Matthew 23:1-12 (#80.2024.01.17)

Scott Keffer [: 00:00:03

Hi. If you're looking for greater hope, assurance, and confidence through the shifting sands of life, And join me on today's episode as we dig deep into the Bible to discover rock solid truth for life and living from the God of the Bible. I'm your host, Scott Gepper. We're continuing on to the gospel of Matthew as we See the lord Jesus walking nearer and more focused on his ultimate purpose, which was to be crucified, to bear The wrath of god the father for all of our sin and to be resurrected. So as he does it, he continues to narrow is impact, and we are in Matthew 23 today. Let's read the top. If you'd stand together with me in honor of god and his word, that'd be great. Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and his disciples saying, the scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses.

Scott Keffer [: 00:01:13

Therefore, all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds, for they save things and do not do them. They tie up heavy loads and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men, for they broaden their and link them the tassels of their garments. They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces, Being called rabbi by men, but do not be called rabbi, for one is your teacher, and you are all brothers. Do not call anyone on earth your father, for 1 is your father, he who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders, for 1 is your leader, That is Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, And whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

Scott Keffer [: 00:02:20

The word of the lord. Thanks be to god. At home in our family room, we have one of those Exercise balls, you know, the one that you blow up, and I bought a custom cover, which is, a globe. Literally, the the earth that zips surround, and it's a globe. And I leave it in the family room upside down, which reminds me that we live in a world that is Upside down, inside out. And so as Jesus walks through the Earth during his time here, It continues to remind them that we are upside down and inside out. In fact, that we're in we're in a place where what we think and what we've been taught In the zeitgeist of our age, the carbon monoxide, the odorless, colorless gas that is being pumped into the air by the prince of the power of the air is a carbon monoxide, a spiritual Carbon monoxide, which puts us into a stupor and pretty soon leads to death. So we have to remind ourselves.

Scott Keffer [: 00:03:23

So as he unfolds before us the kingdom, we're reminded this doesn't make sense because in our sense, right, we've got the flesh that we're struggling with and our old man and all of that stuff in the world around us, and he just doesn't make sense, does he? So here he is encountering, Right? The, the crowds and the disciple that said now Jesus spoke to the crowds and his disciples. Now prior to this, He had spoken to the Pharisees, and he, sugarcoated his feeling. He called them you Hypocrites. You play actors. Right? You those who put on masks in order to fool people. You hypocrites. And then he spoke to his disciples in the past about the Pharisees, and he said, watch out. Watch out and beware not of the Pharisees themselves, but beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees, right, the way they operated, not beware of the Pharisees and Sadducees, but watch out and beware.

Scott Keffer [: 00:04:31

Right. Be be on the alert, if you will. That's pretty strong language. You hypocrites, he called them directly, but he says, for you who are my disciples, Watch out and beware of the leaven. Right? Because the leaven cannot only leaven them, it can leaven you. So the scribes were there to study the law, transcribe it, and write commentaries on it. Right? We have, a lot to be thankful Or for the scribes in the Old Testament, because they would literally letter by letter by letter. They would count and number and right? So that that They transcribe just the law.

Scott Keffer [: 00:05:10

Thankful for that. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were sort of the ruling crowd, The ruling, religious crowd, the Pharisees gave oral tradition, equal authority To the written word of God, the Sadducees insisted on literal interpretation of scripture. Sadducees did not believe in it, pretty much anything supernatural, angels, angels, resurrection, that kind of thing. The chief priest and the high priest were Sadducees. The Sadducees were a group that ceased to exist after, Jerusalem was destroyed. They went away. The Pharisees continued, and they compiled the Mishnah, which is the main text of the Talmud, which is Today, the comprehensive guide, the the full gamut of Jewish law and tradition. So if you are rabbinic Jewish or or orthodox Jew, right, the Talmud is kind of the the guide to life for them.

Scott Keffer [: 00:06:10

And it it is It is, equal, if not higher authority than scripture. Well, of course, as time went on, tradition or their interpretation law became greater than the law. So tradition and the law. Tradition and the law. How do we look at tradition? Does tradition make sense at all? Well, of course, it makes sense because we're moving from a verbal, right, a verbal world, a verbal, how did you pass on? Right? In the old days, They literally, they would take a letter, and they would memorize it. Right? They didn't have the written. So, yes, we moved From an oral world to a written world. They were still in an oral world, so tradition did have a a a place, But their their interpretation got to the place where tradition, not only became equal, But in many cases, became greater than.

Scott Keffer [: 00:07:13

So Jesus said, thus invalidating The word of God, thus invalidating the word of God. And how were they invalidating it? By your tradition you've handed down, and he said, and you do many Such things as that. So it wasn't just a rare occurrence. It was happening often, invalidating the word of god. Therefore, tradition became more authoritative than the word. And I think in that scripture, they give us a sense. So Tradition is fine, and there are many traditions. But in order for us to know, we have to get a sense of how do we determine level.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:00

We're going through the house. I'll have one view of level. Beth will have another view. Hers is usually right. And when we build our house, the most important thing, we had a friend. In fact, they were, what's his name? Ray? Yeah. Ray was a builder, so we had Ray come over every week as they were laying the foundation. He brought us laser level kit.

Scott Keffer [: 00:08:22

I mean, he had a big deal Is that the old laid the foundation level, everything on top of it's impossibilities. That's why in an old old house, it's very difficult To do anything, right, square because the old house is not level any longer. So the questions we have traditions that are passed down in many ways. How do we laser level them? We lay them against the word of god. Lay them against the word of god. So the laser level. So he says, thus invalidating the word of god by your tradition, which you have handed down. So, again, not saying traditions are wrong.

Scott Keffer [: 00:09:01

They're just saying, how do we know which traditions are invalidating the word of God and which are not by laying them against the laser level of the word of God. Does that make sense? So that's how traditions are fine. We just know the word of God is the way to determine whether they're appropriate or not. And the fundamental deal was that the scribes and the Pharisees were about, what I would call deliberate an ostentatious, really spiritual displays of righteousness. So I put in there they were spiritual show offs spiritual show offs, because the show off is a deliberate and excessive, Austen Patience, right, display. And Jesus said so he says to them, do what they say, right, as they speak the law. For sure, do what they say. Respect the office.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:07

Respect the law, but don't do what they do. Don't do what they do. And you can write down there, the wizard, the man behind the curtain. So when they were standing before the wizard of Oz and they sing the bridge and powerful Oz, right, and Toto goes over and He pulls the curtain back, and he says, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Right? Look up at the screen. So what they were saying is look at the screen. Don't pay attention to the man behind the curtain. But Jesus said those 2 things should be the same.

Scott Keffer [: 00:10:46

Now you're saying the man behind their curtain was not the same as their display. In fact, they were deliberately putting on display something that wasn't who they were behind the curtain. There were spiritual show offs. So the first thing he says is that they say things and do not do them, and they hold others to a higher standard that they don't hold to themselves. So that is what scripture calls hypocrisy. Hypocrisy, play acting. It's the mask, right, that we put on in a, in a theater production, and it's put on on purpose to deflect who I am really inside, right, who are really inside. So he's saying hypocrisy is one of the things that's a problem for them, but it's a great reminder that falling short is not the same thing as saying something, holding to a truth, Right? That that you have, no intention to follow.

Scott Keffer [: 00:11:56

It's not the same. If I uphold truth and yet I fall short of it, that's very different than I say it with the purpose of Really fooling you or putting on a mask. Does that make sense? The scripture says the righteous man falls Seven times. What's 7 mean? Complete, full, totally. Right? So we uphold truth. We speak truth. We affirm that it's truth, and yet we fall. And we do that, and we confess our sins to the lord, and we Remind people we remind people that we are struggling, that we struggle just like everyone else.

Scott Keffer [: 00:12:37

We fall short. In fact, the apostle Paul says, for what I am doing, I do not understand. Well, what do you mean? Or I am not practicing what I would like to do. I understand that. How many understand that? I'm not practicing what I would like to do, but I do the very thing I hate. The good that I want, I do not do, but I practice a very evil that I do not want. Wretched man that I am. I may have cried out like that with an exclamation point.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:09

Literally, wretched man that I am. Why? I don't do what I wanna do. The things I don't wanna do, I do. Right? What is it? Sin. It's the old man. It's the old nature. It's the Struggle. Jeez.

Scott Keffer [: 00:13:25

I always thought you have to you gotta believe that now 40 plus years as a Christian, I got it all Together. No. I'm I feel more sinful than when I started because why is it? Because, you know, if you think about God and his holiness, right, as we move along, right, my my my view of it Right. Here's here's the reality of where I am. Right? Something like that. So I get the sense when I first oh, there's his holiness. Right? The cross really covers that. Now I am growing over time, falling above, falling up.

Scott Keffer [: 00:14:15

Right? But my sense of his holiness and this continues to go up here. Right? And then I see, oh, He's holy. He's righteous. This the idea, once you understand the infinite holiness, The infinite glory, the infinite worth of God, the idea that I could somehow work To close that gap that I could somehow work to get forgiveness, that I could somehow pay a penance that would be sufficient ever, even for even for remission of my sin. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin. But without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness, and there's a difference between remission and forgiveness. Everybody get it? Remission is the forgiveness of all my sin Because the wrath, the infinite wrath of god has poured out upon his son, that allows for ongoing forgiveness. Forgiveness is, lord, Here I am again.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:15

Here I am again. Is your mercy gonna run out? How many times am I gonna confess this today? How many times are we gonna fest confess this this week? How many times are we gonna confess this? It's a new year. I'm not gonna do this. Oh, Man, that was 5 minutes ago. Here I am again in my heart. Right? I'm struggling. Holy smokes. The remission of sin, the blood of Christ, right, and forgiveness that we have as a result of it.

Scott Keffer [: 00:15:45

What I'm doing, I do not Stan, well, he says you need to understand there's the old man. So hypocrisy. Same things that you do not do. And he say he says they they they lay heavy legalistic loads on men. So legalism is heavy legalistic loads. Why do I do that? I think, generally, it's to feel better about myself. And what I'll do is I'll I'll find areas where I'm good and most people are not. So the the the things that are most important Legalistically are the ones that I have not.

Scott Keffer [: 00:16:30

And then I look at others, and I say, well, you're not. And so these teachers were laying these heavy. And and and Jesus said you'd lay heavy loads upon men's shoulders, and you don't lift a finger to move one of them. Still remember that line in the choice. You lay heavy loads, and you don't move. You you don't raise a finger to to relieve those burdens. So they were laying those legalistic loads. Jesus said, take my yoke upon you, fry, and Gentle and humble in heart, you shall find rest for your souls.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:07

For my yoke is easy. My yoke is easy. Jesus said, my yoke is easy. My my load is light. You laying heavy loads, Crushing loads, legalistic loads. The law upon my shoulders will crush me. You've, you don't understand the law. You don't understand.

Scott Keffer [: 00:17:30

You should study the old testament to understand the infinite glory of god. Because once you understand his infinite glory, there aren't enough laws to to be able to fully describe to us his glory. When you see that, you see his glory is infinite, so the the law just kinda shows us, holy smokes. Let me try one. No. Don't eat at that tree. How'd we do with that? We didn't do that. How about 10? No.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:01

How about 3? How about 2? How about 1? How about right? It doesn't really matter. You should love the lord your god with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. 2 of them. How are we doing? Not so well. Right? It shows you the law by the by the the law, no man is justified. Now, therefore, he said this is what's interesting. Talking about circumcision, he says, now, therefore, why do you put god, in acts 15/10 to the test by placing the neck, upon the neck of the disciples, a yoke, Which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear.

Scott Keffer [: 00:18:43

That's really interesting. You don't only lay heavy loads, but he says you put god to the test when you do that. When you lay upon them, a law, you have to be circumcised to be saved. Have to be circumcised to be saved. He reminds us in Galatians, Amen. It was for freedom that Christ set us free. You wanna live by the law. If you break 1 law, you've broken all the laws.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:17

Therefore, keep what's he say? Standing firm, and do not be subject again to a yoke. What kind of yoke is it? Yoke of slavery. You wanna keep the law? Keep it all. Hold on, Paul. Sadie, if you receive circumcision, price will be of no benefit to you. Think about that. If you wanna be justified by Christ Plus, then Christ is of no benefit to you. If it's Christ plus anything, then Christ is of no benefit to you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:19:58

That's a really powerful statement, and that's what freedom is. This is all of god that we keep his commandments. Yes. And his commandments are not burdensome. Interesting. Yeah. Obedience, but his commandments are not burdensome. We we love the law when it justifies me It shows me that I'm better than you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:25

Right? So we each have our kind of even as Christians, we have our little legal Check marks. These are the ones I do. Oh, I keep quiet time. You don't. I do this. You don't. Right? What are we doing? We're trying to do affirm our own righteousness by comparing it to others, make ourselves feel better, And that's what they were doing. Legalism.

Scott Keffer [: 00:20:49

They lay heavy legalistic loads on others. Laboever. So I put the next thing he says, beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them. Right? Otherwise, you have no reward with your father in heaven. So they do all their righteous deeds for Facebook notice. Facebook is the ultimate personal branding software. It allows you to to display to the world your righteousness, Your deeds. Right? You get to display on Instagram and Facebook.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:28

You got your your own advertising agency. Right? Look on there. You got it all together. You know? Got it all together. So I put there that means for show. Do their stuff or show. So you're saying Facebook is evil? Yes. I didn't say that.

Scott Keffer [: 00:21:52

My dear. No. I'm saying that the that the that the the attempt there is to put on display something that's not necessary. It's the grades and powerful laws, and I can display that. Right? I can display that. They do all their righteous deeds for notice. That's the point. And then lastly, For a special honor.

Scott Keffer [: 00:22:14

So hypocrisy, legalism for show and for special honor for special honors. He talks about the phleactory phleactories. Right? Bind them upon your wrist. Put them on your forehead as if god said put the law on your forehead. I mean, think about that. Just gonna walk around with the bible on my forehead. They're really what he wanted. He said, bind them upon your part too.

Scott Keffer [: 00:22:45

I just can't see them bound upon your heart. I can see them bound upon your head. I mean, it's odd. You think do you think God really meant, like, stick that on your forehead? Rat so it's on on your arm, on your forehead. Yeah. I mean, long tassels. I mean, just the the the whole idea, of course, Special, you know, chief seats, places of honor, special titles. France said an expectation which Today's church could profitably take more seriously, not only in relation to formal ecclesiastic titles, most reverend, Right? But more significantly, in its excessive deference in this world, through academic qualifications or to authoritative status.

Scott Keffer [: 00:23:35

Right? Do not call someone father. I mean, all that thought, again, not that you can't ever and not that You're not my spiritual son, and I'm your spiritual father, but that sense of usurping authority and using it to be in authority and to put someone else somewhere else. Right? So just that idea of special titles Give me honor. Give me honor in front of other people. Right? Deference to another. So he just says, beware. Just beware of that stuff. Beware of that stuff.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:09

Not that it can't ever, because you can turn that into a legalistic thing too. Don't ever call anybody. You know? No. Just keep in mind that whole idea is that at the end of the day, right, what's he say? God is your father, right, from an authoritative standpoint. They're just as picture. In in God's kingdom, Jesus Christ is the 1 teacher, leader, messiah, ruler, and guide. He's the one. He's the head of the body of the church.

Scott Keffer [: 00:24:38

Right. He is the one in ultimate authority. Just a reminder, you cannot usurp Christ's authority. Happens, right, where we take his authority. So it's just a reminder. In God's kingdom, Jesus Christ is the one. He's also head of the body, the church. Why is that? So that he himself would come to have first place.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:02

1st place is a priority, but also authority becomes to have 1st place. And, of course, in in god's kingdom, The greatest is the servant. Oh, I hate that. Don't you think, what are you talking about? The greatest is the servant. Jeez. Isn't it even there's part inside of you that goes like, no. The greatest is the strongest and the biggest. Right? The greatest is the one with the most power.

Scott Keffer [: 00:25:38

The greatest is the one with the most success. The greatest is the one with the most, You know, everything. Right? That's the greatest because that's who we are. That's Not only the zeitgeist, but it appeals to my old man, my flesh, doesn't it? That's the greatest, not a servant just as the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. So he says, I have this attitude in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who although he existed in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God, A thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself, taking on the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men. What? The immortal, the uncontainable, stepped into a man cage into a man thing. Think about it. He stepped into the uncontainable stepped into a human container, And he became obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross.

Scott Keffer [: 00:26:49

And scripture says cursed is the man who hangs on a tree. Not only stepped into a man container, He stepped in and became cursed. He took the curse that was my curse, your curse. Right? The curse he took, god's eternal wrath fell upon him. The only one who could survive eternal wrath is the son who is eternal as well. God resurrects him from the dead, and he gives us a picture in the kingdom, that's what's first. It's not even like that. It just seems what? And then you think the eternal one with uncontainable Power steps aside and steps into container.

Scott Keffer [: 00:27:43

How can Someone with so much power and authority. Its kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. Its dominion from generation to generation is humble. That makes sense, does it? The 2 don't seem to go together. Power and humility? What? See, power means control. Power means I mean, charge. Power means right? I use that in charge of others. And so we know power corrupts.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:16

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. It corrupts us absolutely. It doesn't corrupt the eternal one who's incorruptible. It's stunning that he would be humble along with power. Doesn't it make doesn't make sense, does it? We see the 2, and they don't seem to be able to be together, But he's one with all authority, all power. He's stunning. It's stunning. Son of man did not come to be served, but serve and not just serve, but to give his life as a ransom for many.

Scott Keffer [: 00:28:56

Our god is stunning, isn't he? The kingdom. The king. So he says to us, okay. Beware because you love to point the fingers at the Pharisees. Those Pharisees, arrogant and prideful and all dressed up with their big hats and their things, right, strutting around town, getting greetings in the marketplace, giving me first special seats and all of that, those Pharisees, folks, Pharisees. Well, he reminds us, beware. We are all Pharisees. We are all Pharisees.

Scott Keffer [: 00:29:46

We all struggle to be seen by men, don't we? We all struggle, or at least people you know struggle with that. We all struggle. So I put on there, interestingly enough, I believe we are all wired to seek recognition, honor, glory, and reward. The question is, Who, what, why, when, and how. So the 3 p's. For am I now seeking, Galatians 110, for am I now seeking the favor of men or of god, or am I striving to please men? If I was still trying to please men, I would not be a bondservant of price. So he says, here's sort of right. A continuum here.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:33

Please, men. Please god. And he's saying, this is what I used to do. Right? This is what I used to do. Right? In other words, this is what's natural for me. This is what I should be doing. Right? And I'm usually moving between the 2. Am I right? Sometimes more in this direction, sometimes more in this direction.

Scott Keffer [: 00:30:58

But he's saying, this, we need to work at making our priority our priority. We're naturally wanting to please men. Wanna have affirmation, validation, right, because we're we're struggle. But he's saying seek to make that your priority, your Priority to please god. Where and when? Where and when? He said even when you drink in in in the, You know, in the in the littlest things of life, seek to make our priority is to please god, not men. Priority, Which we don't often think because we wake up in the morning. Once I get with God, I think my priority is to please myself. I go off into a work or I go off into a hobby or I go off into the day, and, generally, I don't need help.

Scott Keffer [: 00:31:49

Nobody goes to a seminar. You know, 7 ways to think about myself more. You know, reminders, checklists. Think about yourself today. Think about how to please Other people, right, get validation. It's just wired into our old man. So our priority is to please god, not man. Next, let's read Colossians 3.

Scott Keffer [: 00:32:10

He says not with external service as those who merely pleased men, But with sincerity apart, fearing the lord, whatever you do, do you work heartily as for the lord rather than for men, Knowing that from the lord, you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the lord Christ whom you serve. So we are to serve even though we're doing other work in other places. We are to serve Jesus Christ with a sincere heart sincere heart. That is ex internally. We serve externally. We serve with a sincere heart internally. A desire in my heart to serve him, Which brings a higher purpose to everything I do.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:04

To to sing the presence of god, right, no matter what I'm doing, with a sincere heart, which means in here, not just to Please, not merely pleasing men. Then he says so that your giving, your praying, your fasting, your serving will be in Secret. And your father who sees what is done in secret will reward you. So often in secret. Right? Often in secret, which means there's there are times in life when nobody's watching. Nobody's watching. Right? And so in secret, if they would pray out loud, they would fast with grumbly faces. Right.

Scott Keffer [: 00:33:53

They would shout out their giving. Again, we could turn that into legalism. Never talk about your giving. It says don't let your right hand know what your left hand is doing. Well, the fact is your accountant will know what you give. Fact is, if you're in the huddle group, oftentimes, you're sharing, sometimes to be encouraged or challenge yourself, sometimes to challenge others. Right? Robert Letourneau gave away 90% at one point, but he moved his way toward that. Right? Letourneau moved his way toward 90%.

Scott Keffer [: 00:34:28

Why do people share that? As an encouragement, not to beat you legalistically, but to encourage you. That make sense? So we can turn it into a legalistic principle. Never talk about your giving. Right? No. The idea is often in secret That I don't need to do it to be validated. And god who sees in secret, he will reward you because you sometimes you wonder, like, what's the point? And particularly when you think about praying or fasting, does it really matter? Does it really matter? Why are we praying for another decade? Does it really matter? Because oftentimes, it doesn't seem like god is listening. Right? He's not answering. He's not answering right now.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:12

He's not answering the way I want. Does it really matter? So revelation tells us every prayer is is put into a bowl of incense. There isn't 1 prayer you pray through your life that's lost. Every prayer is heard. Every prayer is heard, it goes into a bowl of insence. And we have no idea what's happening in the unseen world His prayer is moving and working in the unseen world. And so it's hard. That's why he says, when you do in secret, god sees, And he rewards.

Scott Keffer [: 00:35:45

He he answers. Good to remember. Good for spiritual exercises, Praying, giving, fasting. Because you wonder, does it matter? Because nobody sees those. So it doesn't really matter if If I give more, if I pray more, if I fast more. Right? Does it really matter? Yes. It does. Lay up for yourself treasures in heaven whose master says to him, well done.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:16

Faithful played. You were faithful to a few things. I'll put you in charge of many things, entering to the joy of your master. See, if you think about that, We are indeed wired for affirmation from our from people we respect and care about. So that's sometimes, we will get it here. And so that is to say, do I ever not get affirmation here on Earth? No. Yeah. People I respect and care about, right, Where we encourage one another, challenge one another? Yeah.

Scott Keffer [: 00:36:47

Absolutely. But we're wired for the well done. The year at the end of our day is well done. Right? And to know at the end of the day is Jesus Christ is our well done. You might say, I don't know that I'm well done. I don't know that I'm faithful. No. He is the he is your well done.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:07

He is your good and faithful. Right? We are in Christ, and so we hear the well done. So knowing you will be rewarded And not just rewarded, but rewarded by the lord. Second Timothy says, in the Future, there's laid up for me the crown of righteousness, the reward, which the lord, the righteous judge, will award or reward To me on that day, not only to me, but also to all who love disappearing. So it will be in the future. The Christian life is like farming. You break the soil. You lay the seed.

Scott Keffer [: 00:37:53

You water it. You don't see a lot happening. It's frustrating. Weather, the toil, all of that. Pretty soon, the tree comes up, and Root comes later. That's a picture. Right? Dwell in the land, scripture says, and Cultivate faithfulness. Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

Scott Keffer [: 00:38:15

Sometimes it doesn't seem to matter. The whole the lord says, In times, in the future, there's laid up for me crown of righteousness. So he says we all seek recognition, honor, glory, right, reward, Christians, who, what, why, when, and how. Our our priority is to please god, not men, Serving Jesus Christ with a sincere heart internally, right, externally, often in secret, Knowing you will be rewarded by the Lord. And that happens when? In the future, Mostly. We're farming. We're farming. The harvest will come because the lord will come.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:01

Either come for you or he's coming for all of us. 1 or the other. He's either gonna come for you. Cup. Time to come home. Or he's gonna come for all of us, but he's coming again, And he's coming again. So he reminds us. Right? Let our recognition, our honor, our glory, and our reward be in him.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:21

Alright. Write down the insight. It's a good reminder. Yeah. Don't have talent envy. Don't have plot envy. Don't have gift envy. Right? Don't have position envy.

Scott Keffer [: 00:39:35

Don't have any of that. Right? Because that's what we'll tend to do. Right? So everyone in here, by the way, if you're here, you're a 2 or a 5, and mostly fives, which means double. My god is interested in you replicating, right, reproducing, doubling who you are and what what he's given you. Right? He's Give me a 2 talents, 5 talents, 10 talents. Right? Double the talent. Yep. Double the talents.

Scott Keffer [: 00:40:00

Okay. Right now. I mean, there's, You know, we we live in a in a microwave world where I wanna right? I wanna do it, and I wanna get it. Right? I wanna get Right? And the you know, we also live now in a in a generation that wants it up front. I want all the fruits up front, right, which is, you know, the the the biggest challenge for me in in coaching 1st generation is when they're working with 2nd generation because the 2nd generation kids want all the benefit. They want to be paid, have all the freedom, all of it up front. I wanna have it now. Like, are you on crack? Like, you know, where does that happen? Right? I wanna step onto the farm where the fruit's coming out, and I wanna be able to Have a balanced life and, you know, enjoy myself and take time off and, like Without the work.

Scott Keffer [: 00:40:51

Yeah. I mean, somebody dropped you on a farm, and maybe if you've been dropped on a farm, it's already been been been you know, the the ground's been tilled and seeded and Right? The the the the orchard's working. Right? Which is why, you know, typically, 3rd generation shirt sleeves The shirt sleeves in 3 generations. Or in England, they'd say clogs to clogs in 3 generations. Right? By the 3rd, it's just the the orchard's gone. But, spiritually, it's the same principle, right, that we need the all bearing fruit, right, bearing fruit And and the hard and it's in the future. Right? And as you said, Mike, in Hebrews, they did not receive what was promised. Future reward.

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:38

That's a great Well great. Yeah. They didn't they didn't receive it in this in the life in the earthly life. Yes. They did receive

Speaker B [: 00:41:47

it. I see the conflict here or potential conflict and how we deal with that. So Just my thought. Thank you.

Scott Keffer [: 00:41:55

No. That's very that's very helpful. So to me, here's here's how I deal with that, Roger. The horse is prepared The day of battle, victory belongs to the lord. The horse is prepared, but victory, Fruit result belong to the lord. So to me, it's upon me to prepare my horse, to prepare my myself for battle, my skills. You know? The The the soldier was dressed, armored, sword, right, sharp, horses prepared, you know, horse Saddle, all of that stuff, trained and ready to go, but on the end, victory, fruits, result, all of that. So faithfulness to be prepared the best that I can be for that, and then I trust the lord on the other side.

Scott Keffer [: 00:42:42

And I always ask for anointed preparation as as well as anointed battle. Right? Anointed I need his his grace and mercy in my preparation As well as his grace and mercy in the battle. Right? But the end victory belongs to the lord in in in all of this. Right? So he's given us a a picture, he himself, and, trust that you were encouraged today to, continue to Press in and press on as we move forward here. And may the lord bless you. May he keep you. May he cause his face shine upon you. May he lift up his countenance and grant you his shalom deep in your soul.

Scott Keffer [: 00:43:25

May the grace of the lord Jesus Christ, the love of god the father, And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you now, today, and always. Lord bless you and keep you. Thanks for listening. I hope you have greater hope, assurance, and confidence in your life and a deeper trust in the God of the Bible and his son, Jesus Christ. Until next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And may the lord lift up his countenance on you and give you his peace, his shalom in your soul and in your life. Until next time, may god bless you and keep you.