1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,800 you will with me to Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40, kind of an interesting place to 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:12,440 be speaking on worship, but you'll see how it ties all together here in just a little 3 00:00:12,440 --> 00:00:20,560 bit, so we'll be looking at that. So, alrighty. Why don't we go to the Lord in prayer and 4 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:27,000 then we'll begin our study tonight. Father God, we just want to thank you so much for 5 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:33,040 your many blessings, for your mercy that endures forever, for your grace that is so abundantly 6 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:40,320 spread upon all of us that we just stand in awe of how great you are. We ask, Lord, that 7 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:45,120 as we look into the study of your word tonight, that your Holy Spirit will guide us in such 8 00:00:45,120 --> 00:00:51,120 a way that we might be better people, better sisters and mothers and aunts and grandmothers 9 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:57,640 and brothers and grandfathers and fathers and just a whole host of things, Lord, as we 10 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:03,680 think about now being the relationship between brothers and sisters in Christ. We pray that 11 00:01:03,680 --> 00:01:09,920 you will just enable us to love one another in such a way that will inspire the world 12 00:01:09,920 --> 00:01:16,920 to seek to want to know why and how they could be so loving and so kind and so gracious. 13 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:23,920 We just pray that you would deliver us and just put that in each and every one of us 14 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:28,920 in Jesus' name. Let us all say amen. Alright. The focus is worship tonight. We'll be looking 15 00:01:28,920 --> 00:01:37,040 at, we're going to look at and try to understand the heart of worship. Our Creator made us and 16 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:45,440 He made us to find hope and purpose in this life and through worshiping Him and Him alone 17 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:53,720 we can find that worth. So no one else is worthy but Him and Him alone. So as we focus 18 00:01:53,720 --> 00:02:01,160 on the majesty and the awesomeness of God, how many of you have been to the mountains? 19 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:06,560 Just incredible to be up so high and see how big things are and you can find stuff being 20 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:12,440 so small. I remember back when we lived in Wyoming, we were doing Christmas time, out 21 00:02:12,440 --> 00:02:17,000 there we went to the mountains, you get a Christmas tree and I climbed up this tree 22 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:21,480 and cut the top out and I thought, you know, I'm going to bring that home and that's going 23 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:27,280 to be so nice and it was 16 foot. It didn't seem that big out in the wild but when I got 24 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:31,680 home I couldn't get it up and I kept having to cut this tree until I finally got it down 25 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:36,760 to something manageable and I had all this tree sitting there but it was beautiful up 26 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:41,960 there and we spent a lot of time with another family up just enjoying the mountains and 27 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:48,720 enjoying the time out together. So the focus is what we'll be looking at. I want you to 28 00:02:48,720 --> 00:02:56,000 think about Romans chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 first because it's here that we read, I 29 00:02:56,000 --> 00:03:01,760 beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living 30 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:10,000 sacrifice holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed 31 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:16,160 to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that 32 00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:23,240 good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So before we get any further questions of 33 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:31,360 course I always have a lot of questions. What is a good way to worship for you? For me it's 34 00:03:31,360 --> 00:03:38,760 songs. I love when I'm playing music, I can get into a worshipful experience. What about 35 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:53,040 you? Serving, what about you sir? Brian? Singing, Miss Jan? Prayer life, okay. How do you worship? 36 00:03:53,040 --> 00:04:04,600 Linda? Talking to the lawyers, okay. How do you worship? Jan? Do prayer, so we prayer, 37 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:11,360 yes. Singing or music, those are all good things, okay. But in this one I want to show 38 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:18,260 you a couple of things that I think that would be really important, not too far. The passage 39 00:04:18,260 --> 00:04:26,720 contains three elements of true worship and there is the motivation of worship, the manner, 40 00:04:26,720 --> 00:04:32,040 description of the manner of our worship, and true worship is God-centered. We'll look 41 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:39,040 at those individually. The first one who we think about it is the mercies of God. God's 42 00:04:39,040 --> 00:04:47,560 mercies are everything. He's given us so many things that we don't deserve. His eternal 43 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:54,240 love, His eternal grace, the Holy Spirit, the everlasting peace. We can go on and on 44 00:04:54,240 --> 00:05:01,720 and on about the many things and the benefits of being a believer. The knowledge and understanding 45 00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:09,280 of these incredible gifts should motivate us to put forth praise and worship. I don't 46 00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:16,600 know about you, but for me on Sunday mornings, my left hand, for some reason, goes up on 47 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:23,880 certain songs. I don't know why. I just, I just, it's like, and then some Sundays I 48 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:30,600 want to do the two-handed, but I can't sing with that like that. So, but I love, that's 49 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:36,240 just part of me. I love raising my hands and praising God that way. But because of His 50 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:45,240 mercies that endure us forever, that's a good reason to praise Him and to worship Him. 51 00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:57,680 Next is our manner of worship. Our manner of worship is presenting our bodies, means giving 52 00:05:57,680 --> 00:06:07,320 to God all of us, my whole being. What does that mean to you, to give God your whole being? 53 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:17,240 Yes, sir? Every area of life. Define those areas for me. He said every area of life. 54 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:25,480 What are some areas of life? Our time? Our thought, wow, good one. Our thought life, 55 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:32,480 our heart, mind, and soul. Everything that is within me. I want to bless His name. I 56 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:38,480 want to show forth His glory and His praise and all that I do. And so in that manner, 57 00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:44,280 Brian, we do need to get that in replaced or something. Yeah, just a little bit. So this 58 00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:51,040 was a little dim. So that's one of the things that we need to do. So, but more than anything 59 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:59,240 else, in other words, we are to give up control. How many of you like to give up control? How 60 00:06:59,240 --> 00:07:06,120 many of you are control freaks? Hey, man, I see some control freaks out there. I don't 61 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:12,640 know. It's like, that's not part of, that's not the way it's supposed to go. And when 62 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:19,880 things go wrong, you kind of like, ugh, that's not, I was a legalist for many years. And 63 00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:26,880 when things didn't go the way it was scripted to go, I had a hard time dealing with things. 64 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:33,520 And, and I, and I let that go into my prayer life and my life of observing the Lord. And 65 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:38,880 it was, it was something else. Also, in this portion of the scripture, we see that it's 66 00:07:38,880 --> 00:07:47,400 God's centered worship. People tend to get caught up where they, where they, how they 67 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:55,480 should worship. Music, what music should we sing? I got a question to ask you. This came 68 00:07:55,480 --> 00:08:08,480 up the other day in a conversation. The guitars, the cajon, the violin, flute, that's flute. 69 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:17,760 Those add to worship. You like it? What about the cajon? Is that good? So if we had drums, 70 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:24,240 what would that be like? Would it be okay? Are you sure? I mean, can you have drums in 71 00:08:24,240 --> 00:08:37,480 a Baptist church? I mean, I just was curious. So what if we had, what else is, I guess, 72 00:08:37,480 --> 00:08:47,000 drums, guitars, bass, cajon, flute. We got it just about got it all. Trombones, trumpets. 73 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:57,960 Oh man, we got it all. And tambourine. Whoa. You notice it doesn't get used very often? 74 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:20,400 Why is that? We have a tambourine. I don't know how these work because I am not. Now, 75 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:27,440 in this interesting, I can sing, but I can't play an instrument. But I've seen people 76 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:41,720 shake it all together. Some would say that that's an overkill. Some would say that's 77 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:51,400 acceptable. But as we worship God, should I, should I worry about what people think? 78 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:56,880 Does anybody in here say amen when pastors preaching in here? Dave does. You do. I've 79 00:09:56,880 --> 00:10:02,160 heard some people say amen. What would you think would happen if someone said preach 80 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:14,480 on pastor? It would be a little at first. Yeah, it could be. But how do we, what's the 81 00:10:14,480 --> 00:10:27,680 main idea about God centered worship? To praise him. We were made to praise. There's something 82 00:10:27,680 --> 00:10:36,440 about who we are. God made us in this way to where we praise or we look for opportunities, 83 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:45,040 but we're not going to praise. Jesus said this, God is a spirit. They that worship 84 00:10:45,040 --> 00:10:54,760 him must worship him in spirit and in truth. This was the part of the dialogue with the 85 00:10:54,760 --> 00:11:01,120 woman at the well. And we see this is what went on there. Let's keep going. Only he 86 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:08,720 is worthy and not any of his servants in revelations chapter 19 verse nine. He said unto me, right 87 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:15,080 blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the lamb. And he said unto 88 00:11:15,080 --> 00:11:20,200 me, these are the true sayings of God. I want to stop there just real quickly. If you are 89 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:28,760 a born again believer in Jesus Christ, you've given your heart and you've accepted him as 90 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:34,040 Lord and savior. You know where you're going to get a chance to be at the marriage supper 91 00:11:34,040 --> 00:11:50,120 of the lamb with all the other saints in the world in 2025. But those back in the 1800s 92 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:56,680 and those in the first century, we're going to be all at the marriage supper of the lamb. 93 00:11:56,680 --> 00:12:02,880 Now John fell at his feet to worship the angel that was giving him this information. And 94 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:11,440 he said unto me, see thou do it not. I am thy fellow servant and of the brethren that 95 00:12:11,440 --> 00:12:25,040 have the testimony of Jesus worship God. The testimony of Jesus is a spirit of prophecy. 96 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:33,080 And so we're not to worship other saints of the men of the prophets, statutes, angels, 97 00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:40,160 false gods, even Mary the mother of Jesus. We should also be worshiping the expectation 98 00:12:40,160 --> 00:12:48,240 of something. We should not be worshiping for the expectation of something in return. 99 00:12:48,240 --> 00:13:04,080 That is, he's just making a point. This is something you shouldn't do. Fall down and 100 00:13:04,080 --> 00:13:10,640 worship the angel. The angel gave him the prophecy and he wanted to worship the angel 101 00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:17,040 because he felt so unworthy to be in heaven because John who was exiling the Isle of Patmos 102 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:24,000 was given these revelations by God and during the giving of these revelations, he fell down 103 00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:35,280 to worship the angel and was told, don't do that. So the point, only God deserves our 104 00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:41,840 worship. Only God deserves our praise. But there's a big difference between praise and 105 00:13:41,840 --> 00:13:52,120 worship. What is that? What's the difference between praise and worship? Yes. 106 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:21,560 Okay, very good. So praise is an extension of worship. I worship God for who he is and 107 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:27,360 in that I praise him. I praise him on the tambourine. I praise him on the drums. I praise 108 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:34,520 him on the hearts. I praise him together singing with other believers. I praise him. Okay, 109 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:46,840 so only God deserves our worship. No man, no woman, but only God, him alone. And so we're 110 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:53,240 going to look at now how we can worship only one, the only one who can rescue us and the 111 00:14:53,240 --> 00:15:02,160 only one who deserves our praise. In Isaiah chapter 40 verses 21 through 24, he's speaking 112 00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:08,280 to the children of Israel, the prophet is. He says, have you not known? Have you not 113 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:15,320 heard? Have did not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the 114 00:15:15,320 --> 00:15:25,280 foundations of the earth? It is he that sit upon the circle of the earth and the inhabitants 115 00:15:25,280 --> 00:15:33,400 there are as grasshoppers and stretches out the heavens as a curtain and spread it them 116 00:15:33,400 --> 00:15:40,120 as a tent to dwell in that bring it the princess to nothing that make it the judges of the 117 00:15:40,120 --> 00:15:49,240 earth as vanity. Yay, they shall not be planted. Yay, they shall not be some. Yay, their stock 118 00:15:49,240 --> 00:15:56,200 shall not take root in the earth and he shall also blow upon them and they shall wither and 119 00:15:56,200 --> 00:16:04,600 the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. The prophet begins by asking some important 120 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:15,520 questions. Have you not known? The fool is said in his heart, there is no God. But man 121 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:24,360 knows that there is because God placed within each man, each one of us avoid an emptiness, 122 00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:31,000 a place that only he can feel. And there are certain times in our lives and in our experience 123 00:16:31,000 --> 00:16:37,800 in life that that whole has a yearning and a hungering and a drive and a thirst for that 124 00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:46,880 that only God can feel. And so we see that he says, have you not, no, have you not even 125 00:16:46,880 --> 00:16:52,960 heard? Surely someone has talked about how good God is. Had it not been told you from 126 00:16:52,960 --> 00:16:59,960 the beginning, Cicero in the first century BC observed that religion regardless of its 127 00:16:59,960 --> 00:17:08,120 form was a universal trait of man. Seeing that people are going to worship something 128 00:17:08,120 --> 00:17:18,680 or someone, we should ask what is worship? Whom and how shall we worship? These are questions 129 00:17:18,680 --> 00:17:27,760 that Cicero formed many, many years ago. And so all religions practice worship. If we can 130 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:36,520 do enough, can we pray enough or give enough? We'll eventually convince a God who we don't 131 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:46,680 know to make our lives better. That's what the world says. If we can do enough, and basically 132 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:53,320 that's legalism. Because if I think I've done enough and I think I've prayed enough and 133 00:17:53,320 --> 00:18:02,960 I've given enough, God, you owe me because I've done what I think is required of me. 134 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:10,000 So you should meet my needs. You should give me the things that I want. And I should be 135 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:18,960 a recipient of those things that you have for me. So those four questions, God was calling 136 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:25,400 to his people to worship him for asking these four great questions. Everything they needed 137 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:35,280 to know about God had been revealed to them. Now, if you've been to the mountains or if 138 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:43,960 you've been on a sunrise in Northwest Ohio, as flat as can be and see the sun come up, 139 00:18:43,960 --> 00:18:51,720 there's something majestic about that. And it lets you know that there's more to life 140 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:59,120 than just mundane things that are happening around. But the beauty of that we see. So 141 00:18:59,120 --> 00:19:06,040 I said, Dave, you not heard. That's a typo. Excuse that. Okay. Yeah, I was wondering who 142 00:19:06,040 --> 00:19:12,960 Dave was to. Had it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from 143 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:20,040 the foundations of the earth? No one can say I don't know anything about who this God is. 144 00:19:20,040 --> 00:19:27,520 But God is speaking. Nature is speaking. The earth is speaking. The heavens are speaking. 145 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:38,960 Worship begins with looking at God and seeing glimpses of the invisible and the infinite. 146 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:54,840 The invisible. That we serve a God that many people would say, I don't see. We serve a God 147 00:19:54,840 --> 00:20:03,480 that meets our needs. And people confuse it with, well, you have a job. That's how you've been able 148 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:12,560 to meet your needs. But believers know this, that we don't work for some organization. We work 149 00:20:12,560 --> 00:20:23,880 for the Lord. Because he's applied the job. He's applied the industry that we would have that 150 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:32,840 job with. All those things are provided by him. And so worship begins by looking at God and seeing 151 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:42,320 glimpses of the invisible and more than that, the infinite. The God who was, is, and is going to be 152 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:55,440 allows his spirit to reside within me. I don't fear the past. I don't get nervous about the present. 153 00:20:55,440 --> 00:21:05,520 And I look forward to the future because of what God, who is the invisible and the infinite is able 154 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:19,320 to do. I can't touch him. I can't feel him. But I know he's there. I hear him, but it's not verbal. 155 00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:27,600 I feel him, but it's not. Is that the word? Tactical. Who's a nurse? Anybody nursing here? 156 00:21:27,600 --> 00:21:37,080 Tectile. I got it wrong. Thank you. Tectile. Yeah. I knew I was going to mess it up even before I 157 00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:49,320 said it. Isn't that amazing? And this passage, Isaiah gives us several images to consider. We see the God 158 00:21:49,320 --> 00:22:01,000 whose power made the world in the beginning of everything. Got the father, got the son, got the 159 00:22:01,000 --> 00:22:14,200 Holy Spirit, stepped out of nowhere into nothing and spoke into existence, everything that's here. 160 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:23,400 There's a song that says he's got the whole world in his hand. He's got the whole world in his hand. 161 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:35,760 And yet he's big enough and bad enough to know everything that I need and every need for everybody 162 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:48,120 all over the world. Every sparrow that falls. Every fish that floats up. God knows all of that. 163 00:22:48,120 --> 00:23:03,320 We see God who is ruler of all and whose throne has no equal. How many of you have world history buffs? 164 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:14,040 I love history. One of the last courses I took was the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. It was a 165 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:23,120 fascinating study. One of the things I noticed about that and if you look back through the years of 166 00:23:23,120 --> 00:23:31,320 history, there have always been civilizations that were great and people thought they would never fall. 167 00:23:31,320 --> 00:23:42,320 They was going to last forever, but they all were destroyed from the inside. The God who is the rule of 168 00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:50,280 all whose throne has no equal, has no end, has no beginning will go on forever and ever and one day 169 00:23:50,280 --> 00:24:04,320 I'll be able to see the throne of God myself. Think about that. One day we'll be in glory. We'll be in 170 00:24:04,320 --> 00:24:14,160 glory and we'll go. Remember, see, we don't know everything, but we know in part, but when that which 171 00:24:14,160 --> 00:24:24,120 is perfect has come, then we're going to know everything and we'll understand why things happened 172 00:24:24,120 --> 00:24:32,720 in my life. God is going to make all things known and I'll be able to understand in such a way that 173 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:40,120 I'll be humbled and I'll all but follow my knees and worship Him for who He is, for how many times 174 00:24:40,120 --> 00:24:49,320 God has saved me from myself. We'll understand it better by and by. Somebody wrote a song about that. 175 00:24:49,320 --> 00:25:02,640 They sure did. Okay, we see the God who is so big, he causes all the world as we know it to 176 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:14,200 seem small by comparison. Then lastly, we see the God whose authority and might transcend every 177 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:27,160 prince on earth. No power can approach His greatness. God is superior to everything. What 178 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:34,880 almighty God we serve. There's a song about that too. Think how many songs that are written for us 179 00:25:34,880 --> 00:25:45,360 to worship and praise God with. Isaiah continuing on, he says, to whom will ye liken me or shall I 180 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:57,520 be equal, saith the Holy One? Who will we liken me or shall be equal, saith the Holy One? Lift up 181 00:25:57,520 --> 00:26:03,920 your eyes on high and behold, who had created these things that bring it out their host by 182 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:10,400 number. He calleth him all by names by the greatness of his might for that he is strong in 183 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:20,320 power, not one phalanx. Why says thou, O Jacob, speaketh thou, O Israel? My way is hid from the 184 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:28,120 Lord and my judgment is passed over from my God. Hast thou not, and then he repeats again, this is 185 00:26:28,120 --> 00:26:35,840 Hebrew poetry, hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the 186 00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:43,680 creator of the ends of the earth, feigneth not, neither is weary. There is no searching of his 187 00:26:43,680 --> 00:26:52,400 understanding. Israel complains that God is just too big for him to really know and understand what 188 00:26:52,400 --> 00:27:00,120 they are dealing with as a nation, but God does know. And so he asks them those additional questions. 189 00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:08,040 But God's unique nature, let's talk a little bit about that just real quickly if we can. No other 190 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:17,600 God created it all. If there was another one that had power or existed, our worship would 191 00:27:17,600 --> 00:27:27,440 rightly be divided between the two, but God isn't one or two or of many. He is one and he is the 192 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:38,640 only one. No other God holds it all like he can hold it all. No other God rules it all like he can 193 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:46,800 rule. And we may feel like there are times when living on this earth that, wow, evil is running 194 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:53,080 rampant. I think I've said this before, but I'm going to ask it again. How many of you have heard 195 00:27:53,080 --> 00:27:58,640 the expression? It's going to get things going to get better. So I asked this question to you 196 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:16,840 tonight. Has things gotten any better? Why? Why, Dave? Why? Just a second. Why and why? Okay. See if I 197 00:28:16,840 --> 00:28:36,720 can remember all those people now. Ready? Go. Okay. We've got a problem with sin. And worse. Yes. The 198 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:48,600 devil, our adversary, the evil wonder. He walks about whom he can devour. He will cut your throat 199 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:59,440 and watch you bleed and never break a sweat. And we'll rejoice that he take you out. That's the kind 200 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:07,840 of adversary we are up against. I mean, cold, calculated. The Bible tells us to be, you know, 201 00:29:07,840 --> 00:29:15,560 to watch out for the scheme of the wilds of the devil because he's out to kill. Yes, he has no 202 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:23,800 use for you. If you're going to live for Christ, you got an enemy on your hands now. If you're not 203 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:32,320 battling, then maybe you need to pray a little more. Read a little more. Put yourself to where God 204 00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:38,480 can use you. I asked you, now there's somebody over here. Who did I ask of me? Oh, Larry. Yeah, 205 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:55,160 it was you. It wasn't Bill. Oh, you want Bill answered? Okay, go ahead. Tell me, tell me, tell 206 00:29:55,160 --> 00:30:15,440 me, what does everybody do what's good their own I mean? Okay. I'm right and you're wrong. Don't 207 00:30:15,440 --> 00:30:27,200 sass me. I'm right and you're wrong. And you're wrong and I'm right. We got an impasse. We're a 208 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:43,760 mess. Yes, ma'am. We're not standing up boldly. I heard her what she said. But what does it mean 209 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:56,400 to stand boldly? What is a what is a fearful Christian look like? Do they shake a lot? 210 00:30:56,400 --> 00:31:21,760 What is a fearful Christian? Anybody? Yes. Yes, sir. 211 00:31:26,760 --> 00:31:40,760 Oh, man, I only have 15 more minutes. I just thought of a compromise. I've never finished a lesson here at 212 00:31:40,760 --> 00:31:54,480 Trinity. I don't know what I'm upset about. Compromise. Brian, what does he mean? We compromise. What does 213 00:31:54,480 --> 00:32:06,000 it mean? Wait a minute, you get your turn. I compromise. What does that mean? Do I take a 214 00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:27,120 bribe? Do I what? So like, I'm gonna pick on Dave because he likes it. Don't really have to study too 215 00:32:27,120 --> 00:32:32,840 much because you've taught enough lessons to where there's probably 10 to 12 of them sitting in the 216 00:32:32,840 --> 00:33:01,080 back of your mind every day, right? Right? I'm popping a lot. I'm thinking the ones who per our 217 00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:13,520 lesson. I'm fearful of the world and what others think. Because I want everybody to think the best 218 00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:21,200 of me. I don't want anybody to know what I was thinking about when I was talking with a guy today. 219 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:45,640 He was making me a little upset. But I thought of me went, oh, do the right thing. Okay. 220 00:33:51,200 --> 00:34:07,840 Why do I want to go to heaven? I got it made down here. I sometimes I feel like I got it made 221 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:19,480 here because I allowed the world and Satan to rain too much in me to allow me to put my mind on 222 00:34:19,480 --> 00:34:29,560 heavenly things. When I can't think heavenly, I grovel and I get messed up in the stuff in this 223 00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:47,040 world. How many Christians are like, Oh, man, I've said this before, we ought to be the most 224 00:34:47,040 --> 00:34:56,160 productive people that that employers can hire. We are the most positive. We are the most giving. 225 00:34:56,160 --> 00:35:06,360 We are the ones that the world looks at and goes, give us more Christians. But we compromise. We're 226 00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:16,200 fearful and we don't take a stand. And when that happens, we let the master down. And 227 00:35:16,200 --> 00:35:29,960 Jesus has we let Jesus down who gave his life. The God who created all this humbled himself to 228 00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:43,320 become a single sale entity and grow into a child birth went through all that potty training and 229 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:55,480 adolescent stuff and grew up diet gave himself. And I know, thank God, he doesn't say I did all 230 00:35:55,480 --> 00:36:06,720 that for him. And look at what he's doing. But my God, Jesus says, I still love you. And and 231 00:36:06,720 --> 00:36:14,240 through the Holy Spirit is going to work out some things so that he can begin to appreciate that 232 00:36:14,240 --> 00:36:25,360 love that I have for him. And all of a sudden now, whoa, I began to be what God or Christ would 233 00:36:25,360 --> 00:36:35,040 have me be. Oh, this is beautiful. This is wonderful. Isaiah chapter six. In the year that King 234 00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:48,960 Uzzi died, I saw I saw it. This is what Isaiah said. He saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high 235 00:36:48,960 --> 00:36:58,320 and lifted up in his train, fill the temple. And above it stood the seraphim's. Each one had how 236 00:36:58,320 --> 00:37:13,280 many wings? Six. Two wings got feet covered, right? His face. And with two, he flew. What a weird 237 00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:28,240 sounding looking six wings. Here's a beautiful part. And one cried until another. I don't know how 238 00:37:28,240 --> 00:37:38,160 many seraphim's were up there. But one cried to the other, Holy, Holy, Holy. And another one said, 239 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:47,600 Holy, Holy, Holy. And another one said, Holy, Holy. And to finally, they're reverberated all over 240 00:37:47,600 --> 00:38:00,240 heaven. Holy, Holy, Holy. I said, I saw that. And the post of the door moved at the voice of him 241 00:38:00,240 --> 00:38:08,720 that cried and the house was filled with smoke. What was his reaction? I said, Whoa, he is me. 242 00:38:08,720 --> 00:38:19,680 I am undone because I am a man of unclean lips. My life does not measure up to the holiness that I see 243 00:38:19,680 --> 00:38:39,600 in the temple. We come to church on Sunday mornings to do what? Worship? What else do we do? How do 244 00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:45,600 we worship when we come? I'm going somewhere with this. How do we worship when we come to church on 245 00:38:45,600 --> 00:38:59,360 Sunday morning? Some people sing. Some people serve. We hear the word. There's one left. 246 00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:21,200 We give according to giving. We worship by giving. But if I'm out of fellowship and you're out of 247 00:39:21,200 --> 00:39:29,680 fellowship and these three just had a big argument before church started. 248 00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:36,160 Are we going to go out to eat? No, I don't want to go there. Let's go here. No, I don't know. 249 00:39:37,760 --> 00:39:41,200 And they were just kind of going at it and then church started. 250 00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:51,040 And what happened? 251 00:39:54,880 --> 00:39:55,040 Wow. 252 00:39:57,360 --> 00:40:04,800 Sad, but it happens. What does that do to the spirit of worship and the spirit of unity 253 00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:11,200 that's in the church? Pastor has to preach twice as hard. 254 00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:19,280 Musicians have to play and it takes the spirit of God to finally move that negativity 255 00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:25,600 and finally people are saying, praise God, I'm glad I'm here. I can let go of that. 256 00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:33,680 Sister, I love you, but it doesn't matter to me and things can come back together. 257 00:40:35,440 --> 00:40:42,400 And all of a sudden now we can worship in spirit and in truth. And I know you were upset, but 258 00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:48,320 I love you anyway. And you finally look at me and say, I love you too. And there's rejoicing in that 259 00:40:48,320 --> 00:40:59,440 because Christ gets the victory and Satan is defeated. He wants to defeat us before we can come in and worship. 260 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:08,080 Oh, renewal, refuel, revamp and then yes. 261 00:41:08,080 --> 00:41:15,840 Let's see. I got 12 more, 18 more. 262 00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:25,120 Who said that? I'm not going to do all 18. I got to stop in four minutes. 263 00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:33,600 And this who's that laughed at loud? Said you. Well, your husband does just as bad. 264 00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:44,160 I say a 40 29 31. One of my favorite portions of scripture. He give it power to the faint 265 00:41:45,920 --> 00:41:55,040 and to them that have no might. He increases strength power to the faint 266 00:41:55,040 --> 00:42:10,000 power, do not mess to the faint. I have been striving and struggling for the Lord and I'm faint. 267 00:42:10,000 --> 00:42:19,840 So what does he do? He gives me power. He gives me what I need because I have spent myself working 268 00:42:19,840 --> 00:42:27,680 for him. Then he then he makes a comparison. Even the youth shall faint and be weary. 269 00:42:29,600 --> 00:42:37,040 The youth who should be the ones that can run and run and fight and fight and do and do and just go on 270 00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:48,480 forever. They said they shall faint and be weary. The young men are going to utterly fall the 31. 271 00:42:48,480 --> 00:43:01,760 But they that what wait. Now, I love the verse 29. He give us. 272 00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:13,280 God give us power. This is part of his the merciful works of God, his graciousness. 273 00:43:13,280 --> 00:43:19,920 He give us power. He gives when they when I don't deserve it, but he gives me to put me back up on 274 00:43:19,920 --> 00:43:30,080 my feet. He gives. And so verse 31, but they that wait. Let's go in here just a little bit more. 275 00:43:30,080 --> 00:43:38,720 They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. 276 00:43:38,720 --> 00:43:48,320 They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. 277 00:43:51,120 --> 00:44:02,640 The youth who normally can't do it. He's going to restore. How do we receive this strength from 278 00:44:02,640 --> 00:44:10,400 the Lord? We receive it as we wait on the Lord. The idea behind wait on the Lord is not a passive 279 00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:18,320 sitting around until the Lord does something. Yes, God gives us strength, but we don't expect it to 280 00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:28,240 come as if he were pouring it into us as we sit passively by. He brings it to us as we seek him, 281 00:44:28,240 --> 00:44:38,320 rely on him instead of doing things in our own strength. Quick story. I'll make you really quick. 282 00:44:41,280 --> 00:44:45,600 So I just about laughed that loud. I never done anything quick in my life. 283 00:44:48,800 --> 00:44:50,240 See, I'm making it long already. 284 00:44:50,240 --> 00:45:04,000 I was preaching in the city. We spent about 10 years. I was a circuit riding preacher. 285 00:45:05,040 --> 00:45:13,360 It was in Nebraska, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming. We travel one or two Sundays every month to a 286 00:45:13,360 --> 00:45:22,880 low town that didn't have a pastor. And I said to myself, I wrote, this is a good swimming. 287 00:45:24,880 --> 00:45:32,240 This is a good one. It's going to be good. And so I stood up for two preach, 288 00:45:32,240 --> 00:45:41,680 open my Bible and stuttered through the scripture, lost my place. 289 00:45:44,000 --> 00:45:47,840 And it was just as real as real could be. It was almost as if the Lord said, 290 00:45:48,400 --> 00:45:51,840 you wanted to give your good sermon. Go ahead. 291 00:45:51,840 --> 00:46:01,520 I can't see it. Even the youth, even the person that's 292 00:46:03,040 --> 00:46:08,080 think he's ready to do it all by himself. No, doesn't work that way. 293 00:46:10,160 --> 00:46:15,040 Notice the order because it seems strange when you think about the order in the scriptural text, 294 00:46:15,600 --> 00:46:20,240 but you have to kind of get to where this is exciting. But they did wait upon Lord 295 00:46:20,240 --> 00:46:27,040 shall renew their strength. So I'm back now to where I need to be in that restored fellowship 296 00:46:27,040 --> 00:46:33,760 with God. I'm empowered by his might. I'm ready to move on. They shall mount up with eagles. 297 00:46:35,280 --> 00:46:39,440 They shall run and not be weary. Why would I fly before I walked? 298 00:46:41,280 --> 00:46:44,160 But when we look at this, what we see is that 299 00:46:44,160 --> 00:46:55,760 we recognize that we soar into heavenly places with Christ. I reign with him on high. 300 00:46:57,120 --> 00:47:03,680 And then when I think about Hebrews 12 once, it says, 301 00:47:03,680 --> 00:47:08,800 wherefore seeing also we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. 302 00:47:08,800 --> 00:47:20,080 And that cloud of witnesses are standing there. And I believe one of them is my mother 303 00:47:20,080 --> 00:47:29,680 and my grandmother and my grandma Lily and my grandpa Oscar because they were all born again 304 00:47:29,680 --> 00:47:40,320 believers in love of the Lord. Seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. 305 00:47:40,480 --> 00:47:46,800 Michael, you can do it. My grandmother would say, 306 00:47:47,760 --> 00:47:55,600 Mike, keep going. My mom would say, Michael Edward, hang in there, boy. 307 00:47:55,600 --> 00:48:06,560 My granddaddy Oscar would say, he's a man of few words. He give you a nod. You got it. 308 00:48:09,120 --> 00:48:14,960 We're compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside 309 00:48:14,960 --> 00:48:30,080 false worship, bad ideas, hidden sins or secret sins. And we could go on and on. 310 00:48:31,120 --> 00:48:40,960 Let us lay aside all that stuff. The idea was a Greek runner who would strip down to 311 00:48:40,960 --> 00:48:49,360 practically nothing and they would run the race. And the analogy here is all those things that would 312 00:48:50,720 --> 00:49:00,960 easily be set us, trip me up, hold me back, keep me down, not let me see the wonder and the glory 313 00:49:00,960 --> 00:49:10,880 of who God is. Put that aside and then let us run with patience the race that is set before us. 314 00:49:13,120 --> 00:49:24,400 Your race is the one that only you are capable of running. God has placed things in Mark's life 315 00:49:24,400 --> 00:49:34,080 and in your life that only you didn't. But he's bringing something out of your life and what 316 00:49:34,080 --> 00:49:37,200 you're dealing with so he can get the praise and the glory. 317 00:49:41,200 --> 00:49:48,320 That's not yet appear what we're going to be, but that which is perfect comes. We're going to know 318 00:49:48,320 --> 00:50:00,400 everything and I'm going to see, let's see, another quick story. In 1975 I was a senior in high school. 319 00:50:01,360 --> 00:50:10,960 Do the math, I'm old. And we had recruiters from West Point that came there. I remember sitting there 320 00:50:11,680 --> 00:50:16,240 and they asked me, what do you think? Do you think you would want to come to West Point? 321 00:50:16,240 --> 00:50:24,160 I remember saying, nah, I'm going to be a brain surgeon and I'm going to go to Europe and drive 322 00:50:24,160 --> 00:50:30,960 around in the red sports car. That was my plan. Guess what? 323 00:50:35,040 --> 00:50:39,280 I don't have a red sports car. I'm not a brain surgeon and I'm not in Europe. 324 00:50:39,280 --> 00:50:49,280 But I am where God wants me and I think I'm doing and serving him the way he would want me to serve him. 325 00:50:50,080 --> 00:50:57,280 So I'm running my race with patience. And you know one day 326 00:51:00,880 --> 00:51:02,080 he is going to reward me. 327 00:51:02,080 --> 00:51:16,480 And he's going to reward you. Bill, he's going to say this, well done, my good and faithful servant. 328 00:51:17,920 --> 00:51:21,520 That's what I want to hear. Enter in. 329 00:51:24,320 --> 00:51:30,720 And I'm going to fellowship with him. I'm going to eat with him and get this. I'm going to reign with 330 00:51:30,720 --> 00:51:41,120 him for a thousand years. Oh, the millennial reign of Christ is some great stuff. I'm so 331 00:51:41,120 --> 00:51:46,400 interested. Father God, we love you and we praise you for this night. 332 00:51:50,240 --> 00:51:57,280 And Lord, I hope that we have a better idea of what it means to worship the omnipresent, 333 00:51:57,280 --> 00:52:06,560 omnipresent, omnipotent. That's who you are. You are and your title is God. 334 00:52:07,840 --> 00:52:17,280 Your name is Jehovah Yahweh Adonai. And we praise you for who you are. And we thank you so much 335 00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:27,680 for your son Jesus, who you sent to die and to be risen from the dead. And now he's ascended 336 00:52:27,680 --> 00:52:34,320 and he's sitting at the right hand of the Father. And right now the Holy Spirit is dwelling with 337 00:52:34,320 --> 00:52:42,000 me in your own misery. Let us worship you and praise you. For those that worship God most 338 00:52:42,000 --> 00:52:52,000 worship him in spirit and in truth. Help us to abide by your spirit and your truth. 339 00:52:52,000 --> 00:53:16,000 Let me pray this in your sense name. Let us all say amen.