Pastor Jeff on the Radio

Guest (Male): You're listening to Jeff Schreve senior pastor of Brave Church. At Brave, we believe God has called his church to stand boldly for truth, not on defense, but to advance, proclaiming his word with clarity and without compromise. If you're looking for a church where scripture is preached with conviction and Jesus Christ is exalted, we'd love to have you. Join us on Sundays at our Inglewood or Westminster locations at 8:30 or 10:30 a.m. Learn more at brave.org. Once again, that's brave.org. Now, here's Pastor Jeff with today's message.

Pastor Jeff Schwarzentraub: That's what we should be praying for, right? Murder and hatred are of the evil one. Make no mistake about it. And if murder and hatred are in your heart on a consistent basis, it's obvious who your father is. Let me give you a second one. Children of the devil are also known by their indifference towards believers. Cuz I know as some of you are listening, you're like, I don't really want to murder Christians and I don't really I don't really hate them. I could just care less. I I don't even think about them. Mhm. Notice verse 17.

We're dropping down. We'll come back to the other verses. But whoever has the world's goods and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? How does it? I mean, it's indifference. It means I don't care. It means I could do something, but I'm not going to do something. You know what indifference stems from? Selfishness. It's selfish. Here's what I care about. I care about me. I care about mine. I care about my life. I care about where I'm going. I care about what I'm going to I care about me.

And yeah, there's needs in the world that's for somebody else to take care of and most of the needs in the world are because those people didn't do a good job of doing what they're supposed to do and it's their fault anyway. So, why should I be bothered with my time to help them? That's indifference. Where do we see indifference show up? Everywhere. Everywhere. You know, some people are you know let me just tell you what the incubator for relationships is. Let me just tell you where it is. It's the church. The church should be the one place where we flesh out all Christian relationships.

And yet, some people they don't you know murder in the church. Some people do in our culture. But there's some people that will say this, I hate church. I hate it. Love Jesus. I just hate those church people. I'm telling you right now, Jesus loves church people. Like and if you're really a Christian, you'll love church people, too. Does it mean church people always do what feels good and always do what's right? No. Never. But in the church, we're not called to hate other Christians and we're not called to be indifferent to other Christians. God puts us in relationships in community to demonstrate how we can help other people.

That why I want I love watching this in our church. I think I think small groups are are are super important. I I've never grown on my own in the Christian faith. I always need people around me that are speaking into my life and I 'm speaking into theirs and sometimes it's you know it it it goes back and forth and that's how I grow. That's how every Christian grows. That's why groups are the most important thing you can do after being here on a weekend. I mean, you got to be in relationship with other people.

And I watch people begrudgingly sign up and then they'll go once and be like, oh, this is pretty cool. This is awesome. And the second week, it's still pretty good. And then week three, people start being authentic and vulnerable and they share stuff and then you're like, these people have major problems. I don't I I I didn't want to be in that group with this group of people cuz of all the problems like this one that this person has drives me nuts more than any other problem people have. Why do you think God put you in that group?

Because God's teaching you how to love somebody that's very different than you. Because he's showing you the way that he loves you. And if you'll stay the course and love in relationships and not be indifferent or yeah, there's problems out there or yeah, our church has this and that. But you're going to engage in it into the extent that you can help it, you're going to do it. It's how you grow in your faith as a believer in Jesus Christ. Here's what the devil says, don't worry about other people. Just worry about yourself. Just just be indifferent.

Some of you in marriage, you you may not hate your spouse. Um you may not always feel like murdering your spouse. Perhaps there's moments. I have that on good authority. I've talked to my wife. There's moments. But what's even worse than that sometimes cuz I I I I have counseled a lot of couples. And and and and there's a lot of couples cuz every couple has sinned. So, there's just different variations of how couples have sinned against each other. But even couples that want to like kill each other, that's not nearly as bad. Couples that hate each other, that's not so bad.

It's this. When you have a couple sitting there and the one person's like, hey, I'm willing to work on it. I know I've done some wrong. And the other person says, I don't care. Fix yourself. Do whatever you want. We get it. We're done. Like indifference is even harder to work through than hatred or murder sometimes. Did you know that? Indifference is like a coldness or I I don't care about you anymore. It it's apathy. It's a form of hatred and murder. And when you get to the place of apathy, which says, yeah, I don't care.

I just don't care. Hey, you should come to church. Don't care about church. Don't care about the people in church. Don't care about church. Hey, you should work on your marriage. I don't care about my marriage. She can do whatever she wants. I don't care. He he can do whatever he wants. I just don't care. That's the voice of the enemy because God is not allowing you to not care. We do not get that privilege as Christians. You're going to see that when we see who children of God are. But the children of the enemy, the children of the devil, go ahead and murder.

If you won't do it excessively or outwardly, just murder with your heart, murder with your words, or at least have seething hatred in your heart. Or if you get to a really good place, just be indifferent. Just blow those people off, man. Don't even talk to them anymore. That's what a child of the devil does. That's why it's so important for us to care about God's church. It's so important for us to care about what God does. And here's the truth. If you're about Jesus and you're not about yourself, the church is a great place for that cuz nobody will ever know what you do.

Some of the greatest saints that we have at Brave Church and nobody knows what they're doing. Some of the greatest saints I believe that we have in our church I'll find out someday how sincerely they were praying and how great they served in children's ministry even though I was never able to be down there and watch and all the other ministries that went on outside of my realm or touch that people were doing and engaged in and prayed in and generous towards, those are the people that God sees. I mean, the reason we clap for offering cuz God loves a cheerful giver, but like in our church, um we'll never know who gave what.

I mean, I I I don't know what you give. I don't I don't look at your giving. Right? I I don't see it unless you tell me. I don't know, right? But you can give other places where people will celebrate you and you can have your award in full on this side of heaven and people can actually honor you at a banquet and they can put your plaque on the side of a building. They can do it whatever they want to do. But you give to the church, nobody's going to know. Nobody cares. Right? It's done in private.

But let me tell you who sees. Let me tell you who sees. Jesus sees. And he sees you saying, I'm seeing that you can be as generous as you possibly can and I 'm seeing that you're giving even though it doesn't look like much, I'll multiply that thing cuz I'll use your heart. That's why giving in a church is so important, not just for the outcome of what can happen, but what happens internally in the heart of God's people when they give generously to the things of God and they love other people the way God wants them to love.

Amen? Now, I know this is a hard part of the message, but I I think we need to spell it out cuz we don't spend enough time here. You know, we we we think that well, I don't know if they're of God or of the devil. If if it's somebody that's consistently has murder, hatred, and indifference in their heart towards believers and the things of God, they are of their father, the devil, and they are practicing his will. So, let's talk about the good news. What do these children of God look like? This is what John's going to tell us.

Children of God are known by intentionally loving believers in spite of opposition. Children of God are known by intentionally loving believers in spite of opposition. Let's jump back up to verse 11. For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning that we should love one another. It's always been God's message. A few weeks ago, we went back and we looked in the Old Testament at where this came from about loving God and loving our neighbor and how Jesus came in the Sermon on the Mount and said, this is this is how all of these things are fulfilled.

And later when he was asked what the greatest commandment is, he said it's to love God and love each other and in doing that, you fulfill all the law. And in John 13, which I believe I've read almost every single sermon I've done in this series because it bears repeating, in John chapter 13 verses 34 and 35, he says this, a new commandment I give you, that you love one another even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you're my disciples if you have love for one another.

How do you know someone's a Christian? They love God and they put and they love other people the way God loves other people. Well, how did God love people? God loved people so much he gave his only begotten son and sacrificed them on a cross. How did Jesus love people? Jesus loved people so much that he died for them. How do you love people? Do you love people so much that you would be willing to lay down your life for them? That's how you know what love is. Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends.

You are my friends if you do what I command. Jesus laid down his life for others. You know, sometimes when I 'm in counseling session, yeah, well, when she changes, then I'll. When when he changes, then I'll. How about this? How about you are willing to sacrifice yourself even to the point of death so that the other person can see the love of Christ in you. And you get two people that live that way, your marriage can flourish. I promise you. Because marriage isn't about you to begin with. If you think it is, marriage is hard.

What's marriage about? Marriage is about glorifying God. Marriage is about exposing in you all the things that aren't godly so that God can work on you so that you can become godly. May you may not have known that, but I'm I'm giving you marriage 101 lessons today, right? So, we're called to love one another even as Christ loved us. So, we're called to do love. This is how the world's going to know who we are, not by marketing, not by who the preacher is, not by what version of the Bible we're going to use, not about how we decide to sing songs or what our style of worship is.

They ain't know by the way we love one another. Right? In Acts 2:42, when the church was birthed, it said that they gave themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayers. You know what the fellowship was? The fellowship was the love that they had for God that was translated into love that they had for one another. And here's what the world looked on and saw and they couldn't make sense of that people from different socioeconomic backgrounds, different ethnicities, uh different genders, uh different heights, weights, whatever you want.

It was just a conglomeration of people and they couldn't figure out what they had in common and what they saw was this fellowship, this love for God that was translated into a love for others. And when people had needs, the needs were met, whether it was financial or emotional or spiritual. They were met because that group of people because of who Jesus was in their life. They loved other people so radically that when the world looked on, God added to their numbers daily those who are being saved. Why? Because the world looked on at a world that was hostile and indifferent and hatred and anger and polarized and all those things and said, but in this group of people, and we see a group of people that's acting countercultural and totally different and even though they think different on different issues, they have a major love for one another that trumps all of those things.

That's what the church is. That's what the church is, that we would have love for one another. You write this verse down, Galatians 6 verses 9 and 10. It says to do good to everyone and especially those to the household of faith. Where where where should our best good go? Towards Christians. Towards Christians. I encourage you, I won't read this today either. But in Romans 16, if you read Romans 16 starting in verse three, you'll see there's an entire chapter at the end of Paul's letter to Rome where it just goes something like this. Greet so and so.

Greet so and so. Greet so and so. Greet so and so. And you might ask like why did God's Holy Spirit see it fit to put Romans 16 in? Why all these names listed? Here's what he's trying to show us. The church was made up of relationships. And people cared about each other deeply. And because we shared Christ, we love each other deeply. And because in the first century they didn't have Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook or any other social media, they couldn't just stay in touch and see how each other was doing. So, they wrote letters to say I'm caring about you.

I 'm saying hello to you. Greet was not just a high five or a handshake. I mean, they hugged. They greeted each other with a holy kiss. They were sincerely caring for one another. Church, hey, listen. Nothing's changed. That's why God created church to be filled of relationships where as we worship the Lord Jesus Christ and go vertical, it's translated into how we love one another so that the world can say, hey, what you're worshiping looks real to me. What you say your God can do, I'm watching worked out in all your relationships. You know what?

I see you do it. Romans 15 says you rejoice with those who rejoice and you mourn with those who mourn. That what it means to be a Christian. I can't be indifferent towards those things. I mean, I get excited like every time you know there there's some young couple in our church or an older couple in our church and like, hey, we're pregnant. We're going to have a child. Ooh, great. Or hey, we're getting married. That's great. And I also weep with those who lose their job. I mean, just yesterday morning I got woke up by a phone call from a guy that goes to our church, friend of mine on hospice, who is in the last stages of his life and he wants to go and he's like, is it wrong for me to want to go?

I'm in massive pain. And I'm like, no. It it's the goal of your faith. And and here's a man that used to stand out in the lobby and tell me after every sermon, Pastor Jeff, thank you so much. God's word has changed our lives. It's changing who I am. Now, he's on the side where he's ready to go meet Jesus and he's asking if it's okay. And I said, hey, Paul said for me to live is Christ. Hey, to die is gain. I mean, you got a first class ticket going somewhere I want to be and you 're going to get there sooner.

It's a good thing. And we prayed on the phone yesterday morning with him and his wife and I was crying and while I'm praying for him cuz I know he's leaving soon, but I know where he's going. And although we grieve, we don't grieve as those who don't have hope. But I I don't have the privilege of being indifferent. I I don't have the privileges of pastor of saying, I really don't know you that well, so good luck. But we don't have that for anybody. Whether we know them or not, if they're Christians, we love them.

Right? We're called to love the world, but especially those who are of the household of God. And we go through tough times. We go through joyous times. We go through all sorts of different times. Christians, we need to celebrate when other Christians do good stuff. And we need to mourn when other Christians don't do good stuff, all the time loving them. And and let let me just bring this down to home for you. Because some people are like, well, you know, if I would have lived back in the day when you know the first century church was kicking it, it would be so awesome.

It wouldn't have been, honestly. Right? I mean, you think the political system's messed up today, you should have lived 2,000 years ago. Right? You think the church might be messed up today, you should have been here 2,000 years ago. I mean, just read through all the problems that they were having. God appointed the times and dates and seasons for us according to Acts 17. This is your church. This is your place. And I 'm telling you that if Brave Church is your home, engage in relationship here with some people. You can't get to know everybody here.

It's impossible. But engage with some people here. Make this your life. Make this who you pour into. And let me be clear, Brave Church is not the only church in town that you can go to that loves the Lord Jesus Christ. And a quick word on that, hey, if we're going to be the kind of church that honors the Lord, it means that when we know people that love Jesus Christ with all their heart that do things philosophically different than us, what are we called to do? Love them, too. Like we can have dialogue about why we don't do what they do or why we do things differently than do.

But it doesn't make us better. They're Christians. We love them. We stand by them, which means never as a Christian should you ever say, I hate that church. That church does that wrong. That pastor is this. You're you're defaming God when you do that. You can say I disagree with the way this philosophy is being done and I need to go somewhere where it's being done like this and you're well within your Christian freedom to do that. But we're never called to put other Christians down. Did you know that? Never called to put other Christians down.

And I believe that when I listen to people talk on radio and everything else, there's so much talk about how everybody else does it wrong except for us that when the world listens, they're like, you guys can't even get united yourself. Right? Here's what we're united on. We're united on the Lord Jesus Christ that he died for our sins and he was buried, that he rose from the dead, and anyone who trusts in him has a life. Amen? That what it means to be a child of God. A child of God is known by loving believers in spite of opposition.

Jesus said if the world hated you, don't don't worry about that. They hated me first. Uh the world's going to hate you. If they listen to me, they listen to you. If they didn't listen to me, they're not going to listen to you. Don't be surprised. Don't be Don't be surprised if there's opposition when you're loving people. Well, I tried loving them and they hated me back. Keep loving them anyway. I mean, Jesus did it all the way to his death. He loved them all the way to his death that even when he's pinned to the cross, what was he doing?

Dad, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. Dad, I love them. I want to be in relationship with them. Which ones? The ones that are spitting in my face, the ones that drove nails into my hands and feet, the ones who are mocking me down there. That that's who I want to be in relationship with. That's why I'm doing this, Dad. Right? That's what we're called to be for other people, too. And by the way, don't ever say that there's no way that person could ever come to Christ. If the apostle Paul can come to Christ, they can come to Christ.

If Jeff Schreve can come to Christ, I'm telling you anybody can come to Christ. Right? But that's what it is. And that's why John goes on and he spells out in his fourth point, the children of God are known by following Christ's example of loving believers with action, of loving believers with action. Verse 14 says, we know we have passed out of death into life because we have love for the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. Here's how you know that you've been saved. If you start loving Christians in a way you didn't before, if you have a love for people that goes deeper than you ever had, that's that's a sign that you're growing in Christ.

If you have a desire to practice righteousness, it's a sign that you're growing in Christ. Verse 16 he says this, we know love by this, that he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. It means we're on a team here where we're willing to give up our lives. I mean, you see it in military examples all the time, right? Where you hear stories of people who have laid down their lives for others. And we celebrate that and it moves us in our heart as well it should because they gave their lives so that someone else could live.

That's the whole story of the gospel, that God loved the world so much he sent his son Jesus to take the death for us so that we who are dying could be made alive for all eternity. And if we know that that's what God did for us, then that's what we're called to do for others. We're making sure that other people see the love of God by how we lay down our lives. Notice verse 18, little children, let us love. Let us not love with word or with tongue, but indeed and in truth. Let's not love with word or with tongue, but indeed and in truth.

I mean, this is why in James chapter two he says faith without works is dead. If you see your brothers in need and do nothing about it, uh but just say, hey, be warm, well fed, good for you, um you don't have the love of God in your heart. Faith without works is dead. And I know what some of you think, well, grace, brother, it's just grace. All it is is grace. Yes, it is. All it is is grace. It's by grace we've been saved through faith. It's not our own doing, but but it's a gift of God.

And if Christ's grace has come in you, it's that same grace that saved you, that gives you the same grace to teach you to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions and live an upright life in this world in this world. That's what God's grace does. If God has saved you, God's grace changes you. It's a fact. Right? And that's what he's saying here. Don't just love with words. Hey, we love you. You are loved. Good luck. Love with deeds. Love with action. Do something about it. Do something about it. Now, this begs the question like how do I know?

Cuz I know sometimes when people hear a message like this, I thought I was saved, but I I don't know. I don't know that I've ever had a hunger for righteousness. I I don't know that I have a love for God's people. How how do I know? Here's how you know. Because you've trusted in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you want him to be the Lord of your life. That's how you know. There's a lot of people that are going to pray some prayer where Jesus is going to say to them on judgment day, depart from me, you workers of iniquity.

I never knew you. And they're going to say, Lord, Lord, but we did all these things. Like I don't know you. So, how do you know that you know them? Uh my daughter who happens to be in this service, uh she's 11 and and she's been talking for the last month or so, a couple weeks. Daddy, she's like, I just want to know that I know. I mean, I've heard all the facts. I just I I know the facts. I just I want to know that I know. And and so I just like to go go through the Bible with you, which threw up my heart now this week and I was like, yeah, let's let's do that.

And we were on the way home one night and I'm like, do you feel comfortable asking me questions? Like do you feel okay that just cuz I'm a pastor? She said, Daddy, I always feel good asking whatever. I I always feel that. I said, well, sit down and talk about it. I said, I want you to know that you know. She's like, well, how do you just know? And so on Wednesday morning, we got to sit down and we were going through the Bible together and we got this big room in our house, like a home school room and we were I was marking on the board and I was going through the gospel of Romans 6:23, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.

And we were going through word by word and just hey, tell me what this means and do you know what that means and here's what it is. And she's like, yeah, okay, I'm I'm getting it. And so we're talking about crossing the chasm. And I had to read Romans 10:9 says if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. And so she's like, Daddy, but that that's okay. Now now if God created Adam and Eve and they were sinners, they they brought sin, then why didn't God create like another couple that was sinless so that you know there wouldn't be any other sin in that line of sin?

This is awesome question. I said, we'll get to that. So, finally by the time we got to that, I'm like, that's what Jesus did. He's the sinless line. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. And she's like, well, then if it's salvation, why do I have to ask for it? I'm like, you don't. I took a marker and I held it out and I said, now if I said this marker is yours, it's it's a gift, when is it yours? She's like, when I take it. And I said, and how do you take it?

And she's like, well, and she starts reading Romans 10:9 that if I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in my heart that God raised him from the dead, that's how I take it. And I'm like, yeah, and then then what? And I said, read it. And she's like, you will be saved. I'm like, you might be saved. You you might be able No, you will be. And I'm like, well, how do you know it's true? She's like, cuz God only tells the truth. And I'm like, well, what what if he's not telling the truth?

Well, then he'd be a liar. And I said, well, if God were a liar, would you want to go to heaven? She's like, well, no. And uh she's like, so what how do you know? Can you know for sure? It says right here, you will And I watched her eyes and it just clicked. And she started bawling, right? And I 'm sitting in this chair. We're sitting in this chair and I 'm starting to bawl and she sit on my lap and I didn't teach her how to pray some sinner's prayer, but she's called out to the Lord.

She's like, Lord, I know I'm a sinner. I know I'm going to hell. I don't want to go to hell. I want everything you have for me. You're the Lord of my life. Come into my life right now. And we were both just sitting there weeping, right? So, then I said to you how do you know? I I mean, are you sure you're going to heaven now? She's like, yes, Daddy. And I asked her later in the day, are you sure you're going? Yes, I 'm going. I asked her the next day. She said, Dad, quit asking me.

I know I 'm going. I mean, I'm I'm there. Right? Why? Not because of anything she did, but the spirit of God revealed to her her need for a savior. Has the spirit of God revealed to you today a need for a savior? Because you might come to Brave Church all that you want and you might say, I like it and I like the people here and I like God's word here and all this. But personally you may never trust it in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Personally you may have never allowed the spirit of God to cause you to repent and trust in who he is.

And so I want to end our service today by giving you an opportunity on both campuses to do that. So, if you just bow your heads with me on both campuses and just pray. Lord Jesus, we just come before you today. Lord, we know what the children of the devil look like. They're obvious. And Lord, we know what the children of God look like. They're obvious. Lord, children of God, love you, love others, and desire righteousness in their lives. If you're here today and say, I've never desired those things in my life, but I recognize today I 'm a sinner.

I I recognize I'm dead. I I recognize I need to repent of my sins and trust Jesus Christ. Here's how you can pray. Jesus, I believe you're the Lord of all, that you died for my sins, that you were buried, that you rose from the grave. Right now, I turn from my sin and I trust you with my whole heart. Lord God, we just pray that your Holy Spirit would indwell all those who prayed that prayer as your word promises that you do and that you would offer new life to all people. And Lord, for those who are here who are believers already who said, I I I did that years ago.

I did that weeks ago. I've done that months ago. Uh but Lord, today I was hearing ways that I have hatred. Lord, the ways I have indifference. Or Lord, even the ways that I have murderous thoughts in my heart. Lord, forgive me for those things.

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us for today's message. If you're in the Denver area, join us Sundays at our Inglewood or Westminster locations at 8:30 or 10:30 a.m. We'd love to meet you. And before you go, remember that when you give to Brave, you're not just supporting a ministry, you're advancing the gospel. Your gift makes an eternal impact on those who come to know Jesus and strengthens believers who are growing deeper in their faith. Join us next time for more bold biblical teaching from Pastor Jeff.