The Lord Jesus said that a good man out of the goodness of his heart produces goodness. The evil man out of the wickedness in his heart produces wickedness. Whatever is in a man’s heart determines a man’s life.

A carpenter made 3 wooden containers. One of them was used to store water, it was called a water pail. Another was used to store rice, it was called a rice pail. Money, money pail

All three were wooden containers. But because of what they stored, their reputation and value were different.

God has made the hearts of man all the same. All were made in the likeness of God and was good. But what is stored within the heart is different, resulting in different people, different lives, and different endings.

As Christians, what should we always have in our hearts? What should we always have so that we have a beautiful end to our lives?

Discussed in previous sermons:

1. Always have a good conscience
2. Always have a God fearing heart
3. Always have a heart of giving life David

4. Always have a heart of endurance

5. Always let brotherly love continue in your heart
   Heb 13:1-3
   Here encourages us to always have brotherly love. ‘Let’ means this is a command, not of Man but God. ‘To continue’ means brotherly love has stopped. As the Lord Jesus has said, because lawlessness abounds, the love of Man grows cold. Originally brotherly love was present but it no longer fo
   Brotherly love means to disregard matters and race as long as he’s baptised in the Lord, he’s our brother. But today some people only like to entertain elders and ministers, or brethren from afar. But towards brethren around them, they treat them as strangers. They’re not even willing to smile at them. Is this what Jesus meant by brotherly love?

v2 says not to forget to entertain strangers, as they were very few inns in the older times. Guests with nowhere to stay had their lives in danger. Therefore to receive strangers overnight was a moral responsibility in those days. Perhaps one day you or your family members also go on a long journey. If no one takes them in for the night, where would they stay? If you yourself don’t willingly receive strangers, you have nothing to say when others don’t receive you.

v2 says not to forget implies sometimes we do forget. But let’s not continue forgetting.
Why do we forget? Because often we feel entertaining strangers is a huge sacrifice and we’re on the losing end. If we keep on receiving guests, it’s a huge expense on our part and we may become discouraged. Unless we are wealthy. We’d be discouraged because we don’t see any reward. Perhaps Man will forget your love for them. But will God also forget your labour of love?

Receiving brothers and strangers in love isn’t just between Man but also between Man and God. If we only have Man in mind when we receive Man, we would be discouraged. But when we have God in mind, we would be able to continue helping others because we know God is righteous.

“By so doing, some have unwittingly entertained angels.”
We know this refers to Abraham. He really had brotherly love. He received these strangers with love. He wasn’t passive, he was active! When guests knock on your door, you’d find it hard to refuse them. But Abraham wasn’t passive but active in receiving the guests! He saw from afar three men resting beneath a tree, probably not wanting to bother him. But Abraham ran forward and requested they he be allowed to receive them.

What’s so special about Abraham? Why was he specifically blessed by God? This was something very special about him. He was very willing and very active in receiving guests. He laboured in love without expecting to receive anything in return. God knew of his love and personally blessed him. What he has sacrificed was just material wealth, but what he received in return was spiritual blessings.

Indeed we need to sacrifice to receive ppl in love. We receive others and they forget about you. We may be discouraged. But think about God. You’re not doing it for the sake of Man but God. Man may forget what you’ve done for them but God will surely remember.

v3 remember the prisoners and those who are mistreated since you also are in the body
We are now free and not bound. But you never know you may lose your freedom and have sufferings in the future. In such a time, would it not hope someone will encourage and comfort you? Therefore today when you see someone suffering stretch out your hand to comfort. But today so many people are suffering! How can you help so many? Or course we can’t help everyone. But we can remember them, especially in prayers. Pray to God to have mercy on those who are suffering. This is something everyone can do. Put in a little effort and remember them in our prayers. If we don’t even remember those who are suffering in normal times, would you actually help a person suffering when you meet him?

Jesus tells us to love one another. He doesn’t tell us to love everyone because he knows we don’t have the power to do so. So He emphasises to love our neighbour. It’s difficult to love everyone, it’s much easier to love our neighbours since we don’t have many.

Therefore when our neighbours meet with difficulties, we should help them.

The question is: who is our neighbour? Just those who live next to us? Jesus doesn’t mean this. What He means by neighbour is that anybody we meet with and those whose difficulties we see.

Luke 10:33-37
Someone fell in hard times. Three men passed by. The first a priest. The second a Levite. The third the good samriataj. The Lord Jesus asked, “Which of these three was neighbour to him who fell in hard times?”
We all know who would be our neighbour. Jesus says, “Go and do likewise.”

Therefore when we meet with someone who has fallen into hard times or someone in difficulty comes to us for help, will we be like the priest who passes by, or like the Levite who pretends not to see him? If we were to witness this we’d be very angry. “What kind of priest is this? Tell us to love but himself doesn’t love!” “The Levite is worse! Obviously see but pretend not to see! I’m not the Levite who has no love what I just haven’t seen someone who has fallen into hard times.”

We have many excuses for the wrongs we have done. But this Good Samaritan saw him and immediately went to help. Let’s not just be indignant and scold everyone. We should also reflect whether we should be scolded as well. If we have been moved to compassion but don’t go forward and help how different are we from the priest and Levite. Actually all of us have a heart of compassion. But few are willing to stretch out their hands. They’re waiting for others to stretch out their hands. Everyone is waiting for each other to help the man in need

“Go and do likewise.”

A shop had these words in it “We’re selling puppies.” A child asked the owner, “How much?”
“Between $30-50.”
“Can I see them first?”
“Sure.”
He took the dogs out, a mother and her puppies.
The child noted the puppy that was weak and behind. The owner noticed the child’s fixation.
The owner said, “This puppy is crippled. I’ve taken it to the vet. It’ll be crippled for the rest of its life.”
“Then I’ll buy this dog.”
The shop owner was surprised. “If you offer it free to people, it’ll probably be rejected. What more bought!”
“If you really want this puppy, I’ll give it to you for free!”
The child was sad when he heard this. “No I’ll pay for it. This puppy is worth every cent like the others.”
The owner reminded him, “Are you sure? Reconsider. This puppy is crippled. It can’t play with you!”
“I know.” The child raised his pants. He too was crippled. “I too am crippled. I can’t run around like other children. So I can understand the pain of being crippled. This crippled puppy needs an ownder that understands it.”
Teary eyed the owner said “I hope very puppy will meet a good owner like you that understands it”

The Good Samaritan was a good owner. The injured man wasn’t his servant. But he understood the pain. He went to help. In fact his help went beyond - he brought him to an inn knowing the wounds wouldn’t heal immediately. Who was going to pay for the inn stay and who was to take care of the injured man? He was willing to pay more money to the inn keeper to take care of the injured man. He promised to pay extra when he returned.

No wonder Jesus said “go and do likewise.” Let’s pray for God to help us to let brotherly love continue in our hearts. This is something Jesus knows is hard. That’s why He gives us this new commandment to love others just as Jesus loved us. We have freely received the Lord Jesus love. We have been moved and are grateful. Should we not learn from His example to love those who are in need?

1. Always have the word of Christ dwell richly in you
   Col 3:16
   Paul exhorts the believers to let the word of Christ dwell richly in them. If we’re truly a Christian, we would let the word of God dwell in us. Because we know that word of God is important to our spiritual lives. If our bodies are lacking in food, we’d feel weak and strengthless.

When the speaker was young and went hungry, he didn’t feel it was too difficult. But now that he’s older and he missed a meal, he legs and arms feel like jelly. So when fasting was talked about in the past, he felt it was something everyone should do. Last time in the theological seminar, fasting was daily (not forced but voluntary). Now he needs to think twice about fasting. He asked himself “is it because my faith has weakened as I grew older?” He understands “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”. Our body weakness as we get older. It’s different from the past. The author of Ecclesiastes reminds us to serve Him while we’re in our youth. When we’re old we may have the time but we lack the strength to do things. Frankly, if we go and serve with some middle aged people they’d be more worried about you than the work. They’d have to take you into consideration as they serve. You want to help them but in the end they’re the ones helping you. Truly, 有心无力 have the heart but don’t have the strength. Therefore grab hold of the opportunity to serve the Lord while we’re still young and have strhehyn. When you grow old appreciate the seed of labour that you have sown in the past. Seeing the fruit of your labour will comfort you. The children you taught in the last have grown up to be pillars of the church. Believers with cold heart are now full of zeal. It’s not all due to you but you participated in it. If you think you’ll only partucape when Old

This applies to our spiritual life. Like the flesh it can grow weak. Like the body needs food to be strengthened, the soul needs food to be strengthened too. The fore the prophet ate the word of God like food. When you’re sick you don’t have the appetite to eat anything. But you force yourself because you know it’s only by eating can you get nutrients and strength. Same for our spiritual lives. All of us have our own worries. Sometimes our spiritual lives go down. We don’t feel like reading the Bible and praying. We easily give up attending services because we’re very troubled. We tell ourselves “even if we come to church I’ll still be tori led so why come?” Such a mentality causes us to deteriorate in our faith. But if we realise it’s at this point in time it’s our moment of weakness and we need the word of God most, the word of God can change our hearts. Whose words can enter into our hearts to change us? The words of many people can change you. The speaker has seen how some people comment on a post that they were very moved. When he read it he wasn’t moved leh lol. Maybe it wasn’t the words itself but the relationship between the poster and commenter. Words can move. But it may not cause people to change.

When a relationship is gone, they don’t change and don’t even want to listen to the other party. If we truly believe the word of God, the word of God can not only love but also change us. Many sinners have been cleansed because of the love of Jesus. People deep in sin have changed because of the words of Jesus. Many who have lost courage have been strengthened by the words of Jesus. The hopeless receive hope. Those in suffering persevere to the end because of the words of Christ. The great effect of the word of God can be seen on those who believe! Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly with all wisdom.

“Why am I still weak after listening to the word of God for so many years?”
“Because you only like one kind of sermon, about grace. When there’re testimonies and healing, you’re so envious! When suffering is talked about, you put it aside.”
So when you meet with sufferings in your own life you can’t withstand it because the word of God doesn’t dwell in you. That’s why Paul encourages us to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.

Why can’t the word of God be a source of strength to some believers?
Because their hearts are full of thorns. They choke the word of God and so he’s unable to bear fruit. What do these thorns refer to? According to Jesus in Luke 8:14. We think thorns are evil thoughts. Things that are dirty. But Jesus tells us here the thorns in our hearts refers to cares, riches and pleasures of life.

Actually all our hearts are good but sometimes disobedient. Often our hearts are choked by riches pleasures of life. Think about it: what’s the reason for us to give up attending services? We may have dressed up to go to church. Someone calls us “we lack one more person to make 4!”

We have many reasons to put aside our time to worship God. Therefore the word of God is unable to take root in our hearts and we’re unable to bear fruit.

Acts 8 tells us of a man who was able to break free of all these thoughts.
Acts 8:27-28
The thorns the Ethiopian eunuch had would be more than any of us. He was in change of all the treasury of all of the queen of Ethiopian. His work was very important and very busy. He had to entertain many people. But he set aside time to worship God. Travelling from Ethiopia to Jerusalem was a long, difficult journey.

Today, we all travel on well paved roads. We don’t understand what difficult roads are. Did anyone go back to the Kampong for cny? Now Kampong roads are much better. Last time the roads were so bumpy, long journeys were unbearable! When we think of a long journey we give up the idea of travelling.

But the Ethiopian eunuch wasn’t afraid of the long and difficult journey to Jerusalem. 有心不怕路遥远，有心不怕高山蹬
If you have the heart, you won’t be afraid of the distance, nor the mountains you have to scale
Isn’t it the case when you love someone? Even though the journey is long and mountains are in the way, you’d travel! If you don’t like someone even if he stays next door, you would want to visit him.

Why was the Ethiopian eunuch willing to do this? After his return he’d have so much work to do also! Why waste so much time and create more work for himself? He felt worshipping God was most important. His work may concern his future but the word of God concerned his life.

Whatever is in the world, status or wealth, are like flowers thatll fade away. Only the who endures forever. Only by keeping the word of God can you stand before the throne of God without fear in the future. Therefore he laid aside his busy work to come before the temple of God to worship.

Some people say, “Perhaps it’s not because he loved the word of God but because it was a means to and end. He wanted to please the Jews. Just like Herod who was wicked but repaired the temple to please the Jews.” But he really did esteem the word of God. This can be seen from Acts 8:28. While on the way back he was reading Isaiah. He was going home, he didn’t need to put on a show for other people. Yet he was reading Isaiah. “Just now the rabbi was talking about this but I don’t understand what he meant.” He took the ootoyubty to try to underhand still. The service ended and everyone has left but what he heard during the service continued to dwell in his heart.

After this service ends, how much of this sermon will remain in our hearts. If someone asks us what this sermon is about

Because we don’t keep the word of God in our hearts and don’t meditate on it. This shows we don’t importanise the word of God. Other thinks are more important. So the thorns choke our hearts. If we don’t remove these thorns. The word of God won’t remain in our hearts no matter how much we received. Recall when we first believed or when we received the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit moved us. Is the Holy Spirit not moving us today? The Holy Spirit is always moving us. But we quench the Holy Spirit. Our worries and anxieties cause us not to have a heart to listen to the word of God. What’s worse is our hearts may have changed. Just like a couple in love. They’re in such a deep love. We think they’ll love each other for their entire life. But then we hear news of them breaking up. Or they’re not broken up but they’re not in love. Their love for each other has changed. They feel troubled when they se

Is our love for God the same? Last time we love coming to church. Now when someone tells us to go for service, we Aiya I know lah and get annoyed. We grow tired of the word of God and worshipping God. This indicates our love for God has changed. Because Jesus says, “if you love Me, you’ll keep My words.” To keep the word of God, you have to first listen. If you don’t listen, how can you keep the word of God? If your heart doesn’t have the love for eh word of God, how can you listen? Often it’s the love in our hearts that change. We love the world more than Jesus.

Heb
Jesus is the same yesterday today and forever. Especially His love for us. Is our love for Jesus the same?

I know you love Jesus last time. I know you love Jesus today because you’ve taken time off your busy schedule. What about tomorrow? What about the day after tomorrow? What about when we meet with suffering. The love of Jesus for us never changes. Will our love for Him never change too? May the love to Christ always dwell in our hearts only then can we be preserved in the Lord all our lives.

As year by year passes, we find that year by year things change. The environment changes. Man’s hearts change. We find we have changed too. Whether we’ve changed for the better or worse is another matter. But we realise we’re changing. It’s forinate the love of Jesus for us will never change. Let us have the wisdom to pursue this unchanging love. With this unchanging love, we will never regret the life we live. This unchanging love will be a source of strength and comfort. It’s unfortunate that many people love so many other things except Jesus. One day they’d definitely regret. Let’s ask the Lord to help us not to regret. Let’s resolve to love our Lord even more in this new year.