A Sermon Delivered on Wednesday evening, April 27th, 2020, by
Evangelist PAUL ACQUAH, Live on MZ Radio London, UK
Every person, with no exception, will one day stand before God and give an account of his or her life. Some people might think; well, as long as I am going to heaven, that is enough! But simply hoping to get to heaven after death is a selfish motive that produces a selfish life. We should live for God and for His glory in response to His great love for us, and realize that we are alive for a purpose, and part of that purpose is for God to use us to help reconcile others to Him. Be conscious of a good God who gives you the grace to do good works, yet rewards you well when you use that grace! You see, many of the rewards God has for us are so great that it will take eternity to appreciate and enjoy them. The purpose of this message is to show you how God rewards you when you simply use the grace He has given you.
You are so important to God. Purchased by the blood of Jesus, left on this Earth to live for Him. Christ’s
coming was a surprise to many, His death and resurrection was a surprise, and what that means for us is
also a surprise to many. God left us here to speak about His love and to demonstrate His love. We didn’t
just get saved so we could make it to heaven. We represent Him on this earth, so He has put His spirit in us (I John 4:4, 13, 17). God has a plan for you, and it has to do with doing things in life that matter to Him. I just want to tell you that whatever you are doing, whether people appreciate you, whether they acknowledge your efforts, whether they celebrate what you’re doing or not, I want you to know that God appreciates you and that God sees everything that you do. You are important to God. He appreciates you, He will celebrate you, and so that’s what this message is about.
Hebrews chapter 6:10-12 NIV says, God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have
shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. The word ‘forget’ means to lose out of mind, or to no longer care for. It’s like out of sight out of mind. Sometimes when people are right there with you and they see what you’re doing, they can appreciate your effort, they can appreciate your service, but once they walk away from you, let’s say for a few weeks or a few months or maybe even a year, it’s like out of sight out of mind.
They totally forget what you’ve done, they forget what you offer, they forget the contributions that you’ve
made and so God is saying that you’ll never be out of sight, and out of mind with Him. He will never lose
you out of His mind, that’s what He’s saying. It says God will always care about what you’ve done for His
people and what you’ve done in His name. It doesn’t have to be this grand thing because the bible says
whatever you do, do as if you are doing for the Lord. It could be every day you wake up, maybe as a single parent and you take care of your children, or maybe every day as a police officer you go and you risk your life for the community, or as a good citizen, you serve the people around you. It doesn’t have to be this huge thing where you’re on the world’s stage.
If you’re touching one life at a time, if you’re making small deposits in people throughout the day, the bible says that God is not unjust to actually forget what you’ve done and to forget the difference that you’re making. So, people may be unjust and they may forget what you’ve done for them, but God will never forget, and He sees and appreciates everything you’ve done even if other people don’t see and appreciate.
And so, what you don’t get from people, you get it from God. Sometimes you can serve people and be a
blessing to people, and they can be ungrateful. For example, you can even raise your children and then
when they reach their teenage years, they don’t appreciate how long you’ve been taking care of them and how far you’ve brought them. They get to that place where maybe they’re a little bit ungrateful and they may not appreciate you as a parent.
So, it doesn’t matter where you are in life, all of us experience this in one form or another, where you give
your all to someone, you give your all to something that you believe in or someone you believe in and you don’t feel it’s reciprocated. They don’t appreciate or even acknowledge what you’re doing. But what God is saying here is that, don’t worry if people don’t see and appreciate what you’re doing. Don’t let that stop your love, don’t let that diminish your love. Keep loving, keep serving, keep being a blessing because I see everything you do and at the end of the day the Bible tells us that everything we do, we do it as unto the lord anyway. Always know that God recognizes you even when you feel alone, unseen, invisible, or you feel like nobody appreciates what you’re doing. You’re not invisible. God sees everything you do, and God celebrates and appreciates you.
You are important to God. He sees what you are doing and He will reward you if you don’t lose heart. Your work is never in vain. “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain” (1Cor 15:58). Even the naked you clothed, the hungry you fed, the prisoner you visited, if they forget what you did, God will never forget you. You are important to Him. “And the King will answer them, ‘I assure you: Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me’.” (Mat. 25:40).
Whatever we do for people, we do it for the Lord. Every time we do something for our brothers and sisters, especially those who are in dire need, God appreciates what we have done. The least, those who are in the margins, and the poor who are helpless and powerless, they are God’s people and God will reward us if we help them.
Have you helped people in your community? When someone was hungry or thirsty, did you bother sharing food and water to fill their hunger and quench their thirst? When someone was naked and had nothing, did you clothe that person? Or when a person was sick or in prison, did you bother and care to visit and see that person who was suffering tremendously in pain and despair? When a person was in need of your help, did you open your heart and hands to be of assistance to the prisoners, the homeless, the helpless? For “whatsoever you do to the least of your brothers and sisters, you do unto me,” says the Lord Jesus.
We have a responsibility to live a life that exemplifies the fact that we have a relationship with Jesus. That’s why He said “I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me”.
Let’s look at second Corinthians chapter 12:14-15. “Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for I do not seek yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. Though the more abundantly I love you, the less I’m loved by you. The truth is that sometimes life is about loving people that will never love you back.
Sometimes life is about pouring yourself into people that will never appreciate what you’re pouring out.
Sometimes life is about sacrificing for people for them to just waste it because they don’t value what you’ve given them. That’s just the truth, but you cannot allow injustice or ungratefulness, or not being appreciated to stop the flow of God’s love through us to people.
We can’t say well, I’ll love you if you love me back, or I’ll love you if you appreciate what I’m giving you.
We can’t say I’ll love you if you can just acknowledge what I’m doing for you. There can’t be any I’ll love
you if, or I’ll love you when. There can’t be any clauses, it must just be unconditional love. It’s I love you,
period! And so, we have to recognise that there are some people in life, they could be family members,
friends, associates at work, or even a boss – even if you’re in ministry, they are the people that God has
brought you in contact with to be a positive influence in their life.
Christ is the only saviour of the world. Have you received Him? If you will, please pray this prayer after me, saying every word from your heart…
Dear Lord, I recognise that I am a sinner and need to be saved.
I understand that Jesus died in my place and suffered the judgment of all of my sins.I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and He is at the right hand of the father.
Lord Jesus, I surrender my Life to you.
Come and Live in my heart and be my Lord and saviour.
Thank You for saving me. Amen!