WEBVTT 00:00:02.279 --> 00:00:05.259 Welcome to the Life Bible Church podcast. We 00:00:05.259 --> 00:00:07.660 want to thank you for joining us today, and we 00:00:07.660 --> 00:00:10.179 hope you find today's sermon impacting as you 00:00:10.179 --> 00:00:12.679 listen to it wherever you are in your daily walk. 00:00:12.960 --> 00:00:15.960 To find service times and watch messages online, 00:00:16.199 --> 00:00:20.100 see our website at lifebiblechurch .org. Now, 00:00:20.140 --> 00:00:24.980 enjoy this week's message. Let's rejoice to the 00:00:24.980 --> 00:00:28.039 Lord what He's doing around the globe. Thank 00:00:28.039 --> 00:00:34.250 you, Jesus. We thank you, Lord. May you be glorified 00:00:34.250 --> 00:00:41.149 in all works. Lord, we glorify you, Jesus. Help 00:00:41.149 --> 00:00:45.310 us lift our eyes off of ourselves and look to 00:00:45.310 --> 00:00:49.630 you. Help us keep our hands to the plow. That 00:00:49.630 --> 00:00:51.810 you would be our vocal point, Lord, that we would 00:00:51.810 --> 00:00:54.549 not be distracted, that we would not move our 00:00:54.549 --> 00:00:58.530 eyes to worthless things, but keep our hearts 00:00:58.530 --> 00:01:02.700 turned to you. And that you, Lord, would receive 00:01:02.700 --> 00:01:07.400 all the glory. All the glory that belongs to 00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:14.180 you. That is due your name. Holy Spirit, you 00:01:14.180 --> 00:01:18.620 even said to John the Revelator that the spirit 00:01:18.620 --> 00:01:21.680 of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus Christ. 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:27.659 Holy Spirit, everything of prophecy, everything 00:01:27.659 --> 00:01:32.569 of the prophets. It testifies of your son, Jesus 00:01:32.569 --> 00:01:38.250 Christ, and it glorifies you. We glorify your 00:01:38.250 --> 00:01:44.549 name in all things, Lord Jesus. Let us be pure 00:01:44.549 --> 00:01:48.650 before you. Lord, we know that the word of God 00:01:48.650 --> 00:01:53.689 has no limits and is boundless. It says that 00:01:53.689 --> 00:01:55.950 I have seen all of creation and I've seen its 00:01:55.950 --> 00:02:00.540 limit, but your word is limitless. All of science 00:02:00.540 --> 00:02:04.299 study of every star, every black hole, every 00:02:04.299 --> 00:02:09.500 edge of known creation is still just a fragment 00:02:09.500 --> 00:02:17.280 of the expanse that is the word of God. It is 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:24.139 your revelation to us of who you are. We do not 00:02:24.139 --> 00:02:29.039 take it lightly, but we receive it. As a gift. 00:02:30.500 --> 00:02:35.139 Lord, we ask now. Let our ears be opened and 00:02:35.139 --> 00:02:38.560 our eyes be opened. Open the eyes of my heart, 00:02:38.620 --> 00:02:40.340 Lord. Open the eyes of my understanding that 00:02:40.340 --> 00:02:44.939 I may behold the wonders of your word. The wonders 00:02:44.939 --> 00:02:47.620 of who you are, God. That I may behold you in 00:02:47.620 --> 00:02:51.599 glory with unveiled face. Because by beholding 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:56.580 you, Lord, I am transformed. Because in you, 00:02:56.659 --> 00:02:59.060 Lord God, is transformation power and transformation 00:02:59.060 --> 00:03:07.780 life. We give you all the glory in Jesus' precious 00:03:07.780 --> 00:03:17.240 and mighty name. Everyone said? Amen. Well, now 00:03:17.240 --> 00:03:23.900 I have to be on better behavior this week because 00:03:24.860 --> 00:03:34.240 My mom is here. Pastor Brad's here too, but... 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:42.500 Would you turn with me to our main passages of 00:03:42.500 --> 00:03:48.500 Scripture, to Galatians 2 .20, and then turn 00:03:48.500 --> 00:04:05.539 to Matthew 16 .24. For it says here, I have been 00:04:05.539 --> 00:04:10.219 crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who 00:04:10.219 --> 00:04:14.300 live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life 00:04:14.300 --> 00:04:19.519 I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:23.120 Son of God. Turn to your neighbor and tell them, 00:04:23.220 --> 00:04:29.720 I have faith. Turn to your neighbor who you neglected. 00:04:32.750 --> 00:04:44.709 And ask them, do you have faith? Because once 00:04:44.709 --> 00:04:47.889 your flesh is crucified, that is when real living 00:04:47.889 --> 00:04:53.089 faith can actually come forth. Faith in the Son 00:04:53.089 --> 00:04:56.730 of God. We can have faith in many things. But 00:04:56.730 --> 00:04:59.110 only until we die do we actually have faith that 00:04:59.110 --> 00:05:04.060 is in the Son of God himself. The one who loved 00:05:04.060 --> 00:05:07.879 me and gave himself for me. Turn to your neighbor 00:05:07.879 --> 00:05:14.160 again and tell them Jesus loves me. This I know, 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:21.079 for the Bible tells me so. Turn to your other 00:05:21.079 --> 00:05:24.959 neighbor who you neglected and tell them, listen, 00:05:25.060 --> 00:05:30.060 I know I've neglected you, but Jesus loves you. 00:05:31.600 --> 00:05:40.360 This I know. For the Bible tells me so. Let's 00:05:40.360 --> 00:05:54.800 turn to Matthew 16, verse 24. It says here, the 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:58.920 teachings of Jesus. On the basics of discipleship, 00:05:58.920 --> 00:06:01.300 he says here, he tells his disciples, if anyone 00:06:01.300 --> 00:06:05.019 would come after me, let him deny himself and 00:06:05.019 --> 00:06:07.379 take up his cross. We discussed last week that 00:06:07.379 --> 00:06:11.199 the cross is the greatest altar in all of history, 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:15.620 in all of scripture. The cross of Jesus Christ, 00:06:15.759 --> 00:06:18.680 the place of sacrifice, the place of slaughter, 00:06:18.860 --> 00:06:21.639 which is, that is what it means. An altar in 00:06:21.639 --> 00:06:28.829 the Hebrew is a place of slaughter. Christ. Was 00:06:28.829 --> 00:06:30.689 slaughtered on our behalf. Because he was the 00:06:30.689 --> 00:06:33.250 lamb that was prophesied. In Isaiah chapter 53. 00:06:33.629 --> 00:06:36.790 The silent humble lamb. That did not speak when 00:06:36.790 --> 00:06:39.550 he was accused. And when he was reviled. But 00:06:39.550 --> 00:06:43.610 was silent before his shearers. That he was able 00:06:43.610 --> 00:06:52.009 to go before. Roman crucifixion. And the cross 00:06:52.009 --> 00:06:56.970 that was. A Roman torture tool. Became. the symbol 00:06:56.970 --> 00:07:01.129 of hope for all of eternity. That's the power 00:07:01.129 --> 00:07:05.550 of the blood of Jesus. That a blood -soaked cross 00:07:05.550 --> 00:07:09.689 has now become from a place of despair for those 00:07:09.689 --> 00:07:13.329 who fear judgment to now a place of hope to those 00:07:13.329 --> 00:07:18.670 who have been redeemed. And Jesus in his mercy 00:07:18.670 --> 00:07:23.110 and his favor allows us to partake in such an 00:07:23.110 --> 00:07:28.500 endeavor. to be slaughtered for his namesake. 00:07:30.259 --> 00:07:32.040 Turn to your neighbor and say, I'm glad I came 00:07:32.040 --> 00:07:36.279 to church today. Turn to your other neighbor 00:07:36.279 --> 00:07:48.620 and say, this message is for you. We must deny 00:07:48.620 --> 00:07:54.470 ourselves, take up our cross daily. Daily we 00:07:54.470 --> 00:07:58.490 must pick up the cross of Christ and deny ourselves 00:07:58.490 --> 00:08:05.129 and then we can follow after him. For whoever 00:08:05.129 --> 00:08:08.350 would save his life will lose it. But whoever 00:08:08.350 --> 00:08:16.850 loses his life for my sake will find it. I'm 00:08:16.850 --> 00:08:22.329 gonna pray again because I want to. And you have 00:08:22.329 --> 00:08:31.410 no choice in the matter. Father, thank you for 00:08:31.410 --> 00:08:40.429 the gift of your son. As your apostle Paul prayed 00:08:40.429 --> 00:08:43.870 in Ephesians, give us strength to comprehend 00:08:43.870 --> 00:08:47.210 the breadth, the width, the depth that is the 00:08:47.210 --> 00:08:58.330 love of God. Soften our hearts that I may receive 00:08:58.330 --> 00:09:05.649 with gladness the surgery of the word of God. 00:09:09.210 --> 00:09:14.309 Let me receive with joy, discipline, because 00:09:14.309 --> 00:09:19.350 in discipline is where I know you love me. You 00:09:19.350 --> 00:09:24.309 show me love. by helping me see the things that 00:09:24.309 --> 00:09:28.230 which do not please you so that I may live in 00:09:28.230 --> 00:09:33.070 a life that is pleasing to you. Your desire is 00:09:33.070 --> 00:09:38.730 not just for salvation, but sanctification. And 00:09:38.730 --> 00:09:42.029 Father, we thank you for your purity that is 00:09:42.029 --> 00:09:46.750 bestowed upon us by the blood of Jesus. We bless 00:09:46.750 --> 00:09:56.419 you, Lord God. In Jesus' name, amen. So now we 00:09:56.419 --> 00:09:59.860 are going to move on. In my notes, we're talking 00:09:59.860 --> 00:10:02.720 about the theology of altars, which for any of 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:04.419 you that weren't here last week, we understand 00:10:04.419 --> 00:10:10.259 that theology is worship. It is not a dry, barren 00:10:10.259 --> 00:10:14.440 land that has no refreshing aspects to it, where 00:10:14.440 --> 00:10:18.559 only the dull and the super intelligent and the 00:10:18.559 --> 00:10:24.149 pharisaical go to. Theology is worship. And heaven 00:10:24.149 --> 00:10:30.690 is full of theology. I said last week that theology 00:10:30.690 --> 00:10:37.289 is to behold who God is. It is the study of God. 00:10:38.090 --> 00:10:40.870 The creatures in heaven that study God more than 00:10:40.870 --> 00:10:43.370 anybody are the seraphim that surround his throne. 00:10:44.769 --> 00:10:49.070 The four living creatures. The ones closest to 00:10:49.070 --> 00:10:52.899 God. have more eyes than anything else in creation. 00:10:54.039 --> 00:10:58.340 They're covered in eyes. They can't, there is 00:10:58.340 --> 00:11:03.259 no moment where they are not looking at him. 00:11:05.559 --> 00:11:09.679 There's never a second that goes by or ever has 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:12.639 been since they were created before the formation 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:15.759 of the world that they stopped beholding God 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:22.669 himself. That is theology. Beholding God himself. 00:11:24.409 --> 00:11:28.009 The light of scripture is the only light that 00:11:28.009 --> 00:11:32.870 will never blind you. It is the most vast and 00:11:32.870 --> 00:11:37.230 it will outshine the light of the sun. The face 00:11:37.230 --> 00:11:41.129 of Jesus in Revelation tells us his face outshines 00:11:41.129 --> 00:11:43.889 the sun itself. Have you ever looked at the sun 00:11:43.889 --> 00:11:50.059 recently? Either you have to blink and look away 00:11:50.059 --> 00:11:52.899 or you will become blind by looking at it for 00:11:52.899 --> 00:11:56.100 too long. Jesus is the only light that helps 00:11:56.100 --> 00:12:01.220 you see better and doesn't blind you. When we 00:12:01.220 --> 00:12:04.509 look at the scriptures. We have to understand 00:12:04.509 --> 00:12:07.149 that we're beholding the light of his face and 00:12:07.149 --> 00:12:10.169 that we are going to have the illumination, which 00:12:10.169 --> 00:12:13.529 is just a very fancy term to say that I understand. 00:12:13.830 --> 00:12:15.970 See, here's the thing. I can try to teach my 00:12:15.970 --> 00:12:18.850 two and a half year old two plus two equals four, 00:12:19.009 --> 00:12:23.049 but she is just repeating what I'm saying. The 00:12:23.049 --> 00:12:27.490 illumination is not taking place yet. It doesn't 00:12:27.490 --> 00:12:30.139 make sense yet. She doesn't know how it would 00:12:30.139 --> 00:12:33.080 work in multiple different situations and scenarios. 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:36.580 When we come to Scripture, sometimes we're just 00:12:36.580 --> 00:12:39.440 coming to repeat, just to get used to the verbiage, 00:12:39.480 --> 00:12:42.700 until one day the Holy Spirit himself comes and 00:12:42.700 --> 00:12:48.779 illuminates until it now makes sense. My prayer 00:12:48.779 --> 00:12:51.039 is that you would receive illumination this morning. 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:57.879 So what we're going to look at is we're going 00:12:57.879 --> 00:13:02.259 to look at, when you study scripture, there's 00:13:02.259 --> 00:13:06.120 certain rules. Theology is both an art and a 00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:11.240 science. There's law to it. There's rules, there's 00:13:11.240 --> 00:13:13.879 boundaries, but there's also, there's an art 00:13:13.879 --> 00:13:18.259 to it. There takes a level of intuition. That's 00:13:18.259 --> 00:13:24.340 God given. And one of the laws regarding theology 00:13:24.340 --> 00:13:26.960 and the studying of scripture is the law of first 00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:29.539 mention. If you study a topic in the Bible, like 00:13:29.539 --> 00:13:35.679 let's say the blood, look up every time the word 00:13:35.679 --> 00:13:40.799 blood is used in the Bible, it's a lot. And if 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:45.259 God in his infinite wisdom illuminated the authors 00:13:45.259 --> 00:13:47.639 of scripture to make sure that they wrote that 00:13:47.639 --> 00:13:49.740 exact amount of times of the usage of blood, 00:13:49.879 --> 00:13:55.600 it must be important. The term altar is used 00:13:55.600 --> 00:14:00.659 over 350 times in the Old Testament alone. We 00:14:00.659 --> 00:14:03.840 have to look at the first mention of the word 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:07.720 altar. I don't get to just pick and choose my 00:14:07.720 --> 00:14:13.580 favorite usages of the word altar. That's how 00:14:13.580 --> 00:14:17.440 we come to fractured theology, where I only get 00:14:17.440 --> 00:14:20.879 to see him through broken glass instead of a 00:14:20.879 --> 00:14:27.259 full window. So before we even get to first mention, 00:14:27.460 --> 00:14:31.080 we have to look at first implication, which means 00:14:31.080 --> 00:14:33.539 that before even the technical word of altar 00:14:33.539 --> 00:14:36.240 is used in the Bible, which is actually in context 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:38.960 with Noah, the first person to ever officially 00:14:38.960 --> 00:14:42.980 build an altar is Noah in the Bible. But the 00:14:42.980 --> 00:14:47.000 first altar implication is in the Garden of Eden. 00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:50.799 And for all of the Bible scholars that are like, 00:14:50.970 --> 00:14:53.629 Now listen, Pastor Trump, I've been reading Genesis 00:14:53.629 --> 00:14:57.610 for many years. And I have not seen one time 00:14:57.610 --> 00:14:59.950 a single use of the word altar in the Garden 00:14:59.950 --> 00:15:04.029 of Eden. You'd be right. Like I said, we're not 00:15:04.029 --> 00:15:06.049 looking at the first time the word is said. We're 00:15:06.049 --> 00:15:09.950 looking at its implications. Turn with me to 00:15:09.950 --> 00:15:15.490 Genesis chapter 3 verse 21. This is after the 00:15:15.490 --> 00:15:24.080 fall of man. And right before. They're actually 00:15:24.080 --> 00:15:27.720 sent out of the garden. They're in the presence 00:15:27.720 --> 00:15:36.720 of God. They are in the presence of God as sinners. 00:15:39.620 --> 00:15:42.620 Before they were glorified, perfect before God, 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:44.919 but now they're in sin, but still in the garden. 00:15:45.039 --> 00:15:49.539 They're in the presence of God as sinners. And 00:15:49.539 --> 00:15:51.639 for those who know the story, you know that they, 00:15:53.909 --> 00:15:58.789 recognized their nakedness, which means they 00:15:58.789 --> 00:16:02.710 were clothed with something at some point. It 00:16:02.710 --> 00:16:06.750 was, I believe, the glory of God himself clothed 00:16:06.750 --> 00:16:19.190 them. And we see that they run away because of 00:16:19.190 --> 00:16:22.519 their fear and their shame. And they cover themselves. 00:16:22.580 --> 00:16:28.799 What do they cover themselves with? Leaves. Like 00:16:28.799 --> 00:16:39.100 Tarzan. Or George of the Jungle. It says here 00:16:39.100 --> 00:16:43.259 in Genesis 3 .21, And the Lord God made for Adam 00:16:43.259 --> 00:16:49.299 and for his wife garments of skins and clothed 00:16:49.299 --> 00:17:00.120 them. Where did God get those skins? And how 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:05.660 did God kill the animals to get the skin? What 00:17:05.660 --> 00:17:11.059 happened to the rest of the animal? See, if we 00:17:11.059 --> 00:17:13.500 recognize in Exodus chapter 29, where it says 00:17:13.500 --> 00:17:17.119 that in the laws of the sacrifice in the tabernacle 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:20.940 of Moses, God says, take the skins, take the 00:17:20.940 --> 00:17:28.009 dung, And take it outside of the camp. What was 00:17:28.009 --> 00:17:38.349 just about to go outside the garden. An animal 00:17:38.349 --> 00:17:43.029 was slain. But by who? By God himself. The gospel. 00:17:44.569 --> 00:17:49.529 Is in the very first chapters of the Bible. God 00:17:49.529 --> 00:17:55.539 himself. acted as high priest before anybody 00:17:55.539 --> 00:18:01.900 else. And as high priest, he slayed an animal, 00:18:02.019 --> 00:18:12.859 probably on an altar made of earth. Why did Cain 00:18:12.859 --> 00:18:17.859 and Abel know how to give offerings? Because 00:18:17.859 --> 00:18:20.500 their parents showed them what they saw God do. 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:27.880 In the garden. There's an altar in the garden 00:18:27.880 --> 00:18:31.980 of Eden in his presence because God tells us 00:18:31.980 --> 00:18:34.599 without the shedding of blood, there can be no 00:18:34.599 --> 00:18:40.119 remission of sins. Adam and Eve taking leaves 00:18:40.119 --> 00:18:43.579 to cover their nakedness was a sacrifice that 00:18:43.579 --> 00:18:47.380 did not require the death of anything. Sorry 00:18:47.380 --> 00:18:49.079 for any tree huggers out there that you're like, 00:18:49.160 --> 00:18:58.250 no, it is not. The plant died for them. You're 00:18:58.250 --> 00:18:59.609 gonna have to get over that. You won't last here. 00:19:09.009 --> 00:19:16.309 Blood has to be shed. No blood was shed in their 00:19:16.309 --> 00:19:21.890 sacrifice. They were clothed in glory and the 00:19:21.890 --> 00:19:24.950 only way for the glory to be restored is through 00:19:24.950 --> 00:19:30.569 the atonement at the altar. God himself acts 00:19:30.569 --> 00:19:34.369 as the high priest, kills an animal, offers it 00:19:34.369 --> 00:19:43.769 on an altar, and gives pelts to cover them. That's 00:19:43.769 --> 00:19:46.690 the first implication. So we have to understand 00:19:46.690 --> 00:19:50.849 that altars was not a law thing only that was 00:19:50.849 --> 00:19:56.289 prevalent during the time of Moses. Altars are 00:19:56.289 --> 00:20:00.940 at the Garden of Eden. God himself establishes 00:20:00.940 --> 00:20:04.559 the altar. We understand in Isaiah chapter 6 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:10.980 that there's an altar next to his throne. It 00:20:10.980 --> 00:20:12.980 says in the seraphim, when after the prophet 00:20:12.980 --> 00:20:15.319 says that I'm a man who is unclean, a man of 00:20:15.319 --> 00:20:16.980 unclean lips, and I live amongst a people of 00:20:16.980 --> 00:20:19.460 unclean lips, what happens next? It says that 00:20:19.460 --> 00:20:22.039 the seraphim grabbed the tongs and grabbed a 00:20:22.039 --> 00:20:32.910 coal from what? Right. The altar is not just 00:20:32.910 --> 00:20:37.069 a law thing. We have to get over that hump really 00:20:37.069 --> 00:20:43.289 fast. The altar is New Testament. The altar is 00:20:43.289 --> 00:20:46.930 New Covenant. Pentecost was a type of altar, 00:20:47.049 --> 00:20:51.230 but I don't have time to go into that. The second 00:20:51.230 --> 00:20:54.250 implication is Abel's offering at the gate of 00:20:54.250 --> 00:20:57.640 Eden. Genesis chapter four, four through five, 00:20:57.720 --> 00:21:01.079 it says this, and Abel also brought of the firstborn 00:21:01.079 --> 00:21:05.039 his flock and of their fat portions. And the 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:07.339 Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but 00:21:07.339 --> 00:21:09.359 for Cain and his offering, he had no regard. 00:21:09.559 --> 00:21:12.019 Which means there's an offering you can bring 00:21:12.019 --> 00:21:18.799 that God will completely disregard. Just as Jesus 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:21.640 teaches in Matthew, there's a form of righteousness 00:21:21.640 --> 00:21:27.349 I reject. spoke in your name we cast out devils 00:21:27.349 --> 00:21:30.569 in your name we prophesied in your name yeah 00:21:30.569 --> 00:21:34.390 but you offered me something that really didn't 00:21:34.390 --> 00:21:39.809 cost you you gave me something that was more 00:21:39.809 --> 00:21:43.890 like leaves than actually a sacrifice that could 00:21:43.890 --> 00:21:51.670 shed blood some of us think God just wants your 00:21:51.670 --> 00:21:58.880 flesh on the altar No. He doesn't want your flesh 00:21:58.880 --> 00:22:03.319 on the altar. He wants your best on the altar. 00:22:05.460 --> 00:22:09.400 Flesh is the stuff you don't even want. You don't 00:22:09.400 --> 00:22:11.500 even want your flesh. Why do you think he wants 00:22:11.500 --> 00:22:18.319 it? We can get so caught up in our Christianese 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:21.900 that it sounds good, but it's not even close 00:22:21.900 --> 00:22:27.650 to theologically correct. In Exodus 29, I'm way 00:22:27.650 --> 00:22:30.750 off my notes, Pastor. In Exodus 29, it says, 00:22:30.789 --> 00:22:33.970 take the dung and the skin and put it outside 00:22:33.970 --> 00:22:36.769 the camp. We come to God thinking that he wants 00:22:36.769 --> 00:22:48.029 our crap and the surface level stuff. Once again, 00:22:48.150 --> 00:22:50.589 if the word crap offends you, you won't last 00:22:50.589 --> 00:22:58.539 here long. There's a form of righteousness God 00:22:58.539 --> 00:23:02.660 rejects. This should put the fear of God in us. 00:23:03.579 --> 00:23:07.000 That we examine ourselves before we come to the 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:09.759 altar. Before we come to the communion table, 00:23:09.900 --> 00:23:12.440 we must examine ourselves. We should also do 00:23:12.440 --> 00:23:14.299 the same when we come to the altar of worship, 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:16.920 to the altar of the word of God, to the altar 00:23:16.920 --> 00:23:21.960 in your home. This is not the only altar. The 00:23:21.960 --> 00:23:25.190 altar is mobile. You read through the tabernacle, 00:23:25.230 --> 00:23:27.890 you understand that it had to be established, 00:23:28.089 --> 00:23:31.529 but it had to be, remember, they did church set 00:23:31.529 --> 00:23:40.049 up and tear down all the time. So there is a 00:23:40.049 --> 00:23:43.869 form of sacrifice. The sacrifice that God rejects 00:23:43.869 --> 00:23:46.230 is the one that does not really cause you to 00:23:46.230 --> 00:23:54.500 die. It is a sacrifice that covers you. It makes 00:23:54.500 --> 00:24:02.319 you look okay. It is a form of sacrifice that 00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:08.740 you bring. It can be burned. It can be consumed. 00:24:08.940 --> 00:24:13.960 It can create smoke, but that aroma won't even 00:24:13.960 --> 00:24:21.960 reach God. Hebrews 11 verse 4 says, By faith 00:24:21.960 --> 00:24:24.079 Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice 00:24:24.079 --> 00:24:30.519 than Cain. More acceptable. There's no participation 00:24:30.519 --> 00:24:37.579 trophies with God. There's no, well you tried 00:24:37.579 --> 00:24:42.819 with God. But what about my intentions God? Yeah, 00:24:42.960 --> 00:24:46.200 I know your intentions. You just don't know your 00:24:46.200 --> 00:24:51.789 intentions. You think you know your heart, but 00:24:51.789 --> 00:24:53.490 the heart is deceitful and wicked in many ways. 00:24:53.569 --> 00:24:57.630 Who can know it? Only God. Only his spirit knows 00:24:57.630 --> 00:25:02.349 your heart. You don't even know your heart. That's 00:25:02.349 --> 00:25:04.410 why when Jackie and I get into arguments, the 00:25:04.410 --> 00:25:07.710 thing that always upsets me is, well, you know 00:25:07.710 --> 00:25:18.799 my heart. No, I don't. Neither do you. Sorry, 00:25:18.799 --> 00:25:21.599 but for me to ever say to my wife, listen, I'm 00:25:21.599 --> 00:25:24.799 sorry, but my intentions, that is a, I almost 00:25:24.799 --> 00:25:29.220 said something horrible. That is a crappy, that 00:25:29.220 --> 00:25:34.220 is a crappy apology. That's malarkey. That's 00:25:34.220 --> 00:25:46.920 nonsense. That's, forget about it. God is after. 00:25:47.470 --> 00:25:56.329 A heart that is willing to die. That is offered 00:25:56.329 --> 00:26:02.170 by faith. Faith given by God, not faith mustered 00:26:02.170 --> 00:26:07.509 up in your emotions. Because even the demons 00:26:07.509 --> 00:26:13.730 believe. They know how to believe. God doesn't 00:26:13.730 --> 00:26:17.630 want your belief, he wants your allegiance. And 00:26:17.630 --> 00:26:20.809 the allegiance of a soldier means the willingness 00:26:20.809 --> 00:26:26.690 to die for the mission. It says God commending 00:26:26.690 --> 00:26:33.410 him by accepting his gifts. We need to understand 00:26:33.410 --> 00:26:40.690 the fullness of that passage. Some of us want 00:26:40.690 --> 00:26:44.549 God to commend us by giving us something in return. 00:26:45.549 --> 00:26:48.930 What about Him commending us simply by accepting 00:26:48.930 --> 00:26:56.089 what we give him. Is that enough for us? That 00:26:56.089 --> 00:27:05.289 he would receive my life? If all I do in this 00:27:05.289 --> 00:27:08.410 life is to live a life that is pleasing to God, 00:27:08.549 --> 00:27:13.369 is that enough? Or do we want something more? 00:27:14.309 --> 00:27:27.109 Do we want God? The place of sacrifice, this 00:27:27.109 --> 00:27:33.230 altar that Abel gave to God. He would have learned 00:27:33.230 --> 00:27:34.869 it from his parents who learned it from God in 00:27:34.869 --> 00:27:37.609 the Garden of Eden. And he offers a sacrifice 00:27:37.609 --> 00:27:50.500 that blood was shed. The reason why it's so important 00:27:50.500 --> 00:27:52.420 that we understand that this is an altar of earth 00:27:52.420 --> 00:27:56.339 is because the cross was placed on an altar of 00:27:56.339 --> 00:28:02.000 earth. He was killed on Calvary, a place that 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:04.880 was not modified through human hands, but only 00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:11.559 fasted by the hands of God himself. We see the 00:28:11.559 --> 00:28:14.000 cross in the garden. We see the cross even in 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:17.339 the offerings of Cain and Abel. But Cain gave 00:28:17.339 --> 00:28:23.019 something that didn't cost him. He gave something 00:28:23.019 --> 00:28:26.259 that he thought was going to please God because 00:28:26.259 --> 00:28:28.839 he thought just the act of offering was enough. 00:28:32.220 --> 00:28:37.819 Cain was the first religious person. That he 00:28:37.819 --> 00:28:39.920 just thought, if I just go through the motions, 00:28:40.180 --> 00:28:43.019 I'll please God just like how my brother is. 00:28:46.619 --> 00:28:49.200 We come to the altar. I mean, guys, I've come 00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:51.059 to the altar so many times with the heart of 00:28:51.059 --> 00:28:55.660 Cain. Thinking that just me being there, I'm 00:28:55.660 --> 00:29:02.160 gonna get something. Remember, the altar, by 00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:04.880 its very definition, is the place where things 00:29:04.880 --> 00:29:09.099 go to die. This is a place of offering. This 00:29:09.099 --> 00:29:14.279 is a place that things have to be given. And 00:29:14.279 --> 00:29:19.380 so we have to come to give unto God our very 00:29:19.380 --> 00:29:26.119 best. Not surface level. Not just the doo -doo. 00:29:28.680 --> 00:29:30.759 Come on, how many of us are guilty of this? How 00:29:30.759 --> 00:29:32.559 many of us come to the altar of God and worship 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:35.460 and we just are an emotional ball and we just 00:29:35.460 --> 00:29:42.519 go, God, oh my God. And then we walk away going, 00:29:42.619 --> 00:29:45.619 oh, I feel so much better. It's like what you 00:29:45.619 --> 00:29:49.579 gave is going to come right back the moment something 00:29:49.579 --> 00:29:51.740 actually hard in your life comes back at you. 00:29:54.400 --> 00:29:57.079 What you gave was just an emotion. What you gave 00:29:57.079 --> 00:30:00.900 was just something that you, listen, I know, 00:30:00.940 --> 00:30:02.500 understand the Holy Spirit is our counselor. 00:30:03.420 --> 00:30:05.099 There's a difference between a counselor and 00:30:05.099 --> 00:30:09.849 a therapist though. We go to God and we shed 00:30:09.849 --> 00:30:12.190 with all of our things to him. Read through the 00:30:12.190 --> 00:30:14.490 book of Psalms. God's not scared of your emotions. 00:30:14.609 --> 00:30:16.630 That's not what I'm saying. But what I'm saying 00:30:16.630 --> 00:30:19.670 is that when we come to the altar of God, we 00:30:19.670 --> 00:30:22.730 cannot just get out all the surface stuff and 00:30:22.730 --> 00:30:25.910 then walk away. We have to go, listen, I'm gonna 00:30:25.910 --> 00:30:31.109 start here, get my eyes off myself. Sometimes 00:30:31.109 --> 00:30:35.160 I have to sit in prayer for... Such a long time 00:30:35.160 --> 00:30:40.460 just to stop thinking about me. Just to stop 00:30:40.460 --> 00:30:43.640 thinking about myself. Stop thinking about what's 00:30:43.640 --> 00:30:46.440 next on my calendar. Stop thinking about what 00:30:46.440 --> 00:30:49.460 I'm going to preach on next. Because I know this 00:30:49.460 --> 00:30:51.279 because it's been preached to me a thousand times 00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:53.900 and told to me a thousand times. And I've seen 00:30:53.900 --> 00:30:56.480 it in true men and women of God. That if you 00:30:56.480 --> 00:31:01.380 only go to God when you need something, you don't 00:31:01.380 --> 00:31:04.049 have a relationship with God. You have a relationship 00:31:04.049 --> 00:31:08.910 with a vending machine called Jesus. You think 00:31:08.910 --> 00:31:11.450 your prayers punch in the numbers and that you 00:31:11.450 --> 00:31:19.990 get what you want. We have to go to God for him 00:31:19.990 --> 00:31:24.369 and for him alone. We have to go to Christ just 00:31:24.369 --> 00:31:27.549 to behold him because it's not in me receiving 00:31:27.549 --> 00:31:30.710 something from him. It is me in beholding him. 00:31:31.730 --> 00:31:34.569 It's just the honor that he would even receive 00:31:34.569 --> 00:31:40.670 me in his presence. Because that's what Jesus 00:31:40.670 --> 00:31:46.130 died for. I said this last week, I'll say it 00:31:46.130 --> 00:31:50.210 again. Christ died for access. We must die for 00:31:50.210 --> 00:31:57.170 proximity. Jesus made a way. Now you have to 00:31:57.170 --> 00:32:01.339 walk on that way with a cross. an altar on your 00:32:01.339 --> 00:32:11.140 back. You can't get in without it. The sword, 00:32:11.400 --> 00:32:14.380 the flaming sword and the angel that stands outside 00:32:14.380 --> 00:32:17.539 of Eden, outside of the presence of God is checking 00:32:17.539 --> 00:32:22.519 for crosses on your back. Or else you can't come 00:32:22.519 --> 00:32:33.740 in. You can't come without the altar. Now we're 00:32:33.740 --> 00:32:39.019 gonna actually get to the first mention of the 00:32:39.019 --> 00:32:42.480 word altar. Turn with me to Genesis chapter eight. 00:32:46.440 --> 00:32:53.680 Genesis chapter eight, verse 20. Noah has survived 00:32:53.680 --> 00:32:55.539 the flood because of the ark and the instruction 00:32:55.539 --> 00:33:05.900 of God. God opens the door. He comes outside 00:33:05.900 --> 00:33:10.279 of the boat that he had been in. One of my junior 00:33:10.279 --> 00:33:14.259 high kids said that, this is so funny. He goes, 00:33:14.359 --> 00:33:19.140 do you think Noah had fleas? I mean, he was on 00:33:19.140 --> 00:33:21.599 the boat for a long time. He had to have had 00:33:21.599 --> 00:33:28.779 fleas or lice or something. Very itchy man of 00:33:28.779 --> 00:33:39.339 God. I'm sure there was. I'm sure there was. 00:33:43.400 --> 00:33:45.579 What's the first thing Noah does when he takes 00:33:45.579 --> 00:33:49.220 a step on the new heaven and the new earth? Because 00:33:49.220 --> 00:33:52.019 this is representative of what's going to happen 00:33:52.019 --> 00:33:55.400 when Jesus comes back. Only it won't be a flood 00:33:55.400 --> 00:33:58.279 of waters. It will be a flood of the heavens 00:33:58.279 --> 00:34:05.180 coming on the earth. The fire of God. He comes. 00:34:05.990 --> 00:34:10.110 Establishes a new earth. And what is Noah's first 00:34:10.110 --> 00:34:18.329 thing? He builds an altar to the Lord. He builds 00:34:18.329 --> 00:34:22.329 an altar. This is an altar of worship and praise 00:34:22.329 --> 00:34:27.769 in response to God's covenant revelation. This 00:34:27.769 --> 00:34:31.309 is a common theme throughout scripture. We worship 00:34:31.309 --> 00:34:37.000 in response. to God's covenant revelation. What 00:34:37.000 --> 00:34:40.539 is the cross? But the covenant revelation of 00:34:40.539 --> 00:34:46.239 what the new covenant is. We worship. I mean, 00:34:46.239 --> 00:34:49.019 think about the incredible worship service that 00:34:49.019 --> 00:34:52.980 is happening in the heavens 24 -7. What is it 00:34:52.980 --> 00:34:55.920 in light of? It is in light of the Lamb who was 00:34:55.920 --> 00:34:59.320 slain but has overcome. That is new covenant 00:34:59.320 --> 00:35:06.800 revelation. And an altar is established. This 00:35:06.800 --> 00:35:12.420 altar is built after judgment. After judgment 00:35:12.420 --> 00:35:15.380 has already been poured out, builds an altar. 00:35:19.380 --> 00:35:22.300 These are not atoning sacrifices to cover sin 00:35:22.300 --> 00:35:25.159 and to be kept from judgment. Judgment's already 00:35:25.159 --> 00:35:29.219 happened. Look what God instructs him to do. 00:35:29.670 --> 00:35:33.090 What God instructs him to do as he gets all these 00:35:33.090 --> 00:35:34.909 animals on board is he tells them that you need 00:35:34.909 --> 00:35:37.190 to bring in these clean birds. Listen, there 00:35:37.190 --> 00:35:40.570 were animals brought onto the ark to be offered. 00:35:51.190 --> 00:35:54.570 I don't have enough time to go into that. He 00:35:54.570 --> 00:35:56.769 took some of every clean animal and some of every 00:35:56.769 --> 00:35:59.579 clean bird and offered burnt offerings. On the 00:35:59.579 --> 00:36:05.340 altar. So the first. The sacrifices that are 00:36:05.340 --> 00:36:07.739 mentioned. Because remember. Every altar requires 00:36:07.739 --> 00:36:12.099 a specific sacrifice. We can't come to the same 00:36:12.099 --> 00:36:14.380 altar. Offering all different kinds of sacrifices. 00:36:14.699 --> 00:36:18.300 The altar of incense. And the brazen altar. Require 00:36:18.300 --> 00:36:21.800 different sacrifices. You have to discern. What 00:36:21.800 --> 00:36:25.760 altar am I at? And the altar of praise and worship. 00:36:27.099 --> 00:36:35.619 Requires clean. Clean animals. Clean sacrifices. 00:36:40.880 --> 00:36:45.960 I actually was curious. The Holy Spirit definitely 00:36:45.960 --> 00:36:49.039 prodded me in this. But I looked up what would 00:36:49.039 --> 00:36:51.039 have been defined as a clean animal back in that 00:36:51.039 --> 00:36:54.699 time. That would have been 33 animals in total. 00:36:56.380 --> 00:36:59.460 33 clean animals and birds. Did you know also 00:36:59.460 --> 00:37:02.460 that the 33rd time Noah's name is used in scripture 00:37:02.460 --> 00:37:04.500 is when God makes the special covenant with him? 00:37:08.739 --> 00:37:12.239 Who you are is connected to what you sacrifice 00:37:12.239 --> 00:37:19.420 for God. Who you are is connected to what you 00:37:19.420 --> 00:37:23.599 sacrifice for God. You don't give something that 00:37:23.599 --> 00:37:30.539 isn't a part of you. And this is so interesting 00:37:30.539 --> 00:37:34.219 because the first thing he does, we need to understand 00:37:34.219 --> 00:37:37.519 this, before he does anything, he builds an altar 00:37:37.519 --> 00:37:41.159 and he worships God. He doesn't start building 00:37:41.159 --> 00:37:45.139 his home. He doesn't start farming immediately 00:37:45.139 --> 00:37:48.659 and establishing resources for himself. He doesn't 00:37:48.659 --> 00:37:51.579 try to get his family together to do something. 00:37:51.639 --> 00:37:54.179 What does he do? The first thing we do on the 00:37:54.179 --> 00:38:09.670 new earth is worship. It says here, in my notes, 00:38:09.690 --> 00:38:11.849 it says that the Noahic covenant is established 00:38:11.849 --> 00:38:16.110 at this altar. It's established at the altar. 00:38:16.230 --> 00:38:19.289 The new covenant was established at the altar 00:38:19.289 --> 00:38:37.190 of Jesus Christ. So what do we do? What do we 00:38:37.190 --> 00:38:44.230 do first in this new life of pursuing God? What's 00:38:44.230 --> 00:38:49.829 the first thing that we have to do? We have to 00:38:49.829 --> 00:38:53.969 know it's clean and give what is clean to God. 00:38:57.349 --> 00:38:59.210 And we have to give something that costs us. 00:39:02.059 --> 00:39:13.460 The thing is, when Noah offers to God first on 00:39:13.460 --> 00:39:20.159 the altar before establishing his family, I'm 00:39:20.159 --> 00:39:23.300 preaching to somebody right now. He offers to 00:39:23.300 --> 00:39:26.139 God first before establishing his name and his 00:39:26.139 --> 00:39:31.300 authority. He offers to God first. before setting 00:39:31.300 --> 00:39:36.440 his kids up. He offers to God first before kissing 00:39:36.440 --> 00:39:39.019 his wife and saying, praise God, we're alive. 00:39:41.239 --> 00:39:47.219 He worships God. Through my study, I have realized 00:39:47.219 --> 00:39:50.019 that there are many, many, many men and women 00:39:50.019 --> 00:39:54.679 of God that establish an altar before they do 00:39:54.679 --> 00:39:58.960 many things for their family. Can I preach to 00:39:58.960 --> 00:40:03.320 you a little bit this morning? Because pagan 00:40:03.320 --> 00:40:09.280 altars had faces. But God instructed to his people, 00:40:09.400 --> 00:40:11.679 you will not build me altars. You will not build 00:40:11.679 --> 00:40:13.800 me instruments that have anything that has a 00:40:13.800 --> 00:40:21.159 face on it. You are not to build any graven image 00:40:21.159 --> 00:40:27.159 of me. Don't even try. Trust me, I have an image 00:40:27.159 --> 00:40:32.389 of me. And it's my son, Jesus. It's already done. 00:40:32.489 --> 00:40:38.289 You don't have to do it. So what do we often 00:40:38.289 --> 00:40:42.650 do is we build false idols that have the faces 00:40:42.650 --> 00:40:47.369 of the things we care about that we offer sacrifices 00:40:47.369 --> 00:40:53.610 to on those altars before we give the clean animals 00:40:53.610 --> 00:40:56.489 to God in worship. Are you following with me? 00:40:57.050 --> 00:40:59.820 Do you understand what I'm saying? Because especially 00:40:59.820 --> 00:41:02.699 in Western culture today, there are many things 00:41:02.699 --> 00:41:06.000 that we offer on altars that are actually not 00:41:06.000 --> 00:41:12.239 of God. They have a face. And unfortunately, 00:41:12.360 --> 00:41:23.880 sometimes that face is our family. Sometimes 00:41:23.880 --> 00:41:31.460 we think that it's actually the offering. That 00:41:31.460 --> 00:41:36.139 this is how God would want us to do it. I told 00:41:36.139 --> 00:41:39.300 my leaders this. God will never ask you to offer 00:41:39.300 --> 00:41:41.760 and sacrifice your family for the sake of ministry. 00:41:42.780 --> 00:41:45.960 But he will ask you to offer what family looks 00:41:45.960 --> 00:41:53.179 like to you. But this is how grandma and grandpa 00:41:53.179 --> 00:41:58.880 have always done it. Great. How does God want 00:41:58.880 --> 00:42:10.989 you to do it? How does God want you to do family? 00:42:12.130 --> 00:42:14.829 How does God want you to raise our children? 00:42:15.010 --> 00:42:21.550 Want us to raise our kids? I have seen people 00:42:21.550 --> 00:42:27.389 give up offerings that cost them to God for the 00:42:27.389 --> 00:42:35.559 sake of offering on the altar of sports. On the 00:42:35.559 --> 00:42:43.460 altar of potential. On the altar of, but I want 00:42:43.460 --> 00:42:46.619 my kids to succeed and be great. You don't determine 00:42:46.619 --> 00:42:53.079 that. God does. If you give your children to 00:42:53.079 --> 00:42:56.019 God, they will flourish in the calling and the 00:42:56.019 --> 00:42:58.579 identity that he has for them. Look at Hannah, 00:42:58.699 --> 00:43:04.630 who gave their son to God. Listen to the parents 00:43:04.630 --> 00:43:07.590 that couldn't give their son to God. Samson's 00:43:07.590 --> 00:43:15.570 parents. Because they wanted to do family their 00:43:15.570 --> 00:43:20.349 way. God put this on my heart during pre -service 00:43:20.349 --> 00:43:22.070 prayer today to go after this. I said, Lord, 00:43:22.130 --> 00:43:27.570 are you sure? He said, yes. Because Brad can 00:43:27.570 --> 00:43:42.019 keep preaching. They'll just fire you. Remember 00:43:42.019 --> 00:43:44.099 who you are has to be connected to what you sacrifice. 00:43:45.679 --> 00:43:49.159 But this is my family God. Yeah. There's blood 00:43:49.159 --> 00:43:56.440 in family. It's going to cost you. It's going 00:43:56.440 --> 00:43:58.699 to cost you reputation with the community. It's 00:43:58.699 --> 00:44:00.260 going to cost you reputation. It's going to cost 00:44:00.260 --> 00:44:02.699 you maybe some of your love and the affection 00:44:02.699 --> 00:44:05.460 that your kids have for you. But this is what 00:44:05.460 --> 00:44:07.400 I want to encourage every parent in this room. 00:44:08.659 --> 00:44:13.199 If you give your kid to God. You are giving back 00:44:13.199 --> 00:44:17.820 what he gave you. You are offering to him something 00:44:17.820 --> 00:44:30.920 clean. My child needs to see me give them to 00:44:30.920 --> 00:44:39.619 God. My family needs to understand that Jesus 00:44:39.619 --> 00:44:45.389 is number one. Jesus matters more. The call of 00:44:45.389 --> 00:44:48.670 God matters more. I give myself to the call of 00:44:48.670 --> 00:44:52.210 God. Listen, like I said, God will never ask 00:44:52.210 --> 00:44:56.230 you to sacrifice your family. Every pastor that 00:44:56.230 --> 00:44:58.869 has gone through divorce because they spent so 00:44:58.869 --> 00:45:00.829 much time with ministry and not enough time with 00:45:00.829 --> 00:45:03.909 them. Listen, that was a lack of wisdom, not 00:45:03.909 --> 00:45:07.320 a lack of consecration. What we have to understand 00:45:07.320 --> 00:45:10.780 is that there needs to be a level of seriousness 00:45:10.780 --> 00:45:13.400 and commitment to God that says, God, nothing 00:45:13.400 --> 00:45:17.239 is off limits to you. Nothing is off the table. 00:45:18.000 --> 00:45:21.139 Because if I come to you only offering my attendance 00:45:21.139 --> 00:45:25.679 once a month, you are offering leaves. Because 00:45:25.679 --> 00:45:27.139 you're giving what's convenient, you're giving 00:45:27.139 --> 00:45:30.579 what's easy. But we have family times on Sunday. 00:45:30.719 --> 00:45:35.659 Yeah, have family time in the house of God. else 00:45:35.659 --> 00:45:40.699 do you want? Think about this. Is there a better 00:45:40.699 --> 00:45:46.860 place for your children to be? A field? A court? 00:45:47.280 --> 00:45:51.860 A dance recital? Is that the best place? Is that 00:45:51.860 --> 00:45:53.559 where your children are actually going to learn 00:45:53.559 --> 00:45:56.019 what is clean and unclean? Is that where your 00:45:56.019 --> 00:45:58.159 children are going to receive a heart and a love 00:45:58.159 --> 00:46:00.440 for the word of God that says, I want to give 00:46:00.440 --> 00:46:03.219 my life to something greater than myself because 00:46:03.219 --> 00:46:06.960 I've seen mom and dad do the same? Noah was setting 00:46:06.960 --> 00:46:12.719 a precedence. This is what we do. This is how 00:46:12.719 --> 00:46:15.300 we live. As for me and my house, we will serve 00:46:15.300 --> 00:46:19.650 the Lord. We are going to come to church. We 00:46:19.650 --> 00:46:22.010 are going to come forward and worship. We will 00:46:22.010 --> 00:46:25.349 lift our hands. We will read our word every day. 00:46:25.510 --> 00:46:27.949 We are going to give ourselves to Christ. We're 00:46:27.949 --> 00:46:29.869 going to look for every opportunity to share 00:46:29.869 --> 00:46:34.170 the gospel because my life is not my own. I do 00:46:34.170 --> 00:46:37.550 not live, but Christ lives within me. Let me 00:46:37.550 --> 00:46:41.329 ask you parents, do your parents see Jesus' life 00:46:41.329 --> 00:46:49.820 in you? One of the things that has saved my life 00:46:49.820 --> 00:46:52.019 is that God has given me fathers that love God 00:46:52.019 --> 00:46:59.280 greatly. Because I've chased older brothers that 00:46:59.280 --> 00:47:02.960 only cared for themselves. Thinking that that 00:47:02.960 --> 00:47:08.579 was godliness. Until I actually came in confrontation 00:47:08.579 --> 00:47:13.179 with people that actually gave something that 00:47:13.179 --> 00:47:23.710 cost them. We serve pastors like that. We come 00:47:23.710 --> 00:47:26.909 to a pure altar. Listen, I'm not glorifying them. 00:47:27.250 --> 00:47:30.469 I'm not praising them. What I'm simply doing 00:47:30.469 --> 00:47:35.469 is stating the obvious. The true men and women 00:47:35.469 --> 00:47:38.769 of God, yes, have bled, but they have given an 00:47:38.769 --> 00:47:43.369 offering that's pleasing to God. You can't follow 00:47:43.369 --> 00:47:49.929 Christ and it not. Cause you to bleed. It will 00:47:49.929 --> 00:47:53.469 cost us. And I say that with all the joy in my 00:47:53.469 --> 00:48:12.909 heart. Jesus is here. His presence is here. Listen, 00:48:12.989 --> 00:48:15.329 God cares about your kids. He cares about generations. 00:48:17.210 --> 00:48:19.989 The very next altar that's mentioned is Abram. 00:48:22.030 --> 00:48:24.110 In Genesis chapter 12, verse seven, it says, 00:48:24.130 --> 00:48:26.150 then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, to 00:48:26.150 --> 00:48:31.130 your offspring, I will give this land. So he 00:48:31.130 --> 00:48:35.030 built there an altar to the Lord who had appeared 00:48:35.030 --> 00:48:44.579 to him. Once again, I'm not trying to just build 00:48:44.579 --> 00:48:48.800 my family. I want to build something that will 00:48:48.800 --> 00:48:56.960 move through my family and be something that 00:48:56.960 --> 00:49:00.280 will not stop the moment I die, but will continue 00:49:00.280 --> 00:49:04.440 through the generations. Because we have to remember, 00:49:04.559 --> 00:49:06.619 we are one generation away from no one knowing 00:49:06.619 --> 00:49:10.280 about who God is. Judges makes it very clear. 00:49:10.400 --> 00:49:13.679 If we don't do this as families, then we will 00:49:13.679 --> 00:49:16.920 have a generation that forgets who God is. We 00:49:16.920 --> 00:49:19.639 are living in where the young people don't know 00:49:19.639 --> 00:49:21.599 the Bible. They don't know the Spirit of God. 00:49:21.739 --> 00:49:23.940 And we can just get angry at the young kids. 00:49:24.079 --> 00:49:27.039 But I'm telling you, we have to understand that 00:49:27.039 --> 00:49:29.340 whatever fruit we see in the next generation 00:49:29.340 --> 00:49:38.130 is because of seeds we sowed. We as leaders, 00:49:38.190 --> 00:49:40.949 I preached this to youth pastors not that long 00:49:40.949 --> 00:49:45.829 ago, it has to start with us. We want to see 00:49:45.829 --> 00:49:48.769 the next generation offer their lives to God 00:49:48.769 --> 00:49:51.409 with abandon and with total commitment and by 00:49:51.409 --> 00:50:11.989 faith, we have to lead the way. Lord Jesus, We 00:50:11.989 --> 00:50:14.769 know that when your presence comes, idols topple. 00:50:18.590 --> 00:50:22.289 Idols that have faces to them. Idols that we 00:50:22.289 --> 00:50:29.389 connect with and that we love even. Some of them, 00:50:29.469 --> 00:50:31.829 some of it is family, some of it's business, 00:50:31.969 --> 00:50:34.650 some of it's potential, some of it is ourselves. 00:50:36.030 --> 00:50:44.250 Probably a mix of all of them. Holy God, let 00:50:44.250 --> 00:50:55.949 your glory invade our homes. But because we come 00:50:55.949 --> 00:51:00.369 to you and we give an offering, we give our families, 00:51:00.510 --> 00:51:03.849 we give of our offspring, we give of our lives, 00:51:03.929 --> 00:51:06.610 the things we hold most dear, we give it to you. 00:51:08.349 --> 00:51:12.650 Because only with you does family work. Only 00:51:12.650 --> 00:51:15.750 in you does marriage work. Only in you does parenting 00:51:15.750 --> 00:51:18.969 work. Only in you does sonship and daughtership 00:51:18.969 --> 00:51:26.650 work. God, come and sanctify us of every idol 00:51:26.650 --> 00:51:33.829 we've built in our homes. God, that they would 00:51:33.829 --> 00:51:36.409 be removed. Not the people themselves, but the 00:51:36.409 --> 00:51:41.429 things that they represent to us. The weight 00:51:41.429 --> 00:51:44.469 we have given it. The glory we have given certain 00:51:44.469 --> 00:51:49.050 things that do not deserve glory. But God, we 00:51:49.050 --> 00:51:56.710 say, Lord, in your hands. In your hands, may 00:51:56.710 --> 00:52:03.050 my family be a pleasing aroma to you. We pray 00:52:03.050 --> 00:52:08.159 that the next generation would see us. And do 00:52:08.159 --> 00:52:14.019 the same as we see you do it. We thank you, Jesus. 00:52:14.119 --> 00:52:18.179 The greatest father of all of eternity gave his 00:52:18.179 --> 00:52:24.400 one and only son. We can never think that we 00:52:24.400 --> 00:52:27.780 are above you. To think we cannot do the same. 00:52:30.940 --> 00:52:37.429 Father, we thank you. We bless you. Glorify your 00:52:37.429 --> 00:52:41.610 name in Jesus' name. Everyone stand. Amen. Amen. 00:52:41.630 --> 00:52:47.090 Thank you for taking the time to listen to this 00:52:47.090 --> 00:52:49.690 week's message. We are so grateful for those 00:52:49.690 --> 00:52:52.429 who tune in each week and have given generously 00:52:52.429 --> 00:52:55.449 to this ministry. 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