Dec 19, 2021 Sunday Morning Service
Time for you to expense in their brother.
Thanks, Steve. We guitar lesson just a second, but I want to share with a few thoughts and it concerns Our Life of Christ study. So I'm going to sell it to you one more time.
Which I just sang, the song that gave my life for thee. The song is about Jesus. He says, I gave my life for you. The my precious blood. I said that that it's Ransom be in Quicken from the dead. I gave I gave my life for thee. What have you given to me?
My Father's House of light. My glory Circle thrown I left for Earthly night for one drinks, sad and alone. I left, I left it all for you has the owl left, all for me. And the point there is that Jesus is eternal. At this time of year. Most people haven't a clue that Jesus Christ is God. That he is eternal. All they can think about Jesus was that he was born in a manger and that's where he was born. More human being. But what they forget is or they don't know is that he's God God became man. We call that the Incarnation and no man can explain that. The god infused himself in the conception of Mary. The conception of that child. So we have a God and man together. He's the God man, tries and he left his glory in heaven. To come here and to die and not only to die. But he talks about in this song about I suffered much for Z more than the tongue can tell. I find it interesting that nyzaiah chapter 52 in about verse 14. The Bible tells us that he was marred more than any other, man, that was ever crucified that his appearance or his vistage was unrecognizable and other words. Jesus was beaten to a pulp more than any other person that ever went to the Cross. They really gave it to him. And so we find here that he suffered much for you. Not only died on the cross, but he suffered long before. All of that. And then he had to carry that cross that he had to experience the, the nails being driven into his hands into his feet and he did that all for you. And so, if you're interested. What you come learn more about Jesus, if it is, no, those facts. You need to come and learn about Jesus Christ. I'm telling you right now. There is a group of generation of people, young kids. They have no idea who Jesus is and it breaks my heart. You and I are at least had the opportunity of growing up and going to buy the classes, but that's becoming fewer and far between kids have no idea who Jesus is and what he's all about. We're so unchurched and we're so ungodly. We need to come back to Christ. We need to come back to God. So I'm asking you, if you can bring your friends, bring your neighbors, bring your children, come one and all come to learn about Jesus Christ and you'll be thankful for it. We've been in a series of lessons, call the 7-Up, and we've come to the last one. So it's been seven weeks talking about Seven-Ups last week. We talked about looking up today. We talkin about reaching a, we need to reach up brethren. We need to reach up and understand, who's in charge, and understand who Jesus really is. And so, as we can, These Seven-Ups. They're basically seven suggestions seven principles that you can add to your life, to make yourself become a better follower of Christ. You know, what a follower of Christ is a Christian. What is follows Christ? That's the meaning of the word. And so when we apply these teachings to our lives, we certainly can become better Christians. And when we think about something that is very dear to us one or something that we're passionate about. We like to share it with people, right? That's so when you look on Facebook, you see a lot of passionate people about their grandchildren and you're going to see tons of pictures of their grandchildren on Facebook and they're praising your grandchildren. And then there's young moms who are just praising their children. That's all they have pictures of their children. You'll see many pictures of husband's up there. But you do see the great, the kids, and the grandkids up there. And so people are passionate about those things and they want to share other people are sports-minded. Perhaps, even in more more particular, their football minded and they like to share things about the Dallas Cowboys or the Oklahoma Sooners or the other team that's up there, but
Someone might put me and take me off the stage other. But in any event, we do those things because they interest us and we put our time or effort into those things.
So it's not easy for us to order. It should be easy for us to understand that once I get this worked in here.
Why you take seriously? You treat seriously. So if you're into fishing, you learn about fishing, you learn about all the practices, you learn about all the baits. You learn about the best spots. You learn about the best times to go. You invest yourself, you buy all the right equipment. He spent time doing that which you enjoy that, what you have a passion for? If you are into guns, you know that there is a lot of money involved with guns and ammunition. What? You learn to invest your time and you in first invest your expertise in all of that is. So when you're serious about something, you're treated seriously. How about this? Are you serious? About your marriage? Are you treating your marriage? Seriously, that, you're devoting your time to the significant other? That's what marriage is about about life. In general. Marriage says, I'm going to look out for your interests and the other person says. And I'm going to look out for your interests. So what does that mean? Self doesn't matter. It's the other person. It's all about the other person so gods. When the Dallas Cowboys are on today and your wife wants to watch a Christmas movie letter, watch the Christmas movie. You can actually go to the other room and watch the Cowboys game.
But we're talking about this idea of passion. Something that you take seriously. How about God? Do we take god, seriously? Do we take? His kingdom is church. Seriously, and I were talking about the building. I'm talking about the people. That's the church. That's the kingdom. Do you take the people of God? Seriously, you take the Bible, seriously? Is God big enough for you? Is God big enough for you? So People will take seriously and they will treat him seriously, on the other hand.
They won't take him. Seriously. There won't be study of his word. There won't be worship. They just don't take him seriously, as they ought to. For some God is not big enough. He's not important enough. We stay on moved. And remain unchanged. Christ came to die for you. So you would have a change of heart and a change of life. That's what it's about. It's about living for him. We need to understand that it's all about him and not about us. And so when our concept of God is small. Guess what? Our worship of God? Small. Our service to God and to Mankind in general and to one another is small, we don't involve ourselves with a service of God because God is simply too small. We do back in the 70s. There was a rock band called The Doobie Brothers, probably heard some good music out there during those 70 days, but one of the songs that they had made became one of their biggest hits. Jesus is just alright with me. Jesus is just alright with me. And so this was going on at the time. It was what was called a Jesus movement. It's all a lot of the songs from the 60s and 70s. We're kind of like gospel songs that people had put out. So, when this song Went the number one, they interview the group and they said, why didn't you feel like you needed to make this song? Jesus is just alright with me. You said what? We don't follow Jesus? We just like the two.
Just like the two. Very telling because that's what a lot of people do today. Jesus is just alright with me, but I don't follow him. I don't do what he says. I don't do all that religious stuff. No, truthfully, we can get bogged down in all this religious stuff. That's not the point. We are to worship Him. We are to come to every Lord's day to worship him because of what he's done for us. Those emblems represent those things and isn't appropriate that on the first day of the week. We begin our week, right? By remembering him. This puts the coming, six days in perspective.
And then we start all over again. We get that injection of Jesus into our system on the first day and we do is all that we can the rest of the week until we meet again. And so we find this type of living. This Jesus is, alright? With me mentality to be a very very weak theology. He reminds me of Jobe and you're familiar with Joe. The devil came to God and said, listen, you favor him. You do things for him. Let me have Adam and I know he'll fall he will turn his back on you. So God said, bring it on. Let's do it. So Joe becomes the story. God and the devil have a wager for the song. Cho. Had to show just how true God is. And so God allow Satan to come to him and guess what? He loses, all his livestock, his livelihood, the richest man at the time. He loses everything. He loses his ten children. Boom. Imagine losing one. Child is losing 10 gone. But I'm saying comes to him and gives them all sorts of painful, boils all over his body.
We read about the patience of Jobe in the Book of James in the New Testament. But James actually loses Patience by the second chapter of the Book of Job. So I want to point you to the fact of what job did enjoy chapter one, after things happened, the way they did. Then Joe burrows for his robe and shaved his head and he fell to the ground and worshiped and he said naked. I came for my mother's womb and naked shall I return their the lord gave and the lord taketh away. Blessed, be the name of the Lord in all this job did not sin, nor charge charge god with wrong. Jobs by myself. He understands God. He knows who God is, he's the creator of all things. He knows every answer. He knows every answer to every question because he's the Creator. Do you understand that and just lost everything? And what does he do? He falls to his knees and he worships God. How many of you would actually turn to God and worship him that the death of a loved one.
None of us would raise our fists at God. That's why I said he doesn't see, didn't send. Why did you do that?
I know a lot of people ask that question today. You know what? You're never going to know the answer. You can ask all day long. You'll never know the answer. It doesn't matter. That's what God saying. It doesn't matter, learn to lean on Jesus learn to lean on your God. And he will take care of everything. Life is in his hands. We're not in control. You're not in control. He's in control. And so job, understood that immediately. Yeah, he hurt. But he still went to God on his knees to worship him. But by the second shot for his friend, show up, you know how good your friends can be? Right. What did you do? Joe that God did this to you? You must have done something really bad. Come on. Tell us what you did.
So finally drove gives in and he says, you know, it's just unfair that this happen to me.
Can you see yourself doing that? It's so job says I'm going to I'm going to face God and I'm going to tell him what's on my mind. As of God didn't know. How do you say? I'm going to set him straight? Because if I wasn't charged, this would not have happened. Things done my way. God is Sovereign, we're not. Where the client, he's the Potter, but we like, it could change the other way around. And so God or jump shows up to God. And he says, what are you doing to me? And so, I do the Whirlwind, the voice of God comes down. He says, drugged have a seat. And I'm going to tell you about the world. How do you spell Where Were You Joe? When I laid the foundations of the universe, can you tell me how that happened? Where were you? When I made the pass of the sea? Where were you when I made Leviathan, or when I'm a behemoth? When I traded all of those animals. Where were you when I put forth, wind, when you can hear you can feel but you can't see. Where Were You? Joe? And so after several chapters of this final exam that Joe is going to fail. He comes to his senses, notice at the end. He says then job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do everything but had no purpose of yours. Can be withheld from you. You ask who is this who hides counsel without knowledge. Therefore. I have uttered. What? I did not understand things too. Wonderful for me, which I did not know. He spoke out of ignorance. And God said, I understand. But know this Joe. I know and you don't I'm God, you are not and your mother stood that. So at the beginning of the store. We find him worshiping at the worst time of his life. And then in between not so much. But then at the end, we find Jobe coming back to his heart, to his right senses. And he says, you know, God you're running it. So he repented that's what God desires in each of us. We do wrong, we mess up. We say, you know what? That was dumb. That was wrong and I admit it. I'm not going to do that. Again. That's repentance. That's what job did. It's all we find here Joe putting his heart into the matter of life. That's what he's doing here with God. Jobs, God had priority in his life.
And as we look at job, we will also find in Psalm 95, this idea of worship. Because warship has everything to do with our life. Worship effects, everyday living, we worship on the first day of the week. But what about the rest of the week? Will that don't worship is designed to do. Notice what the song is says. He said, it'll come, let us sing to the Lord. What a shot. Joyfully to the rock of our Salvation has come before his presence with Thanksgiving. Let us shout. Joyfully to him with songs. For the Lord is the great God and the great king of all gods. Oh, come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker for. He is our God and we are the people of his pasture and the Sheep of his hand today. If you will hear his voice and we just read this out of the book of Hebrews. Do not Harden your hearts as in the Rebellion as in the day of trial in the wilderness. When your father's trusted me. They tried me know, they saw my work for 40 years. I was grieved with this that generation and said it is a people who go astray in their hearts.
That's the secret. People just don't go away. They begin to go away in their hearts. How corrupt heart leads to corrupt actions. A corrupt heart leads to corrupt speech. A corrupt heart leads to a life of corruption. He says, he tells us not the symptom. He tells us what the real problem is. They go astray in their hearts, and they do not know my please, it's ignorance. Ignorance of God's ways. A dare I say ignorance of this book.
There is a Divine being is named as God comprised of three people, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He created everything. He's given us life. He's giving us a life eternal with me. So choose to have it. And then he leaves us this guidance and he says, here you can find it. It's right here. In an omnipotent, God gives a perfect message. It's not written by men, Merriman meant ended. But through the Holy Spirit, through the god. This is the word of God. These words come from the heart and the mind of God. And so, as Jesus says, man, cannot live by bread alone, but by every word with proceeds out of the mouth of God. I saw these words are valuable to you to me to all of us. Until God says, so I swore in my wrath. They shall not enter my rest because of the corrupt heart. What's worship? Singing rain those types of Acts. That's really not worship. That's involved with worship.
But worship involves will. It involves emotion. And it certainly involves reason. In the Book of Romans. Paul writes, this listen carefully. He says, add to seat you there for but I beg of you brother by the mercies of God, that you present, your bodies, a Living Sacrifice. Holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
Toss reasonable. We get the word, a logical logical to serve and worship God, you know, just prior to that, in Romans chapter 11. He started talking about how God brought the Jews and Gentiles together. How God orchestrated in the Affairs of man for Providence? And then call closes out the chapter by saying, listen, his ways are not our ways. His ways are above our ways. We, we can't find his ways unless he tells us his ways. And that's where he says, I beseech you therefore brethren. Based upon what I just said, present your bodies a Living Sacrifice. That is worship. Will you give your all to God? Did you know that you can worship everyday and that we should be worshiping everyday? Yeah, we come here. And we worship, we do these acts of worship, we can sing and we can read the Bible. We can pray, we take the Lord's Supper, but did you know that we're to sing and pray everyday for the worship. God everyday?
Will emotion. And so we look at the will he said, listen to because he's their creator. That should be enough to motivate you. He's God. Emotion. Look what he's done for you. and then reason, Because he died for you. Because he wants you to live with him forever. It's a logical. It's reasonable. Those who fail to worship God. Why do most unreasonable people? The most illogical people. That's what people say. He says. That's your reasonable worship. Your reasonable service. There's two words for worship. Posh Conejo, which is this bowing down. Before God. It's more of the formal atmosphere of worship, but then or select real. Your service to God. It's what you do on a daily basis, you know, when the Bible says, whatever you find your hands to do, do as mightily as you can to the Lord. So when you go to work and you understand that God desires that you if you're working for the man you got to put your time in for the man and you work your butt off because you're not working for the man, you working for God. That's what he saying. He said that's worship. That's what Ray on that service. When you sit at the bedside of someone who's sick. That's worship. What do you do? Some acts of kindness? Someone drops her wallet on the ground and you go over and pick it up. Guess what? That's washer. It's using your will. It's using your emotion. The emotion says, if I lost my wallet, I would surely appreciate it and someone would get it back to me. It's reasonable. It's logical because those good things are designed by God for us to give back to God. So we express ourselves through such worship. We express it from the heart. That's why he says, I beseech you therefore Brethren by the mercies of God, that you present, your bodies, a Living Sacrifice day by day. Day by day. Jesus said this way. All those who desire to come after me. Let him deny himself, pick up his cross and follow me. That's crucifying. You mean this much and I'll speak to the younger people because this goes on all the time and I've been there a lot of people have been here and we're not stupid. Don't we know there's that our friends want us to party with them? Don't they? But Jesus says, I want you to be different than your friends. I want you to be mine. I want you to behave like you're mine. And so he says you've got to crucify the flesh. You've got to deny yourself. He says, pick up your cross. There's the idea of crucifixion. My friends want me to do here, but I know I'm going to get in trouble. If I go there. I'm not going to go there. I'm just crucify, the Flesh and the angels in heaven. Are going a man. Keep it up your good. Your son of God. We are to be different. Says the same thing. He says your friends will find it really crazy about you. They're going to see you as really peculiar because you don't run with them anymore like we used to
now, we come to a
We come to a y in a row, don't we? Come to a winding road. Should I go? Should I do those things? I want to do those things. But I do, my Lord doesn't want me to do those things. And I know it's a sin and I don't want to hurt my Lord. I don't want to hurt my soul. Does your soul have any depth of value to you?
Remember. Things that value to us, we're passionate about. Is your soul valuable to you? Are you passionate about it, to protect, to protect it, to take care of it, to offer to the Lord on a daily basis. That's the idea of sacrifice. The idea of worship of the Old Testament.
So worship is more than just coming to a building an hour a week.
It includes that, but it's not all that but it's living your life and living your life for God. And we don't have time. I don't want to get into this, but I do want to point out what I read earlier. The fact is, is that we can fall into unbelief. When we follow the unbelief, what we're saying is I'm being disobedient.
Disobedience means unbelief, and that's what happened to the people of Israel when they were wandering in the desert. I kept complaining first. They messed up. What could have taken them two weeks to get to the promised land? Took him 40 years. Walking around, round round all because of their stupidity because of their Disobedience, their unbelief. Now,
So he takes an Old Testament story. Bring it to the New Testament and makes a new testament application. He says, don't be like those people. Don't go into Rebellion. Don't go to unbelief. And the only reason you get it. My belly and unbelief is because you want to, it's called disobedience.
and so, he says, Do the things that make for entering into his rest? Those who are in unbelief and Disobedience will not enter his rest. There's more to living the Christian life than just the Cross of Christ. Just the shedding of his blood. He said that's there for you, but you have to access it by faith access it by faith through obedience. Faith without works is dead. Until we understand the necessity of having an active Faith. Jesus, the man the growth, he doesn't want you to come in as a Christian. I accept Jesus into my life and I put them on and baptism and then I sit there and do nothing. He says, there needs to be a change in your life. Not only that, but you become an example for the rest of the world that you live in. You know, you may not be able to preach a sermon to somebody but living living a life. For Jesus Christ will become the best sermon summer will ever have That'll be the best sermon summer we'll ever see with that. That's what some people say. I'd rather see a sermon.
And so you are an example because you're a child of God. And so we need to continue to reach up. Reach up to God. He's there, he desires it. But know this for a fact he says you begin reaching at a certain point and Jesus says this way he that believes and is baptized shall be saved. That's reaching that's understanding your predicament. That's understanding who he is. And that's understanding the remedy. Do you believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ? And is baptized shall be saved? Do you believe that will do that? That's the point? Peter said to those on the day of Pentecost, repent, and let everyone of you be. Baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. For what? For the remission of your sins. Yeah, baptism does play a role in Salvation baptism. Also now save us 1st, Peter 3:21. the idea is that we do it by safe, we do so because Jesus has asked us to And we demonstrate that Faith by doing that's reaching up. Perhaps you've done there, but perhaps you've been wandering the desert, just like those people of old and you've wandered and you've wandered farther and farther away and Jesus is still calling you. Come home, child. Come home. Come back. You're still time. I love you. That's what Jesus says. This is just change, your thinking and come back home. Everything will be fine. If you desire that relationship today. Want to come back there. That's Together. We Stand and sing.