1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:27,400 I know some of yous I apologize for not knowing all of yous because I'm a first service person. 2 00:00:27,400 --> 00:00:37,400 I like the hymns but I enjoyed the praise music today very much. Why am I here? I found out I'm a rogue elder. 3 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:49,400 I was never ordained so that's going to be taken care of next week. I've been on the board several times but I guess I wasn't officially ordained so Pastor Joe wants to take care of that. 4 00:00:49,400 --> 00:01:09,400 Why isn't Ben here? Why isn't Chuck here or John here? I wake up in the middle of the night a lot. Our throats are all over and a lot of times it's an hour and I wake up and shake an arm and get some feeling back in it. 5 00:01:09,400 --> 00:01:21,400 Another hour later it's the other arm and I shake that one and it gets better. But while I wake up in the middle of the night usually God puts someone on my heart to pray for. Some need. 6 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:39,400 But a month ago I told Ben as I told him at the elder meeting I woke up in the middle of the night and the words calling out to God came to me. I thought well that's strange you want me to call out to you? That was followed by weeping before the Lord. 7 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:53,400 I was like I don't understand this Lord. I woke up in the morning and started reading Judges. I knew that the people of Israel cried out to him. Read all 21 chapters and that didn't really hit me. 8 00:01:53,400 --> 00:02:04,400 I said okay we'll just table that and then the elder meeting and pastor said he was going to be away. He looked at me and said well you preached the 23rd? 9 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:18,400 And I knew why God woke me up in the middle of the night. And normally I would have said no how about Ben how about John? But I said yes I will. He said I can't wait to hear that I said I can't either. 10 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:34,400 Because all I got is two phrases. So I'm glad to be here. I pray that in humility I will be able to address God's words today. I do have a problem. I'm a weeper. 11 00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:44,400 We'll get to that later but God made me a weeper. And I pray that I can get through this without totally weeping every minute of the time. 12 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:56,400 Okay let's have a word of prayer. Father we always thank you for opportunities to share your word. And Father we learn so much ourselves before we even share it to someone else. 13 00:02:56,400 --> 00:03:05,400 And I thank you for sharing your word to me this week. And I pray that I can share the word to the brothers and sisters here today. 14 00:03:05,400 --> 00:03:18,400 That they might leave here enlightened and better understanding who you are and how we should come to approach you. I pray this in humility in Jesus precious name. Amen. 15 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:32,400 We'll be looking at four phrases that God gave me. Calling out to God. God calling out to us. Crying out to God. And weeping before God. Those four things. 16 00:03:32,400 --> 00:03:41,400 We'll be looking at Old Testament and New Testament references. Some of the things that I have learned surprise me and it may surprise you also. 17 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:47,400 There are correct and incorrect ways for every one of these situations. 18 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:53,400 The first one I'd like to look at is calling out to God taken from Psalm 17 6. 19 00:03:53,400 --> 00:04:02,400 If we look at the chapter before this Psalm 16 we look at David anticipating a problem coming his way. 20 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:14,400 And so he approaches God first asking God to examine him. Examine me he says. Watch my steps. I am a man of integrity. 21 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:27,400 I want you to test me and prove me and look inside of my very heart and see what I am inside. So he was preparing his heart to approach God and to call out to God. 22 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:34,400 And when they say in 17 6 he says I call on you oh God for you will answer me. Give ear to me and answer my prayer. 23 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:47,400 Listen to the opening of this as he said I just mentioned to you. Probe my heart and examine me at night. Though you test me you will find nothing. My steps have held to your paths. 24 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:55,400 So my first point is when we approach God we need to approach him with integrity. We need to be accountable to God. 25 00:04:55,400 --> 00:05:02,400 You hear a lot of people in the street saying oh God. Oh gosh. They have no idea what they're saying in those words. 26 00:05:02,400 --> 00:05:08,400 They are approaching the very throne room of God and calling on the creator when they mention his name. 27 00:05:08,400 --> 00:05:14,400 And we as Christians certainly should be careful when we mention God's name how we do it. 28 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:21,400 We need to be accountable to him and make sure before we approach him we make sure that we are right with him. 29 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:28,400 Why we say we take communion. If there's anything is not right with you and God settle it now. 30 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:40,400 Before you approach the Lord's table the same thing as we call out to God we should make sure that we are accountable and we are of the almost integrity even approach him. 31 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:45,400 We look at Psalm 18 the second point I'd like to make the second way we should call out to God. 32 00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:51,400 This song reflects David's attitude after God has delivered him from this potential fear he was concerned about. 33 00:05:51,400 --> 00:06:01,400 This could be delivering from his enemies it could be delivering him from Saul. He says God is my rock my fortress my shield my stronghold the horn of my salvation. 34 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:06,400 When we call on God we should remember what he has done for us. 35 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:12,400 Not forget the past. He's helped us in the past he was help us in the future. 36 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:18,400 We should approach him when we call on him with adoration and thanksgiving. 37 00:06:18,400 --> 00:06:22,400 We don't always do that. 38 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:29,400 In my younger time when I was 20 years old I call out to God and he answered prayers. 39 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:32,400 Seemed like every time I call out to me he answered prayer. 40 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:36,400 I was 21 we were getting married I needed a job. 41 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:43,400 72 was a bad year they said oh 30 40 recruiters will come down to college you'll get a job easy. 42 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:51,400 Nobody came the economy was bad we had the gas lines and I prayed to God. 43 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:57,400 Not properly but I prayed then I said Father I'm going to get married in December I need a job. 44 00:06:57,400 --> 00:06:59,400 I got the job. 45 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:08,400 There was 130 applications for that position and God gave it to me. 46 00:07:08,400 --> 00:07:13,400 But three years later that job went sour. 47 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:17,400 So did I thank him for what he had done in the past? No. 48 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:21,400 I said get me out of here fix this. It's a lousy job we're starving. 49 00:07:21,400 --> 00:07:26,400 I need another job get me the Mack trucks get me the Bethlehem steel get me somewhere else fix it. 50 00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:32,400 In three years I'd already forgotten what he had done for me. 51 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:35,400 I learned a lesson. 52 00:07:35,400 --> 00:07:44,400 Be thankful for what he's given you and the next time you approach him be thankful before you even ask him for anything. 53 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:46,400 And that's what David was doing here. 54 00:07:46,400 --> 00:07:53,400 He was coming before him with adoration and praise thanking God for what he had done. 55 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:58,400 Psalm 88 9 is a third point I'd like to make. 56 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:00,400 I learned a lot about this Psalm. 57 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:04,400 I probably read it many times but when I got to the commentary and look this one up. 58 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:08,400 This is shocking. It's really shocking this Psalm. 59 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:15,400 Psalm 88 9 I called to you O Lord day and night I spread my hands out before you. 60 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:20,400 This Psalm was written by Herman the Ezraite he a very wise man. 61 00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:23,400 It's one of the saddest Psalms in the Bible. 62 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:31,400 I picture this man coming before God prostrate before him just pleading for God's help. 63 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:38,400 But what did he call out for God for? 64 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:48,400 It states that he called on the Lord with his hands spread out day and night and he said I don't want to die. 65 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:49,400 He didn't ask for healing. 66 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:53,400 It said from his youth he had suffered some kind of affliction. 67 00:08:53,400 --> 00:08:56,400 But he didn't ask God for a healing. 68 00:08:56,400 --> 00:09:01,400 He asked God to spare his life so he could praise God one more day. 69 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:03,400 Can you imagine? 70 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:09,400 Someone's been afflicted to the point of death every day of his life. 71 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:16,400 But he asked God to spare him one more day so he can praise God. 72 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:17,400 We probably would ask for a healing. 73 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:21,400 At least give me one day Lord that I don't have a sore shoulder. 74 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:23,400 One day that I don't have a hip that hurts. 75 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:24,400 No. 76 00:09:24,400 --> 00:09:30,400 He was at the point of death but he said spare me so that one more day I can wake up and say thank you Lord. 77 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:33,400 Thank you Lord. 78 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:38,400 So I looked at this as a three proper ways that we should call out to God. 79 00:09:38,400 --> 00:09:43,400 We should call out to God with integrity and accountability. 80 00:09:43,400 --> 00:09:48,400 We should call out to God with thanksgiving and praise. 81 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:52,400 And we should thank God with a humble heart. 82 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:55,400 Realizing who we're talking to. 83 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:57,400 I'm not just talking to anybody. 84 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:01,400 For a while there, remember, everybody would say God's my buddy. 85 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:03,400 God's my friend. 86 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:05,400 But he's not my buddy. 87 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:08,400 He's not like somebody I know I work with. 88 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:14,400 He's the sovereign creator of the entire universe. 89 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:19,400 And he calls me his child. 90 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:21,400 That's special. 91 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:27,400 Sheila Walls used to have a song, God created me for the simple pleasure of knowing me. 92 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:29,400 Can you imagine that? 93 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:35,400 He wanted to know who Lanny Lewis was. 94 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:37,400 He created me for that reason. 95 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:40,400 He wanted to know me. 96 00:10:40,400 --> 00:10:48,400 So when I call out to him, I want to call out to him because I know who I'm calling out to. 97 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:51,400 That creator who wants to know me. 98 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:53,400 And I'm calling out to him because why? 99 00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:55,400 I want to know him too. 100 00:10:55,400 --> 00:11:00,400 I want to know him a way that perhaps I've never known him. 101 00:11:00,400 --> 00:11:03,400 The second phrase I said was God calling out to us. 102 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:06,400 Why would God call out to us? 103 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:12,400 You all know this story taken from 1 Samuel 3.3 where God calls Samuel. 104 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:17,400 It says the lamp of the Lord had not yet gone out and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord. 105 00:11:17,400 --> 00:11:20,400 Where the Ark of the Covenant was. 106 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:22,400 Then the Lord called Samuel. 107 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:24,400 Samuel, he answered, here I am. 108 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:26,400 You called me. 109 00:11:26,400 --> 00:11:28,400 But Eli said, I did not call you. 110 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:30,400 Go back and lie down. 111 00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:31,400 Verse 6. 112 00:11:31,400 --> 00:11:33,400 And the Lord called again. 113 00:11:33,400 --> 00:11:34,400 Verse 8. 114 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:36,400 The Lord called the third time. 115 00:11:36,400 --> 00:11:38,400 And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, here I am. 116 00:11:38,400 --> 00:11:40,400 You called me. 117 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:43,400 And then Eli realized that the Lord was calling the boy. 118 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:48,400 So Eli told Samuel, go and lay down and if he calls you, speak. 119 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:52,400 Say, speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. 120 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:57,400 Very interesting as you look at the commentary on this chapter. 121 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:03,400 It says that Samuel had been trained in all the litigal ministry at Shiloh. 122 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:07,400 He had also undergone training in the things of the Lord. 123 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:13,400 But he had not yet been trained to the addressing of God. 124 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:16,400 Of God's calling. 125 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:20,400 He had a lot of knowledge in the book of the law. 126 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:22,400 He had all the litigal training. 127 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:27,400 But he had not yet experienced God calling him. 128 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:32,400 So all the head knowledge, I don't care how many times I read this Bible through. 129 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:34,400 It's worthless. 130 00:12:34,400 --> 00:12:39,400 Unless I know that the Holy Spirit has called me to open it up, read it, and learn from it. 131 00:12:39,400 --> 00:12:41,400 That's what Jesus said. 132 00:12:41,400 --> 00:12:43,400 I don't leave you alone. 133 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:49,400 I send the Holy Spirit who will teach you all things that I want you to hear. 134 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:52,400 And so Samuel was called by God. 135 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:56,400 But he was called to an intimate relationship with God. 136 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,400 God wanted Samuel to know who God was. 137 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:01,400 Because he had a work for him. 138 00:13:01,400 --> 00:13:06,400 He was called for a work. 139 00:13:06,400 --> 00:13:14,400 I was called at age 18 to be a Sunday school teacher. 140 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:18,400 I said no. 141 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:21,400 I didn't hear the call of God. 142 00:13:21,400 --> 00:13:23,400 I repented. 143 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:26,400 I told the superintendent I would go back and I would do that. 144 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:28,400 I would teach that class. 145 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:32,400 At age 18, God called me to be a student at a Sunday school. 146 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:37,400 And from that first calling, I realized this time I don't question God. 147 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:38,400 I say yes. 148 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:40,400 I didn't know a lot about the Bible. 149 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:43,400 I didn't know how to pray as I should. 150 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:48,400 I didn't want to be responsible for a hundred people and their welfare and teaching them. 151 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:56,400 But I knew after that first call, that the second time he calls, I couldn't say no. 152 00:13:56,400 --> 00:13:58,400 So all the head knowledge isn't good. 153 00:13:58,400 --> 00:14:08,400 Unless you know to recognize God when he calls you. 154 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:15,400 The second scripture I'd like to read is Mark 3.13. 155 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:18,400 Jesus went up to the hills and called those he wanted. 156 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:25,400 And they came to him and he appointed twelve, designating them as apostles. 157 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:29,400 John 15.15 goes one step further. 158 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:35,400 I no longer call you servants because a servant does not know what his master's business is. 159 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:37,400 But I have called you friends. 160 00:14:37,400 --> 00:14:42,400 For everything I have learned from my father, I have made known to you. 161 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:44,400 That's why God calls us. 162 00:14:44,400 --> 00:14:47,400 He wants us to teach us all about the Father. 163 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:50,400 He wants us to know God in a very intimate and real way. 164 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:56,400 So when he calls us, we need to listen and say, Lord, what do you want? 165 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:58,400 I'm open. My ears are here. 166 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:03,400 And believe me, after that first time you understand that God's calling you, 167 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:09,400 you will be able to say yes that second and third time. 168 00:15:09,400 --> 00:15:11,400 And lastly, why does he call us? 169 00:15:11,400 --> 00:15:14,400 He calls us because he wants to protect us. 170 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:18,400 That's still small voices, Atlanta, you shouldn't be here. 171 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:20,400 You shouldn't be doing this. 172 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:22,400 That's not godly. 173 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:29,400 We need to learn to listen to that call and walk away before tragedy awaits us 174 00:15:29,400 --> 00:15:32,400 in a position that we probably can't get out of anymore. 175 00:15:32,400 --> 00:15:35,400 John 10.1-4 says, I tell you the truth. 176 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:42,400 The man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate but climbs in some other way is a thief and a robber. 177 00:15:42,400 --> 00:15:46,400 The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. 178 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:50,400 The watchman opens the gate for him and the sheep listen to his voice. 179 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:54,400 He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 180 00:15:54,400 --> 00:16:04,400 When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 181 00:16:04,400 --> 00:16:07,400 When I was teaching this in junior church one time, 182 00:16:07,400 --> 00:16:14,400 I was amazed that said that a shepherd might have 50 to 150 sheep under his control. 183 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:18,400 And when he calls them, there might be 600 sheep, they're other shepherds. 184 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:25,400 His 150 come out and the others stay there because they know his voice. 185 00:16:25,400 --> 00:16:30,400 He has a close, intimate walk with them. 186 00:16:30,400 --> 00:16:34,400 That's something to think about. 187 00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:42,400 600 sheep and they know his voice and only his 100 go with him and the rest just stay there. 188 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:51,400 God has saved me a lot from things that could have hurt me because he said, you don't want to be here. 189 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:53,400 This isn't good. 190 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:58,400 From some simple little things to some big things. 191 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:05,400 Because I've learned to listen to his call at a young age and I'm so thankful. 192 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:07,400 So thankful. 193 00:17:07,400 --> 00:17:10,400 So he calls us for service. 194 00:17:10,400 --> 00:17:12,400 He calls us to himself. 195 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:14,400 He calls us to teach us. 196 00:17:14,400 --> 00:17:21,400 And he calls us to keep us safe from the things that could harm us. 197 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:24,400 We have two more to go. 198 00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:26,400 Crying out to God. 199 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:31,400 As I was thinking of this, that's a progression. 200 00:17:31,400 --> 00:17:33,400 We call on God, he calls on us. 201 00:17:33,400 --> 00:17:36,400 The next is one step further, you know. 202 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:43,400 But I was interested to find that there are wrong and right ways to call out to God. 203 00:17:43,400 --> 00:17:50,400 There are 198 references in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance about calling out to God. 204 00:17:50,400 --> 00:17:54,400 No, I didn't read all 198. 205 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,400 But I read a few of them. 206 00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:08,400 The first right way to call out to God is what God has given me and I'm thankful for it. 207 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:12,400 A heartfelt cry to God. 208 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:23,400 I apologize many times when I talk because when my heart is broken to think of God, I can't help it. 209 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:26,400 I just can't help it. 210 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:28,400 That's the right way to call out to God. 211 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:32,400 Your heart is so broken that you call to him. 212 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:39,400 Your Savior, your Lord, your Master, your everything. 213 00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:47,400 Some people, and we'll get into that weeping, some people call out to God with their hands raised. 214 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:49,400 I can't because I can't get them up any higher. 215 00:18:49,400 --> 00:18:51,400 That's as far as they go. 216 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:54,400 I see Pastor Joe, he sways back and forth. 217 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:58,400 And I know he's with the Lord when he's doing that singing. 218 00:18:58,400 --> 00:18:59,400 And he made me a weeper. 219 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:01,400 I can't help it. 220 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:03,400 But sometimes it's just one word. 221 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:11,400 It's mercy, it's grace, it's just me thinking of his love. 222 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:18,400 But I do when I come before him and cry out to him, I try to come with that attitude of a heart. 223 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:21,400 He's not the last resort for me. 224 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:24,400 I don't try everything else and then go to him to cry. 225 00:19:24,400 --> 00:19:31,400 I cry out first to him because I know that's where the real answer is going to be. 226 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:37,400 We'll look at the wrong motives first and then we'll get into some of the better motives. 227 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:40,400 The first point is Exodus 14, 15. 228 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:44,400 The Lord said to Moses, why are you crying out to me? 229 00:19:44,400 --> 00:19:47,400 Tell the Israelites to move out. 230 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:50,400 In other words, God had already given him the answer. 231 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:52,400 He had already taken him out of Egypt. 232 00:19:52,400 --> 00:19:53,400 He took him to the Red Sea. 233 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:54,400 He's ready to deliver them. 234 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:57,400 And they're crying out to him. 235 00:19:57,400 --> 00:19:58,400 Why? 236 00:19:58,400 --> 00:19:59,400 The answer is right before you. 237 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:00,400 Here it is. 238 00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:02,400 I'm going to part the Red Sea and you're going to go through. 239 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:04,400 They were crying out for the wrong motive. 240 00:20:04,400 --> 00:20:10,400 They were crying out for the motive that I had when I needed a job. 241 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:12,400 Fix this. 242 00:20:12,400 --> 00:20:13,400 I'm up against this. 243 00:20:13,400 --> 00:20:14,400 Fix it. 244 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:15,400 Do something for me. 245 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:16,400 You're God. 246 00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:17,400 I'm your child. 247 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:18,400 Fix this. 248 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:19,400 You think they would have known better, right? 249 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:21,400 They saw all the miracles in Egypt. 250 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:23,400 They saw all that God had done for them. 251 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:28,400 But right here, they were crying out to him for the wrong motive. 252 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:30,400 They're crying out because he was God. 253 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:31,400 He was our Savior. 254 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:32,400 He was our Lord. 255 00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:34,400 He had delivered them before. 256 00:20:34,400 --> 00:20:36,400 They were just saying, fix this mess that we're in. 257 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:41,400 Look where you got us now. 258 00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:45,400 And then we come to judges. 259 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:46,400 There were 12 judges. 260 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:47,400 We remember Samson. 261 00:20:47,400 --> 00:20:49,400 We remember Deborah. 262 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:50,400 We remember Gideon. 263 00:20:50,400 --> 00:20:53,400 But there was 12 in total. 264 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:58,400 And as I read the book of judges, I thought, well, these people are doing the right thing. 265 00:20:58,400 --> 00:20:59,400 They're calling out for God. 266 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:01,400 They're struggling. 267 00:21:01,400 --> 00:21:10,400 But if you read the commentary on the judges, the real reason these people called out was because they were in a fix and they wanted somebody to fix it. 268 00:21:10,400 --> 00:21:16,400 They were oppressed by the Moabites or oppressed by the Philistines or oppressed by somebody else. 269 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:19,400 And they cried out to God and said, fix this. 270 00:21:19,400 --> 00:21:21,400 There was no repented heart. 271 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:25,400 There was no heartfelt cry that, Lord, we've sinned and we want to be repented before you. 272 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:32,400 We know that for a fact because they were in peace with a judge for maybe 20 years. 273 00:21:32,400 --> 00:21:33,400 The judge died. 274 00:21:33,400 --> 00:21:40,400 They went right back to apostasy, started to worship idols again, started to have intermarriage with pagan nations. 275 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:46,400 They go in oppression for another 20 years with another foe or enemy. 276 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:48,400 They cry out to God again. 277 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:50,400 Fix it. 278 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:51,400 Wrong. 279 00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:53,400 There was no repented heart. 280 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:54,400 I made a mistake, Lord. 281 00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:55,400 I shouldn't have done this. 282 00:21:55,400 --> 00:21:56,400 I'm sorry. 283 00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:58,400 I have a repented heart. 284 00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:00,400 Please help me not to do this again. 285 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:02,400 We will be faithful to you now. 286 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:04,400 No, that wasn't their cry. 287 00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:06,400 Get us out of this mess we're in. 288 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:07,400 We need help. 289 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:11,400 The wrong way to cry out to God. 290 00:22:11,400 --> 00:22:20,400 So years of oppression, years of peace with God, but right back to the same thing. 291 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:21,400 Are we any better? 292 00:22:21,400 --> 00:22:23,400 No. 293 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:27,400 Sometimes we're the same. 294 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:28,400 We all know the book of Jonah. 295 00:22:28,400 --> 00:22:33,400 We all know the story of Jonah and the whale, but I saw an interesting thing here. 296 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:39,400 In Jonah 1 5, it says the captain had the wrong, I wrote here that the captain has the wrong impression of crying out. 297 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:41,400 He goes to all those on board. 298 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:43,400 He says, cry out. 299 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:47,400 Maybe one of your gods will help us. 300 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:49,400 We've tried everything else. 301 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:50,400 Hey, you call out for your guy. 302 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:55,400 Hey, you call out for your God. 303 00:22:55,400 --> 00:22:58,400 Wrong motive. 304 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:13,400 Zachariah chapter seven. 305 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:19,400 The people were not showing mercy and justice to those that have need. 306 00:23:19,400 --> 00:23:21,400 They were self conceded. 307 00:23:21,400 --> 00:23:25,400 They were questioning the ruler about fast and feast. 308 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:30,400 They weren't concerned about anything else as God had commanded them. 309 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:40,400 It said, God said their hearts were as hard as Flint, and he would not listen to the law or the words of the Lord Almighty sent by his spirit. 310 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:45,400 So in verse 13, he said, when I cried, they did not listen. 311 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:48,400 So when they cry, I will not listen either. 312 00:23:48,400 --> 00:23:51,400 Their heart was not in it. 313 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:53,400 Their heart was like Flint. 314 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:57,400 They did not cry out to God with a heart that was broken. 315 00:23:57,400 --> 00:24:00,400 What is your will for us, Lord? 316 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:06,400 They were concerned about feast and fasting and not what God had commanded them to do. 317 00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:08,400 And there it is, the key again. 318 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:11,400 Their heart was not in it. 319 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:15,400 They didn't have that heartfelt cry to God. 320 00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:17,400 Mark five, seven. 321 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:21,400 Even the demons cry out. 322 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:23,400 What do you want us? 323 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:25,400 What do you want to do with us, Jesus? 324 00:24:25,400 --> 00:24:30,400 Our time is not up yet. 325 00:24:30,400 --> 00:24:33,400 So even the demons can cry out to God. 326 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:35,400 What about the disciples? 327 00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:37,400 Surely they've been with Jesus for three years. 328 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:38,400 They got it, right? 329 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:40,400 They got it right. 330 00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:43,400 Mark four, thirty eight. 331 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:45,400 Some were seasoned fishermen. 332 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:47,400 They knew about the seal of Galilee. 333 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:51,400 Jesus is sleeping in the boat and a big swell comes over the boat. 334 00:24:51,400 --> 00:24:55,400 And did they say, Master? 335 00:24:55,400 --> 00:24:59,400 No, they said, Don't you care if we drowned? 336 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:01,400 Fix this. 337 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:05,400 The disciples who were with Jesus for three years. 338 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:08,400 By then they should have been intimate and close with him. 339 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:12,400 But they simply just cried out, Fix this. 340 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:13,400 We're about to perish. 341 00:25:13,400 --> 00:25:20,400 Don't you care? 342 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:22,400 The book of Chronicles. 343 00:25:22,400 --> 00:25:28,400 We're going to look at some of the accounts, the right and proper way to cry out to God. 344 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:32,400 Chronicles is a historical book and a genealogical book. 345 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:35,400 Chronicles five, eighteen to twenty one. 346 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:40,400 Deals with the Rubenites, the family of Ruben, the tribe of Ruben. 347 00:25:40,400 --> 00:25:45,400 It says the Rubenites warred against the Hagorites and also their allies. 348 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:47,400 That's verse nineteen. 349 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:52,400 In verse twenty, it says, God handed the Hagorites and their allies over to them 350 00:25:52,400 --> 00:25:56,400 because they cried out to him during the battle. 351 00:25:56,400 --> 00:26:02,400 And he answered them because he cried out in trust. 352 00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:07,400 One of the proper ways to cry out to God is our trust in him. 353 00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:11,400 He said, I have answered you because you trust me. 354 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:15,400 You have not leaned on your own understanding, but you trust me. 355 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:19,400 We have in Luke eighteen, thirty five to forty two. 356 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:22,400 We have the blind beggar that receives his sight. 357 00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:27,400 It says, as Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. 358 00:26:27,400 --> 00:26:30,400 When he heard the crowd going by, he asked, what is happening? 359 00:26:30,400 --> 00:26:34,400 And they told Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. 360 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:40,400 And it says, he cried, son of David, have mercy on me. 361 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:43,400 The Lord says, what do you want? He said, I want to see you. 362 00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:48,400 And Jesus said to him, receive your sight. Your faith has made you whole. 363 00:26:48,400 --> 00:26:55,400 Trust and faith and God will answer to the main reason God answers us 364 00:26:55,400 --> 00:27:11,400 when we trust in him and we cry out to him. 365 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:16,400 Let me see, I have two more here. Let's see. 366 00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:21,400 Uh oh, I think I'm still there. OK. 367 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:27,400 Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. 368 00:27:27,400 --> 00:27:32,400 He took Peter, James and John along with him and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. 369 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:35,400 My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. 370 00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:37,400 He said, stay here and keep watch. 371 00:27:37,400 --> 00:27:41,400 Going a little further, he fell to the ground and prayed that if the hour was possible, 372 00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:48,400 I would pass from him. Not my will, but your will. 373 00:27:48,400 --> 00:27:55,400 Christ cried out to the Father, not my will, but your will. 374 00:27:55,400 --> 00:27:58,400 Lord, I've got this problem. I don't know how to solve it. 375 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:04,400 I come to you. I cry out to you. 376 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:09,400 Fix it if it's your will. If not, help me through this. 377 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:12,400 Help me through this. 378 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:18,400 Even Jesus cried out to the Father in a proper way. 379 00:28:18,400 --> 00:28:23,400 And it was the Father's will to be with him through it, but he had to go through it. 380 00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:29,400 He wasn't relieved from the problem or the stress he was facing. 381 00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:35,400 It says in Luke 22 what type of stress was he going through at the time? 382 00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:41,400 He was so much in anguish that it was like drops of blood falling to the ground from his forehead. 383 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:45,400 But it's actually a medical condition where you're under so much stress 384 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:49,400 that the blood vessels in your forehead burst. 385 00:28:49,400 --> 00:28:53,400 And it is like drops of blood coming down before you. 386 00:28:53,400 --> 00:29:01,400 In that much stress, knowing that he was going to have upon him the weight of sin of the entire world, 387 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:08,400 he said, your will, Father, not mine. 388 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:14,400 We have to think sometimes before we call out to God and cry out to him. 389 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:24,400 So his plan for us calling out to him in the right way is submission, obedience, trust, his will. 390 00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:29,400 Not what we want, but what he wants. 391 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:32,400 I always loved this verse. 392 00:29:32,400 --> 00:29:39,400 Since the fall of man, creation has been crying out to God. 393 00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:43,400 They want to be restored too. 394 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:50,400 And when Jesus was walking the crowd, he said, Master, rebuke your disciples. 395 00:29:50,400 --> 00:29:52,400 They cry out to you. 396 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:54,400 And what did he say? 397 00:29:54,400 --> 00:30:00,400 If they don't cry out, even the very rocks will cry out to me because the rocks know who I am. 398 00:30:00,400 --> 00:30:05,400 Maybe you don't know as far as I am, but the rocks know I am God. 399 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:08,400 I am the I Am. 400 00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:10,400 So don't tell them to be quiet. 401 00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:18,400 I love when my people cry out to me and worship me. 402 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:25,400 And lastly, weeping before God. 403 00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:30,400 I take a deep breath. 404 00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:38,400 I was 15 years old in a small church in Slatedale, an evangelical brother church. 405 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:44,400 And there were three men that I loved to hear. 406 00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:50,400 John Schleiger, Stuart Pauls, and Norbert Merkel. 407 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:53,400 And they were all weepers. 408 00:30:53,400 --> 00:30:55,400 They were weepers. 409 00:30:55,400 --> 00:31:03,400 Most of them, every time before they started doing, they'd say, I apologize, but I know the Lord's going to touch me today and I just can't help it. 410 00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:08,400 And they'd get out there, hang in there, wipe their eyes, and then they'd start preaching. 411 00:31:08,400 --> 00:31:18,400 They were all elders and teachers in a real sense with the heart of God. 412 00:31:18,400 --> 00:31:21,400 And one time or another, each of these were the superintendent of Sunday School. 413 00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:28,400 And as I mentioned, at 18, John came to me and he said, I'm going to nominate you as superintendent. 414 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:30,400 I said, no, you're not. 415 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:31,400 I'm not ready. 416 00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:35,400 I don't even have the books in the Bible, John. 417 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:37,400 And you know what the answer was? 418 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:39,400 I've watched you. 419 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:42,400 And you're a weeper. 420 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:43,400 He said, you're a weeper. 421 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:45,400 I've watched your heart. 422 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:52,400 And when I wept up front, you wept with me. 423 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:54,400 I wasn't ready. 424 00:31:54,400 --> 00:31:58,400 I didn't know anything about running a Sunday School. 425 00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:00,400 But he said, it's time for me to step down. 426 00:32:00,400 --> 00:32:05,400 I'm getting old and I just don't have it anymore. 427 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:08,400 But I see in you a potential. 428 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:16,400 And I said, I hope God sees a potential because I don't see it. 429 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:18,400 Be what you are. 430 00:32:18,400 --> 00:32:22,400 Be what God calls you to be. 431 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:23,400 I weep. 432 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:24,400 I'm sorry. 433 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:27,400 Some people praise and raise their hands up. 434 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:28,400 Be that. 435 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:30,400 Some people sway back and forth. 436 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:32,400 You saw the picture up here. 437 00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:35,400 Some people dance and jump up and down. 438 00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:38,400 If God's made you that way, be that way. 439 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:39,400 Don't try to change yourself. 440 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:41,400 I used to try to change. 441 00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:48,400 I used to say, Lord, when I teach this class today, I don't want any tears coming out. 442 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:50,400 There wouldn't have been a message. 443 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:53,400 It would have been me, not God. 444 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:57,400 So whatever he makes you, if he makes you a greeter, greet it to the best of your ability. 445 00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:00,400 If he puts you back there in the signboard, be the best you can be. 446 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:04,400 That's what God has called you to do as he calls Samuel. 447 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:09,400 Samuel, I want you to be a prophet. 448 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:10,400 I want you to be a greeter. 449 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:11,400 I want you to pray for people. 450 00:33:11,400 --> 00:33:15,400 I want you to visit people. 451 00:33:15,400 --> 00:33:19,400 Listen to his call and be faithful to the call that he calls you for. 452 00:33:19,400 --> 00:33:24,400 And don't try to be something else because you'll fail every time. 453 00:33:24,400 --> 00:33:30,400 I once did a youth retreat and I brought in one of my Weeping White Pines. 454 00:33:30,400 --> 00:33:34,400 Somewhere in nature they found a pine that wasn't straight up and it went kind of crooked. 455 00:33:34,400 --> 00:33:37,400 And so they grafted on the understock. 456 00:33:37,400 --> 00:33:41,400 And this thing was weeping all over and I asked the teenagers, I said, what's wrong with that? 457 00:33:41,400 --> 00:33:49,400 And they said, everything. It doesn't look like a pine tree. You ought to throw it away. 458 00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:53,400 And I said to the teenagers, that's a very expensive plant. 459 00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:55,400 That's more expensive than when it's straight. 460 00:33:55,400 --> 00:33:56,400 They said, why? 461 00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:58,400 I said, because that's the way it is. 462 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:00,400 You can't change it. 463 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:04,400 You can stake it up and it'll go up another five feet and begin to weep. 464 00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:06,400 You can stake it up again. 465 00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:13,400 In the National Arboretum in Boston, I think, they had one 40 feet up in the air. 466 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:16,400 They kept getting a high lift and staking it higher and higher. 467 00:34:16,400 --> 00:34:21,400 And every time it went past the stake, it started weeping again. 468 00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:23,400 That's what it was, a weeper. 469 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:26,400 So if God made you a praiser, praise him. 470 00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:27,400 If he made you a rocker, rock him. 471 00:34:27,400 --> 00:34:30,400 If he made you a dancer, dance for him. 472 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:35,400 Whatever he's made you, he's made you that particular reason, an individual. 473 00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:38,400 What does it say? God cares for us as an individual. 474 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:41,400 He doesn't just blanket, okay, no. 475 00:34:41,400 --> 00:34:42,400 That one's going to be a weeper. 476 00:34:42,400 --> 00:34:43,400 That one's going to be a prayer. 477 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:45,400 That one's going to be a visitor. 478 00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:47,400 That one's going to be a greeter. 479 00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:52,400 It takes a lot of people to run this church. 480 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:54,400 A lot of people. 481 00:34:54,400 --> 00:34:58,400 Remember the Haney's. 482 00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:00,400 Haney's job was what? 483 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:03,400 Doing the mousetraps downstairs. 484 00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:06,400 When there was mice, they called Haney. 485 00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:10,400 And he went down and set mousetraps. 486 00:35:10,400 --> 00:35:13,400 Very dignified job. 487 00:35:13,400 --> 00:35:15,400 God thought it was. 488 00:35:15,400 --> 00:35:19,400 That's what he was called for, to do the mousetraps. 489 00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:22,400 Did that for years. 490 00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:26,400 He'll get rewarded in heaven for being the mouse catcher. 491 00:35:26,400 --> 00:35:32,400 And he is no less or more important than me. 492 00:35:32,400 --> 00:35:37,400 Everybody has a job to do. 493 00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:41,400 Weeping comes from a broken heart. 494 00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:45,400 In 2 Chronicles, think of this. 495 00:35:45,400 --> 00:35:52,400 34, 1-7, Josiah at age 8 became the king of Israel. 496 00:35:52,400 --> 00:35:54,400 At age 8. 497 00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:59,400 And it's said he had a heart like his grandfather Hezekiah. 498 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:01,400 A heart for God. 499 00:36:01,400 --> 00:36:05,400 At age 16, he began to remove all the astral poles 500 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:09,400 and all the foreign god idols. 501 00:36:09,400 --> 00:36:14,400 At age 16. 502 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:17,400 At age 26, he said the temple needs to be refurbished. 503 00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:20,400 And he commanded them to refurbish the temple. 504 00:36:20,400 --> 00:36:26,400 And as he refurbished the temple, they found the book of the law. 505 00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:31,400 And when it was read, his heart was broken. 506 00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:39,400 And in biblical times, he tore his clothes in utter disgust and depravity 507 00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:43,400 that they had not followed the commandments of God. 508 00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:47,400 They go to the prophetess and ask, what can we do? 509 00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:52,400 She tells them, and the key verse here is verse 27. 510 00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:57,400 Judgment will come because they have disobeyed the law. 511 00:36:57,400 --> 00:37:00,400 And they have not followed my ways and my commandments. 512 00:37:00,400 --> 00:37:05,400 But she says, Josiah, because your heart was broken. 513 00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:07,400 And you humbled yourself. 514 00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:09,400 And you tore your clothes. 515 00:37:09,400 --> 00:37:11,400 And you wept in my presence. 516 00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:18,400 Destruction will not come until you are taken home to your fathers. 517 00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:29,400 I will spare destruction on the people because of you, because you wept. 518 00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:34,400 I think I have two more things here and then we'll close. 519 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:37,400 Nehemiah, chapter 8, 1 through 12. 520 00:37:37,400 --> 00:37:40,400 It's a long thing. Read that when you go home. 521 00:37:40,400 --> 00:37:45,400 It got to the point again the book of the law was found and Ezra was reading from the book of the law 522 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:50,400 and it says that they read in chapter, in verse 9, that people began to weep. 523 00:37:50,400 --> 00:37:53,400 And she listened to the words of the law. 524 00:37:53,400 --> 00:37:57,400 Very interesting here because they were weeping and weeping and weeping 525 00:37:57,400 --> 00:38:00,400 because they knew they had disobeyed God. 526 00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:04,400 They had a heart that was repentive. 527 00:38:04,400 --> 00:38:07,400 And then something interesting happens. 528 00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:12,400 Nehemiah, the governor, Ezra, the priest and the scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to them, 529 00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:19,400 this day is sacred to the Lord. Do not mourn or weep. Stop weeping. 530 00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:21,400 Seems kind of contrary. 531 00:38:21,400 --> 00:38:26,400 They're weeping and weeping realizing they need a repentive heart and they say stop. 532 00:38:26,400 --> 00:38:29,400 Why? 533 00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:32,400 Because now God knows your heart. 534 00:38:32,400 --> 00:38:35,400 Now be glad. Be glad. 535 00:38:35,400 --> 00:38:37,400 Now you know what God expects of you. 536 00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:39,400 Now you know what God wants from you. 537 00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:41,400 Don't weep anymore now. 538 00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:43,400 Now you can go fulfill what God wants you to be. 539 00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:47,400 What God wants you to be in him. 540 00:38:47,400 --> 00:38:55,400 And they're commanded not to weep anymore. 541 00:38:55,400 --> 00:39:00,400 All of chapter 9 is the Israelites confessing their sin. 542 00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:03,400 On and on they confess their sin. 543 00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:07,400 And in chapter 10 they get really serious. 544 00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:10,400 And they take an oath. 545 00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:12,400 And all of them swear by it. 546 00:39:12,400 --> 00:39:17,400 We promise not to give our daughters in marriage to foreign nations anymore or our sons. 547 00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:20,400 We will not buy or sell in the Sabbath. 548 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:23,400 We will cancel all debts in the seventh year as you commanded. 549 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:25,400 We will bring the first fruits to the house of the Lord. 550 00:39:25,400 --> 00:39:31,400 And on and on it goes. 551 00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:36,400 Because they had a heart broken. 552 00:39:36,400 --> 00:39:39,400 It was time to stop weeping. 553 00:39:39,400 --> 00:39:42,400 Time to get on the business. 554 00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:45,400 God is so good to us. 555 00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:53,400 We have so many reasons to be thankful, prayerful, praise him and glorify his name. 556 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:57,400 I have so much to learn yet. 557 00:39:57,400 --> 00:40:00,400 I've just scratched the surface of this. 558 00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:02,400 My aunt was 85 years old. 559 00:40:02,400 --> 00:40:05,400 She was a missionary in Ohio. 560 00:40:05,400 --> 00:40:10,400 And when she retired and came home, she would call us on a Sunday night and say, 561 00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:11,400 Come on over. 562 00:40:11,400 --> 00:40:13,400 You'll never guess what I found. 563 00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:17,400 I found a diamond that I hadn't seen before. 564 00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:19,400 And we'd go over and we'd discuss it. 565 00:40:19,400 --> 00:40:21,400 And she said, Did you ever see this in this book? 566 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:26,400 She said, I just found that. 567 00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:27,400 She's still at a heart for God. 568 00:40:27,400 --> 00:40:32,400 Even though she wasn't a missionary anymore, to still find out what God wanted her to do 569 00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:36,400 and to learn more and more about him. 570 00:40:36,400 --> 00:40:39,400 Wow. 571 00:40:39,400 --> 00:40:42,400 Do I get up in the morning and sometimes run out and not read my Bible? 572 00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:43,400 Yes, I do. 573 00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:46,400 I'm sorry. 574 00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:48,400 Do I pray as much as I should? 575 00:40:48,400 --> 00:40:49,400 Yes. 576 00:40:49,400 --> 00:40:53,400 There's times I don't pray like I should. 577 00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:56,400 But that's when he breaks my heart again. 578 00:40:56,400 --> 00:41:00,400 He says, Lanny, you're not what you should be. 579 00:41:00,400 --> 00:41:03,400 How about you come back to me? 580 00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:11,400 How about you come back to me and get back in your word? 581 00:41:11,400 --> 00:41:16,400 Coming back on the elder board was one of the best things that could happen to me. 582 00:41:16,400 --> 00:41:22,400 Because now I've got to get back in this word more than I was before. 583 00:41:22,400 --> 00:41:24,400 Because I've got to be right with God. 584 00:41:24,400 --> 00:41:27,400 In order to pray for you. 585 00:41:27,400 --> 00:41:30,400 And if I'm not right with God, I can't pray for you. 586 00:41:30,400 --> 00:41:33,400 I can't have a burden for you. 587 00:41:33,400 --> 00:41:36,400 So I have to have a burden first for me. 588 00:41:36,400 --> 00:41:39,400 And then I can share the burden with you. 589 00:41:39,400 --> 00:41:45,400 That's what it's all about. 590 00:41:45,400 --> 00:41:50,400 I hope that as God has touched me this week 591 00:41:50,400 --> 00:41:57,400 and given me a better understanding of how to call him, to cry to him, and weep for him. 592 00:41:57,400 --> 00:41:59,400 Because I've learned a lot this week. 593 00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:01,400 An awful lot. 594 00:42:01,400 --> 00:42:04,400 Let's pray. 595 00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:06,400 Father, you are so kind to us. 596 00:42:06,400 --> 00:42:08,400 You are so good to us. 597 00:42:08,400 --> 00:42:10,400 We forget about you sometimes. 598 00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:14,400 And oh, we're so sorry. 599 00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:19,400 We get so caught up in the things of life, which we shouldn't. 600 00:42:19,400 --> 00:42:22,400 And you call us back to you. 601 00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:25,400 We're so thankful that you do that for us. 602 00:42:25,400 --> 00:42:29,400 Help us to be better at what you want us to be. 603 00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:34,400 And have that intimate relationship with you for all of eternity. 604 00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:38,400 We give you praise, glory, and honor for all that you will teach us. 605 00:42:38,400 --> 00:42:40,400 And all that you have taught me this week. 606 00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:42,400 I pray this in Christ's name. 607 00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:50,400 Amen.