How to Be in the Place of God’s Blessing is a sermon by Steve Sanders, who teaches us three points on how to receive God’s blessing.

Key verses:
Malachi 1:1-2
Malachi 3:9-12
Psalm 1:1-3
Romans 10:9, 13-15

So, we’re in the Book of Malachi. And just a quick testimony, I was born and raised in Kansas, and my daddy was a Baptist preacher, and his brother was a Methodist preacher. Well, one day, my dad was out on the porch early in the morning in Kansas, and he had a box on the porch that had a bunch of baby kittens that were just born the night before.

Now, my dad’s the Baptist preacher, and his brother is a Methodist preacher. They lived in the same neighborhood. So, my dad’s out on the porch enjoying the beautiful early morning with the baby kittens that were just born.

My dad’s brother, the Methodist preacher, was moseying over to his house and saw him and said, “Hey, Albert, what are you doing?” My dad’s brother is a Methodist Minister remember, and so my dad said, “Well, I’m just enjoying the beautiful weather and watching these baby kittens. They were just born last night.” So, my dad’s brother said, “Well, what kind of kittens are those?” My dad said, “Well, those are, uh, those are Methodist kittens.” Methodist kittens. So, it made my dad’s brother feel pretty good, and they visited for a little while, then after a while, he went on home.

About six weeks, two months later my dad’s out on the porch again. Now, these little baby kittens are running around all over the porch. And my dad’s brother comes over again and says, “Hey, Albert, what are you doing?” He said the same thing he was doing about two months ago, “I enjoyed the beautiful early morning weather and watching these baby kittens grow up.” My dad’s brother didn’t forget that, he said. “Well, how’re my Methodist kittens doing now?” My dad said, “Those are not Methodist kittens anymore. Those are Baptist kittens they got their eyes open.”

What Really Matters

I don’t know if you’re a Baptist, a Methodist, or whatever you are, it doesn’t really matter as long as you know the Lord Jesus Christ is your personal Savior. That’s all that matters. Amen.

I think that when we go to Heaven, we’re going to see there are a few more people up there than just Baptists, maybe. The main people that are going to be there, the only people, are those that have asked the Lord Jesus Christ who forgives them of their sins and asked the Lord Jesus Christ to come into their lives and save them. The only ticket into Heaven is through Christ. We hope and pray that you’ll trust Him as your Savior.

We’re just a bunch of sinners in this room, amen? We’re just a bunch of sinners. We deserve to go to Hell too, amen? We do. But it was because of the love of God that someone came and told us the story of how Jesus loves us and died on that old rugged cross. And we want you if you’re here today and you’ve never come to a point of realizing that you have no hope of getting into heaven without the ticket. And that ticket is faith and the love and the salvation of Jesus. We hope and pray that you’ll do that today.

Right now, I want to talk to you about how you can get God to bless you. How can you get a sovereign God to bless your marriage, your home, your health, your job, and your finances? How can you get an almighty God to do that? That’s what we’re going to talk about today. We’re going to have three simple little points and I hope that this will be a blessing to you.

Jesus Loves You

When I was a little boy, I was saved at seven years old. But I had ADD. I’m not quite sure what that is but they didn’t know what it was back then. I guess based on my parents I must have had it because in Sunday School class I would punch the little boy in Sunday School next to me and pull the little girl’s hair in front of me and flick a little boy’s ear next to me.

I was an ornery little brat and the teacher got sick and tired of that and said, “Stephen do you want to go to Hell?” I said, “No.” She says, “Well, you’re the orneriest little boy we’ve ever had. You’re going to go to Hell unless you ask Jesus in your heart.” And so, she told me how to do that, and a week later, I trusted Christ.

I walked down an aisle in a church service and got on my knees right over here, in that church, and asked Jesus to come into my heart. And then, as I was in Sunday School, they taught me what it means to be saved and then they taught a little bit more about what’s called sanctification and then reconciliation and redemption.

Then as a youth, I grew up a little bit and a youth pastor came into town. He said, “Well, you ought to read through the Bible every month.” So, I thought, “Well I try to read the Bible once in a year. But what did he just say? “Well, you ought to try to read through the entire Bible every month.” I said, “How in the world can you read through the time of the entire Bible every month? You’re talking about the entire Bible every month?” And he said, “Yes.” I said, “How do you do that?” He said, “You ought to read 33 chapters a day. It takes about two and a half hours, and you can read through the entire Bible every month.”

I was in athletics and kind of disciplined. I like a challenge. So, I started reading through the Bible every month. Now, I wasn’t doing it to have my devotions or get right with God or anything. I just read through the Bible every month and lo and behold, I started learning a lot of different things.

Then God called me into the ministry, and I went to a little university up in Greenville, South Carolina. It was a Bible college called Bob Jones University. Then I got very sophisticated, I mean educated. I got educated a little bit more and they taught us doctrines like soteriology and eschatology and ecclesiology and omniscience of God and on the presence of God and the transcendency of God and I’ve heard some of the greatest sermons ever preached.

Since 1959, I’ve read through the Bible many times, and can I share with you what I think is the greatest truth in the Bible of all the prophecies that I’ve studied and all the different sermons I’ve heard. Can I tell you what I think is the greatest, deepest theological truth that’s in this entire book?

Look in Malachi chapter one and verse one:

Malachi 1:1: “The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.”

And this is God speaking. God says:

Malachi 1:2 “I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,”

Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest truths in this Bible, since I’ve been a little boy and I’ve heard thousands of sermons and I preached thousands of sermons and I’ve studied great deep theological truths, the greatest truth in this book, is that Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.

Jesus loves you today, ladies and gentlemen. In this world that we live in that’s a mess; God loves you, and God wants to bless you. God has an abundance of mercies and forgiveness, and He has an abundance of blessings that He would like to give you.

God Wants to Bless You

But many times, God can’t give us those blessings because we have gotten in the way of the blessings of God. So, how can you and I get God to bless us again? Turn if you would in Malachi chapter three and verse number eight. What I’m talking about is how you can get God to bless your marriage, your relationship your job, your work your children, your life, your health, and yes, your finances. Tonight, we’re going to be talking a little bit more about finances, and the PowerPoint after the invitation talks about that.

But right now, how can we get God to bless us? Look in verse number nine of chapter three these are the same exact people He just said I loved you. In verse number nine it says:

Malachi 3:9: “Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.”

Malachi 3:10: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

Malachi 3:11: “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.”

Malachi 3:12: “And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.”

Now, as we Baptists, me as one as well, I do not believe in prosperity Christianity – that God is just a big Santa Claus up there and all I have to do is pray and he’s going to bless me. I do believe though, that God, as his child, does want to bless me and He wants to bless you. He wants to bless you more than He already has but the truth of the matter is since I have been saved, I have sinned a number of times. Have you since you were saved?

I have given God a million reasons not to love me and none of those changed his mind. God wants to bless us, and He wants to bless your relationships with loved ones and those around you, but many times God cannot bless us because we have either done something or not done something that He wants us to do.

He’s just saying, “If you will just let me bless you, I will bless you immensely. I will improve your relationships, your finances, and your life by simply being in the place of blessing.” What does the word “blessed” mean? The word “blessed” means to bestow prosperity, goodness, and joy. I’m not making that up, that’s a Bible definition. It means that God wants to bestow upon you prosperity, goodness, and joy. It is what He would like to do as you are His children.

Why God Does Not Bless All the Time

But why can’t He do that many times? Well, walk through the history a little bit of the children of Israel when they were in Egypt. Egypt is a picture or a typology of the world. The children of Israel were in Egypt, and they were slaves to the Egyptians. The Egyptians were a picture of the world, and they weren’t of God.

And God led them from the world by Moses, going through the Red Sea which is a picture, a typology, of being saved from the world. So, they were saved from the world. They were saved to go to the promised land. And so, they were going to the promised land, and they went and got to the land full of milk and honey. They were excited about this because they were safe from the world through the Red Sea to be blessed by God in the promised land. They were all excited because they got saved.

Remember what it was like when you got saved? Remember how you thought, “Man this is great I’m gonna go to Heaven. I’m not gonna go to Hell. I’m gonna pray, and God’s gonna answer my prayer and maybe I’ll get married, have three kids, and a two-car garage, and it’s going to be, I’m gonna…” How did that go for you? Did everything work out just exactly like you thought?

Well, the children got to the promised land, and they were excited, and they were saved from Egypt. They settled down, and they had to get their families together. They had to build their houses, and they had to plant their crops, and get their animals ready.

All of a sudden, Joshua says, “Okay, everybody up, we’re gonna go and walk around Jericho seven times. Jericho was the enemy of God. What are you talking about? We just got here to the promised land. We’re going to walk around Jericho seven times? Okay. So, they walked around Jericho seven times. They came back and then they were tired. They were getting older, and the older we get the more tired we get.

And then God says, okay, all right everybody, get up we’re gonna go and defeat the Canaanites. They said well, we just got back from Jericho. Okay, we’re gonna go defeat the Canaanites. So, they went and defeated the Canaanites. Then next it was the Amorites and then next it was the parasites or another. I’m just teasing but it was another group and pretty soon one of them grabbed something from one of the enemies of God, grabbed it and brought it home, and hid it underneath the tent.

All of a sudden, the children of Israel were not blessed anymore. Why in the world? What happened? How come we were blessed and now we’re not blessed? Well, we, Bible-believing Christians, we’ve been taught all our lives to love not the world, so we don’t. “Love not the world neither the things that are in the world for all that’s in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, they’re not of the Father, they’re of the world. The world passes away and the lust thereof but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.”

So, we Christians, we don’t love the world, but I’ll tell you what. Sometimes, if I’m not careful I can spend a lot of time, money, and energy on that. I don’t love the world, but I’ll tell you what, some of the things the world has made are really cool. There’s some pretty cool stuff. This thing right here is called a smartphone. Inside the smartphone is a computer. The computer in the smartphone is 10 times more powerful than the computer that put man on the moon. This is a telephone, this is a TV, this is my email, this is YouTube, this is Facebook, and this is pretty cool.

And did you know that Costco came up with these 85-inch flat-screen TVs? You can buy these flat screens, and you can put them up against the wall. I don’t know if you have a flat-screen TV, probably. But they do have those now, and you can put them up against the wall, and so what do we do at night? At night, we’re tired and so we turn on our TV. It’s dinner time, we sit in our chairs, and you have to have a certain chair you sit in in your house. Your wife sits in that chair, and you don’t, and the husband sits over here, and that’s not where she sits. He sits there, she sits there. We turn on the television.

Look at what’s happening to this country. Oh, look at the news. I can’t believe what’s going on in America today. America’s gone to Hell in a basket. I can’t believe how wicked drug addiction, and sex addiction are, I can’t believe the border crossing, I can’t believe the woke society. Oh, my goodness, what’s wrong with this country? I’ve never thought America would be like this. I wish Jesus would come back. How come Jesus… Honey, did you see…

Before we know it, we’re spending so much time on the things of this world that the things of God go away and then we wonder why God doesn’t bless us sometimes. If I took your phone away for a week or your Bible which one would you miss the most? Where’s my phone? Where’s my phone? But I don’t hear this; where’s my Bible? Where’s my Bible?

Read the Word of God

How can I get God to bless me again? How can I get him to bless my children, my job? How can I do that? There are three quick points, and we’ll be done. You ready? It’s gonna be kind of quick. Here we go.

Turn to Psalm chapter one, Psalm chapter one. How can I get God to bless me once again? Love not the world neither the things – whatever you and I spend the most time thinking about. What do you think about doing the most? What do you do the most? Spending most of our time, energy, effort, and money on that has become our God. But yeah, we want God to answer our prayers. Look in Psalm chapter one. What’s the first thing we can do to get Him to bless us? What does the word “blessing” mean? To bestow prosperity, goodness, and joy. No matter how many blessings you have, God wants to give you more. Now listen to these words in Psalm chapter one:

Psalm 1:1: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.”

Psalm 1:2: “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”

And in verse number three, if he does that:

Psalm 1:3: “And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

You know what that means? Now, I studied this in Greek and Hebrew, in Latin, and this… No, I didn’t, but I studied this, and you know what that means? Whatsoever you do, shall prosper. That’s what they mean. How many do you believe the Word of God? Well, you would say yes, right? And if God says in His Word, if you’ll do this thou shall prosper. What do I gotta do to prosper? Let the Word of God be found in the morning. Let the Word of God be found in my heart, in my life during the day.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the only book where the author loves the reader. There’s no other book that’s been written where the author loves the reader. And if God will find you, just read. Well, I don’t understand it. Eventually, over time you will. You say, “Well, I don’t know what that’s got to do with this over here.” Just read it. God says in His Word, blessed is the man that walketh not… In other words, he doesn’t get his input from the world, he doesn’t get it from television, or the news. Fox News is never going to change, it’s always going to be Fox News and it’s always going to be bad.

Why spend so much time watching Fox News when you ought to spend more time reading this book? Because if you read this book you’ll get blessed. Obedience to God’s Word brings blessing, and disobedience brings conflict. God wants to bless you. God has blessed me, ladies and gentlemen, beyond what I deserve, and God wants to bless you. Well, how can I get him to bless me? It’s not deep. It’s getting in the Word of God, in reading and studying it. Listening to these words in Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 8 it says:

Isaiah 40:8: “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”

Listen to this passage of scripture Psalm 138 verse 2:

Psalm 138:2: “for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.”

What’s magnified above the name of almighty God? The answer God says is His Word.

One day, there was this man who decided that he’s going to get back to reading his Bible and memorizing some scriptures, and trying to live it more. And he told his wife, “We’re not going to watch any TV or listen to the radio until we, as a family, just get around the Bible, have a few verses, read the Bible.” So, they started doing that. He said we’re going to follow the Bible. So, he started following the Word of God. His family followed him. He had family devotions and not following the things of the world.

Pretty soon his wife taps in on the shoulder as they’re following the Bible. She says, “Honey there are some people following us.” He said, “Don’t worry about it. We’re going to follow the Word of God. We’re gonna obey God’s Word and we’re going to follow the Word of God.” She said, “No really, you need to turn around, there are three people following us.” He turns around he says, “Well, don’t worry honey, that’s just surely, goodness, and mercy who are following us all the days of our lives, and we shall dwell in the house for the Lord forever.”

That passage I just quoted is in Psalm chapter 23 which many of you will have at your funeral.

Psalm 23:1: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Psalm 23:2: “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:”

And it goes on down to the last verse in chapter 23 of Psalms:

Psalm 23: 6: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.”

Mercy will follow you – do you know what the word “follow” means? It means to pursue. Remember when you were dating before you were married? You pursued someone. You pursued them. You followed after them. The Bible says, God says, that surely goodness and mercy will follow you or pursue you. It will chase after you. It will find you if you hide your Word, the Word of God, in your heart. It’s not deep, is it? But it’s profound if we simply start reading our Bibles more, praying more, memorizing the Bible more, and trying to obey it more. God promises He will bless us.

Bless Those Who Are Unfortunate

Point number two, moving right along we’re just about done. Look in Luke chapter 14. How else can I get God to bless me? I want God to bless my wife and my children, and my grandkids. How can I get Him to bless me? Point number two, the way to get God to bless you is – the number one is to get back to the Word of God, point number two is this passage, Luke Chapter 14.

This is Jesus talking about a wedding, and he was telling his disciples it was a point of teaching. Watch what the first person who is having this feast is doing. He’ll invite people that are the most important and close to him at the front of the table. You stay back and wait at the end of the table, and you be humble. And so, in chapter 14 of Luke, verse number 11:

Luke 14:11: “For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

Who’s this talking? Jesus is speaking to his disciples, “He that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”

Luke 14:12: “Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.”

Watch Christians, “When thou makest a dinner or a supper,” – Jesus says I want you to go find, call not your friends, nor your brethren, neither your kinsmen nor your rich neighbors unless they also bid thee again and a recompense be made unto thee.

Luke 14:13: “But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:”

Luke 14:14: “And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”

Jesus said I want you to go find poor people and maimed people and lame people and blind people, and if you go help them, Jesus says, “Thou shalt be blessed.”

Well, how can I get God to bless me? I need God to bless my marriage, my home, and my finances. Oh, God help me. God says okay, go back to the Word of God. Point number two: go find people that are not like you and help them meet their needs. I don’t care what they look like. They can have a different color skin than you. They may not have the same economic background as you. They may not know how to speak English as you do. They’re completely different than you. Go find them and bless them. And if you want me, God, to bless you, go, bless those who are unfortunate. Find them and go bless them.

You think about Jesus and what He did. How many people did we know of that were led to Christ in His home? Where do we find Jesus in the Bible? He goes up to a sycamore tree and finds Zacchaeus. He goes to a town to cure people, and they cut away the top of the roof to bring other people in. He goes out into the country to be by himself and pray, five thousand men brought their families and He fed them. He went out onto a sea that was turbulent, and the disciples thought they were going to die in the sea. He walks on the sea. He went to the pool of Bethesda, where a man was paralyzed. He went to a well where people thought this woman was a prostitute and had five husbands. He didn’t sit at home and watch the news. He got up, and He went.

People With No Hope

Ladies and gentlemen, every 11 minutes I’ve been talking to you, somebody in this country has taken a gun, put it in their mouth, and pulled the trigger. Every 11 minutes in America, somebody in America commits suicide by taking a knife and cutting their wrist. These are not people that are thinking about it. You go study this, and you’ll find every 11 minutes and two seconds, somebody in America jumps off a high-rise to commit suicide. Why are so many people committing suicide? 17 to 24 veterans every day. On this day that you live, 17 to 24 veterans will kill themselves today. Why are so many people killing themselves? The answer is that they have no hope. They see no hope.

Dr. Bob Jones said, “When hope dies on a man’s heart that man that man is well nigh hopeless.”

Ladies and gentlemen, the Bible says Christ is in you, the hope of glory. If you want God to bless you, how can you get Him to do that? Forget about yourself. Get out there and help people. You don’t have to have money to help them. You just need to help them.

One day, many, many years ago, a great man of God, Dr. Jack Hyles, had a conference, and he told us pastors that he had this dear lady in his church, an elderly lady who came to see him in an appointment. She came in and sat down, and she was shaking. She was elderly. He said, “How can I help you?” She says, “My husband died, my kids don’t call me, I have no one. I am depressed, I’m discouraged, and I need you to help me, Pastor. Give me some encouragement. I don’t know what to do.”

He said, “Okay, well, get a piece of paper. Let’s write this down.” And so she was kind of excited. So, she sat across his desk and got a piece of paper. And this great man of God said, “This is what I want you to do. I want you to go bake some cookies on Monday. I want you to go to someone you’ve never met and give them those cookies. Now, on Tuesday, I want you to find someone you never met and make a pie and give them that pie. Now, on Wednesday, I want you to bake a cake, find someone you never met, you don’t know who they are, and give them that cake.”

Well, she stood up she said, “Dr. Hyles, I have problems, I have needs, I need counseling.” He said, “We’re going to deal with your problems next week at the same time. But you go do everything.” He went through every day of the week and asked her to do something like that. She was kind of perturbed, and she needed help, so she marched on and said, “Okay, I’ll do this, but I’ve never heard such a thing in my life.”

She came back the next week. It was a long hallway, I’m told where the offices were, and the secretary saw her coming down the hallway. She had something in her hand. She was kind of marching, and the secretary saw that it was a pie, a cream pie. The secretary was afraid that she was going to throw that cream pie in Dr. Hyle’s face because of the way she left. So, she called Dr. Hyles and said, “You better be ready. She’s coming. She got something. I think she’s gonna throw it in your face.” He said, “Don’t you worry. Just let her in.”

So, she walked in with a pie in her hand, and she looked at that pie and looked at him. She looked at that pie and looked at him and put the pie down. She said, “Dr. Hyles, you wouldn’t believe what happened.” He said, “Tell me what happened.” She said, “Well, you know you told me on Monday to go bake those cookies and find someone to give them to, and I did. And they just started talking. They had all kinds of problems. I couldn’t believe all the problems this lady had. So, I prayed with her. She’s going to come to church on Sunday. Now, on Tuesday, you told me to go bake a cake or a pie and give it to someone. I gave them a pie. They just started talking. I led that person to the Lord.” She went through an entire week.

And he said, “Wow, that’s amazing. Okay, now let’s settle down, now let’s just relax, okay? Now, let’s deal with your problems. I’m ready to talk to you about that.” She said, “Well, Dr. Hyles, I’d love to tell you, but you know what? I don’t have enough time. There are so many people out there. I don’t have any problems in comparison to them. Can we get the ladies together and have a cookout at the church on a Tuesday and we’ll just take our pies and cakes and give it to people?” He said, “Well, sure. Let’s do that.”

Ladies and gentlemen, you’d be shocked. I don’t always preach, and I went to church one time not long ago. The evangelist came, and he said, “You all do this.” Any of you ever go out and eat every once in a while? He said, “Just do this next time the waiter or waitress comes to your table. Just simply ask them, ‘Is there anything we can pray for you about?’”

Well, that’s a little strange for me. I’ve never done that in my life. I don’t know how comfortable I’d be doing that. So, I thought, well, we’re going to try it. So, my wife and I were sitting here at the table. The waitress came over, and said, “What is your drink order?” My wife always orders water with no ice, and I stupidly say I’ll take her ice in my water. It’s ridiculous. So, anyway, “Oh, by the way, we pray for people. Is there anything we can pray for you about?” I was totally ignorant. I didn’t know who this person was. She bowed her head, she said, “Yes, my husband left us last night, and I have four children.” I’m promising you I’m telling you the truth. So, we prayed for her.

The next time we went out to eat, which was a little over a week or so ago, a week after that, another lady. Well, I’m going to ask this one, a young lady so she came, and I said, “Is there anything we can pray for you about? She started crying. She said, “My little boy has leukemia. He’s two years old and might die. Would you please pray for my little boy?”

Ladies and gentlemen, you have no idea in the cars that go by you on that road, or when you go to Walmart or Target or Walgreens or wherever you go, you have no idea how many of them are hurting. They just need somebody to care. And if you want God to bless you, the way to get him to do that is get back in the Word of God, point number two – go find people that are not like you and be a blessing to them. And when Jesus sees you doing that, thou shalt be blessed.

Share the Gospel

The last point we’re done, but the last point of the message, turn to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10 and we know Romans chapter 10. Those of you that have been saved for a while, we know the Romans Road. Romans chapter 10, verse 9

Romans 10:9: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

What do I got to do to be saved and go to heaven? I need to agree with God that I’m a sinner and that I have no hope of getting into Heaven but by trusting in Christ. It’s my only hope. The Bible says if you do that thou shalt be saved. Look in verse number 13; we know this verse too:

Romans 10:13: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

You can be the greatest, deepest sinner upon the planet, and the Bible says no matter how deep your sin is – listen to this – God’s love is millions of times more powerful than your sin, and God will forgive you of your sin.

Look if you would in verse 14:

Romans 10:14: “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?”

We know this by mission conferences. This is my last point, verse number 15 now:

Romans 10:15: “And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!”

There’s that word “beautiful.” The word “beautiful” can be translated into how blessed your feet are. Whose feet are blessed? How blessed are the feet of them that take the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to others. That’s not just for missions. That’s us. Ladies and gentlemen, how beautiful are your feet? Jesus says how beautiful or blessed your feet are. Can someone take your shoe and sock off and let us look and see how pretty it is? Are your feet beautiful? What in the world is He talking about? I don’t know about you, but I guess it’s because I’ve aged. But my little toe has kind of turned sideways; it’s not this way anymore it’s going to turn like this and then my second toe is bigger than my big toe and then my big toe totally now is changing colors – red and yellow, black and white, they are…

My wife said don’t ever say that. That’s terrible, but my toenail has changed, and then my arches have fallen down, and can’t get up. My feet don’t look very pretty, but you know what? My Lord says through Paul the Apostle, how beautiful or blessed are you if you take the Gospel.

Jesus knew that He was about to die within 36 hours. If you were told in 36 hours, you’re going to be dead, what would you do? You know what Jesus did before He died, and He knew He’s going to die? He washed feet. So, the disciples were in the upper room. He told them at night one last time, “I want you to go set the table. Candles on, I’ll be there in a few minutes.” The disciples noticed that there was something different in the air that night, and they were sitting there waiting for Jesus. If He had some message, He was going to tell them they did not know.

All of a sudden, He came through the door with a bowl in his hand. That bowl was full of water. The Bible says He put that bowl down and he took off his outer garment. And the Creator of the ends of the Earth that was going to go to the cross got on his hands and his knees. He took off their dirty sandals and quietly washed their feet. Why did Jesus wash their feet? While we, Baptists, always had been taught they do that at the temple because that’s a symbol of how to serve one another, and while that is true, it makes a deeper meaning. The reason He washed their feet is because He knew that the only people that would take the Gospel when He died on that cross and rose again and was gone were those guys. He knew that the only hope for the world was the Gospel in them.

Ladies and gentlemen, what feet does Christ have, save your feet? What hands does Christ have, save your hands? What mouth does Christ have, save your mouth?

What is the hope for America? It’s sure not a politician. It’s not a party. God didn’t even tell us to win America. Jesus didn’t come to save Rome. He came for the person next to him, that he was related to, your children, your grandchildren, the people you work with, the neighbor who lives across the street. We don’t have to worry about saving the world. That’s not our job. Our job is to take the Gospel to each person that God gives us as an opportunity. And if God finds you doing that, God will bless you.

How can I get Him to bless me? Get back into the Word of God, love it, read it, study it, memorize it, and obey it. Go find people that you don’t know and literally help them. In point number three, tell someone the good news that someone told you, maybe when you were a little boy at seven years old, and didn’t give up on you, who told you the truth, the Gospel.

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s not fair that I go to Heaven. Everybody else that doesn’t know Jesus goes to Hell because I’m not willing to tell them. Get over your fear. Don’t be mad at me. This is not about you. It’s about Christ.

~~~~~~~

Let’s bow our heads together in prayer. If you have your heads bowed, and your eyes closed for a minute, let me ask you, are you absolutely positive if you were to die today that you’d go to Heaven because you’ve trusted in Christ? Are you sure that Heaven is your home?

If you’re here today and you say brother Steve, I’m not positive, but I’d sure like to know for sure if that’s possible, that I could be sure I was going to Heaven, would you please pray for me? While every head is bowed and every eye closed, is there anyone? Raise your hand, no one’s looking and just say brother Steve, please pray for me because I’m not positive I’m saved and going to Heaven, and I’d like to know. Is anyone like that today? God bless you. Is anyone else here? Put your hand down. Anyone else just raise your hand. If I was honest with myself, I’m not sure that I’m going to go to Heaven, but I’d like to know. Is there anyone here today?

And say brother Steve, that touched my heart when you said that every 11 minutes while I slept last night, and since I’ve been sitting in this church, every 11 minutes, somebody commits suicide, and I want to do something about it. I want to be those hands and those feet. Please pray for me that I’ll start telling people the good news of Christ. Would you please pray for me, brother Steve? I have lost loved ones, lost friends, lost relatives, and I need to have the boldness to tell them. Again, anyone like that? Would you raise your hand? God bless you all over this auditorium. God bless you, anyone else?

One last thing if you’re here today and you find yourself discouraged or depressed or downhearted or unhappy, and you want me to pray and want the Lord to see. More important than me praying is that you want God to bless you again. Would you raise your hand? Anyone like that? God bless you.

Father, I come before you in the name of the Lord Jesus and I’m just a pile of mud. I’m just a sinner. But thank you, one day, a Sunday school teacher told a little boy that if he didn’t get saved, he’s going to go to Hell. Dear God, it’s not fair that she told me that and I don’t tell others.

I pray, God, for those that raised their hand that said, “Brother Steve, I’m not sure I’m saved, but I’d like to know for sure.” I pray that during the invitation, you simply walk the aisle, humble yourself, and walk the aisle and take the preacher by the hand and ask him to show how they can know for sure they’re going to go to Heaven.

I pray for those that raised their hand and said they have relatives or friends or loved ones that are not saved. Oh, God, I pray that we’ll be willing to pray and ask God to help us to be bold enough to pray and love them and tell them the good news.

And I pray, God, for those that are going through some trouble today that you’ll help them to trust you as you’re their only hope to get out of that depression or discouragement and help them to find joy in Jesus. Bless this invitation and the remaining part of the service after the invitation. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

---

Watch the prerecorded live version of the entire service and sermon, How to Be in the Place of God’s Blessing, on Facebook.

How to Be in the Place of God’s Blessing — Related Sermons

You may also want to listen to or view these sermons:

A Little Child in the Middle

40 – The Sermon