Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP190032A
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00:01 The Bible tells us, "In the beginning was the Word,
00:03 and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." 00:07 It says, "To receive with meekness 00:10 the implanted Word, 00:11 which is able to save your souls. 00:14 And to be diligent to present yourself approved to God, 00:17 rightly dividing the Word of truth." 00:20 Join us now for the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:25 Our study today is, "The Least of These." 00:33 Hello, and welcome the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 00:36 I'm Jill Morikone. 00:37 And we're so glad that you have joined us 00:39 for the study of the Word of God. 00:41 We're on lesson number six, "Worship the Creator," 00:45 and our study of "The Least of These." 00:48 How God calls us to get out of ourselves 00:50 and to minister to those in need. 00:53 Last week was just an anointed study, 00:56 "The Old Testament Prophets," and their cry for repentance 01:02 to turn from oppression, to turn from injustice, 01:06 to turn from idol worship, and to worship the true God. 01:10 This week Worship the Creator 01:12 will be a wonderful study as well. 01:14 I want to encourage you if you want your own copy 01:17 of the Sabbath School quarterly, 01:19 you can download it at ABSG.Adventist.org, 01:24 that stands for 01:26 AdultBibleStudyGuide.Adventist. org. 01:29 We always encourage you to visit 01:31 your local Seventh-day Adventist Church. 01:34 They would give you a quarterly 01:35 and you can follow along with them. 01:37 I want to introduce our panel at this time. 01:40 To my left, Pastor John Lomacang, 01:42 it is a privilege to have you here. 01:43 We have been blessed by this lesson 01:45 and we know the Lord will bless again. 01:47 Praise God for that. Amen! 01:49 And we love studying together. 01:50 I don't know if that comes through our home 01:52 but we love studying together. 01:53 Pastor Ryan Day, another brother in the Lord 01:55 and thank you for being here. 01:57 Amen, it's always exciting to study God's Word. 01:59 Amen, and to your left is my sister Shelley Quinn. 02:01 Thank you, Shelley, 02:03 for your insight into God's Word. 02:04 I'll tell you what? 02:06 I enjoy so much each person's study 02:07 because, you know, we're not just teaching here, 02:10 we're learning, so it's blessing. 02:12 Amen, and to your left is my sister and friend, 02:16 Miss Mollie Steenson. 02:17 We're delighted that you're back 02:19 and your studying with us. 02:20 Thank you so much. 02:22 You know, I take so many notes that I've used all the ink up 02:23 in one of my ink pens and I had to get another one. 02:26 I love the teaching that is coming forward. 02:29 Amen. 02:30 And we hope that you are taking notes at home 02:32 before we go any further, 02:33 we want to go to the Lord in prayer. 02:35 Pastor John, would you pray for us? 02:37 Sure. 02:38 Precious Father in heaven, wisdom and understanding 02:40 belong to You alone. 02:43 We open our cups, Lord, and we say, fill our cups. 02:46 We pray that You'll pour into us, 02:48 Lord, that as we pour out, that it will be evident 02:51 that we have been with Jesus. 02:53 Anoint this lesson, may the understanding be clear, 02:56 may the points be concise, 02:58 may all the glory and praise go to You alone. 03:00 In Jesus name I pray, amen. 03:03 Amen. Amen. 03:04 Thank you so much. This week, Worship the Creator. 03:08 I just want to start out with a question, 03:10 "What is true worship? 03:12 Is worship about a person or a divine being? 03:16 Is worship about a location or a place? 03:20 Is worship about my motivation, and the attitude of my heart? 03:25 What is worship? 03:27 Can you be "religious" 03:31 and not actually engage in worship?" 03:34 I would submit to you that that is true. 03:36 Jesus, this is Matthew 15:8-9, 03:39 Jesus, this is quoting actually from the Prophet Isaiah. 03:43 "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, 03:46 and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 03:52 In vain they worship Me, 03:54 teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." 03:58 We can have all the trappings, 03:59 the outward appearance of religion, 04:02 and actually never engage in true worship. 04:06 Worship is about the heart and motive. 04:08 It's about loving God with all our heart, mind, 04:11 soul and strength and our neighbor as ourself. 04:14 As we've been studying this quarter in particular, 04:17 who was our neighbor 04:18 and reaching out to our neighbor. 04:20 There's two aspects to worship, before we read our memory text, 04:23 I want to look at in the Book of Hebrews. 04:25 Hebrews 13:15-16. 04:29 Hebrews 13:15-16, it says, "Therefore by Him 04:35 let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, 04:41 that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name." 04:44 So the word sacrifice in the Greek is offering. 04:48 Let us offer to God the sacrifice 04:51 or the offering of praise. 04:52 This is worship. 04:54 And what is this act of worship? 04:56 It's an act of the mouth. 04:58 This is physically praising God, 05:00 gathering together in praise to God 05:03 in repentance and joyous praise. 05:06 Now there's another act of worship in the next verse. 05:09 "Do not forget to do good and to share, 05:13 for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." 05:16 The same word for sacrifice is that word for offering. 05:20 So worship is an act of the mouth, 05:21 but it's also an act of love with the hands and feet. 05:25 Acts of love, the sacrifice for the good of other people. 05:30 And that's our focus is that worship of love 05:33 with our hands and feet for other people. 05:36 Isaiah talks about that, that's our memory text. 05:38 Isaiah 58:6-7. 05:42 "Is not this the fast that I have chosen, 05:44 to loose the bonds of wickedness, 05:46 to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, 05:50 And that you break every yoke?" 05:51 This is worship, what's taking place here. 05:54 That's right. 05:55 "Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, 05:56 and that you bring to your house the poor 05:58 who are cast out, when you see the naked, 06:01 that you cover him, and not hide yourself 06:04 from your own flesh?" 06:06 On Sunday, we look at idolatry and oppression. 06:09 And I know worship throughout the Bible 06:11 is linked to oppression and mistreatment of others. 06:14 Why? 06:16 Because something else is supplanting 06:17 God in our affections. 06:18 And when we don't truly look at 06:21 and worship and adore Him alone, 06:25 other things take the place, what happens? 06:27 Selfishness creeps in, pride creeps in, 06:29 and I forget to even look at the needs of other people. 06:33 There's a principle I want you to remember, 06:35 if you remember nothing else from Sunday's lesson, 06:37 remember this. 06:38 We become what we behold. 06:42 2 Corinthians 3:18, 06:44 "We all with open face beholding as in a glass, 06:46 the glory of the Lord 06:48 are changed into the same image from glory to glory." 06:52 If we behold Jesus, 06:54 we become like Him in character. 06:57 We learn to love like He loves, 06:59 and we learn to live like He lives, 07:01 and we learn to serve other people 07:04 as He served other people. 07:06 If you look at the Bible, the history of idol worship 07:09 in the Bible, I think of Jacob, 07:11 remember when he fled from Laban, 07:13 and he took his wives and his children 07:15 and all his flocks and herds, 07:17 and he's running back to the land of his father's. 07:20 And then Laban pursued him, why? 07:22 Well, of course, because Jacob left, 07:23 but he's looking for his idols that Rachel had stolen 07:29 from her father's tent. 07:31 I think of the children of Israel 07:32 when they left Egypt, 07:33 God had given tremendous miracles, 07:37 the parting of the Red Sea. 07:39 He had sweetened the bitter waters at Marah. 07:42 He had provided manna in the wilderness. 07:44 He had provided water. 07:46 He had given the Israelites victory 07:48 over the Amalekites. 07:49 And on their journey just a short while 07:52 after they left the Red Sea, 07:54 they arrived at the base of Mount Sinai 07:56 and The Ten Commandments were given. 07:59 Exodus 20, the first two commandments 08:01 specifically deal with that idol worship 08:05 which is what Sunday's lesson's about. 08:07 Commandment number one, we're in Exodus 20:3, 08:10 "You shall have no other gods before me." 08:14 Commandment number two, 08:16 "You shall not make for yourself a graven," 08:19 King James is graven, New King James says, 08:21 "a carved image, any likeness of anything 08:24 that is in heaven above, 08:26 or that is in the earth beneath, 08:27 or that is in the water under the earth, 08:29 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. 08:33 For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, 08:35 visiting the iniquity of the fathers 08:37 upon the children 08:38 to the third and fourth generations 08:40 of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, 08:43 for those who love Me and keep My commandments." 08:46 And the first two commandments are given there. 08:48 And now you notice, it says, 08:50 "I, the Lord, am a jealous God." 08:52 Now we always think of jealousy is an evil attribute. 08:55 And jealousy is an evil attribute 08:58 when you are jealous of someone. 09:00 Another words, you are envious of someone. 09:03 It's something or someone or something 09:06 that you don't possess, 09:07 and you think I have the right to this. 09:09 That's an evil jealousy. 09:11 But this godly jealousy is a jealousy for 09:15 because God owns us. 09:18 He created us, and He redeemed us. 09:21 So He doesn't want anything coming between us and Him. 09:26 If we have an idol and an idol is literally 09:28 anything that we put in value. 09:32 We think about more, we look at more, 09:35 our heart affections go out after more, 09:37 anything that gives more value to that 09:40 instead of the Lord Jesus Christ. 09:43 So the Israelites affirmed of the covenant 09:44 and this is in Exodus 24:3, 09:47 the people answered with one voice, 09:48 what did they say? 09:50 All that the Lord has said, we're going to do, 09:53 Pastor John, we're going to do. 09:55 And Moses went up into the mount, 09:56 after that point for 40 days and nights to be with God 10:00 and receive the rest of the ordinances. 10:03 Aaron and Hur went back down to the people 10:06 and the people got pretty restless. 10:08 Exodus 32:1, 10:11 "Now when the people saw 10:12 that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, 10:16 the people gathered together to Aaron and said to him, 10:18 'Come, make us gods that shall go before us 10:21 for as for this Moses, 10:22 the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, 10:25 we do not know what has become of him.'" 10:27 Just a few days before, God has said, 10:31 "You shall have no other gods before me." 10:32 And they had eagerly said, 10:34 "Oh, yes, we're going to follow You, God." 10:37 And then they're all ready, ready to turn to idol worship. 10:42 Aaron called for the jewelry and we know the story. 10:45 He made a molten calf, 10:47 which the people began to worship in verse 6, 10:49 we're in Exodus 32:6, 10:51 "They rose early the next day," this is the people, 10:53 "they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, 10:55 and the people sat down to eat and drink, 10:57 and rose up to play." 10:59 Which has a sexual reference for some pagan worship. 11:04 That's not the best going on here at the golden calf. 11:09 Aaron followed the people, instead of leading the people, 11:14 and the Israelites so quickly forgot 11:16 what God had just told them. 11:19 I see a difference here between Moses and Aaron. 11:22 Moses established a pattern for true worship, 11:24 Aaron established a pattern for false worship. 11:27 Moses listen to God and obeyed Him, 11:31 Aaron listened to the people 11:32 and did what the people wanted him to do. 11:35 Moses made an altar, Aaron also made an altar. 11:38 Moses offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, 11:41 and Aaron did the same. 11:43 Moses went up into the mountain with the 70 elders, 11:46 and there they shared the covenant meal, 11:48 Aaron declared a feast 11:50 and the Israelites had a drunken orgy. 11:53 We know as we look throughout the history of Israel, 11:57 one of the most pivotal points I think of a idol worship 12:00 is Elijah on Mount Carmel, 12:02 and there's the 400 prophets of Baal 12:04 and then the 400 prophets of the Grove, 12:06 and then God clearly declared that He alone is God. 12:12 Psalm 115, 12:14 we don't have time to read it all. 12:16 But it talks about the danger of idol worship, 12:19 because the works of men's hands, 12:22 they have mouths, but they don't speak 12:24 and they have eyes but they can't see. 12:26 They have ears, but they can't hear. 12:29 They have noses and they cannot smell. 12:31 They have hands, but they can't even touch." 12:34 So an idol is anything in my life 12:36 that takes priority over God. 12:41 So what is the danger in idolatry? 12:44 We become what we behold. 12:47 Psalm 115:8, 12:50 "Those who make them," meaning idols, 12:52 "those who make idols become like them, 12:56 so is everyone who trusts in them." 12:59 So if I worship something else that can be clothes or food, 13:04 or money or cars, or position or power, 13:06 or people or influence, or self or selfishness, 13:09 or pride or arrogance, or envy or jealousy, 13:12 or anything that is in the place of God, 13:15 I become what I behold. 13:18 The danger in idolatry 13:20 is means we short circuit our relationship with God 13:23 and we sever that relationship with God. 13:27 So God calls us not to worship idols, 13:30 but to worship Him alone. 13:31 Amen. 13:33 Thank you, Jill, 13:34 for laying that foundation about worship. 13:36 Mine is Monday, 13:37 and "The Reasons to Worship." 13:41 The Reason to Worship. 13:43 Now, worship is and has always been 13:48 and will be the deciding issue. 13:50 Yes, amen. 13:52 It has been, it is and will be the deciding issue. 13:56 In the Great Controversy, 13:58 we find in the beginning of the Great Controversy, 14:01 when you read the claims. 14:03 Let's go to Isaiah 14, 14:04 when you read the claims 14:07 that laid the foundation for the Great Controversy. 14:10 And by the way, Jill, 14:11 I'm not in the comforting part of Isaiah. 14:14 Are you in the judgment part? 14:15 Judgment part of Isaiah. Okay. 14:17 You know, when we read the scenario 14:21 what devil had claimed 14:22 he would one day rightfully be able to insight. 14:28 Notice, His claims in Isaiah Chapter 14, 14:32 and we're going to begin with verse 12. 14:35 "How are you fallen from heaven, 14:37 O Lucifer, son of the morning! 14:39 How you are cut down to the ground, 14:41 You who weakened the nation! 14:44 For you have said in your heart," 14:46 notice all the claims of worship 14:47 going to now enter into the picture, 14:49 "I will ascend into heaven," 14:51 only God has that rightful claim. 14:54 "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God," 14:56 throne where God alone is worshipped. 14:58 You'll see the throne is the focus point of worship 15:01 in Revelation Chapter 4, Revelation Chapter 5. 15:04 The throne room is where we run into, 15:06 and the throne room 15:08 is the central focus of the place of worship. 15:11 God is the central figure of the person of worship. 15:14 He wants all these items and He wants to be worshipped. 15:20 The third reason, 15:21 "I will also sit on the mount of the congregation 15:23 On the farthest sides of the north," 15:25 a place that God alone is worthy of occupying, 15:28 "I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, 15:30 I will be like the Most High.'" 15:33 And the only thing that is ascribed 15:34 to the Most High is worship. 15:37 That's the way the Great Controversy began. 15:39 And that is why when we go now to Revelation, 15:41 let's go to the counterpart. 15:44 When we go to Revelation, 15:46 the very thing that Satan has successfully led the world 15:48 to do arbitrarily and falsely is to worship, 15:53 and that is exactly what the warnings are. 15:57 And I refer to this as a global warning. 16:00 This is a global warning, 16:02 not a global warming, a global warning. 16:04 It's good. 16:06 Notice, Revelation Chapter 14, 16:08 and we're going to look at the everlasting gospel. 16:11 You see, the reason I begin with the everlasting gospel 16:13 here is the everlasting gospel 16:16 has always established the parameters of worship. 16:19 Here it is, verse 7. 16:22 It says, "Saying with a loud voice, 16:24 'Fear God and give glory to Him, 16:26 for the hour of His judgment has come, 16:29 and worship Him who made heaven and earth, 16:33 and the sea and the springs of waters.'" 16:35 But you'll see also in the very same vein, 16:37 the warning now of false worship 16:39 is also included. 16:40 Verse 9, "Then a third angel followed them, 16:43 saying with a loud voice, 16:45 'If anyone worships the beast and his image, 16:48 and receives his mark, 16:51 on his forehead, or on his hand, 16:53 he himself or the same shall drink 16:54 of the wine of the wrath of God, 16:56 which is poured out full strength 16:58 into the cup of His indignation.'" 16:59 And it says, 17:01 "And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone 17:03 in the presence of the holy angels 17:05 and in the presence of the Lamb.'" 17:06 Why? 17:08 When you usurp what belongs to God, 17:10 there is a penalty. 17:12 But when you participate in what alone is, 17:17 God is worthy of, then there is a benefit. 17:20 So we have to decide, 17:21 do we want the penalty or do we want the benefit? 17:24 The benefit is, God brings us into His presence. 17:26 So what I want to focus on are the motives, 17:28 the reasons why God is worthy of our worship. 17:32 Let's begin by looking at Exodus 5:2. 17:37 First of all, 17:38 Pharaoh was one of the first arrogant ones 17:41 described in the Bible, 17:42 not the first but one of those 17:45 who had lorded his authority over the people of God 17:47 and making them slaves 17:49 when they began to outnumber the Egyptians. 17:51 And a very important request was made. 17:54 And I put this in the form of a request 17:57 because Moses was in essence, he was not saying to Pharaoh, 18:00 "Now God is asking for you to let us people go." 18:04 He says, "God has given you an opportunity to do it." 18:08 He's not appealing to you 18:10 to accomplish something he cannot. 18:12 But he's starting with you. 18:13 "Are you willing to do this?" 18:15 See, willingness often cancels judgment. 18:20 If he was willing... Say that gain. 18:22 Willingness often cancels judgment. 18:25 If he was willing, 18:27 he wouldn't have to endure the judgment 18:28 that came from his unwillingness. 18:30 Willingness cancels judgment. 18:32 And he said, Pharaoh said, "Who is the Lord," Exodus 5:2, 18:36 "that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? 18:39 I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go." 18:44 One of the first parameters of worship 18:45 is you have to know the Lord. 18:47 One of the reasons why Pharaoh would not acknowledge God is, 18:49 he didn't know him. 18:50 And he didn't know 18:52 because God had made himself unavailable, 18:54 but he didn't want to know Him. 18:56 And so, if you want to know God, 18:59 He will be known of you. 19:00 Seek the Lord while He may be found, Isaiah? 19:03 Call Him upon while He is near. 19:05 Call upon Him while He is near. 19:07 Let the wicked forsake his ways, 19:09 the unrighteous man his thoughts. 19:11 And so you have to see, if you want to know God, 19:13 you will know Him. 19:14 He'll make Himself available. 19:16 And seek the Lord while He is near. 19:18 But let's look at Deuteronomy 10:17, reasons, 19:22 and there are so many reasons here. 19:24 It's just actually beautiful to read the reasons listed 19:27 in Deuteronomy 10:17-22. 19:30 And I'm going to go through those very quickly. 19:32 Now, Moses really list this beautiful. 19:35 It's just a soliloquy about God. 19:37 I believe, he's not writing this 19:39 because he's just writing it as a fact. 19:41 I think he's caught up in the beauty of this worship 19:44 that belongs to God 19:46 that God is giving him the privilege to communicate. 19:48 He says, "For the Lord your God," 19:50 reason one, 19:51 "for the Lord your God is God of gods," 19:53 one of the reasons to worship Him, 19:55 "and Lord of lords," 19:57 another reason to worship Him, 19:58 "the great God," 20:00 another reason to worship Him, "mighty and awesome," 20:02 another reason, 20:03 "who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe," 20:06 another reason to worship Him. 20:09 "He administers," what? 20:11 "Justice for the fatherless, and the widow," 20:14 praise the Lord for that, 20:16 "and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing." 20:19 All these are reasons that Moses is listing 20:22 as to why God is worthy of worship, 20:24 but he continues, now he's telling us, 20:28 if the Lord that you worship is worthy of these, 20:30 let's emulate Him, let's be like Him. 20:32 "Therefore, love the stranger, 20:35 for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 20:37 You shall fear the Lord your God, 20:39 you shall serve Him and to Him you shall hold fast, 20:45 and take oaths in His name. 20:48 And here's another reason, 20:49 "He is your praise, and He is your God, 20:52 who has done for you these great and awesome things 20:56 which your eyes have seen. 20:58 Your father's went down to Egypt with seventy persons, 21:03 and now the Lord your God has made you 21:05 as the stars of heaven in multitude." 21:09 In other words, you went down in a small number, 21:10 but look at how you're coming out. 21:12 And we know the Lord brought them out 21:14 with a mighty hand. 21:15 Another reason to worship God, Psalm 101:1, I included this, 21:20 I think a few weeks ago, but I want to put it back here. 21:23 Because I love the way the Bible says this. 21:25 Psalm 101:1, 21:27 "I will sing of mercy and justice, to You, 21:30 O Lord, I will sing praises." 21:32 God is worthy of our praises, 21:34 not only the worthy to be worshipped, 21:36 but there's a difference between, 21:38 I'm a musician, 21:39 there's a difference between 21:41 singing songs, and worshipping God. 21:43 Amen. Thank you. 21:45 Some people sing, but they don't worship. 21:48 That's right. 21:49 There's a difference between singing and worship. 21:52 Psalm 146:5-10, look at that again, 21:55 another reason to worship God. 21:57 "Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, 22:01 Whose hope is in the Lord his God, 22:03 Who made heaven and earth, 22:05 the sea, and all that is in them. 22:07 Who keeps truth forever, 22:09 Who executes justice for the oppressed, 22:11 Who gives food to the hungry. 22:13 The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners." 22:15 If all those reasons doesn't bring His worthiness 22:18 to be praised, then what else? 22:20 Notice what else He does. 22:21 "The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. 22:23 The Lord raises those who are bowed down. 22:25 The Lord loves the righteous. 22:26 The Lord watches over the strangers. 22:28 He relieves the fatherless and widow. 22:30 But the way of the wicked He turns upside down. 22:32 The Lord shall reign forever, 22:34 Your God, O Zion, to all generations. 22:36 Praise the Lord!" 22:39 David is just caught up. 22:41 Another one, Isaiah 5:16, 22:43 even though this isn't the part of the judgment, 22:45 there's praise to be found here. 22:47 Isaiah 5:16, 22:48 "But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, 22:52 And God who is holy 22:53 shall be hallowed in righteousness." 22:56 So He's holy and He's righteous. 22:58 Isaiah 61:11, 23:00 another reason to praise Him. 23:01 "For as the earth brings forth its bud, 23:03 as the garden causes the things 23:05 that are sown in it to spring forth, 23:08 so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise 23:12 to spring forth before all nations." 23:16 And my last one, 23:17 I don't have time for all of them. 23:19 But Psalm 145:8, 23:22 "The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, 23:25 slow to anger and great in mercy." 23:27 And I praise Him for that. 23:29 And for that reason, I choose to worship Him. 23:31 Amen! Amen! 23:33 Thank you so much, Pastor John. 23:34 What a privilege to worship a God who loves us 23:37 and who is all of those things. 23:39 We're going to take... And a whole lot more. 23:41 That's right! 23:43 We're gonna take a short break. 23:44 We'll be right back. 23:51 Ever wish you could watch 23:52 a 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again, 23:54 or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 23:58 Well, you can by visiting 3abnsabbathschoolpanel.com. 24:03 A clean design makes it easy 24:05 to find the program you're looking for. 24:07 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 24:11 so you can follow along. 24:12 Sharing is easy. 24:14 Just click share 24:15 and choose your favorite social media. 24:17 Share a link, save a life for eternity 24:23 Welcome back to our study of Worship the Creator, 24:26 we'll pick up with Ryan's lesson on Tuesday, 24:29 Religious Oppressor. 24:30 Amen. 24:32 This was an interesting study indeed. 24:33 And I'm going to begin actually 24:35 with the opening paragraph of this particular lesson. 24:38 I like how they worded it, and I just want to begin there. 24:41 In the lesson it says, 24:43 "During the better times 24:44 the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, 24:47 the people would return to the temple 24:49 in the worship of God, 24:51 although, even then, 24:54 their worship was often mixed with inroads 24:57 from idolatry and the religions of the surrounding nations. 25:02 But according to the prophets, 25:03 even their best attempts at religion were not enough 25:08 to return them from the evils perpetrated 25:11 in the lands in their daily lives. 25:13 And no matter how hard they worked at being religious, 25:16 through their rituals of worship, 25:19 the music of their hymns 25:20 could not with drown out this 25:23 the cries of the poor and oppressed." 25:26 So basically, 25:28 what my lesson is covering this week 25:31 is considering the fact that 25:33 there are many people with this idea 25:35 that they can basically forget about 25:39 or overlook many of the other major aspects 25:41 of serving God and serving their fellowman, 25:43 if they just go through the motions, 25:45 if they just do what is expected 25:47 or sing a few songs, 25:49 say a few prayers, you know, 25:50 maybe with some uplifted hands and God will just accept that, 25:54 but that is not always entirely the case. 25:56 In fact, notice how Amos 25:58 describes the people of his day. 26:00 We're going to go to Amos Chapter 8, 26:03 and I'm going to read verses 4, 7, 8. 26:07 So Amos 8:4, 7, 8. 26:11 Notice what the Bible says, 26:13 "Hear this, 26:15 you who swallow up the needy, 26:17 and make the poor of the land fail. 26:21 The Lord has sworn by the pride of Jacob, 26:24 'Surely I will never forget any of their works. 26:28 Shall the land not tremble for this, 26:32 and everyone mourn who dwells in it?'" 26:35 He says, 26:37 "All of it shall swell like the river, 26:40 heaven and subside like the river of Egypt.'" 26:44 And so basically, Amos what he saw 26:47 was their desire to get done with their rituals 26:50 so that they could reopen the market 26:52 and get back to their dishonest trade, 26:55 that of buying, according to Amos 8:6, here, 26:58 "The buying the poor with silver 27:00 and the needy for a pair of sandals." 27:02 And this kind of brings me back 27:04 to that scripture you read earlier, Jill, 27:06 where Jesus talks about, "In vain they do worship Me, 27:09 teaching for doctrines of commandments of men." 27:11 I wonder how often we worship God in vain 27:14 with a certain mentality, but yet our heart. 27:16 God knows our heart. 27:18 He knows if we are fully engaged 27:20 in true biblical worship. 27:22 We are worshipping Him in spirit, and in truth, 27:24 as Jesus said. 27:26 Now notice what God says also to His people 27:28 about the religious practices and rituals. 27:31 Actually going to go over to Isaiah Chapter 1. 27:34 We've been in the Book of Isaiah 27:35 quite a bit throughout this lesson, 27:37 and that's because it's full of many wonderful teachings 27:40 on this particular subject. 27:41 Isaiah Chapter 1, 27:43 and I'm going to actually read verses 10 through 17. 27:46 So what we're looking at here is 27:47 the religious practices and rituals 27:50 of the people with this particular mentality. 27:53 So beginning with verse 10, the Bible says, 27:54 "Hear the Word of the Lord," 27:57 and I just want to pause there and say, 27:58 "Hear the Word of the Lord." 28:00 I think much of the result of this not caring for 28:06 or misusing and abusing power and not really, you know, 28:09 giving the attention that God's people really needs 28:11 is basically do from the lack of hearing, 28:14 and listening to, and engaging in 28:16 exactly what the Word of the Lord is telling us. 28:18 So "Hear the Word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom. 28:22 Give ear to the law of our God." 28:25 There's another one, 28:26 not just near to the Word of the Lord, 28:28 but even deeper than that, the law of the Lord. 28:31 "You people of Gomorrah." 28:32 It goes on to say in verse 11, 28:34 "To what purpose is the multitude 28:36 of your sacrifices for Me?'" 28:38 So God is questioning, 28:40 "Why are you giving these sacrifices to Me?" 28:42 It goes on to say, "'I have had enough 28:45 of burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed cattle. 28:48 I do not delight in the blood of bulls, 28:51 or of lambs or of goats. 28:54 When you come to appear before Me, 28:56 who has required this from your hand, 28:59 to trample My courts?'" 29:01 So again, he's establishing the fact that, 29:02 "Look, you can do all of the things 29:04 that I have commanded you and told you to do. 29:07 But if your heart is not fully engaged in it, 29:09 if you're doing it in such a way 29:12 that your heart is not involved, 29:13 and you're not doing it out of love, 29:15 and you're not paying close attention 29:17 to all the principles I have established 29:18 then it is in vain." 29:20 He goes on to verse 13, it says, 29:21 "Bring no more futile sacrifices and sins 29:25 is an abomination to me. 29:28 The new moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies. 29:32 I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.'" 29:36 Wouldn't it be such a hard thing 29:37 to hear from our God, 29:39 don't even gather anymore, don't even pray to Me, 29:41 don't even offer up a sacrifice? 29:43 You know, I'm not even going to hear it. 29:45 You're meeting in vain. 29:46 That would be just a harsh thing to hear. 29:48 He goes on to say in verse 15, 29:50 "'When you spread out your hands, 29:51 I will hide my ears from you. 29:53 Even though you make many prayers, 29:55 I will not hear." 29:56 Those are very hard words. 29:59 Your hands are full of blood, 30:01 wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, 30:03 put away the evil of your doings 30:05 from before my eyes, 30:08 cease to do evil, learn to do good, 30:12 seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, 30:15 defend the fatherless, plead for the widow. 30:17 So He doesn't just go for a full on rebuke, 30:20 He follows it up with a nice instruction. 30:22 Look, if you want to come back into harmony with Me, 30:24 you got to do these things, that is cease to do evil, 30:27 learn to do good, seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, 30:29 defend the fatherless, and of course, 30:31 plead for the widow. 30:33 Back to the Book of Amos, 30:34 we're going to go to Amos Chapter 5. 30:36 We're just highlighting a few things here 30:37 that highlights how a person 30:40 adopts a heart of a religious oppressor. 30:43 Speaking of worshiping God in vain, 30:46 Amos 5:21- 24, 30:49 and God gets very, very graphic with His words here 30:52 in the sense that He's very straightforward, 30:54 not beating around the bush at all. 30:56 Notice right off the bat, 30:58 He says, "I hate, I despise your feast days, 31:02 and I do not savor your sacred assemblies, 31:06 though you offer me 31:07 burnt offerings and your grain offerings, 31:10 I will not accept them, 31:11 nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings. 31:15 Take away from Me the noise of your songs." 31:19 So He says don't even sing to me. 31:20 You might want to sing to me, 31:22 look, I don't even want to hear it, 31:23 don't even sing to me your songs 31:24 for I will not hear the melody 31:26 of your stringed instruments. 31:28 But let, here it is again, 31:30 "But let justice run down like water 31:33 and righteousness like a mighty stream." 31:36 So right here in Amos 5:21-24, 31:40 what we read of God as we read of Him saying 31:43 that He hates, notice the words, He hates, 31:45 He despises and is generally disgusted by their worship. 31:51 And that's hard to even begin to fathom or even to consider, 31:54 but, you know, is it possible that many of us 31:56 are in that particular state 31:57 that while we believe 31:59 we are fully extending ourselves to the Lord, 32:01 again, in spirit and in truth and worship, 32:03 God is saying, "Look, your worship disgusts me, 32:05 stop praying, stop singing, stop worshipping me, 32:07 don't even gather 32:08 because your heart's not in it." 32:10 Their gatherings are described as... 32:13 And this is the NIV word 32:14 and this is actually translated correctly. 32:16 Their worship was like a stench to Him. 32:19 And so those are very, very hard words, indeed. 32:22 And now I want to go on 32:24 to how the Prophet Micah describes this as well. 32:26 Notice how Micah highlights the same concept as well. 32:30 We're going to go to Micah Chapter 6, 32:32 and I'm gonna read verses 6 through 8. 32:35 Micah 6:6-8. 32:38 In verse 6, he starts with, 32:40 "With what shall I come before the Lord, 32:43 and bow myself before the High God? 32:47 Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, 32:51 with calves a year old? 32:53 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams..." 32:56 There's almost a sense of sarcasm, 32:59 you know, within this particular passage, 33:01 "Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, 33:04 10,000 rivers of oils..." 33:07 And notice he even takes it up a notch here, 33:09 he says, "Shall I give my firstborn 33:11 for my transgressions." 33:13 So this is very, very strong wording, 33:15 "The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul." 33:18 So basically, you can see 33:21 a series of increasingly inflated, 33:23 even mocking suggestions almost coming from Micah here 33:27 suggesting that the harshness and the reality 33:30 of this greatly oppressed time period 33:32 that God's people were living in 33:34 as they were just simply 33:35 not adhering to the Spirit of God, 33:37 not adhering to His principles 33:38 overlooking that of the needy. 33:41 But notice here in the end, 33:42 though, I want to highlight verse 8 33:43 because this is the good news. 33:45 Even though God sent strong rebuke through His prophets, 33:47 as we have highlighted here many times, 33:49 He always gives a message of hope, 33:50 He always provide some type of instructive way 33:53 that we can come back in harmony with Him. 33:55 So in the end, though, 33:57 we see that the Lord truly wanted for them 34:01 to act justly and to love mercy, 34:03 and to walk humbly 34:04 before our God there in Micah 6:8. 34:07 Look at verse 8, here it says, 34:08 "He has shown you, O man, what is good, 34:12 and what does the Lord require of you..." 34:16 But there it is, again, "To do justly, 34:19 to love mercy, 34:21 and to walk humbly with your God." 34:24 That is my prayer for myself, for my church, 34:26 for every single person 34:28 that we will have a genuine worship experience with God, 34:30 that we will indeed worship Him in spirit and in truth 34:33 and allow the Holy Spirit to direct us and guide us 34:35 always, to Jesus Christ. 34:37 Amen and Amen. I love this. 34:39 Thank you so much. 34:41 My day is Wednesday, 34:43 which is a way to worship 34:46 and we've been talking that what is worship, 34:49 it is our way of revering God, 34:52 we are honoring Him, 34:54 expressing our adoration for Him 34:57 because as John covered of who He is, 35:01 because of His attributes, because of His power, 35:05 and because of what He has done from us. 35:07 But I do want to make out, point out one thing. 35:11 The Bible teaches us, 35:13 only God is worthy of our worship 35:17 and I want to take you to Revelation 19:10, 35:21 because it's clear, 35:22 none of His servants are worthy of worship. 35:26 When John fell at the feet of the angel 35:28 who's giving him a message in Revelation 19:10, 35:32 the angel says to him, "See that you do not do that. 35:37 I am your fellow servant. 35:39 And if your brethren, 35:40 who have the testimony of Jesus, worship God." 35:46 So it is wrong to worship an idol, 35:48 it's wrong to worship a prophet, 35:50 it's wrong to worship a saint, 35:53 it's even wrong to worship Mary, 35:55 the mother of Jesus, 35:57 you know, and I want to say that in a tender way. 36:01 I have a dear friend 36:03 who was reared in the Catholic Church 36:06 and we began talking, she began studying and she said, 36:09 "I was so shocked when I read the New Testament." 36:13 She said, "Mary is hardly even mentioned in the Bible, 36:17 but I was taught to worship Mary." 36:21 And so, you know, 36:22 we just have to remember, 36:25 only God, God alone, 36:26 no one else is worthy of our worship. 36:29 That's right. 36:30 Worship is more than an emotional outburst, 36:34 often people will think that, 36:36 you know, if you are brought to tears through music, 36:40 that that's worship, 36:41 it can be part of the experience 36:43 and I'm certainly not putting away that idea. 36:48 But when our minds are saturated with God's truth, 36:51 when our minds are focused on Him, 36:54 and giving Him Thanksgiving in praise, 36:57 it's just natural that we worship, 37:00 but I have to say this, 37:02 you know what the highest form of worship is? 37:07 Obedience. 37:08 Obedience is the highest expression 37:11 of our worship 37:12 because we are showing 37:14 and demonstrating what God is worth to us. 37:19 So, we worship by prayer, 37:22 we worship by in the Word, 37:24 we worship by singing, 37:26 we worship by taking part in communion, 37:31 we worship in returning our tithe, 37:34 giving offerings, 37:35 there's many ways to worship 37:37 but my lesson today 37:39 is going to show that there is a relationship 37:43 between our worship and justice. 37:45 So Isaiah 58 37:48 is where we want to turn please. 37:50 Because what happens in Isaiah 58, 37:52 let me just set this up. 37:54 You've got a people who are actively religious, 37:59 they are seeking God daily, 38:00 they're crying out for justice, 38:04 they're seeking God with fasting, 38:07 but it's not working for them. 38:10 Yeah. 38:11 I mean, and it's kind of like, 38:12 you know, their religion, 38:15 it was superficial, 38:17 I mean, they've got sackcloth and ashes, 38:20 but God's not responding to them. 38:23 And they appeared to deny self, 38:27 but they were very self absorbed, 38:30 they were exploitative of others. 38:33 And so what happens is this pious people, 38:39 seemingly pious people, 38:41 are actually rebelling against God's commandments. 38:45 And especially, we'll see in a minute, 38:49 even His Sabbath commandment. 38:51 And they're murmuring against God 38:53 because it's like, 38:54 "What do we have to do to get your attention?" 38:57 There's no divine response here. 38:59 So let's look at Isaiah 58. 39:03 We'll begin with verse 5, 39:04 because what God is going to do, 39:07 He urges them to quit worshiping 39:10 with an inward focus only 39:13 and try a different way of serving Him, 39:16 a way that is less focused on self, 39:19 that will bring blessings to others, 39:22 and then guess what? 39:24 God says, "I'll turn in and heal you." 39:26 So Isaiah 58:5. 39:30 The people are fasting, He says, 39:33 "Is it a fast that I have chosen? 39:35 A day for a man to afflict your soul, 39:37 is it to bow down his head like a bull rush, 39:40 and to spread out sackcloth and ashes? 39:43 Would you call this a fast 39:46 and an acceptable day to the Lord? 39:48 God's saying, hey, I didn't appoint this fast for you 39:51 and it's totally unacceptable to me. 39:54 This is your own doing, 39:56 you're merely trying to obtain favor with God. 40:00 And, you know, sometimes people do that, 40:02 they feel like, you know, 40:04 and these people were abstaining from food, 40:06 but not from sin, 40:08 so verse 6. 40:11 "Is this not the fast that I've chosen?" 40:15 Now God's gonna tell him what He really wants. 40:17 "To lose the bonds of wickedness, 40:19 to undo the heavy burdens, 40:21 to let the oppressed go free, 40:23 and that you break every yoke? 40:26 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, 40:30 and that you bring into your house, 40:32 the poor who are cast out, 40:34 and when you see the naked, 40:36 that you cover him 40:38 and not hide yourself from your own flesh." 40:42 God wanted true denial of self, 40:47 God wanted them to focus their behavior 40:51 on helping the oppressed, 40:53 including those who are hungry, 40:55 who needed shelter, 40:57 and, you know, it's interesting, 40:59 true worship of God, 41:02 we've talked about... Jill, you said, 41:04 we become who we behold. 41:06 God's nature 41:08 is one of 41:10 self sacrificing love. 41:13 And as we behold God and His self sacrificing love, 41:18 it's interesting to me that 41:19 when we emulate God, 41:22 when we start doing the same things 41:24 that God would do, 41:26 what happens is 41:27 we increase our bond with God 41:30 and then we have this genuine compassion 41:34 that helps us develop a closer relationship 41:36 with the Lord. 41:38 Isn't that interesting? 41:39 So, I thought this was an interesting comment 41:42 from Ivor, 41:43 it's a quote from 41:44 the Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, 41:47 it says, 41:48 "The true purpose of religion 41:51 is to release men from their burdens of sin, 41:54 to eliminate intolerance and oppression, 41:57 and to promote justice, liberty and peace." 42:02 So now, let's continue in Isaiah 58:8. 42:07 God's saying, hey, when you do my kind of fast, 42:11 when you liberate those who are oppressed, 42:13 here's what's going to happen. 42:15 "Your light shall break forth like the morning, 42:18 your healing shall spring forth speedily, 42:21 and your righteousness shall go before you, 42:24 the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard, 42:27 then you shall call and the Lord will answer. 42:30 You shall cry, and He will say, 42:33 'Here I am," 42:34 if you take away the yoke from your midst, 42:38 the pointing of your finger in speaking wickedness, 42:43 if you extend your soul to the hungry 42:44 and satisfy the afflicted soul, 42:47 then your light shall dawn in the darkness, 42:51 and your darkness shall be as the noon day." 42:56 True self denial 42:59 is the behavior that is other centered, 43:03 it is not self centered. 43:05 This is the kind of behavior 43:07 that God rewards and He promises. 43:11 See, we don't, 43:12 we think of worship mostly 43:14 of what happens inside the church building. 43:18 God's saying, 43:20 "That ain't so, that's part of it. 43:22 But I want you to go out 43:25 and to help others and true obedience to God." 43:29 We will turn others from evil 43:31 as they see our acts 43:33 and transform darkness into light. 43:36 So verse 11, 43:38 "The Lord will guide you continually, 43:41 satisfying your soul in drought and strengthen your bones. 43:45 You shall be like a watered garden." 43:48 And, you know, I think some of the churches 43:50 are kind of like 43:52 the little plantings in the church 43:54 are kind of limp and dried and in drought 43:57 but when you got a watered garden 44:00 they spring back to life. 44:02 "Whose waters do not fail. 44:03 Those from among you shall build the old waste places, 44:08 you shall raise up 44:09 the foundations of many generations, 44:12 and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, 44:16 The Restorer of Streets to dwell in." 44:20 God will bring 44:22 and I don't have time to get to the Sabbath part 44:25 but He says, If you turn away your foot from My Sabbath, 44:29 from doing your own pleasure on My Holy day, 44:34 what does He want them to do? 44:35 He wants to accept ministry on the Sabbath, 44:38 and that's what will renew our delight 44:42 in Sabbath keeping. 44:43 Amen and Amen. 44:45 You know, let me just ask you this question. 44:50 How many of you, 44:52 rhetorical question, 44:54 want your actions to express true devotion to God? 44:58 Amen. True devotion to God? 45:00 Absolutely. Amen. 45:02 See, that's what we've been looking at. 45:03 My lesson is Thursday, 45:06 and it's mercy and faithfulness. 45:09 And I want us to go to Matthew Chapter 9, 45:12 we're going to look at that. 45:14 And Jesus quotes Hosea 6:6, 45:20 when He says, 45:22 "I desire mercy, not sacrifice." 45:25 Now, Ryan, Pastor Ryan, 45:28 covered so clearly, 45:30 God's rejection 45:31 of all of those religious strappings, 45:34 didn't He? 45:36 He hated it, He despised it. 45:38 What is God looking for? 45:40 He's looking for a heart 45:43 that is expressing true devotion to Him. 45:47 He's looking for... 45:48 He desires mercy, 45:51 and not all that's. 45:54 Those acts that didn't depict the heart, 45:59 they were just religious acts 46:02 to try to appear to be religious, 46:05 or try to have a religious heart 46:08 and they didn't. 46:09 All right. 46:10 We're in Matthew Chapter 9. 46:13 Now let me give you a little setting. 46:15 Jesus had just healed the paralytic. 46:20 Did Jesus healings 46:22 upset the religious leaders? 46:26 They were always looking for any reason 46:28 they could to grab Him, they wanted to destroy Him. 46:32 So He had just healed the paralytic 46:35 which upset the religious leaders. 46:38 However, look at this, 46:39 the multitudes saw it, 46:42 not talking about the religious leaders, 46:44 but just us common folk, 46:46 we saw it 46:48 and the common folk, 46:50 "The multitudes marveled, and glorified God," 46:54 who they recognized as the power 46:58 behind that healing. 47:00 Now in Matthew 9:9, 47:02 let's look at this, 47:04 now this is right after that happened. 47:07 "As Jesus passed down from there..." 47:09 On from healing the paralytic. 47:11 "He saw a man named Matthew 47:14 sitting at the tax office. 47:16 And He said to him, 'Follow me.' 47:19 So he arose and followed Him." 47:22 Doesn't say that he... 47:24 did a lot of procrastinating, did he? 47:27 It's okay, now let's... 47:28 What was Matthew's occupation? 47:31 He was a tax collector. 47:33 Did he collect those taxes for the nation of Israel? 47:37 No. 47:39 Who did he collect those taxes for? 47:41 Romans. 47:43 And so the people of Israel were really pleased 47:47 with tax collectors. 47:49 Tax collectors weren't well thought of at all. 47:54 But what is impressive is that Matthew 47:58 a tax collector had no hesitancy. 48:02 Now, Matthew 9:10, the next verse, 48:05 "Now it happened 48:07 as Jesus said at the table in the house, 48:11 that behold many," what? 48:14 "Tax collectors and sinners 48:17 came and sit down with Him and His disciples." 48:20 Now I just find that just amazing. 48:25 What usually happens if you're a religious person? 48:28 Does it attract the sinners? 48:30 Usually it repels them. 48:32 But there was something about Jesus and His disciples 48:36 that drew the sinner to Him. 48:39 Look at this. 48:41 Okay, and now, verse 11, 48:45 "And when the Pharisees..." 48:46 Who were the Pharisees now? 48:47 Those were those religious leaders. 48:50 "Saw it, they said to His disciples, 48:53 "Why does your teacher eat 48:55 with tax collectors and sinners? 48:59 When Jesus heard that, 49:01 He said to them, 49:02 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, 49:05 but those who are sick, 49:08 but go and learn." 49:09 What this means? 49:10 Now, He's telling the religious leaders 49:12 who are supposed to know the law. 49:16 He says, "Go and find out what this means." 49:20 And He says, 49:22 "I desire mercy and not sacrifice, 49:26 for I did not call the righteous, 49:29 but sinners to repentance." 49:32 Now, Jesus is our example. 49:35 Is Jesus our example? 49:37 So how Jesus conducted His daily life 49:42 is how we want to conduct our daily life 49:44 and we've already determined 49:46 that we want our heart to show a true devotion to God. 49:53 So we want to act like Jesus. 49:55 Romans 8:29, I just love this scripture. 49:58 It says, "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined..." 50:02 Do you'll believe in predestination? 50:04 I do. 50:05 Well, I do, based on this scripture. 50:08 That "He also predestined to be conformed to," what? 50:12 "To the image of His son, 50:13 that He might be the first born among many brethren." 50:17 So we want to be conformed 50:20 to the image of our Lord and Savior. 50:22 We want to act just like Him, don't we? 50:24 We want to be like Him, 50:26 we want to be imitators of Christ as little children. 50:30 Okay, is that an external... 50:33 I got news for you, 50:34 I'm never gonna look like a Hebrew man. 50:37 So it's not the external, 50:40 we've been predestined to be conformed to His image. 50:43 So what if it's not the external. 50:44 Where is it? 50:46 Oh, it's that heart, that heart of devotion. 50:48 So whatever Jesus did, that's what we... 50:52 However He lived His life, 50:53 His daily life, what was important to Him? 50:56 Isn't that what we want to be important to us? 50:58 So Jesus lived 51:01 His daily life caring for people. 51:05 His healing miracles, 51:07 and many of His parables 51:09 demonstrated an urge 51:12 that a life lived in such a way, 51:14 was the best way 51:17 to express true devotion to God, 51:21 to express true devotion to God 51:24 is to love and to minister to other people. 51:27 Now, I'm not going to read this whole thing 51:31 but remember when the lawyer 51:33 who was with the Pharisees 51:35 tested Jesus by asking Him a question. 51:38 Remember what that question was? 51:40 "Teacher, 51:41 which is the great commandment in the law?" 51:43 Seems like, every lesson, 51:44 we're going to share this scripture at some point. 51:47 It's like 1 John 1:9. 51:49 Usually I get that into every lesson. 51:51 "If you confess your sins..." 51:52 Oh, thank God for that scripture. 51:54 Okay, Matthew 22:37-39, 51:58 Jesus answered "You shall love," what? 52:01 "The Lord your God with all your heart, 52:02 with all your soul, and with all your mind. 52:04 This is the first and great commandment." 52:06 But what is the second? 52:08 It says, "The second is like it 52:10 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" 52:14 The religious leaders were Jesus' greatest critics, 52:18 were they not? 52:20 Okay. 52:23 But we're also the target of Jesus' harshest criticisms. 52:30 Like former religious people 52:32 they believed, the religious leaders, 52:35 they believed 52:36 that they were ensured a special relationship with God 52:41 because of their position, 52:44 not because of the content of their heart, 52:48 but because of the position they have. 52:51 Now is God looking at position, is He a respecter of position? 52:55 He is a respecter of the content of your heart. 52:59 Okay, now, did a teaching some time ago. 53:03 And the teaching was on pride. 53:05 He took each one of these letters 53:08 and He made it a point 53:10 and for the letter I in pride, 53:15 He thee I was, 53:17 I deserve because I serve. 53:21 That, my dear, is of sin. 53:25 Looking at your position that you deserve 53:28 because of the position you hold, 53:30 not because of the content of your heart. 53:33 "In their position as a religious leader, 53:36 they were guilty of..." 53:37 Here's some of the things they were guilty of. 53:39 Exploiting the poor and ignoring the needy. 53:43 Their actions spoke so loud, 53:46 their empty worship had no meaning, did it? 53:49 Did God accept their worship? 53:51 Jesus saw their hypocrisy 53:54 and addressed it at every opportunity. 53:59 And I've got two examples here now. 54:02 Let's just look at Mark 12:38-40. 54:07 "Then He said to them in His teaching..." 54:10 The Pharisees and the Herodians 54:12 were sent to catch Jesus in His words, 54:14 "Beware of the scribes 54:16 who desire to go around in long robes, 54:18 love greetings in the marketplaces, 54:20 the best seat in the synagogues, 54:22 and the best places of feasts, 54:24 who devour widows' houses, 54:26 and for a pretense make long prayers. 54:31 These will receive the greater condemnation." 54:34 Jesus is very clear 54:36 that it's not the position that you hold, 54:39 it's the content of your heart. 54:41 And if you want to have a heart 54:44 that is given over to pure devotion of God, 54:48 then it is... 54:49 Ask the Lord by the power of His Spirit, 54:52 to search me, O God, and know my heart. 54:55 Try me and know my thoughts. 54:57 See if there be any evil way in me 55:00 and lead me in the path that is everlasting. 55:03 Amen. Amen. 55:04 Thank you so much each one of you. 55:06 What an incredible study. 55:08 As I listened to each one of you 55:09 I was reminded that worship matters, 55:14 not just whom we worship, 55:16 but how we worship and the motivation behind that. 55:19 I want to give each one of you a moment to share something 55:22 about this lesson. 55:23 During the lesson 55:25 we had an epiphany at the same time 55:26 while Ryan was speaking 55:27 and you're talking about all these sacrifices. 55:30 1 Samuel 15:22, 55:31 "To obey is better than to sacrifice." 55:34 Shelley brought this out. 55:36 Obedience is the highest form of worship, 55:38 then, 55:39 that to obey is better than to sacrifice 55:42 and to listen then all the fat of rams." 55:46 So remember, in the middle of pride is I, 55:49 in the middle of sin is I, 55:51 when I is out of the way, 55:52 Jesus Christ will be worshiped. 55:54 Amen. Wow. 55:56 I'm out to take one from your book. 55:57 Okay. 55:59 I like that little saying you say, 56:00 the issue of the heart is the heart of the issue. 56:03 And so, you know, 56:06 worship is truly the attitude of the heart for sure 56:10 but it's also a way of life, 56:11 it's just who we are, it's what we do, 56:13 it's our natural response to God. 56:14 And I love the scripture, John 4:24, 56:17 "God is spirit, 56:18 and those who worship Him 56:20 must worship in spirit and in truth." 56:22 Amen. Amen. 56:23 I just want to make certain that my comment 56:25 when you ask if we believe in predestination. 56:28 We do not believe in predestination 56:30 in a Calvinistic sense 56:31 where that God has determined before you're born, 56:35 who is going to be saved or who is not. 56:40 It's day by day, 56:41 choose you this day whom you will serve. 56:43 So we choose God, 56:45 but we definitely believe 56:47 because the scripture says 56:49 that God's going to work all things together 56:51 for our good to conform us to the image of Jesus Christ. 56:56 That's our predestination. Absolutely. 56:58 You know, there's a trap 57:00 that we're all at risk of falling into. 57:03 Thinking that having 57:04 and knowing the truth is enough. 57:06 That's what these religious leaders did. 57:08 They had the truth, they can teach it, 57:11 but they just couldn't live it, they didn't live it. 57:13 But James 1:22, 57:15 "But be ye doers of the word, 57:18 and not hearers only..." 57:19 What happens? 57:21 You fall into self deception goes on to say, 57:23 "Deceiving your own selves. 57:24 Amen. 57:25 Thank you so much, Pastor John, Pastor Ryan, 57:28 Shelley and Mollie 57:30 for your insight into the Word of God. 57:32 And we thank you at home for joining us. 57:34 You know, I'm reminded of the temptations of Jesus 57:37 and the third one was about worship, 57:39 who would He worship, 57:41 we get to the Book of Revelation 57:42 and the central focus in the issue 57:44 is who are we going to worship. 57:46 And not only who we worship, 57:48 but the Spirit 57:49 and how we engage in that worship. 57:52 So today, we're just choosing to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. 57:56 As for me in my house, we will serve the Lord. 57:58 Join us next week. |
Revised 2019-08-09