about the lips. You know, that is a man’s lips. He had a, she had a dress on and all that, you know. But I can tell him, “Man, those are men lips right there.” You know, I was working on Dad’s car. What in the world was going on right there? You know, I just caught him off guard.
And, but I never get towards the end, Dad, Mom, they called. They said, “The SWAT team is out here.” So what? And they had closed their whole neighborhood off. The SWAT team was literally over there. And he was beating up his wife, girlfriend/wife. I think they were married. We are not sure, but beat her up. And the SWAT team came in. And they came in, and dead dogs over inside there. I have been in the house, and it is just so trashed, filthy. They repossessed the house. Had a miserable, just a just a hermit over there, didn’t want to see anybody, talked to anybody. Just he lived over there, and this woman with him, she was actually pretty nice, miserable. Died over there—I mean, excuse me, didn’t die over there, but just kind of ended his normal life over there.
And I always think about it. Mom and Dad, they never were filthy rich. Man, Dad went home so happy. Man, he is living real good. He is in heaven for all eternity. And this guy over here spent his life serving the devil. So messed up, having a sex change, just a hermit over there, mad at the world. I am just saying it pays to serve God. You will never regret serving God. You check them out at the end of their life. You find somebody who has been living for the Lord all their life or for years and years, and you visit them in the nursing home. Ask them, “Do you regret it?” I guarantee you that they will be so happy. And I have talked to so many that did not live for the Lord, and at the end of life, this man, “I regret it. I wish I had spent my life serving God.” It pays to serve God. Yes, you are going to have some of the plagues of this old sin-cursed world. But at the end of the day, God said, “No, no, no, that is my people. That is my people. I will not let the swarm of flies come there.”
Would you bow your heads and close your eyes, please? Our heads are bowed and eyes are closed. I feel like I rambled a little bit tonight. I hope God may be used it in your heart, your life. But you are here and you say, “You know, I want to spend my life.” Maybe you got your whole life in front of you, the young people, or maybe you just got a few years left. I do not know what you say. “I want to spend whatever time I have left. I want to spend my life serving God.” God just encourage me in that tonight. I want to spend my life serving God. I want to spend my life serving God. Oh, it pays. It pays. You will never regret it. “Only one life, so soon will pass. Only once done for Christ, alas.”
Would you please stand? We are going to have a word of prayer. Would you just spend some time? Lord, use me. I want to serve you. I want to spend my life serving. Would you let me know that? Lord, thank you for your goodness. Lord, I pray, Father, maybe some of these verses someone said tonight would be a help for your people, encouragement. Help us to spend our lives serving you. And Lord, we will thank you, praise you for what you do. Bless our people. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
We just spend some time with the Lord. Let them know on the service. We would let them know then. I cannot remember where it is found. There is a verse. I think my dad’s the one that told me about the verse, but it says, “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth them out of them all.” And you are going to have troubles, but he delivers his people out of it. And you are serving. You will not regret it. You will not regret it. And oh, my goodness, what about those folks who have been spending their life serving God, and they get to go home? I mean, it gets richer as you get older, amen. And so praise the Lord, you are in church on the Wednesday night. I am so glad you are here, every person. And we are glad to have Uncle Jose. Is that it? Uncle Jose, good to have you. Thank you for coming tonight. I appreciate you coming. That is great. Good to have our other guests. Thank you to be with us tonight. And I am honored to have everybody here. Appreciate your faithfulness. Saturday morning, and looking forward to breakfast and soul-winning, and the ladies on Saturday afternoon, and good day in God’s house on Sunday. And we will be back on the end time Sunday morning with Israel, the epicenter of it all. And looking forward to God bless them working on Sunday. Brother Garrett, would you dismiss with the word of prayer, please, brother?
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar - - It Pays To Serve The Lord - Wednesday PM 032923