God, Does It Matter How I Lead? | Malachi 2:1-9

So I needed healing. And when I got here, Friendship started wrapping me up, putting the Band-Aids on. Pastor started preaching a word, and I started getting that anointing, and, and I healed. And God really began to get me back into the place to where I was going. So Friendship, give yourselves a hand because we have a healing— we heal. Healing church. Amen. Well, listen again. Is that the time I have left? Is that the time I got left? Forty-four minutes. Is it forty-four? I got forty-four minutes. Okay. All right. I'm just seeing. Okay. All right. All right. Listen. Let's pray. God, we just come now. We just thank you for this word. Not me, God, but you, God. Speak now this to thy people. this particular time for this particular purpose. Most of all, God, let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. And all of God's children said.

Amen.

Amen. I want to thank again, um, Dr. Lester for letting me stand here. He is a renowned pastor also. And when I meet people across the nation, they know him, he know me, and we just all are just collaborating together. So give your pastor a hand because he is world-renowned. GOAT. Amen. We are talking about Malachi. We're in Malachi, and you want me to start working it now? All right. We're in Malachi. There you go, Steve. and working me along. And last week, Pastor talked about, God, does my worship even matter? Last week, God, does my worship even matter? Today, we're talking about, God, does it matter how I lead? Oh, this is gonna be good.

Yes.

Especially for the Omegas over there. They gonna get delivered. God, does it matter how I lead? Yeah, this is gonna be good. And we're in Malachi 2:1-9. I'm gonna read that, and I'm reading it from the Amplified Classic Version. And it says— I'm working the clicker now, Steve, and we can stand up. Oh, there it goes. All right. It says, and now, O priests, this commandment is for you. If you will not hear and if you will not lay it to heart to give glory to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already turned them to curses because you do not lay it to heart. Behold, I will rebuke your seed, your grain, which will prevent your due harvest. I will spread the dung from the festival offerings upon your faces, and you shall be taken away with it. And you shall know and recognize and understand that I have sent this new decree to priests to be my new covenant with Levi, the priestly tribe, says the Lord of hosts. I'm doing the clicker. All right. Steve, you handle it because I'm— this is going to bug me. All right? Okay. All right. All right. And my covenant on my part— my covenant on part with Levi was to give him life and peace because of his part of the reverent and worship— of reverent and worship and fear with which the priests would revere me and stand in awe of my name. The law of truth was in Levi's mouth and unrighteousness was not found in his lips. walk with me in peace and uprightness and turn many away from iniquity.

Amen.

For the priest's lips should guard and keep pure the knowledge of my law, and the people should seek, inquire for, and require— inquire for and require instruction at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But you have turned aside out of the way. You have caused many to stumble by your instruction in the law. You have corrupted the covenant of Levi with me, says the Lord of hosts. Therefore have I also made you despised and abased before all the people, inasmuch as you have not kept my ways, but have shown favoritism to persons in your administration of the law.

Mm. Amen.

May the Lord add a blessing to the reading and hearing of his word. You may be seated. God, does it matter how I lead? And, and for this, I'm not going to answer the question for you.

I'm going to just give you enough word for you can answer it yourself.

Is that all right?

But I want to give you 3 words that we're going to look through the telescope.

3 words. Give me one, Steve.

Uh, 3 words that we're going to look through the telescope, and we're going to look at 3 3 words: purpose, potential, and problem. Amen.

You're gonna see those come up thematically.

Purpose, potential, and problem.

All right, let's get to the first one. I gotta look at the character. I gotta look at the characters of the text. The characters of the text is the priests. The priests, that's the character of the text. Now you're probably saying, well, that's talking about pastoring them. That's That's talking about Reverend Michelle and everybody who's sitting in the front row.

And, and here it is that the characters is the priests, or are the priests.

I'm gonna speak Ebonics every now and then. I'm gonna speak Ebonics.

But watch this, watch this. Is there anybody here who believes in Jesus? Yes!

Raise your hand, raise your hand.

Anybody here been blood-washed, bought by the Lamb of God?

Raise your hand.

Anybody here just glad that God saved you? Yeah, that's it. Anybody here not saved? Because we're gonna do the— we're gonna do the invitation afterwards. All right, but, but if you raise your hand and if you said, I'm glad I'm saved, I'm glad God saved me, you are a priest.

Amen. Uh-oh, mic drop. Mm-hmm.

You, you are a priest. You don't believe it? Let me read the word.

Let me read the word.

Uh, uh, uh, 1 Peter 2:9 says But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, God's own purchased special people, that you may be set forth the wonderful deeds and display and the virtues and perfections of him who called you out of darkness into the marvelous light.

Yes.

So, so, so here it is, here it is. When I talk about priests, I'm talking about everybody who raised their hand. And if you raise your hand, you are a priest.

Okay, y'all ain't saying amen over here.

If you raise your hand, you— everybody. Okay, can I speak Iboni? Everybody. Everybody is a priest in here. Even Omega over there, he's a priest. And I need you, I need you to watch this. If you agree with God, if you want to move with God, if you want to end with God, if you never dealt Never doubt God. Just say amen. Say amen again. So, so, so just know that who I'm talking about—the characters in the text—are the priests. Who are the priests? Okay, so I can stop right there because if you know you're a priest, now you're going to function differently, huh? Think about it. If you know you're a priest, you're gonna function differently. You're not gonna say what you was getting ready to say.

I'm just gonna let that settle for a minute because some of us thinking of the things we just did yesterday on the way here. I'm talking to myself now, sis. I'm talking to myself because I got this thing with people who can't drive good and And when they can't drive good, I'd be like, oh, you! And I don't cuss. I don't cuss. I don't cuss.

But us preachers, we had this thing we call people Altoids, because an Altoid is a mint.

It's strong and it takes your breath away. So instead of calling somebody something, we just say Altoid.

You can take that if you want to. So you are a priest. And watch this, and we're here, we're here, so with the priest, watch this, with the priest comes communication.

So God, God in this text, he says, look, I'm talking to you priests, everybody in here, and I'm giving you some communication today. I'm giving you some communication. The communication has some conditions, they have some conditions, and they have potential.

The potential in there is the if. It's strange that he says, if you will do this, And if you would do that, so he's given them room to change, and God has given us room to change. What he said, but if you don't shift, I'm giving you the communication that if you don't do what I'm communicating to do, here's going to the potential is God gives us a chance. Now here's the purpose: the purpose of priests, the purpose of the priest was to hear God and and to lay to heart. and to give God's glory the name, give God's glory all to his name. So that was their only job, was to hear from God and to give God glory. The purpose of the priest is to hear from the Word of God and to give God glory. All right. Okay, let me say it again. I'm talking to priests. The purpose of the priest is to give God glory And to hear his name and to read his word and to give his name glory. Lift his name higher, higher. That's the okay. I'm talking to priests. The purpose of the priest is to give God glory and to worship his holy name. They still ain't getting it, Steve. The purpose of the priest is to give God glory. I thought I was talking to the priests.

Yes.

Remember, y'all the priests now. So here it is, he said the purpose of the priest is to give God glory, but look, there's a problem. The problem is, is that they neglected the word of God and they despised his name. They didn't, they didn't, they didn't follow it. And you gotta understand, they, they, when there's no purpose, God shares curses. God says, I'm going to put a curse on your blessings. He's talking to the priest. I'm going to put a curse on your blessings. Now, I had to scratch my head with that because I said, God, you're going to bless me with something and then you're going to curse it?

Yes.

Yes. If you don't follow the purpose to give my name the glory and to honor my name, Then what I've given you, I'm gonna let you keep it, but I'mma curse it.

That's a cold piece right there.

He just communicating with us that this is what's gonna happen is that when there's no purpose in your life, then God is gonna curse the blessing. And we have many blessings. How many people have blessings in here? Got many blessings. We got natural blessings. We got national— oh, national blessings, I don't know yet. We got domestic blessings. We got personal blessings. We got our health. We got our wisdom. We got our honor. We got our success. We got religious blessings. We can worship freely. We got so many blessings, and the Lord is blessing me right now. Right now. I mean, many of us can testify to that. He woke me up this morning. Start me on my way. The Lord is blessing me right now. But what happens when your blessings get cursed? Wow. So, so it's— God does not say that he's gonna take their blessings away. He just lets them remain only to watch it Spoiled right in front of them. So for the priests, the communication from God is: Just honor my name. Keep my word on high. And if you don't, I'm communicating with you that some stuff is going to happen. God doesn't matter how I lead.

Yes.

So, so watch this. I got to get to the consequences because this is, this is my—

I don't know why, I don't know why pastor gave me this because this—

the consequences is, yeah, you looking at something. There's a problem with the potential, and when, when there's a problem with the potential of your life or what God can do and what God has blessed you with, Then God says he's gonna rebuke your seed.

What?

What that means is that the priests didn't work. Priests didn't work, so they relied on what the people gave them, and the people would bring them harvests and grain. So if he rebuked the seed, the people's harvest wouldn't grow, so thus they didn't have nothing to give to the priests. Okay, let me bring it on home.

Let me make it plain.

All right, so there may be some women in here who know how to cook real good. And they may want to bring me a sweet potato pie, some black-eyed peas, some cornbread. I'm just putting it in contemporary. But if their stove gets broken and their refrigerator goes out, then I won't get the sweet potato pie or the black-eyed peas or the sweet— you understand what I'm saying? So here it is. God says, I'm going to make it to whereas how you did survive It's going to get all tainted. And it's not only going to affect you, it's going to affect who was blessing you.

Yes.

My God. Now, now, I could have— watch this— we could have got— I'm talking to God right now. God, you could have stopped right there. You didn't have to go no further than that in the consequences. You didn't have to go no further. You didn't have to do what you're getting ready to do next, God. You really didn't have to do it. But the Bible says that God says, I'm gonna spread dung on your face. Y'all know what dung is, right? All the kids gone, all the kids gone. All right, y'all know what dung is? Dung is feces, boo-boo, caca, stanky stuff. And if you got any kids or grandkids still in diapers, you know what it is. Yes. And so here it is, is that God says, look, they used to have this big feast, and they would have this feast, the priests would have a feast, and then once they got the feast from the— the people would bring them food, and they would have a feast with the food the people bring them, and then they would do the feast and then take the animals or the leftovers outside because it had feces in it, and they would burn it outside the gate. From when they had the feast at. God says, "I'mma go and get the stuff you threw away. Scoop it up. Spread it all over your face because it's consequences." God, you really got to do that?

Oh, here look, he over there going, man.

When I just get it on my finger, I'd be going crazy. And I'm not talking about you; I'm talking about me because when I be changing them diapers, but but if to put it on my face is to show consequences of those who didn't listen to his communication. So so so watch this, watch this. And those are what you call the dung effects, the boo-boo effects.

Okay, let me make it even more plain.

You ever talk to somebody and you know something just ain't right? I'm not talking about smell, I'm just talking about something just ain't right. And something just ain't right, you hearing them But something just ain't right. You looking at them and you can see something just ain't right. I don't know, it could be from some consequences. You never know. But God says, look, I'ma spread it on your face so people, people will see something is wrong. People will smell something is wrong. So when you start talking, that smell mixes with your breath and all of it comes out just Funky. Those are consequences. I'm laying it on thick, y'all, because I want all of the priests to understand the consequences. Woo! Don't let us come to church next Sunday and we see some people with some stuff on their face. We gonna stop him at the door. Somebody said, we gonna stop him at the door. No, we— don't let us come to church next Sunday and we start smelling some stuff like, what is that? Consequences. So we gotta— don't— I don't know. I don't want any of us to suffer these consequences. And you know, and I don't know if I should say this.

I shouldn't say it, but I'm gonna say it anyway.

Sometimes that feces If you leave it on long enough, it turns orange.

I'm just gonna leave it like that. Y'all catch it. Y'all catch that later.

Listen, there's an African proverb. There's an African proverb says a cat that dreams of becoming a lion must lose its appetite for rats. To achieve greatness, you must let go of old habits that can hold back your process or your progress. So I don't—I'm just saying what I'm saying is that there's consequences for not listening or following the communication.

Okay, let me give you some hope. But then there's also commitment. I'm doing this.

Oh, there it goes. Commitment.

There's a commitment. God goes into verse five and seventeen. He starts talking about Levi. He says, "Look, I know that's what you are, priests. But when I had a covenant with Levi, that is the purpose.

The purpose of the priests was to follow the covenant with Levi. They set it up back in, and then he says, "And from that covenant, there's potential." The potential in commitment is life and peace. That word for peace is shalom. It means to be well, to be happy, to be friendly, to have welfare, to be— to have health, to rest assured. The peace that passeth all understanding. Yes. God says just reverence God and give him the ultimate respect of God's name, his authority and character, and you will have the potential of life. Your potential is life and peace. Is there anybody here who wants life and peace? That's what the potential is. We just got to remember the purpose. The purpose— again, he goes in further, he says, look, also Levi had the purpose to have truth coming from his lips. His language was always truth. Amen. Truth, that's what came out of his lips. So what comes out of us always ought to be Truth, not what I heard, but what I know. Not what they said, but what I for sure seen my honestly. Not from a Facebook scroll or Instagram post, but truth. And we got it. Look, it's up to us priests now to to have this truth coming out of our lips so much because the world is full of other things other than truth. It says a lie could run around the world 2 times while the truth is tying its shoelaces. Truth. And he says not only the truth, but he said the purpose is to walk with God, to walk with God. And this walk implies reconciliation. This walk indicates a progress. This walk suggests constant relationship. So there's a purpose to have truth coming out of our mouth. That's our language. And the potential is— watch this, priests— Are the priests still listening?

Yes.

The potential of us doing truth or speaking truth is that many will be turned away from iniquity. So, so to save people are to save others. I don't know how better to say it. We are to help others get out of they rut. Because God got us out of our rut. That's, that's what we're supposed to do. That's what we're supposed to do. So here it is, the purpose— watch this— that's the potential is that many would turn away and then the purpose is also is to keep knowledge and be a messenger of the Lord. He says it again, the purpose is to be not only a priest but be a messenger of the Lord. That's an ambassador. So not only are you a priest, but you're a messenger of the Lord. Uh-oh. Do y'all want to accept this count— this commitment today? Not only you're a priest, but you're a messenger of the Lord. So what we gonna do? I told Pastor about it. No, I didn't. I'm just getting ready to make up a story. But, uh, but what, what could happen is that you can get you a nameplate, a badge, and it says messenger of the Lord on it, and you wear it all the time. Yes, sir. Just wear it all the time wherever you go. Message of the Lord in the store, wherever else you go, casino, wherever else you go. Message of the Lord. That's what you wear because if you have it on you, you're gonna act a different way when folk can see what you are. Are y'all getting this? Even me when I'm driving in the car and I got this big old badge that say Message of the Lord. When I drive past that person, I gotta go hallelujah. Hallelujah! Bless you. Thank you for almost running me over. But if we— we are messengers of the Lord. We are sent to the world by God with different and definite instructions. There's a glorious gospel of the blessed God that we are meant to share. And watch this, the burden of our message is not thus I think, but thus says the Lord. So we got to have enough word in us to share word with others and be a messenger of the Lord.

Oh, that's good. That's good.

We are lights to light men to Jesus Christ.

Okay. All right. I'm hearing.

I'm hearing already. It's this side over here, especially the omega over here.

I'm gonna mess with him all day. He's saying.

He's saying. I'm an omega.

I can't talk all that good about God because I'm an omega. That's what he's saying over here.

He said, "I can't say it, and my words just." But let me say this: You don't have to say anything. Just your presence and your sphere of influence has power. Just your actions speak louder than your words. Are y'all getting this? Because because your sphere of in influence has power, and people are watching you to see what you're doing as priests and messengers of the Lord. So just that in itself has power, that when you go get your McDonald's and eat your french fries and hamburger and you pray over it before you eat, somebody watching you. If you driving and, and you got your gospel music on, lifting your hand up, somebody watching. When you get to work and they gossiping over there but you go the other way and you do Something different. Somebody's watching you because we are messengers. We are influence. Somebody's always watching. Can I give y'all another one? Even when we walk in the church, the whole neighborhood be watching us on how we respond to them. So when we see folk in the front yard doing whatever they do on Sunday morning, good morning, God bless you, how you doing?

Yeah.

They watching us. It's a funny story. My— I love watching TV, so I relax by watching TV. So I kick up on my little couch, I cross my legs, and I put my head back, hands back like this. That's how I watch TV. I'll just be chilling. My 2-year-old grandson came over one day. He walked in, he put his shoes near the door, walked on my— got on my couch, crossed his legs, and put his hands like this. I'm like, look at him in my spot watching me, and I don't even know it. Influence. And the world is watching us the same way because— watch this— the potential in all of this is that people will seek instruction from us. Yes. That's part of the priest's duty. They gonna come and ask you, man, What does the Bible say about our— can you pray with me?

Yes.

They gonna seek instruction. And watch this. And so, so the focus, when we have a focus on purpose, is loaded with potential. Oh, I've got to be done. When we got a focus on purpose, it's loaded with potential, with no problems from God, but power to change the world around us.

Matthew 5:16 says, let your light so shine before men that others may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. That's as easy as I can give you. Everywhere I go, I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine in my neighborhood. I'm gonna let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Let it shine. Shine, shine, shine. I'm gonna let it shine. I gotta close this out because he even goes, man, I gotta close out. Let me go to the screen.

I gotta close out.

I'm clicking, Steve.

I'm going to go to the end one right here. There you go.

God, does it matter how I lead?

Yes.

Because in the end of this, in verse 8 and 9, if we don't follow the commitment, there's going to be casualties. And the casualties are people will stumble, they will fall away, they'll be hurt. Does anybody here want your family to stumble? Does anybody here want anybody you love to stumble? Do you want them to follow and from looking at you, you want them to be jacked up?

That's putting a lot on you, huh?

I'm just saying what the Bible is saying. It's saying, look, there's a problem. Many stumble. They corrupt. You corrupt the covenant. You just You departed from the way because, and I'm showing you this is because everything underneath will be visible on top. Y'all seeing that? We may not see it, but it will come out in casualties. But all we got to do is flip that thing. Flip it. Just be characters that listen to the communication with no consequence and commitment, and the casualties will be minimum to no. So God, does it matter how I lead?

Yes.

Priests in the building, you answer the question.

Yes.

Message of the Lord in the building, you answer the question. Does it matter? Jesus, I put you higher, and if I put you higher, all the world is going to be drawn because the Bible says if I be lifted up, I'll draw all men unto me. So if I lift Jesus higher, my casualties are going to be lower, and my life will be full of peace, full of calm. It won't be no stinky stuff in my life. I won't smell some kind of way. I won't look some kind of way. I won't feel some kind of way. Now there are going to be problems, but they ain't going to be problems from God. They're going to be problems that come to make us stronger in God. So, so my job was to make sure y'all understood this.

Yes, sir. God, does it matter how I lead? Answer the question.

Yes.

Let's pray. God, we just come now and we just thank you for this word.

We thank you, God, that you've given us characters to be priests.

You've given us communication. We want to try to avoid all of the consequences. We want to make a commitment to You today to live by— to live with purpose, with truth on our lips, and to walk with God so that many may be turned away We want to be messengers of the Lord. We want people to come to us to seek instruction. Help us, God, to be who you called us to be—the chosen generation, the royal priesthood—and God, we're going to lead in such a way. To where as we will become the best priests you have called us to be. Hallelujah. Now, if you're here and you've never accepted that role to be a priest, ask God to come into your life. If you've never done that before, now's a good time to step in and be a— make a commitment. Amen. To be part of this royal priesthood. So if that's you, he said, Dr. Hartfield, I've never asked God to come into my life. If that's you, just lift your hand. If you've never done that before, lift your hand. Lift your hand. Maybe you say, well, Dr. Hartfield, I've, I've, I've asked God to come into my life, but I haven't been a good priest at all. I just been doing it my way.

I know I've been doing it my way.

Matter of fact, I got Stuff on my face right now, and you just want to rededicate your life to God today. If that's you, you want to rededicate your life to God and come and say, "God, clean me up. Let me start all over." If that's you, lift your hand. Lift your hand. I see your hand, sis. Anybody else want to just start over? I see your hand. Hallelujah! Now, if your hand was lifted, just just stand where you are. I just want you to make a bold commitment. bold commitment and say, I'm just going to do better. That's all I'm asking you to do. Just, just make the bold commitment. God, I'm just going to rededicate my life and I'm going to do better.

I'mma be better. Hallelujah.

If you need a church home, this is the best place to be. If you need a church home, lift your hand. Lift your hand. I see your hand, sis. I see your hand. hand. So, Reverend Michelle, if you would come on down. Just raise your hand. You want to make this trip? Come on, come on.

Hallelujah.

Come on, Reverend Michelle, if you can meet her here. All right, whoever's assigned to meet her. Welcome, sis. Come on, we got another priest.

Come on, let's give God a hallelujah.

You look like a messenger of the Lord. Anybody else? Anybody else? Want to become a part of friendship? Want to become part of friendship, sis? God bless you. I'm with you. We gonna do better. Hallelujah.

Now look, lastly, every priest in the room stand up. Every messenger of the Lord stand up and repeat after me. Repeat after me. Say, Lord, let there be.

More of thee and less of me, until one day there's all of thee and none of me. In Jesus' name, amen.

God bless you. Go in peace. Hug somebody. Love on them in a special way. And remember who you are. And with thanksgiving, I'll be