[0:00] Hey, I want to invite Warren Rosebrook to come on up. Let's give him a warm welcome as a former church. As he comes, I just want to introduce him. Some of you don't know him. I got to spend about, what, seven years together? Six.
[0:22] Seems like seven. So good. And we spent a lot of years together serving the Lord side by side. He came on as a student minister and just got to see him serve and grow in the Lord in so many different ways.
[0:38] What I will say about Warren Rosebrook is that he has always just been a sincere encourager. And for me, in ministry, you just value that.
[0:49] You know, you just, when there's somebody that's going to be an encourager consistently, you know, in good times and bad, you know that there's going to be some encouraging, encouragement come from somebody.
[1:01] Man, you just learn to love those people. And I know that Warren has overlooked a lot with me and has continued to be steadfast in that way. But we have remained friends and brothers in Christ side by side for the sake of the gospel.
[1:16] And I just want to say how grateful I am for him and Danielle and all those years that we got to spend together in ministry. Now, he has been serving in Muscogee with Kevin Chartney.
[1:29] He was serving as his associate pastor. Some of you know Kevin, some of you don't. Kevin's another good friend in ministry. And he got to serve for several years with Kevin down there in Muscogee. And now he is transitioning going to Eastwood Baptist in Tulsa.
[1:46] So he's close, but he's not close enough to drive to. Okay? Is that why I'm not close enough to drive to? But close enough for us to fellowship together. And so he's in between churches right now.
[1:58] Next week he starts. And Monday is his first day at Eastwood Baptist. And so anyway, it was just a good opportunity to get him while he was in between.
[2:08] And I thought it would be a great blessing and encouragement to us. So let's just say a word of prayer for him as he comes and brings the word to us. And then let's listen to hear what God has to say this morning as he brings the word.
[2:22] Father, I just thank you. As we gather in this place today, we're just so grateful that we do have brothers and sisters in Christ that are lifelong friends.
[2:34] Some that will get to spend the rest of our time on this earth being an encouragement together. But Lord, the glory of the gospel is that one day we're going to get to spend eternity together.
[2:46] And these are not just the people we go to church with. These are the people we're going to spend eternity with. And I'm so thankful for the relationships that you have brought along the way like that.
[2:59] I just pray, Lord, that as he and his family go to serve at Eastwood Baptist, that it would be a great time of momentum for them. A great time of growth.
[3:10] That their service to you will see some of the greatest days as they go and follow you in obedience to that place of service. Lord, while he's here this morning with us, I just pray that your hand would be on it.
[3:22] That your Holy Spirit would fill him. God, that as he proclaims your word this morning, that you would just speak. Speak to him. Speak to his family. Speak to us as we continue to serve you together.
[3:36] And Lord, as we do that, I pray that today we will hear your voice. We'll be obedient. And Lord, that we'll be changed in your presence. We just love you and we thank you. And it's in Christ's name we pray.
[3:48] Amen. Let's give it more and I want another one. Well, I am glad to be with you this morning.
[4:02] What a blessing for me and my family to be with you today. To just pause and worship the Lord together. And just to get with you today, it's a good opportunity for me to be able to share the pulpit with the dear brother and the friend.
[4:18] I'm excited to be here with you today. We've been trying to get together for a while. But the Lord saw in sovereignty that today it was finally time to get to be able to do this.
[4:30] Is this the one that's supposed to be on me? The other one that got it. Good. All right. So when I asked James, what should I preach about? What should we focus on? He said you have been in the book of James for a while.
[4:42] So maybe a break would be good. And so I thought, great. I'm busy this week. It's a hurried week at our house. Even in between churches. I'll just recycle the message.
[4:52] And you guys wouldn't know any different. And it'd be great. But the more I thought about it, the more I prayed about it. I thought, well, you guys, you know, when we moved two and a half years ago, we walked through different trials and different difficult things in our family and just, you know, ministry life.
[5:09] You guys wouldn't know anything about that. So we can talk about forgiving enemies. We can talk about loving those who hurt you. We can talk about all this other stuff.
[5:19] And so then I got the bright idea, maybe I should pray about what we should look at. So the more I did that, the more this memory verse that we had a couple weeks ago in our D group stuck out to me.
[5:31] And it just kept coming up and coming up and coming up. The last two sermons I got to preach in Muskogee, it was one of the supporting passages. Me and my guys in my D group talked about it time after time in our group meetings.
[5:44] And so I'm excited to bring this to you today. We're going to be in Nehemiah chapter nine this morning. If you want to find your place there. But as I was thinking through this, the question came up was, why do the Lord's people gather on the Lord's day?
[6:03] And we gather together to give him the worship that is due his name. The fellowship, the spurring one another on, that's just bonuses. But our first and foremost things that we'll need together is to give him the praise that he is so deserving of.
[6:19] So what we're going to do today is we're going to spend our time being reminded about who this God is that we get to serve. Who this God is that calls us his children.
[6:31] Who created and saves and now sustains his people. Today the hope is that we are reminded that our awesome God stands alone.
[6:42] There is no other like him. I know you know this, but it's good to stop and pause and to consider who our great God is. Nehemiah chapter nine, verse six is our passage today.
[6:56] If you've got your place, yeah, stand with me. Let's read God's word together. Let's pray.
[7:26] Father, what a statement. And we echo that. And I pray that today as we just pause and consider what it is we read, the statement that we agree with, God, that our view of you would become greater.
[7:44] That we would remember how high and holy you in fact are. And Father, we would just become in more awe of you than we already are. That the fear of the Lord would grow great within us today.
[7:57] Lord, give us understanding. Help us to apply what you want us to apply. Make the book live to us, Lord. And be glorified in us. Have your way today. In Jesus' name we pray.
[8:08] Amen. Amen. Amen. So before we jump into our focus points this morning, let's set up the context and remember where it is that we are at in scripture.
[8:19] These people of Israel, they have sinned against the Lord over and over and over again. And after sending judges and prophets, he finally sends a captor. And they're in exile for 70 years.
[8:30] And here we meet Nehemiah. The cupbearer of King Artaxerxes, Esther's stepson. And he gets word about the state of Israel, the walls of Israel. And he mourns.
[8:42] He mourns over the sin of his people, the sin of his fathers. And he prays. The thing I love about Nehemiah is he's a praying man. He's just a regular dude, but he prays.
[8:53] He's in the presence of the king. And he's talking to the king. And while he's talking to the king, he prays. You've done that before, right? Somebody comes and they're talking to you. And you know, the Lord gave you the words for this guy.
[9:04] Help me to shut my mouth when I need to shut my mouth. Help me to speak when I need to speak. He finally gets to go. He faces adversity. He faces criticism. They face lies and deception and resistance.
[9:15] And all the while, he's praying. They finish their task of completing the wall in just 52 days. And they pause and they celebrate to worship.
[9:26] Ezra gets out the scroll and he reads from early morning until midday. The word reminds them. It brings conviction of sin. The people confess. And then they celebrate because they're reminded that the joy of the Lord is their strength.
[9:41] Then they come back just a few weeks later. And Ezra meets again for six hours. The people then confess their sins and worship for six more hours.
[9:51] What do you say, church? Let's do a 12-hour service together. Thank you. And then they make this statement. Ezra makes this statement. Him and the Levites in verse 5.
[10:02] I'll read there. It says, stand up. Bless the Lord your God from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be your glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.
[10:15] You are the Lord. You alone. You have made heaven and the heaven of heavens with all their hosts. The earth and all that is on. The seas and all that is in them. You preserve all of them. And the host of heaven worships you.
[10:27] These people need a reminder in their life, in their busyness, of who God is. And I think, church, that we do too. They said, this is your command, Lord.
[10:40] This is what you told us to do. Here's what we did. You punished us. We repented. We forgave. And the cycle continues all through chapter 9 as they recount their history.
[10:53] In the midst of all their doing, they said, let's pause and let's remember our God. And it's so cool that the Lord uses Nehemiah, just a regular dude, a cupbearer to the king.
[11:04] But in his sovereignty, God places righteous Nehemiah in this position, who becomes a friend, who becomes a confidant to the king. He grants favor in the eyes of the king, and he leads exiles to their freedom.
[11:20] What chance, right, that Nehemiah got in that position. I like what R.C. Sproul says about chance. It's a paraphrase. It says, what are the chances that God would do things at chance?
[11:32] There's no chance. And then he does this little sproul chuckle. Just like everything that we go through in this life, just like these people of Israel that have went through this, just like Nehemiah being in the perfect position in the kingdom, God has sovereignly ordained all the things that we walk through, the trials, the persecution, the joy, the successes.
[11:52] They have all passed through his hands so we can rejoice that he is in control. Today, let's be reminded that our sovereign king stands alone. And this is who we worship, and this is who we're reminded of today.
[12:07] And that leads us to our first point. Number one, there's only one true God. You are the Lord. Look at that first sentence. You are the Lord. You alone. What a statement that no other religion or belief system can say with the confidence that we can.
[12:27] That he is the Lord. He alone. Only God is high and holy. And I know you know this, but it's good to be reminded of it. In his commentary on this passage, Warren Wearsby says, God's greatness is seen in the fact that he alone is God.
[12:43] There's no other. They needed this reminder in Nehemiah's day, and we need it as well. They just came from captivity, surrounded by pagan idols and pagan worship.
[12:55] And they were reminded just after they arrived, let's stop trusting in these things. This is what got us in trouble in the first place. And let's remember who our God is.
[13:06] Let's look at real quick what God says about idol worship and idols and those who make idols. Isaiah 44, 9. The Lord says, all who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit.
[13:23] Their witnesses neither see nor know that they may be put to shame. So not only is worshiping something other than God wrong, it's dumb. And the people who do. God's are stupid.
[13:40] To paraphrase the rest of that chapter, he says, you plant the tree. You took care of the tree. You cut down the tree. You cut the wood. You built a fire to keep you warm from that tree. Then you used the coals to make food over it.
[13:51] And then you used the leftover wood, and you carved an image. And you set it on your mantle, and you prayed to that. What are you doing? The Lord says, that's ridiculous. But then he reminds them who he is.
[14:03] Isaiah 44, 6-8. Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. I am the first, and I am the last. Besides me, there is no God.
[14:16] Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let him declare what is to come and what will happen. Skip down to verse 8.
[14:27] Is there a God besides me? There is no rock. I know not of any. Now back to our passage in Nehemiah chapter 9. Look at this proclamation from the people of God.
[14:40] You are. This phrase, you are, is a statement of fact. There's no wiggle room for anything else. Not that maybe this guy, maybe this guy.
[14:51] You are. You alone. Some may try to imitate, but there is no comparison. We have twins. And to us, they look differently.
[15:03] But to you, they look the same. And you get confused. And I've never done that. But if I had, it's very easy to do. But they are very quick to correct you when you get them wrong.
[15:18] Like, I might look like her, but I am not, in fact, like her. I am Emory, so why don't you watch your mouth? There's no comparison. There's no wiggle room. I am this one, and she is that one.
[15:29] God says, or they say, you alone. You are the Lord. There is no comparison. You are the Lord. And it's not the title of Adonai, meaning master.
[15:41] This is the name that he introduced to Moses in Exodus 3.14. The I am. You are Yahweh. You are Jehovah. You are the self-sustaining, self-exalting one who needs no one else.
[15:54] This is who you are. But not only are you Yahweh, you are Yahweh alone. 2 Kings 19.15.
[16:05] 1 Kings 15. 1 Kings 15. You are the God. You alone. And all of the kingdoms of the earth you have made.
[16:18] And you have made heaven and earth. Let's look at some other proclamations of scripture to tell who our God is. Deuteronomy 4.39.
[16:28] Know therefore today and lay into your heart that the Lord is found in heaven above and on earth beneath. There is no other. Deuteronomy 32.39. See now that I, even I am he.
[16:40] There is no God beside me. I kill and make alive. I wound and heal. And there is none that can deliver out of my hand. 2 Samuel 7.22. Therefore you are great, O Yahweh our God.
[16:54] For there is none like you. There is no God beside you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. These are just a few passages that tell us of the greatness of God.
[17:09] Isaiah 45. I am the Lord, and there is no other God beside me. He sends light, he sends darkness, he creates well-being and calamity. What a huge God.
[17:22] And it matters that he alone is God, because that means that he alone is worthy of all worship. And we will talk about that later. One of my favorite passages that brings to mind the greatness of God, in which the majesty and holiness of God is Isaiah.
[17:38] Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45.
[17:49] Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45. So, a huge guy. He urges it that Jesus is going to have to engage in harmony. So, we are going to give you strength sizes of us. In non- safeguards of God, there are some to survive, who's going to lead us.
[18:18] And in his fear, he goes in there before the Lord and he begins to pray and he's caught and he sees the vision of the Lord and he's removed. Here that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord setting upon the throne high and lifted up and the train of his robe filled the temple.
[18:39] And above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings. With two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.
[18:53] The whole earth is full of his glory. And the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called when the house was filled. And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips for my eyes have seen the King of the Lord of hosts.
[19:13] What a picture. In the midst of fear, in the midst of wondering, who's going to take care of us now? He is reminded of God.
[19:24] He's reminded of how mighty and how awesome and how huge God is. We see these seraphim, they have six wings, with two they covered their face, with two they covered their feet, showing the priority of worship over work.
[19:37] And with the other two they flew, these angels, these beings created, to be in the presence of God, to worship him night and day, dare not look at the holiness of almighty God.
[19:48] And all day long, the Lord is full of his glory. Stephen Lawson said, this is raised to the superlative.
[20:03] The highest degree, meaning God is holy, God is holier, and God is holiest. There is none who compare to our God, for he stands alone. And if you'll notice, the train of God's robe fills the temple.
[20:16] In Isaiah's day, the longer the robe of the kingdom, the longer the train of your robe, the longer the stretch of your rule.
[20:30] And if you'll notice, in the throne room of heaven, there is no room for any other king, because our God reigns supreme. This is who our God is.
[20:41] It says, you alone, this word means you're separate, we're by yourself. It's a concrete participle, leaving no chance for another. This is solid.
[20:53] There's no way around it. You are Yahweh alone. And this is a good thing. The Westminster Shorter Catechism says, are there more gods than one?
[21:05] No, there is but one only, the living and true God. Jeremiah 10.10 says, the Lord is the true God. He is the living God, an everlasting king.
[21:18] At his wrath, the earthquakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation. This version says, God's anger is his holiness set on fire.
[21:28] And this is what has happened to the people of Judah, right? They offended, they have constantly offended a holy God, almighty God, over and over. And because he's just, he had to punish them.
[21:39] Because he's merciful, when they repented, he forgave and brought. Holy be your name. In my life, on my lips, in everything I do, may your name be kept holy.
[21:54] I'm often reminded of this in my own life. I remember when I was saved at the age of 14, just as I don't know anything, but the next year, when I turned 15, I discovered weightlifting, and I discovered gross.
[22:10] And when you put the two together, and you're good at sports, they start to turn their heads and look at you. And so I became distracted. I know what I'll do. I'll lift weights, I'll play basketball, and I'll get some honeys, and it'll be great.
[22:21] And it was awesome. And I played the greatest summer league basketball game of my life one night. And I made a new friend, everything was feeling great, it was a great day.
[22:32] I balled, it was awesome. It was a great day. And then I went home, I had a little accident, and I had surgery, so I'm like, one little thing.
[22:47] And during the summer, couldn't do any sports at Fallsbury, couldn't swim, couldn't do anything. There's no streaming services at this time. I didn't have a phone. There's only so much daytime TV you can watch.
[22:59] And so I got the only book that I had, and it was the Bible. And during this summer, the Lord reminded me of the sweetness of drawing near to Him.
[23:09] He reminded me of the goodness of Him. And so now, every time I look at my left hand, I remind him, I better treat the Lord as holy. I don't want to mess around.
[23:21] I don't want to lose another finger or anything worse. I need to remind myself who He is. And though it seems elementary, we, like Judah, have to often remember that though there are a lot of good things, though there is a lot of powerful things in this world, there's a lot of pull one way or another.
[23:41] There is only one true God, and He deserves our full devotion. And we could go on and on all day about the greatness and the glory of God. I like the picture of the cartoon of Pilgrim's Progress if you've seen that movie.
[23:55] Some of you read the book. But the movie, we're watching there with our kids, and there's this being at the top of the mountain, and his mountain is made of laws and tablets.
[24:09] He says, keep them and come up to me. And Christian is just beginning his journey and says, it's impossible. I can't do it. It's out of reach. Kassien says that the righteousness of God is out of our reach.
[24:21] We can't get there by works, and that's the beauty of Christ and the cross. And He came down the mountain to redeem His people so that we might know Him. What a beautiful God.
[24:34] What a magnificent God that we serve. Are we remembering who He is? He is. But not only is He the only God, the next thing we'll look at this morning, that there is only one Creator and one Sustainer.
[24:53] Because you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens with all their hosts, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve all of it.
[25:05] Again, this is obvious to us as believers. It's an elementary truth that we teach our kids about the faith. Who made you? God. What else did God make?
[25:15] God made you glory. Again, Weersby in this commentary on this passage. It says, God's greatness is seen in the fact that He created the universe.
[25:30] And when God wanted to remind His people and encourage His people, He would point to creation and remind them that He made it. And He cares about the things that He has made, church.
[25:41] So let's look at God being the Creator. He's the originator, the architect, the designer of all things. Without Him, nothing was made that has been made. When's the last time that you just like went outside and rejoiced in the Lord?
[25:57] You looked at the sunset, you looked at the sunrise, you looked at trees and all these different things in nature and you said, praise the Lord. And they brought your mind to think of a creator.
[26:12] I was in love with what you have done instead of what, instead of you. What a shame, right, to see creation and miss out on the Creator.
[26:23] All of creation gives magnificent evidence to an intentional designer who made all things on purpose for a purpose. Genesis 1, 1 says, in the beginning God created.
[26:37] He started the start. Psalm 33, 6, by the word of the Lord the heavens were made and by the breath of His mouth all of their hosts.
[26:49] Hebrews 11, or 10, excuse me, Hebrews 1, 10, the Lord laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning and the heavens are the work of your hands.
[27:01] Genesis 1 says over and over that God said and it was so. I can't create anything with the word of my mouth. I can't create anything hardly with the word of my hands.
[27:12] And yet, God speaks and mountains are formed. With the breath of His lips, He sovereignly holds all things together. He says, you made, you fashioned, you accomplished the heavens.
[27:26] This is the visible sky and universe but also the abode of God. It says, you made all that's in it, the totality. That's everything. Nothing is here by accident.
[27:38] There is nothing here that exists apart from God. Nothing has slid under the radar of His sovereignty. Colossians 1 reminds us of who Jesus is, who this creator is.
[27:49] It says, for in Him all things were created in heaven and on earth visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through Him and for Him.
[28:02] He is before all things and in Him all things hold together. There's nothing outside the sovereignty of God. Proverbs 16, 33 Even the law is cast into the lap but every decision is from He is over all.
[28:24] And not only does He create all things but even still He sovereignly sustains all things. Behold the Lord our God to Him belong to heaven the heaven of heavens and the earth and all that is in it.
[28:42] So church, the one who created all things holds all things and He preserves all things. Matthew 10 reminds us the Lord cares for these tiny sparrows.
[28:58] How much more will He care for you? Psalm 147 says He determines the number of the air and need food and He provides for them.
[29:11] Luke 12 says that He knows the number of hairs that are on our head. He knows everything about us. So why would we worry that He is not going to sustain His people? That He's not going to preserve them to the end?
[29:26] It was the Lord who sustained these people. They recounted the history. It says that even as they wandered in the desert for 40 years they didn't save them but sustain them through it all.
[29:41] in church it's the same God who sustains us through every hardship through every trial through every persecution or slandering of our reputation. He's the one who sustains us through this life.
[29:54] 2 Chronicles 4 7-10 reminds us of this. It says but we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that the surpassing power of God belongs to Him not to us.
[30:08] We are afflicted in every way but not crushed. Perplexed but not driven to despair. Persecuted but not forsaken. Struck down but not destroyed. Always carrying the body the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our bodies.
[30:25] not only has He made us but those of us who are in Christ are sustained by Him. He preserves us. He's the only reason that we can endure trial.
[30:37] He's the only reason that we can endure hardship or persecution or slander or these sufferings that we maybe go through. Even if it means suffering for the sake of Christ He sustains us.
[30:51] Peter says if you are persecuted for the sake of Christ you rejoice in that we can take joy in the fact that knowing that all these things He walks with us and He sustains us through them all.
[31:15] So whether it's physical or emotional or spiritual or a mixture of all He is sovereign and He is over all and He does not forget His people. So you as believers those who are can walk in the strength and power that He so wonderfully supplies.
[31:34] The days that I feel like living in the flesh because those people deserve it and I want to respond in the flesh I need to check myself and make sure that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart are pleasing in His sight.
[31:48] When I want to skip time in the Word because I'm just too busy I don't have time I abide because it's necessary when I feel like giving in because everyone else in the world it seems like the world does what they want and they get blessing.
[32:03] It's like Lord why am I doing all these things why am I pursuing holiness if it all just ends in heartache let's look at Psalm 73 verse 11 I am continually with you you hold my right hand sorry verse 16 but when I thought how to understand this it seemed a wearisome task until I went to the sanctuary of God and then I discerned their end.
[33:08] So when we're envious of the world who seems to get all these good things what do we do the people of God we pause and we give them the presence of almighty God and we remember how blessed we are and we persevere and we endure to the end because he is worthy.
[33:24] I fix my eyes on my creator. I fix my eyes on my sustainer the one who has saved me who has rescued me from the domain of darkness.
[33:37] I do what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 58 I remain steadfast immovable always abounding in the labor of the Lord knowing that in the Lord my labor is not in vain.
[33:49] I do it for his glory. So if he's the only creator if he's the only sustainer we need to remember that he but if you're not if you haven't come to surrender your life to the Lord yet listen to this this is the gospel Romans 3 tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God that means you and I were born dead in our trespasses and sins and those of you who are still living in sin are following the prince of the power of the air as Ephesians tells us you are a child of saying you are dead in your sins that the wages of your sin is death and that is a physical death that is a spiritual death under the wrath of God and that is eternal death but the free gift of God that he offers is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord and if you would confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him and you will be saved because anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved so you we've heard this morning that he alone is God he alone is the creator he alone is the sustainer but also he alone is the one who can save you trust in the
[35:10] Lord because he's the only one who can save so the plea to you today if you were still there and you have yet to repent of your sins and surrender to Christ his Lord the call for you today is if the spirit is calling you repent and you surrender he is Lord you give your life fully to him but if you are a child of the king praise God how cool is it that he even offers to save mankind right Psalm chapter 8 is a good reminder says oh Lord our Lord how majestic is your name in all the earth and then verse 4 says when I consider the heavens the work of your hands what is man the son of man that you care for him like who am I and this is the truth that Nehemiah had to be reminder Isaiah had to do we fear the Lord the way that we should are we in awe of him the way that we should be if God created us and just left us alone didn't offer salvation he would still be worthy of praise and worship because he is God we worship God because he is God Almighty and that leads us to our last point he is the only one worthy of worship all of creation points to a creator and brings him glory our passage says host means a mass an army of persons one commentator said this is talking about angels those of us who are in
[37:08] Christ have cost praise the Lord again weersby says God's greatness is seen in the fact that the host of heaven worships him so what do we do when we gather here on the Lord's day we worship the Lord we give him the worship that he is so deserving of John MacArthur said that when we talk about worship we're talking about something that we give to God but modern Christianity has kind of seem committed to the idea that it's something that God should be giving to the Lord we go to set under teaching Acts teaches that but we go together to give first we give to the Lord we worship in spirit and in truth with our inmost being there shouldn't be a time when we leave a service together when we say I didn't enjoy worship it's not about you who cares if we sing songs that you don't like who cares if they ran out of the new King
[38:13] James and you can't understand thee when thou speaks that was a joke I've heard people say well I'll just sit outside the door until worship's over and I'll come in for the sermon or I missed worship but I made it for the sermon from the first good morning to the last amen it's all worship even our preparation when we come into the building even our attitude as we sit under the teaching of God's word our application as we go out and obey is worship to the Lord doing music I like when people say I didn't enjoy worship today and I'll just smile and say that's all right we weren't worshiping you did the Lord enjoy worship today did he receive from his people as he should Psalm 103 verse 1 says bless the Lord praise the Lord oh my soul for all that's within me bless his holy name all my inmost being that means everything that I have down to the deepest part of my inner man I give
[39:22] I have the best week of my life but because he is God and we worship first chronicles 1629 says ascribe to the Lord the glory do his name bring an offering come before him worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness I didn't write these down on my notes but you can read them later Psalm 95 verse 6 Psalm 96 verse 9 Psalm 99 5 and the whole chapter of Psalm 100 these are just a few places in scripture that tell us about how to worship the Lord the glory that is due his name how we are to give to him and as the people of God redeemed by the blood of the lamb why wouldn't we worship him
[40:23] Colossians 1 13 says we are redeemed we we've been transformed I didn't read it down it's redemption and the forgiveness of sins in first Peter 2 9 and 10 says we are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation a people for his own possession that we may proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light what a picture of what Christ has done for us why wouldn't we worship him is brought us out of darkness into life and we don't deserve that the word worship here means to bow down or prostrate oneself to fall flat or to pay homage to God so then the question for us becomes when I'm not in a gathering like this on a day like this what is my work one commentator said sincere worship honors God in spite of circumstances feelings or desires so when I'm a little stressed out at work when I have my to-do list is long when people have been less than kind still worship I should because he is still God what does my worship look like in my interactions with people whether that we are like-minded or not what is my worship to the Lord look like in my marriage am I sacrificially loving my wife in the way that I should what about my job right me specifically I get paid to read the Bible what a gig am I honoring the Lord in that but us as believers in whatever our job should be we as Christians should be the best and the hardest workers the most joyful workers because we have a king that we are to please and to worship what does my worship look like in my family with my children the way that I raise them the way that I teach them what about in my obedience we often say oh Lord do what you want and we'll glorify you and we want to bring you glory did you know that God's glory does not always mean our comfort you know that right we might have to walk through difficulties with our family we might have to go through sicknesses or job loss we might have to move our family for the second time in three years we might have to do all these different things that's the Lord doesn't mean our comfort but it's for our good it's for his glory and that's why we live we are created to know him and enjoy him forever and we're like a deer panting for water in Psalm 42 do you long to be filled with the Lord and we're going to be filled with the Lord and we're going to be near God I have made the Lord my refuge that I may tell of all your works is it good for you to be near the Lord when's the last time you paused when's the last time you earnestly desired him like Psalm 63 tells us we're like a deer panting for water in Psalm 42 do you long to be filled with the Lord and with the living water to know him to draw near to him do I do I long to abide in that secret place do I have I slow down and remembered the Lord and worshiped him not maybe because I had time or it was convenient or even if I felt like it but simply because he is worthy and I need to be near him sometimes oftentimes we need a moment like the people in Nehemiah to pause from our business to pause from our rush devotion recount the deeds of the Lord and just remember his faithfulness and remember his goodness and we worship I like we don't have to do it but I like the old
[44:40] the old testament practice as they set up so we had our son's birthday party and he wanted to do a man at the lake and so we took a bunch of boys and I just swam in the lake on some inflatable things and as we were going one of these little boys he likes to be outdoors like my son he likes to catch snakes and frogs and turtles and all these things and he said we were hiking for two hours and we didn't see a snake and then we thought let's pray and so he said Lord help us find a snake he said Lincoln 30 seconds later I found a snake I don't know I gotta take this kid with me wherever I go but he said we got it it was cool and we thought and we said hey let's pass rocks and we'll remember and so that every time we walk by here we can say this is where God answered my prayers and we can worship him like it's simple and it might be silly but it's huge are we remembering to worship the Lord what things in our lives that we we set up to remind ourselves of this eternal king who is worthy of our praise
[46:00] I've been so preoccupied and bitter about just about everything in my life lately that I have forgotten to worship the Lord so I was telling my wife on the way here like she's are you excited yeah I'm excited but even in my study this it was for me so I hope thanks for being here today as I talked out loud to myself the Lord reminded me to worship not because I'm enjoying everything that's going on in my life it's not even that hard you've got to say good morning and good night to your kids you've got to lead them in a study of his word you need to hear them from the other room seeing songs of praise as they play with their dolls like Job church sometimes we worship from the dust of sorrow this version says we worship daily this is the day the Lord is made let us rejoice and be glad in it because from the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised and like Paul we worship no matter what
[47:23] Libyan 4.4 says rejoice in the Lord always I will say it again rejoice so not because of circumstance but because of who God is you are the Lord you alone you are Yahweh you alone you have made heaven the heaven of heavens with all their hosts the earth and all that is on it the seas and all that is in them and you preserve all of them and the host of heaven worships you be reminded today that the Lord stands alone there is no God like our God he is Yahweh he is the almighty one the great I am he is the creator the sustainer and the savior to his children and he is worthy of all glory and all honor and all worship are you worshiping him appropriately the application for you today church is to remember who your God is and respond accordingly
[48:33] Father we praise you for who you are for you are the Lord alone and all of you are the Lord