Transcription downloaded from https://yetanothersermon.host/_/church4u/sermons/86017/acceptable-worship/. Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions. Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt. [0:00] Holy, Holy, Holy. [0:23] Holy, Holy, Holy. [0:54] Acceptable worship. Now have you ever thought that God actually defines how we ought to worship Him? How does God really want us to worship Him? [1:07] It's an important question. Right back in Genesis we see two men, Cain and Abel. They both worshipped God. When Abel sacrificed, God was well pleased. [1:21] But when Cain sacrificed, God did not approve. So it is possible to worship wrong. To get worship wrong. In fact, it's possible to worship the wrong God. [1:35] As we see, for example, where Elijah was there and the prophets of Baal. And they were getting really excited and very worshipful. [1:46] They were jumping and jiving and cutting themselves and yelling and screaming. They were enthusiastic worshippers. But the problem was they were worshipping the wrong God, weren't they? [1:57] Baal. And then Elijah just simply, prayerfully, reverently prayed. And caught up on God. And God answered by fire. So we can worship the wrong God. [2:09] But we can also worship the right God the wrong way. So that's what we're kind of talking about in a way tonight. So it is possible to get worship wrong. We can worship wrong or we can worship right. [2:22] So how do we worship right? That's the kind of key point I'm trying to communicate here. So if you're doing something wrong, wouldn't you want to know about what made Abel's worship right and Cain's worship wrong? [2:37] In Hebrews 11.4 it says that Abel worshipped by faith. By faith he offered a more excellent sacrifice. Abel was a saved man. [2:51] And he worshipped by faith. That's what critically made the difference. Cain was not righteous. He worshipped just his own kind of way. He tried to just do it his own way. [3:03] So how are you going to worship? Are you going to be like Abel? Or be like Cain? It's a good question, isn't it? It's very important to get that right. And the Bible shows us about some kinds of worship that God actually refuses. [3:16] It actually is something God doesn't want to receive such worship. And we see that, for example, in Isaiah 1. From verse 11 through 15. [3:27] And it tells there how the Lord is speaking. And he says, To what purpose, this is Isaiah 1 verse 11. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? Saith the Lord. [3:38] I am full of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat and fed beasts. And I delight not in the blood of bullocks or of lambs or of he goats. He's saying that he's had enough of it. [3:50] He doesn't want it. And it goes on, verse 13. Bring no more vain oblations. Don't bring this vain worship to me. He says, Away with it. [4:01] It goes on, verse 14. That these beasts my soul hate, if they are a trouble unto me, I'm weary to bear them. When you spread forth your hands, I'll hide mine eyes from you. [4:15] Yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. So this is very strong words here in Isaiah 1. And our Lord God is saying, This worship, he doesn't want it. [4:28] It's a trouble. He hates it. He will not hear. This kind of worship was wrong kind of worship. It was hollow. It was empty. It was made before external show. [4:40] It was hypocritical. But the people have no purity of heart. And God called it an abomination. That's verse 13. That's pretty strong words, isn't it? [4:51] You think what God calls abomination? He calls such vain worship abomination. It's detestable to him. So it's important. Again, I underline. What is the right way to worship? [5:03] It's a good, vital question to answer such a question. So we're going to have a look at some references that speak about Bible worship that was acceptable worship. [5:16] So we're going to go to Hebrews 12 now. Verse 28. And this is really my key passage that we're going to come back to and unwrap this package. [5:31] Unwrap this verse, if you like, this passage. Hebrews 12. And verse 28. Where it talks about acceptable worship. [5:44] Hebrews 12. 28. 29. It says, Wherefore we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved. Let us have grace. Whereby we may serve God. [5:56] Acceptably. There's that word. Acceptably. With what? With reverence. And God with fear. For our God is a consuming fire. So we're going to unfold this verse in particular. [6:14] Verse 28. We receiving a kingdom. So to set the scene, the context of worship here is kingdom. The worship context here is kingdom. Our worship is addressed to the mighty king. [6:28] Our mighty king. And it really starts there, doesn't it? To realize who our God is. He's the almighty. He's the king of kings. His majesty and his kingly authority are supreme. [6:41] And we are in a humble state before him. In comparison. And our call to worship is a call to magnify our awesome and mighty king. [6:53] To give him the highest place. It is possible to worship God without knowing God. Now we can sing along to the songs. We can look like we're worshipping. [7:07] We might kind of feel like we're worshipping. But if we do not know God, it's worship that is vain. It's actually not received by God. Paul talked along this line in Acts 17.23. [7:22] Where he was on Mars Hill in Athens. And he speaks to the Athenians and he says, Acts 17.23. Paul told the Athenians, they had this kind of, it's almost like in their myriads of statues and idols of numerous gods. [7:53] They had one there just in case they missed any of the gods, almost. It's almost like to the unknown god. The one we don't really know about. So they didn't miss out that one. But really they were ignorantly worshipping. [8:04] In other words, they didn't know him. And Paul said to these ones, he said, how God made the world. And he's the Lord of heaven and earth. And how men are to seek after him and find him. And it's in him we live and move and have our being. [8:17] He was explaining to this crowd the God that they ignorantly worshipped. And how this God is commanding all men everywhere to repent. And how one day he will judge the world. [8:30] This one who's risen from the dead is going to be the ultimate judge. And so Paul was making him known. We can know God and who he is. He's the king. Hebrews 12 tells of a kingdom. [8:41] And here we have a kingdom. It says a kingdom that cannot be moved. This is no king or kingdom that can be overthrown. This is no king that can be deposed. He's the king of kings and he always will be. [8:54] No revolution will sway this kingdom. It will never fall. This kingdom is unshakable, immovable. You know, here are some kings and kingdoms and the kings are kind of in exile, aren't they? [9:05] From their nation. They're not actually seated on their throne. But this king is in his royal throne. He is the king of the universe. And friends, this kingdom which he reigns over, we are called to it. [9:18] We're made ready for it. And we can receive it. Hebrews 12 says we receive this kingdom. And so our worship is in that context of this thought of this royal splendor, of this majesty, of the one who we worship, of the context of his great kingdom. [9:36] All hail the power of Jesus' name. Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem and crown him lord of all. This is the one we're worshipping. [9:48] What's more, we can actually know the king personally. Think of that. That's an honour, isn't it? Just that you would know him. If Christ is our king, we are his subjects, royal subjects. [9:59] And what's more, his royal family too, even more so. When we think of kings and kingdoms, it's mind-boggling, isn't it? I know as a young lad, my folks, we were leaving England, I think just shortly before we did a tour of the, what's it called? [10:18] Not Buckingham Palace, but the Tower of London. And they've got all this display of royal crowns and tiaras and of royal thrones and royal trappings. [10:35] And it's just awesome, it's just mind-boggling, the glittering glory of it all. But how much more the glory of our God and king? Our God and king. Far more than any earthly king. [10:48] And the Bible says that the kingdom of God is within you. When you're saved, you are in his kingdom. He's delivered you from the power of darkness into his kingdom, the kingdom of light and truth. [11:00] And now we belong to this kingdom. We're brought unto the subjection, the rule of this king. And we made his royal family. So that's the context, this kingdom. [11:11] When we worship, it's having that thought, wow, here's the king. And when you think, as I know Julie and I had the privilege of, in our once-in-a-lifetime trip to England, to see some of that too. [11:25] To see the things of the royal palace, the Buckingham Palace. To see the things of the king, the king, the queen of England. And it's just awesome. [11:36] And when you think of the wonder and the majesty of such a thing, our Lord wants us to worship him and to have that regard to him as the king. [11:49] As the king of kings. So when you think of kings and kingdoms of royalty, it's top shelf, isn't it? It's top shelf. [12:01] It's the very, very best. It's the highest. Or don't we to worship, as we worship him right, to give him our highest and best praise. I know even like in a work context when I was working in some government space and there was someone coming who was really high up. [12:23] You know, the chief executive or the minister of the department was coming. Or even the premier or the prime minister would come to certain things. And everything would just have to be just so, wouldn't they? [12:36] Imagine working in the hotel scene. You're there. So, you know, when someone's important coming. When there's a VIP coming. Everything's got to be squeaky clean, doesn't it? [12:46] You've got to, you know, and the boss makes sure everything's just, everything's perfectly in place. Just think of the king of kings. And how our worship should be. This is top shelf. [12:58] This is, there's nothing higher than our God and king. So our worship should be without the thought of the wonder, of the glory, of magnifying and exalting and lifting him. Who is the highest and greatest. [13:11] And so that's the context of our worship. To be acceptable to God. Think of the king that you're worshipping. Also, it says that we receive a kingdom. And it says, let us therefore have grace. [13:23] It says, Hebrews 12, 28. This kingdom, this king, is ours by grace. It's amazing grace. We heard about grace this morning. And Brother Neil's message. [13:34] God actively working in the hearts of men. This is grace. It's his gift. Someone has said, there is a saving grace for sinners. And a serving grace for Christians. There's a sense where we can serve by grace. [13:47] Not serving by law, by duty, by obligation. But we're serving by grace. And so this sense of serving, of worshipping by grace. It's our joyful, glad privilege. [14:00] God's grace has been revealed to us at the cross of Calvary. At the place of the skull, Golgotha. At the tree. God's gracious offer. It's grace. And doesn't grace prompt you to worship? [14:11] To think of the free gift you have as a saved man, a saved woman here tonight. To bring praise to the one who's shown you such mercy. To save you. The sweet peace that grace gives. [14:24] His awesome love. Undeserved salvation. That prompts us to worship, doesn't it? Grace prompts us to worship. [14:35] And grace is available now as a gift. If you get to receive his heavenly gift. Precious, perfect gift. Salvation. That we, hopelessly lost and hell bound, can receive his tender love. [14:50] So our worship is by grace. And it's because of grace. Without God's undeserved grace, the mercy he's shown us in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, we would face awful judgment. [15:03] So God can't receive any worship we offer without our heart being made right with God. Like those Athenians, they ignorantly worship. [15:14] They didn't know him. Paul said, I'm going to show him, declare him to you. And when you're saved by grace, that just gives you reason to worship, doesn't it? [15:24] The joy of your salvation. The shed blood of Christ that sets his soul free and clean. And so it goes on to say, we also have the privilege to serve our king, to serve acceptably. [15:37] Hebrews 12, 28, again, it says, I'll repeat it. Wherefore we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably. [15:50] By God's grace we can serve God. To serve here has also the sense of worship. Where the King James translators also translated this word serve, or service, as worship. [16:03] And so, God wants us to serve him, to worship him, in an acceptable manner. And what does the Bible say about this word acceptable? [16:14] It's often used. Accept, accepting, acceptable. What does the word of God say about acceptable? What is acceptable? It says in 1 Peter 2, verse 5, that we are a royal, holy priesthood. [16:28] That we can offer up spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God. By Jesus Christ. In Acts 10, 35, it says, God accepts those that fear him and work righteousness. [16:41] Paul says that familiar one in Romans 12, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you may present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God. [16:53] Which is your reasonable service. So the word service here in Romans can be translated worship. God accepts worship. There's some worship that is acceptable. There's some worship that is not acceptable. [17:06] So we want to make sure we're on the right side of that, don't we? That our worship is acceptable. God accepts those who fear and work righteousness. He accepts those who offer up spiritual sacrifices. [17:17] He accepts those who are living sacrifices. Amen. So when we come to worship, to pray, to praise, stop and think. [17:29] Is it acceptable or is it not? Am I worshipping, serving God acceptably or am I not? Some of what people call worship is actually not acceptable. [17:39] In Matthew 15, we know our Lord says, Of some people they draw near to me, he says, with their mouth they honour, with their lip service. [17:50] But their heart, he says, is far from me. And in vain do they worship me. So friends, tonight, the Bible says some worship doesn't get past the ceiling. [18:02] It doesn't reach him. He doesn't accept it because people's hearts are far from him. Someone has said, True worship is not lip service, but life service. [18:13] He wants your life. He wants your heart. He wants your whole. He doesn't want you just to mouth words and give lip service to make a pretense, but that it be heart deep. [18:25] We've talked about Cain and Abel. Their worship was not acceptable. Their sacrifice was not received. Another example is in 2 Samuel 6, where Uzzah appeared to serve God. [18:38] He appeared to serve God. And he steadied the ark. You know, they put the ark of God on a cart, which they shouldn't have done for a start. But then as they were moving it, he tried to steady it. [18:50] And God struck him dead. Because he served God unacceptably. He didn't go God's way. God gave directions that they did not follow. [19:01] God gave specific directions. And they did not do what God had said. Ananias and Sapphira, in the New Testament, they gave an offering. [19:16] That was something good. And they were struck dead. Why? Because they'd lied to God. They served God, but unacceptably. God struck them dead. [19:27] They were literally, they were slain by the Holy Spirit. Literally. The only people in the Bible who were is Ananias and Sapphira. They were struck dead. They were slain by the Spirit of God. [19:39] Why? Because they served God unacceptably, friends. Likewise, we could see Amos 5. I'm sorry, you don't have the scriptures here, but if you can just bear with me while I read it. [19:50] Amos 5, verse 21, again, it says, I hate, I despise your feast days, says God. I will not smell in your solemn assembly. So the incense offered, he says, I'm going to hold my nose. [20:02] I'm not going to smell it. He says that, though you offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, he says, I will not accept them. Neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. [20:15] Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs, for I will not hear the melody of thy vials. So, again, this is kind of another shocking, confronting passage, really, that these people were worshipping, but God's saying, I will not accept them. [20:34] Take it away from me, the noise of your songs. I will not hear the melody of your musical instruments. He says, I hate what you're doing. The sun, I've got to be, you know, if you actually put it into plain English, he's saying, I hate your church. [20:50] I hate the way you do church. It's wrong. You know, I hate it. Your worship. Why was he not accepting their worship? [21:03] Again, in the kind of context there, it was offensive. It was noise. And the problem was hypocrisy. They were just mouthing words, but their heart was far from God. And they weren't submitting to his majesty and doing his will. [21:17] So it's a really telling thought that some church worship could be right off track and away from what God wants. [21:29] So let's have a look on the flip side, on the positive side now. What is the kind of worship that God does accept, that he does receive? As we read again, I'll repeat again. [21:40] Therefore, we're receiving a kingdom that cannot be moved. Let us have grace whereby we may serve God, acceptably with what? Number one, with reverence. God does accept worship that is reverent. [21:53] We cannot worship God acceptably unless we worship him with number one, reverence. So it's only by the grace of God we can rightly worship him. Wouldn't you agree we're living in an irreverent world? [22:05] A godless world. I was thinking lately, you know, just know Aussie comedy, Aussie humour is crude. It's crude. And look, English comedy is crude too. [22:19] American comedy is crude. It's like the Western world. It's corrupt, isn't it? It's irreverent. They will mock and scorn Christians and use foul language and they'll sell books with foul words on the front cover and they'll be bestsellers. [22:36] You know, words will blank out with stars and asterisks and say, you know, I don't even go there. But the world just is so irreverent. Commonplace language. [22:48] People don't care about swearing, about using God's name in vain, uttering profanities, cursing the name of our precious Lord Jesus, that his word, that his very name would become a swear word. [23:03] I know Julie is familiar with a song that goes along the lines, he's more than just a swear word. He's more than just an I don't care word. He's the precious Lamb of God. You know, the name of the Lord Jesus is the name above every name. [23:17] And we should revere that name and honour that one with that name. To venerate, to reverence, the majesty of our precious Lord, supreme and almighty, in his royal power. [23:30] To get the sense of who he is, what he's done for us, in all of our unworthiness. That we can be in awe of him, truly in awe of him. Honour and respect him. [23:41] And yet, there's this flippancy, this irreverence, this casualness, this carelessness, where worship has just become a light and sloppy thing, laid back, slap dash, slack. [23:55] We're actually serving the King of kings, the Lord of lords. That's worship. The presence of the Holy One, the worthy Lamb, coming into the very Holy of Holies. This is something that should prompt reverence. [24:08] And secondly, we see, we'll go back again to the verse, wherefore he is receiving a kingdom that cannot be moved. Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence, and godly fear. [24:23] Godly fear. Secondly, there's need for godliness. In this world, there's God-hating. A world that is worldly, and more so, more and more secular. [24:35] Some people, they think they can just use any style of music, in the service of a holy God. I don't know where you draw the line, but we've got to draw the line somewhere. [24:49] We have to draw the line somewhere. We're talking about a holy God. Look, I can't stomach, some of what goes on. [25:01] Some might try to worship God with rap music, for example. I don't know. I mean, think, where some of that, the connotations of that. [25:14] You've got to draw the line, honestly. You might draw the line different, where I draw the line. But, some people think they can just use any kind of style of music. Honky tonk, razzmatazz, the most trashiest worldly style, and all the trappings of that, all the connotations of that. [25:37] It's tainted. It's dirty, I put to you. But the fear of God draws us to a holiness, of life, of thought, of action. Does it honour and please our mighty, holy God, or does it not? [25:53] Friends, it's an important consideration. We want to shun and hate that which would offend our holy God, that which is vain and fleshly and carnal. [26:07] Godly fear has God as its author and object. It says, Psalm 2, verse 11, Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. [26:20] It says of him, he's got purer eyes than to behold iniquity. Think of the greatness of our God, and how worthy he is, of our highest praise. [26:32] We don't want to offend him, by carnal means. That's not to say we can't be creative, there's different instruments we can employ, there's some scope for artistic skill and such. [26:48] But when it comes to the worship of our almighty God, there's something that should, should be something we aspire to the very highest, the very highest of standard. [27:01] To honour him, above all else, our great king. As we come in the company of God's holy people, it should be a reverent and godly time, a time of godly fear. [27:12] And then it goes on to say, Wherefore we receiving a kingdom, which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence, and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire. [27:25] One of the driving motivators I put to you, is that our God is a consuming fire. He wants to burn up the rubbish. He wants to consume that which is second grade. [27:41] He wants to consume that which is less. And he wants us to be consumed in his glory, to be consumed for his glory. To set us ablaze. [27:51] He wants to eliminate the dross, the rubbish from our lives. In Leviticus 10, it tells us some more unacceptable worship. Leviticus 10 tells us two of Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu. [28:05] It says they offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded not. And they went out fire from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. [28:16] Another example, they were offering fire, which is strange. It wasn't the fire that was the established fire that God had designated. They were offering something extra, something else, something that was odd and different than what God had directed them to do. [28:34] You know, we can't mess with holy thieves. We have to do what God says to do, and not deviate from that. So they did what God had not commanded. [28:46] They served God unacceptably, and God struck them. And these are telling scriptures, when we think of these ones we've talked about, of Cain, of Nadab and Abihu, and these other ones that we talked about, that we can see that God is just, and He's righteous, and we can't play around with the holy things, with strange fire, with touching the ark, and trying to steady it by man's intervention, instead of what's God's direction, what's God's will, what's God's means of carrying the ark on the shoulders of the priests, but they were even disregarding that. [29:29] They made their own fancy ark. And, you know, sometimes, and again, I'm not saying we can't be creative in our worship, but there's some places we ought not to go, where it's crossing a line. [29:43] It's taking it to, it's making worship crass, and worldly. You know, I've seen some situations of people dancing in church, and, you know, there might be a place for that, but this was, it looks so secular, it looks so worldly, it looks so fleshly, and so vain, and it seemed to be crass, and ungodly. [30:06] And, friends, we've got to be questioning such things, don't we? The church is not the place to have a worldliness come in and just take away from the worship of our holy God. [30:27] And we see, again, look, is there a place for smoke machines? I don't know, maybe if there's a, if there's a play or something, but when it's the worship of a holy God, is that the place for smoke machines, or disco lights, or, you know, you think, I mean, we're using some modern technology here, where it works, but, you know, we're not against using some, some, you know, cameras, and, and, equipment, and sound, to improve, and to display, to, to broadcast, and to use creativity, but, when it becomes a distraction, when it becomes an obsession, when it becomes a, an, you know, a, that it takes away from the worship of our holy God, that we don't want that. [31:15] We don't want to, anything that take away from him, to take away his place. And, because we see, our God is a consuming fire. He doesn't, he doesn't want us to toy with that, which is of question. [31:28] It says, our Lord says in John 4, that the hour cometh, where, where true worshippers shall worship him, the Father, in spirit, and in truth. [31:40] For the Father seeketh such to worship him. It says, God is a spirit. Know that worship him, must worship him, in spirit, and in truth. God's looking for worshippers. [31:51] He wants us to worship him. Amen? He wants us to be worshipful. He wants us to give him praise. He wants us to yield ourselves, as living sacrifices, as acceptable unto him. [32:02] He wants us to, to give our hearts, in, in worship, that is, prompted by grace, that is, minded of his kingdom, that is, motivated, by these, wonderful truths, that, that he has, given us grace, that we can serve him acceptably, with reverence, and godly fear. [32:23] This is, praiseworthy, and to his glory. And we want that. He wants that from us. The worship must be, in spirit, and in truth. It's twofold. It's spiritual, it's, it's, by the spirit, it's truth based. [32:38] It's, founded upon truth. So our worship must be, founded upon, biblical truth, and principles. And there's a context here, of our God, is a consuming fire. [32:51] He wants to consume, everything, that is, unworthy. He wants to consume, the dross, the rubbish, and he wants us, to be consumed. The zeal of God, consumes us. [33:02] Someone has said this, the supreme need, of the church, is the same today, as in the first century, man on fire, for Christ. That's what he wants. Not a fleshly passion, but a holy passion. [33:16] That's what we need, amen? We need the holy passion. A passion that will prompt us, to snatch them from the fire. That will prompt us, to hear God's heartbeat, which is souls, souls, souls, that will take seriously, the scriptures, and God's abundant mercy. [33:38] And we want to extend, an invitation, to those outside of Christ. He is a jealous God. He's a holy God. He's a holy fire. He's going to consume. [33:49] And, Lord, consume. Consume that, which you want to consume. That you'll be consumed, by God. It ought to be our prayer. He's a jealous God. [34:01] He's pure in His holiness. He doesn't want us, to toy, with that, which is a question. He's a consuming fire. There's a sense that God is destructive. [34:14] He wants to destroy things. There's things in my life, God needs to destroy. Amen. There's things that, that God wants to, to take away. The things that are unworthy of Him. [34:25] The things that take His place. The things that, that, are unworthy of Him. Friends, it's been said, the same fire that melts the wax, hardens the steel. [34:36] Which are you? And when the fire falls, when, when you think of God's fire, He's consuming fire, our God is a consuming fire, just be like the wax. You know, don't, don't be a steel that would harden, but to be, to be melted, by God. [34:52] That He would have all the glory, in your life, in every part of your worship. He says, Isaiah 66, to this man will I look, to him, that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. [35:06] Let's be such a people, that will tremble at this word. This will be that, that which we base our worship on. That is, it's Bible based worship. It's worship that does not, conflict with the word of God. [35:18] But it sits, in harmony with it. To take that word of God, to take God at His word. And to worship God, acceptably. So friends, I hope I've given some, thoughts that, might prompt us, to a more, biblical kind of worship. [35:35] And we could talk much more, about other scriptures, that talk about, you know, how we should be, um, exhorting one another, you know, in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs. [35:46] Making melody in your hearts, to the Lord. And that's the, kind of worshipful heart, He wants us to have. And it starts, by knowing the Savior. That's the starting place. Really. To know the King. [35:58] To know, yes Lord, you're my King. And I am, not only a servant, of your kingdom, a subject, of your kingdom, but a son, a daughter, of your kingdom. [36:12] That you are my King. My Father. It starts with that. Wherefore, we receiving a kingdom, which cannot be moved. Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence, holiness, that heart of, what's rightful, and honoring to Him, reverence, and with godly fear. [36:37] We don't toy with that, which is a question. We're not going to mess with anything, that would be unworthy, of our precious Lord. There's a godly fear, that drives us, that moves us. And for our God, is the consuming fire. [36:49] Lord, send the fire, in that sense of, yes, burn it all. Burn everything, that is unworthy of you. May I be a living sacrifice, which is acceptable, unto God. [37:01] And worship God, acceptably. Worship the right God, the right way. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your refreshing, for the joy, of your salvation. [37:13] Lord, we know, the subject of worship, can be a, a controversial one, and there's many different views, Lord, yet, what matters is, your view. [37:24] And that's what we want. We want, we want Lord, to know your view, about worship. We want to know your preference. Lord, your preference for worship, because we know, if you don't receive our worship, it's vain, and it's empty. [37:38] Lord, Lord, we pray, each one might know, the true and living God, know you as our King, as our Saviour and Lord. Lord, we pray that each one might know that, we belong to this kingdom, which cannot be moved. [37:51] And Lord, help us to have a heart, to hear your heart, to read your word, to hear your word, to obey it. Lord, not to bring sacrifice, or worship, that is man-made, like Cain did. [38:05] It wasn't a sacrifice of blood. It wasn't as ables by faith. Lord, help us to worship, with a faithful heart, a faith-filled heart. Help us to worship, with reverence, regarding you, as the holy, the mighty King, the loving, Master, that paid, your precious blood, as price for our sin. [38:28] and Lord, to love you, and honour you, with godly fear, with that, that sense of, being awestruck, with, your, mighty, person. [38:42] Lord, and that will offer you, the highest praise, as we would, if it was a King, an earthly King, but, so much more. you are worthy, of our highest praise. [38:54] And Lord, help us to be such a people, being mindful, that you're a consuming fire, and that you want to burn up, anything that is unworthy, of you. Lord, consume us, may your zeal consume us. [39:06] May we have, not a fleshly passion, but a holy passion, to be your people, and to bring you praise, and to worship you, our mighty God, as we please you, we ask you, and praise us, a mighty name, Jesus. [39:23] Amen.