God Is The Judge | Psalm 50

[0:00] Thank you.

[0:30] Thank you.

[1:00] Thank you.

[1:30] Thank you.

[2:00] Thank you. All right. Good evening. Welcome to Vision Baptist Church. Go ahead and stand with me.

[2:10] Let's sing together. Come ye sinners, poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore.

[2:21] Jesus ready stands to save you. Love and bow. I will arise and go to Jesus.

[2:35] He will embrace me in His arms. In the arms of my dear Savior. Oh, there are ten thousand charms.

[2:49] Come ye thirsty, come and welcome. God's free bounty glorify. True belief and true repentance.

[3:04] Every grace that brings you night. I will arise and go to Jesus.

[3:14] He will embrace me in His arms. In the arms of my dear Savior. Oh, there are ten thousand charms.

[3:28] Come ye weary, heavy laden, lost and ruined by the fog. If you tarry till you're better.

[3:43] If you tarry till you're better. You will never come at all. I will arise and go to Jesus. He will embrace me in His arms.

[3:57] In the arms of my dear Savior. Oh, there are ten thousand charms.

[4:09] I think I just went back to my childhood. I like that song. Amen. All right. You can, hey, let's look at a little better crowd. I've been wondering if we were ever going to come back to church.

[4:21] So I'm glad you're here tonight. Glad to see you. You know, church is an assembly. That's what it means. It means we get together. And then we do it even more so as the day approaches.

[4:33] So I am glad you are here. And so let's have a word of prayer. And after this prayer, I'm going to ask Brother Luis, you can preach first.

[4:43] I know you have responsibilities in the Spanish church. So as soon as I get through praying, Brother Luis Tamayo will preach to us. Father in heaven, I love you and our people love you.

[4:54] This church loves you. You are the reason we're here tonight. We worship you and we honor you and we magnify you. Thank you for all that you're doing. Thank you for your blessings.

[5:06] Thank you for working in our lives. I pray, dear God, you'd help us to realize tonight you are God almighty. You are creator. You are ruler. You are judge.

[5:16] And you own everything, including us. And I pray, God, tonight that we would honor you like you call on the Jewish nation to do. And I will give you great honor and praise for all you do in Jesus' name.

[5:28] Amen. Thank you. You can have a seat. After Brother Luis, you may just make your way up here. Good evening, everybody.

[5:41] If you can open your Bibles to the book of Genesis, chapter number 22. We're going to be talking a little bit about Abraham and his faith for God.

[5:53] It says in verse number 2 and 3. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee to the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon the mountains, which I will tell thee of.

[6:14] And Abraham rose up early in the morning and saddled his ass and took two of his young men with him and Isaac, his son, and claved the wood for the burnt offering and rose up and went on to the place of which God had told him.

[6:33] In this verses, we see that Abraham followed what God asked of him. He rose up early in the morning to go and kill his son, which is what God had asked of Abraham.

[6:51] But what would you do in his situation if he tells you, Get up early in the morning and go and kill your son for me?

[7:04] Would you do it? Maybe. Maybe I, if you don't have any kids, maybe your brother, your best friend.

[7:14] I don't know if I, if I had the, if I had the, that big of faith as Abraham did. Maybe I would be like, God, are you sure?

[7:29] Are you sure you want me to do this? I mean, are you not just playing a joke on me? How about if I, if I just take a lamp just in case?

[7:39] But we see in verse number three that Abraham didn't take a lamp just in case. He just took, took his son, a couple of people, a donkey, and the wood.

[7:53] And this takes us to our second point, is the fear. If you go to verse number 12 and 13, it says, And he said, lay not thine hand upon the lad.

[8:07] And this is the angel of God speaking. Neither, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son for me.

[8:26] And Abraham lifted, lifted up his eyes and looked. And behold, behind him a ram caught in a, in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered him for a burnt offering in this, in the steed of his son.

[8:46] We know that fear is not just being scared. It's not, it's not being scared. It's respecting. It's obedience. It's faith. God knows everything.

[8:57] So we know that, we know that, that Abraham was, was sure that even if he, if he killed his son, God had the power to bring him back to life.

[9:11] This is the kind of fear that, that Abraham had for, for God. But there's, there's, there's something that we need in order to follow God and to fear God.

[9:24] And this is faith. Amen. In Genesis 22, 7 and 8, it says, and Isaac spoke unto Abraham, his father, and said, my father.

[9:37] And he said, here am I, my son. And he said, behold the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for the burnt offering? And Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.

[9:53] So they went both of them together. Abraham that had that faith. He knew that God would provide. We know that he didn't, he didn't know what was going to happen.

[10:07] But he knew that God could do anything. God had made a problem, a promise to him. And he knew that God was going to fulfill that promise.

[10:20] Who are you, who are we putting our faith on? Are we, I mean, I got a couple people here that I consider my friends. If I, if I, if I ask Turner here, hey, Turner, let's go out and eat and I'll pay.

[10:36] Would you trust me that, that I'm going to pay for you? Yeah, I would. Of course you would. Would you, would you have that faith that, that I have, that I have probably the money to, to pay for your food and my food.

[10:49] Because, because we, we work, I work. And you know, I'm capable, capable of this. Well, we know that God has what, what he needs.

[11:02] To keep his promises. We got to put our faith in God, follow him, fear him. God has left his word here for us so we can get to know him.

[11:15] And we can get to know how to follow him. God came to earth as a man to suffer as a man. To serve because he is mighty and forgiving.

[11:27] What are you going to do, what are you going to do for the one who came here and gave his life for you?

[11:39] Thank you. Tracy Pauver, missionary to the country of Chile. For the first time ever, the Chile Training Center and the Peru Bible College are coming together for an online youth conference from July 29th to 31st.

[11:58] And so we're just really expecting the Lord to do great things through that. And to be glorified as well. And so just pray that everything goes well with that. Brandon and Elise Wung, Missions Mobilizers, recruiting and launching missionaries around the world.

[12:10] Want to say thank you so much, Vision Baptist Church, for being an exemplary church. Thank you for opening your home for young people to come and stay at your homes next week. For Vision Impact Weekend, over 25 people have registered and are planning to come.

[12:22] And please pray. We have a couple people in here. Timothy and Paige are visiting, praying about God's will for them regarding missions, as well as others in this church, praying how you can get involved in world evangelism. Some of you in here, I won't mention you by name, are praying whether God would have you be missionaries.

[12:35] So please pray that the Lord will continue to use our church and send missionaries around the world. Thank you, church. Amen. Josh and Elizabeth Ewing, reaching in to the gospel of Jesus Christ. God has been so good to us as we've been traveling this past week.

[12:48] We had something new happen. It has happened in a long time at least. We actually had three meetings. Praise the Lord. So it's three different churches in a whole week, which has been so rare. But we praise the Lord for God, how he has continued to fill up our calendar.

[13:00] And I'm also so thankful for my children, my wife, as they travel with us. Continue to pray for us. Listen, as we want to serve God, we know the devil is going to attack, right? We learn about spiritual warfare in a class here today.

[13:11] It's such a blessing and a challenge that we would continue to fight against the devil as we desire to serve the Lord with our lives. Andrew and Amber Garcia to Honduras. This past Sunday, we were in a really good church.

[13:24] The pastor was preaching through the Psalms. We were here. But next Sunday, we should be in Tennessee. God's been blessing. I've been calling a lot of churches, and God's been blessing us with meetings. David and Katie Gardner, missionaries to Peru.

[13:38] Be praying for the country of Peru, the city of Arequipa specifically. In the world, cases, number of cases, Peru is like fifth or sixth in the world, over 350 cases of COVID.

[13:52] And the biggest issue is not necessarily the cases, but the lack of medical attention. And so, you know, in the city of Arequipa, the whole medical system has been collapsed. People that are in very bad shape aren't able to get into a hospital.

[14:06] Osvaldo, our Bible College administrator, he spent four days trying to find a hospital for his mother to get medical assistance, and they weren't able to get it. He had to go out and buy an oxygen tank, which they had marked up by 1,000%, so $1,500 for an oxygen tank.

[14:24] And now we've got other pastors that are also infected. Luis Navarro is the pastor of Hunter Baptist Church, where the whole ministry started. And he has been struggling health-wise.

[14:35] So please be praying for Arequipa and specifically for Pastor Luis Navarro. Thank you. Psalm 50, verse 12 says something, a verse that I love. It says, Now, I love this.

[14:51] This is God talking to Israel, and they think that he needs them. And the reality is that we need God more than anything. And I have a simple prayer request to ask you. We have literally two months before we really want to be on the field.

[15:05] We have our tickets bought for that. And we need for you to pray for us that God would give us the rest of the support that we need. We're getting closer and closer, and he's taken great care of us during this time. And as well, I ask that you pray that everything would go forward with the tickets and the visas and everything, that we'd be able to get on the field September 23rd.

[15:21] So if you'll pray that, we know God can provide, and we know you all pray for us. Thank you. Adam and Ashley Wallace, church-playing missionaries to the country of Taiwan. I've got my brother and sister all over here, Tyler and Brianna Chandler.

[15:32] Being a good Christian, I'm going to take the honor of saying that they're here because of me, and I've been working on them very hard, but the realistic part of it is that he's actually a product of my uncle, been working on them for a long time, inviting him to go with him to meetings up in Ohio, and eventually the Lord started burdening Tyler's heart to get into the ministry in some way, in some form.

[15:52] And Tyler, being a good Christian, he said no. But then eventually the Lord beat him down a little bit longer until eventually he did say yes, he'd love to. So he's here right now, make him feel comfortable, make him feel welcome, and it's good to have you here, Tyler.

[16:04] Amen. August 15, 1945, Japan has just surrendered, World War II is officially over, and Indonesia has endured a bloody occupation where 3 million of them died of starvation, beatings, and imprisonments, working to death in labor camps.

[16:22] August 17, Indonesia declares independence from the Dutch colonies, and over the next five years wages a bloody war where over 30,000 of them would perish, fighting for something called freedom.

[16:35] When the war was over, Indonesia was finally free. But what they don't realize is they're still in bondage. In bondage to sin.

[16:45] In bondage to the devil. In bondage to this world. And the only thing that can set them free is the blood of Jesus Christ. Pray for me as I go to Indonesia to bring them the gospel. Amen. Amen. John Amber Canavan, church planter to New York City.

[16:58] I was reading an article today about all these people that are leaving New York, that left New York City during the virus, and they're not coming back. They said, you know, we were trapped in a small apartment for months, and so they said we just, we found a better life.

[17:10] But you know what? There's people, there's over eight and a half million people. Now, in Jonah 4, 11, it says, And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left, and also much cattle?

[17:23] You know, just as God spared Nineveh, I think he's sparing New York City. But he's giving them an opportunity to accept him. So I pray that you would, that money would do that. Amen. We serve a great God who's mighty to save.

[17:35] Amen. I'm glad that even though COVID's going on and our world's crazy, God is still on the throne. He's still saving souls and changing lives. I just want to ask you to pray for a man named Ty Jew, who I met yesterday morning walking around our apartment complex.

[17:49] Pray that God will save him. We're excited about some new church that took us on. Excited about being involved in what God's doing. So thank you so much, church. That was Nate and Emily Wilkerson, by the way, so you guys didn't know that.

[17:59] This is Robert and Kelly Canfield going to Africa. We had two meetings. I had two meetings on Sunday. I'll tell you a quick story. There's a pastor there. He used to go by the name of Chuck Sims. Chuck Sims was signed by some record deal or something like that when he was 15 years old.

[18:14] He went on and he made, I don't know how they do this, but he produced a song called Little Pigeon. Anyways, the Lord saved him out of the rock and roll. That was back in the 50s if I like showing the age there.

[18:26] But he saved him out of the rock and roll, and now he's a pastor. He started a church 47 years ago, and he's been pastor for the last 47 years. I thought that was an incredible story. I can't wait to hear more stories like that all around Africa. Be praying for us.

[18:38] Ty and Rebecca Pepperdine, Missionaries to China. Be praying for a young man named Robert. I met him. I was running around doing some stuff for the golf tournament. By the way, I want to praise God for the golf tournament. It turned out very well. I thank you for all those that worked.

[18:49] Cannon did an excellent job leading it up, and it just went really well. But as I was running around doing some different things, my car was overheating, all kinds of problems. I had to run to the auto store, and I had to go to three different ones. But one of them I was able to go to, and there was this guy that I'd asked God earlier in the day that I could have some people to share the gospel with because of all the things that are going on.

[19:07] It's a little bit more challenging. And this guy was kind of pacing behind me, and so I turned around and kind of looked at him. I greeted him, and he just started telling me about his life. And so I was able to share the gospel with him. Fortunately, he didn't get saved, but he did say that he wanted to come to church.

[19:19] So I'm praying that Robert would come to church and that him and his family, he says his wife and children want to be in church. And so be praying for Robert. And also be praying for Austin Till because he did this wonderful thing.

[19:30] He's starting to teach us Chinese, some survival Chinese is what it's called. He started to do that today, and so be praying for him. Jason and Ashley King, missionaries to Argentina.

[19:46] Forgot there for a second. But no, please be praying for Argentina. The country looks like it's going to be opening up. They're already starting to relieve some of their quarantine.

[19:58] Unfortunately, I don't think they're going to open up before August the 15th, which that is the last day my wife can fly because she's expecting another baby boy. So as of now, the due date is November the 10th.

[20:16] And with her pregnancy history and health history, she's not going to be able to fly after the 15th of August? 10th of August? I don't know.

[20:27] It's in August. I never know if I'm coming or going or what have you. But if you would, please pray for that. Please continue to pray for the ministry in Argentina. It continues on through virtual services.

[20:40] Pray for Patrick and Leslie as they have been under quarantine for 140-something days now, I believe. And their girls, I only think a few of them have got to leave the house.

[20:54] We live like a few blocks away, and they just drive to our house. That's their only relief of getting out of the house, so please pray for them. Also, one more thing.

[21:05] On July the 4th, on the 4th of July, my wife and I witnessed a horrific motorcycle accident. And this morning, I got a call from the Gwinnett County Police Department saying that he had died, and they were going to charge the young girl with—she died yesterday.

[21:25] They were charging the young girl with vehicular homicide. So please be praying for that family that just lost a father and a family that's in—I cannot imagine— 16-, 17-year-old girl that has to live knowing that she made a mistake and killed a man for the rest of her life.

[21:41] So if you would please be in prayer. His name was Trey. Her name, the woman that was on the back of the motorcycle, was Becca. Please be in prayer for the family of Trey and Becca and also for that young girl that hit that man.

[21:55] I've been in Crystal Johnson going to New York City. I've been reading a book on the history of New York City, and one of the quotes says, Despite the formidable number of churches established in New York City, mammon ruled not God.

[22:11] You know, I think of New York City, and you think of a very wealthy city. It has more billionaires than any other city in the world. And hearing that quote reminded me of the sermon pastor preached on Sunday from Psalm 49, where he said, They that trust in their wealth and boast themselves in multitude of their riches, none of them can by any means redeem his brother.

[22:30] You know, wealth cannot save New York City. Wealth cannot give true peace to New York City. Only Jesus Christ can. So pray for us as we're looking to raise our support as we start traveling this next month.

[22:42] Travis and Terry Snow, Missionaries to the United Kingdom. It's good to be back at Vision. We were on the road a little bit there. We have 40 days till we leave to go back to the UK, so we're excited about that. Please pray that God will give us wisdom.

[22:54] We'll probably have to do a two-week quarantine period. It'd be really nice if we could get a house rented before we get there to you. So pray about that. Just pray for wisdom for the churches.

[23:05] The churches are allowed to meet, and some are. But like almost everything in the UK, it's all just super complicated. So just pray for wisdom about all that. And then thank you for everybody that's prayed for the land.

[23:18] We are eight days away from our goal. We have less than $70,000 to raise to buy the land. So thank you for that. And just pray for a guy named Josh that we met. He wants to be a missionary to Ireland.

[23:29] So as a former missionary to Ireland, that's pretty exciting to me. Thank you. Canada Nancy Bloom, Church Planting Missionaries to China. And just want to praise the Lord tonight. We've had some good news yesterday.

[23:41] First good news, two things. First good news was the university in Jinan, China, let me know that I was officially accepted as a student, which is good. Doesn't mean we can go into China right now, but it means that as soon as the borders open, we're already approved to go in.

[23:53] So that's a huge blessing. And then number two, we had applied about 10 days ago, about a week ago, for a short-term visa to Taiwan. And it was supposed to take three weeks, but I got it in the mail yesterday. And so we bought tickets.

[24:05] We're leaving August 6th, August 5th, Lord willing. And we will be serving there and waiting for the borders to open in China. So be praying for all that to go smoothly, and let's praise the Lord. Robert and Emma Becker, Church Planting Missionaries to Argentina.

[24:18] It's been two months since I've given an update, just because of everything that's been going on. But the God's been real good in these last two months. We spent about five weeks out in Texas and a bunch of churches out there.

[24:30] And in the last two months, we praise the Lord that we've seen 10 churches take us on. Amen. Austin and Nanny Grace Till, Church Planners to China. Please, church family, be praying for China, specifically for, there's a lot of tensions going on between China and the United States, and actually China and quite a few other countries as well currently for a various number of reasons.

[24:50] Pray that as all of this unfolds that the end result would be that very soon China would still be open, specifically to Americans coming into the country there as missionaries. So please be praying for that.

[25:01] Thank you all. Kyle and Hannah go into Chile. This mass deal is great when you've got a face like mine. It just works out fantastic. And you can laugh. It's okay. I get it. My eyes are also kind of crooked one side than the other.

[25:14] That's why I wear big glasses, break up my forehead. This is working great. We had some wonderful meetings lately. We were just up in Virginia at a church. They took us on in the service, so we're excited about that. Something else I want to brag on my wife about.

[25:25] My glasses are fogging up. She finished reading, she just finished reading the entire Bible, Genesis to Revelation, in under 100 days. And I thought that was pretty exciting. I haven't read it that fast. So I was kind of letting my pride heal up before I let that one notice, because she smoked me.

[25:37] I've never read it half that fast. Yes, I have. So we've got some good meetings. We are leaving Sunday for North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky, and then we'll be back. So please be praying for those meetings.

[25:50] Amen. Can I stay with me again? Can I stay with me again? We'll continue to sing together. Here is love fast as the ocean, loving kindness as the flood.

[26:06] When the prince of life, our ransom, shed for us his precious blood. Who his love will not remember.

[26:19] Who can cease to sing his praise. He can never be forgotten throughout heaven's eternal days.

[26:33] On the mount of crucifixion. Fountains open deep and wide. Through the floodgates of God's mercy flowed a vast and gracious high.

[26:51] Grace and love, like mighty rivers poured incessant from above. And heaven's peace and perfect justice is the guilty world in love.

[27:10] Of thy fullness you are pouring. Thy grace upon me anew. Without measure, full and boundless, drawing out my heart to you.

[27:28] You alone will be my glory. Nothing in this world I see. You have cleansed and sanctified me.

[27:41] You alone have set me free. Just as I am without one plea.

[28:06] But that thy blood was shed for me. And that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God.

[28:30] I come, I come. Just as I am and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blood.

[28:56] To thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God.

[29:10] I come, I come. I come broken to be mended.

[29:22] I come wounded to be healed. I come desperate to be rescued. I come empty to be filled.

[29:36] I come guilty to be pardoned by the blood of Christ the Lamb. And I'm welcomed with open arms.

[29:50] Praise God. Just as I am. Just as I am.

[30:03] I would be lost. But mercy and grace my freedom bought.

[30:16] And bow to glory in your cross, O Lamb of God.

[30:30] I come. I come. I come broken to be mended.

[30:43] I come wounded to be healed. I come wounded to be healed. I come nestred to be rescued. I come empty to be filled.

[30:56] I come guilty to be pardoned by the blood of Christ the Lamb. I come.

[31:07] And I'm welcomed with open arms. Praise God. Just as I am.

[31:19] Amen. Great singing. You can have a seat. I'm going to pray for the offering. The men are going to prepare to receive it. Let's pray. God, we love you. We thank you so much for your goodness to us. Lord, we thank you for all that you've done. Lord, I was so encouraged by the men's meeting Sunday after church and seeing the financials and just seeing how things are taken care of in such a good way by the leadership of our church and how people just give and give even when it's a difficult time to give.

[31:44] But Lord, most of all, we know that you take care of us. We know that you have your hand on this ministry and you have big things that you have planned for this church and the people of this church. And we are just so grateful for what you're doing in this place.

[31:57] We pray that you'll help us to do our part to continue seeing you move in this town and around the world. We ask this in your name. Amen. We pray that you're making sure staying rodzajer of life to watch a good move, Lord.

[32:12] Through the nations rage, kingdoms rise and fall. There is still one King reigning over all.

[32:28] So I will not fear, for this truth remains. That my God is the ancient of days.

[32:44] None above Him, none before Him, all the time in His hands. For His throne it shall remain and ever stand.

[33:00] All the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name. For my God is the ancient of days.

[33:16] Though the dread of night overwhelms my soul, He is here with me.

[33:28] I am not alone, though His love is sure. And He knows my name, for my God is the ancient of days.

[33:47] None above Him, none before Him, all the time in His hands. For His throne it shall remain and ever stand.

[34:02] All the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name. For my God is the ancient of days.

[34:17] Though I may not see what the future brings.

[34:38] I will watch and wait for my Savior King. Then my joy complete, standing face to face.

[34:53] In the presence of the ancient of days. God is the ancient of days.

[35:30] For my God is the ancient of days. Amen.

[35:41] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. I love that.

[35:52] Let me get them to show you a picture of a new baby born this morning sometime. Y'all got that?

[36:03] Lee and Lily have their baby. Lee and Lily have their baby. And we were talking last night, texting back and forth.

[36:14] And he said, I said, how's everything? She said, well, she's scared. I said, I'll tell her to dope her and don't worry about it. Uh, cause I've never been through it. It's okay for me to say that.

[36:25] It's okay for me to say that. My wife said, they still let you hurt a long time. I said, all right, take your Bibles and go to Psalm 50. Sam Quinn is an interloper. And read my, one of my verses tonight, but I'm still going to show you the word.

[36:39] I want you to mark in your Bible. That was a good song. What a God. Amen. As a praise song. I hope you praise with him. I can't say, man.

[36:50] So I'm just doing a little clapping. Uh, I could say it, but I don't even know if the Lord would hear it. Look at verse 10. I want you to circle the word mine. You know what he says?

[37:03] It's mine. Every beast of the forest is mine. And the cattle upon a thousand hills. Verse 12. Verse that Sam read.

[37:15] If I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you. Look at it. The world is mine. I was like, well, to recognize that. You agree with that? Say amen. Let's skip over to verse 22.

[37:28] Uh, this isn't about us. This is an invitation to Jewish people. It'll take place, but it still works for us. Now consider this. He that forget God.

[37:44] And I'm not going to preach about that really to you. I'll mention it in a minute. Man, we don't want to forget him though. Amen. It's pretty easy in the middle of life for God not to come up.

[37:55] Unless you are in the habit of reading your Bible on the morning before you leave. Unless you're in the habit of having a little bit of prayer time. Amen. It's pretty hard to remember him.

[38:07] Because life gets busy. And when he gets busy, we tend to forget him. We don't want to do that. Amen. We want to get up and get in the book.

[38:18] We want to think about him. And if you notice the verse, it's a very harsh verse. We'll read it at the last part of the message. Lest I tear you in pieces.

[38:30] And there'll be none to deliver. Now he's talking to the wicked Jews that are living in Jerusalem at the time of the tribulation. And they have sided with the Antichrist.

[38:41] They have forgotten their God. He is their God. And they've forgotten that. And we're not going to get torn in pieces by the grace of God. Amen. But at the same time, can I just say this?

[38:55] You can get torn in pieces. Because the Lord, when you walk out of obedience to him, and you step into your own realm, and you start doing what you want to do, the world will tear you to pieces.

[39:10] Satan will tear you to pieces. If you live in obedience, God will protect you. But the second we're not doing what we ought to do, we can put ourselves in a very difficult position.

[39:21] People say stuff like, I don't know why the Lord let that happen. I'm like, well if you hadn't been at the bar. And gotten drunk, he probably wouldn't have let that happen. If you hadn't been flirting with that other man's wife, he probably wouldn't have let that happen.

[39:36] If you hadn't have been stealing that money, he probably wouldn't have let that happen. If you hadn't made money, or your God, he probably wouldn't have let that happen. Amen. Let's don't forget God.

[39:47] God. If you stay focused, you get up in the morning, get in the Bible, get yourself focused.

[39:59] Gentlemen, you probably know, but 4.30 or 5 o'clock, I get a devotional every morning. Busy, working hard. I'm sleeping when he does that. I get up at 4.30 sometimes. I need to go to the bathroom. I go right back to bed and say, man, we were in a missions orientation years ago, and this preacher, who's 200 years old now, he said, if you're not up at 4 o'clock in the morning praying, God ain't going to bless you. He said, how many of y'all get up at 4 o'clock?

[40:35] And he said, what do you mean? I said, well, occasionally I have to go to the bathroom. He wasn't happy with me. Before we go to Psalm 50, this is a prophetic Psalm.

[40:47] God's showing us what's going to happen in the future. You'll be able to tell that as we go through this. It probably takes place between the battle of Armageddon and just before the judgment of the nations. There's a whole ton of things pre-planned, predestined, and set up by God.

[41:07] That are going to happen. You don't know when it's going to happen. I don't know when it's going to happen, but Jesus is coming back. And only the father knows when, then there's going to be a great tribulation period. And then the Jews are going to be in a very unique and special relationship with the Lord. This comes at kind of the end of the tribulation period, but it's still a good lesson because he's going to address two people tonight of the Jewish people. He addresses one of formal, dead, empty worshipers. The people that go to church, it's not church because it's Jewish, but the people that go to church, but they don't mean it. The people that hear songs like we just heard and don't focus on him. They may focus on the singer, but then I focus on the Lord.

[42:03] Sweet for me, but I watched one of the people and when he was talking about being freed, I noticed one of the men up here closed his eyes and I thought, I bet he's telling the Lord that's from his worship. Let's make it real. Amen. There's a lot of judgments that take place in the Bible before I get to Psalm 50. Do you know there's coming a time when there'll be a judgment seat of Christ, which will be a reward seat when he will reward us for what we've done. There's coming a great white throne when he will judge the lost that have not been written, that their names have not been written in the Lamb's book of life. And also as mentioned here, it's a judgment of the nations. Go with me to Psalm 50. Go with me to Psalm 50. Now I think this is important for us to catch a hold up. Since I was sick, one of my favorite Bible verses has been, in the beginning, God created the earth. That verse became so real to me laying in that bed alone. And when I wasn't mad at my wife for not coming to rescue me, I thought about that verse. That's a joke. You know, in my craziness, I thought she was working at the hospital and I could hear her in the hallways talking to everybody. She worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and I could hear her out there and I kept crying for her to come in and she wouldn't. So she ought to thank the Lord.

[43:29] I got to thinking about Genesis 1.1. It's the mighty God. Even the Lord, you should underline mighty God and Lord, has spoken and called the earth from where the sun comes up to where the sun goes down. It is God himself who calls God's grace for this judgment. If you're the creator and the owner, you can judge. He is the judge of the world. He's our judge. And you can try to act like that's not true, but it's all through the scriptures. He is the judge. He shows up in perfection. Verse two, out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, the perfection of beauty has, God has shined. Our God shall come and he will not keep silent.

[44:25] A fire shall devour before him and it shall be a very storm around and temptuous round about him. And he makes it clear in verse four, he is going to judge his people. That's talking about Israel.

[44:40] They've been his people since the old Testament. Verse five, he calls for them to gather the saints together. He says, I'm telling you which ones, the ones I got a covenant with that's Jewish people.

[44:52] And they got a covenant with him by sacrifice. And then God says in verse six, God is judge himself.

[45:02] There's several lessons that are involved in chapter 50. Let me show you a couple of things that apply to us, just like they apply to the Jews. Luke 12, 48 verses behind me.

[45:20] Did you know that God judges you according to how much you've received? Did you know that puts us in a very tenuous position? There might be a Christian in Africa or China who has literally one hundredth of your knowledge of God.

[45:41] God doesn't expect as much out of that person as he does out of you. You get the whole Bible preached to you. A lady in the church, you heard Kyle talk about his wife, read the Bible in 90 days. They might not even have a Bible. And you have a Bible.

[45:59] And the verse says, he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes. He didn't know he's beaten with few stripes. But whoever much is given of him shall be much required. Men have committed much of him. They will ask the more. You say, you might say to me, well, why doesn't China send missionaries? They don't know what you know. They hadn't had enough of that yet. Why doesn't Africa send missionaries? They don't know what you know. And you and I know, we know tons more. We've been through the Bible. We've go through it in Sunday school here when we used to have it. Huh? By the way, I'm going to start having my class without just meet with them and tell them to socially distance and wear their mask. I'm going to start meeting with them. But we know Sunday school, you've gone through books. You've gone through discipleship and studied the basics of Christianity. You've been a Sunday school teacher. You sing songs that have truth in them.

[47:07] We are responsible. You and I need to take our responsibility seriously. In 1 Peter 4, 17, there's another truth. Guess who God starts judging first? New Testament verse.

[47:24] Judgment must begin at the house of God. God's not going to go out there and beat them lost people in the head first. He's going to be like, I gave you a lot of stuff. Don't be messing around with it.

[47:36] And so God's going to be judging. Let me give you one more truth about judgment and I'll move on. You know who the judge is? Jesus. Look if you would at John 5, 22. Now you may say, but it said God is.

[47:53] That's right. Jesus is God. And so he said, God is the judge. He didn't say God, the father, God, the son, or God, the Holy ghost. Till you get to John 5, 22. The father judges, no man.

[48:07] He had committed all judgment unto the son. Isn't that going to be something? The one who loved me is going to look at me and say, well done, or just come on in. He's going to reward me or not.

[48:25] I want to be rewarded. You say, why was this judgment committed to the son? Verse 23, that all men should honor the son. If you don't honor the son, you don't honor the father which sent him. We honor the son. Amen. I'm going to go to the second thing I want to show you, but let's get this straight. He created the world. He created the world. And don't let fake science tell you something else. I'm just be honest with you. You've, it alarms me how much you buy in to the junk you hear out of godless people. He did it in six days. He did it just a few thousand years ago. He didn't need evolution. You say, well, how do you know science isn't right?

[49:17] And God is because he's God. You weren't there. Neither was the scientist, but God was there. And he didn't say it one time. He says it all through the Bible, all through the Bible. He made the world. So this world belongs to him. He is very clear throughout the scripture. So clear. I won't take the time to show you. He said the silver is mine. He said the gold is mine. He said the souls are mine. He said the world is mine. I mean, he can say that if he made you, he can say anything he wants to say. Amen. So he's the creator. He's the owner and he is the judge. We're not in this to do a flippant thing. This isn't a game. This isn't you do what you want and I do what I want. And every man does what's right in his own mind. We look up and say, no, there's somebody bigger than us. The ancient of days that you sung about. Now go with me if you went to Psalm 50 and verse seven.

[50:19] God starts by speaking to these saved Jews. Now there's a lot of crazy stuff going to happen in the tribulation period. The nation of Israel is going to be completely reborn. They're going to build the temple back. They're even going to establish sacrificial worship again.

[50:36] And these Jews are going to be doing that. Christians won't obviously be participating, but God's people are going to be over there and they're going to start doing stuff and acting like, just like they've acted in the past. They're going to be like, well, God needs us. And so in Psalm 50 and verse seven, he says, here, Oh, my people. Now who's he talking about? Makes it clear. Oh, Israel. I testify against you. I am not pleased with you. I am the district attorney. I am the prosecuting attorney here. I am tired of your formal dead, fake religion and your sin against God.

[51:20] They're worshiping God, but he doesn't like their attitudes, even though they are saved. They've been making sacrifices. Did you know it's easy to go through the outward ritual?

[51:35] It's easy to sing a special. It's easy to preach a message. It's easy to teach a Sunday school class. It's easy to be an usher. It's easy to do all these things, but God's like, I want to know why you're doing it. What's happening in your heart? Are you in love with me? Are you just going through the emotions? Is it real? Are you playing a game with me? He said in verse eight, I'll let you keep giving your offerings. I will not reprove you for your sacrifices, but I'm a little bit upset with your attitude. In verse nine, he said, I don't need a calf out of your house. I don't need you to bring me one of your bull calves. I don't need you to bring me one of your he goats for every beast of the forest is mine. And the cattle upon a thousand hills. How many times do you feel like, well, I really bless God. I'm a tither and I get to missions and I give some extra money and you feel like you're doing God a favor. And the God of heaven looks down and says, who's doing who the favor here? I don't need you. You need me. He's going to make that clear. He said, I'm the creator. I'm the owner of everything.

[52:46] In verse 11, he said, I know all the fowls and the wild beast of the field are mine. Did you know every deer out there belongs to him? I wish he'd get one to quit eating a bush. We got planted in the front yard, but he, his deer is eating my bush. Amen. And, uh, but he's in charge. It's his. He knows every squirrel, even the one Robert killed this past week. He knew that squirrel by name, Robert.

[53:13] That was fun. In verse 12, he said, if I were hungry, I would not tell you. I love that.

[53:25] How often we act like, boy, if I don't take that calf in there, that sheep in there, if I don't make that sacrifice, the work of God will go down. God's up in heaven saying, I was doing the work before you were born. I'll be doing the work after you're dead. I don't need you. That's a big deal to learn, isn't it? Sometimes us preachers, you missionaries won't be as guilty as I am. Sometimes we act like we're essential, but God's essential and I'm not essential. And the second I lay my sword down, he'll get a better man to pick it up. And I need to remember that. God says, I'm not like your false gods that live in all the nations around you. I don't eat the food you bring me. I don't eat your sacrifices. He says in verse 13, am I going to eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?

[54:16] I'm not like Baal. I'm like these other dumb gods. I'm the real God. I'm the real God. I'm not in need of you. In verse 14, God's saying, I just want you to thank me. Look at this verse. It's a great verse.

[54:32] Offer unto God, thanksgiving and pay thy vows. And the most, you know what God wants? He wants worship. He just wants us to say, wow, thank you. Thank you for taking care of my family. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for giving me a Bible. Thank you for taking care of my children. Thank you. Thank you.

[54:54] Thank you. I come today to worship you. I don't come because you need me. I come because I need you. And I'm here to say, thank you. He found us. He rescued us. He saved us and we didn't deserve it.

[55:08] He leads, guides and protects us even now. And then he says, I don't call. I don't need to call on you. You need to call on me. Huh? Look at verse 15 and call upon me in the day of trouble. I'll deliver you.

[55:26] God's like, now Baal needs help moving from one room to another. And Ashtaroth can't do stuff. And so he calls and says, do y'all mind moving me? I was in the room with the Ark of the Covenant and I fell on my face and y'all had to pick me back up. And then I got all broken. I wasn't, but a stump left. God said, that ain't me. You call on me. I don't call on you.

[55:52] You realize that God doesn't need me. God says, you call on me in the day of trouble. God is tired of dead formalism and ritual. And Baptists can be as guilty of it as a Catholic. Don't look at me like we don't do the same thing. We sing the songs and don't pay attention. We read the Bible verses and don't care what they say. We come into church and act all spiritual and continue our lifestyles.

[56:21] God's not pleased. Verse 16, he moves to another group of people. He moves from worshipers to wicked. Verse 16, unto the wicked. What have you got to do to clear my statues? Or that you, why are you even talking about my covenant? What are you playing for? You're not even saved. Now I know he's talking to Jews here, but this verse might describe us. Or something, look at it with me.

[56:52] You hate instruction and you cast my words behind you. Oh Lord, I've had people almost say that to me.

[57:03] I've had people, I've said, this is what the Bible says about that. And they say, I don't care. I don't care. I don't care. That's that verse. These wicked people, they don't like God telling them anything. That's why they've removed him from the school system. That's why they've removed him from every other place they can. That's why they don't want a real church preaching the Bible, because they hate instruction. And the instruction shouldn't be what comes from a preacher or a Bible teacher. It's what comes from the word of God. And they cast it behind their back. They mock the Bible.

[57:39] They mock the Bible. We don't, by the way. Verse 18. Do you know who they get along with? They say, I don't want to hear what God's got to say. I don't, I don't care what God's got to say. In fact, as you tell me what he says, I'll throw it behind me. It's garbage for me. But look what they say in verse 18. When you see a thief, you get in agreement with him. You don't like God, but you like thieves. You can, you can, you form a, you consent with them. You agree with them. You go with them because God didn't like thieves and you like thieves. And then you like to partake with adulterers.

[58:18] You want to do what lost people do. You want to destroy the most beautiful thing he gave us, which was sex only in a marriage between a man and a woman for a whole lifetime. And you want to take that out and you want to mock that. So you're rewriting, you're rewriting genders and you're rewriting the relationship of a man and a woman because you prefer to partake with adulterers. I didn't say that. I'm reading that out of the book. And then he says, y'all use your mouth to do wicked stuff with it. And you slander and try to defame even your family in verse 20. You would even slander what's going to end up happening. You know, this is revelation or this is tribulation stuff.

[59:05] Brother will be against brother and father will be against daughter. The families will turn on each other. God says to him, you know, I've been patient with you. Verse 21, I've been patient, but now I'm fixing to tan hide. I am fixing to work you over. Look at verse 21. I will reprove.

[59:27] In verse 20, he said, these things has thou done, but I kept silence. God's let them get away with it. But he said, I will reprove and I will set them in order. Now let's go down to God's final warning.

[59:42] Now they're singing this in worship. You know that, right? These are songs for the worship service. These are called meaty songs, doctrinal songs. This didn't put your hand in the hand of the man.

[59:59] You never heard of that song, but it was popular when I was a kid. Y'all weren't even born yet. Look at verse 22. Now think on this. Now consider this. You that forget God.

[60:12] It's time to start thinking about God. I think it's amazing. The number of missionaries that would go to the mission field and their biggest concerns, how people treat them. And God would say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. It's not about you. Never was about you. Take up your cross and go die.

[60:30] It's all about me. He said, you better remember God, fear him. Verse 22, mark the word lest.

[60:40] You see, he doesn't want to do this. He says, you guys can get right. You wicked. You Christians are dead, empty worship. You can get right. Don't forget me. And then he says in verse 23, I don't need your sacrifices. I want everything. What I want you praise and your thanksgiving.

[61:05] They mock us. They mock us because these young ladies, young men sang and played for us tonight and talked about the action of days. And those lost people mock us, mock our churches, mock our songs, but our God likes it. Our God likes it. Our God doesn't want a performer. He wants a worshiper.

[61:29] Verse 23, whoso offers praise glorifies me. For those in my office, there's your verse. You want to glorify God, praise him. Those who worship, those who praise God glorify him.

[61:46] And their behavior should line up with their identity. It's time to live out who you are. Now you need to understand there are a lot of things that are true about you positionally, but they're not necessarily true about you practically. You know, you can be, when I used to leave my house and my daddy would say, you better remember who you are.

[62:12] That meant you do something that embarrasses me. I'm going to kill you. Just couched in nicer terms. Betty used to say stuff like that to our children. You do realize you can be a wife and not be acting like a good wife. You can be a son and not be acting like a good son. You can be a husband and not be acting like it. And there are Christians who have all these promises of who they are and will be.

[62:39] But today they live in sin and rebellion. And to him that orders his conversation, his manner of living aright, will I show the deliverance, the salvation, the rescue of God. Let me give you a few truths.

[62:57] My time's up. Let me give you a few truths to remember. God is not only creator. He is not only creator. He is judge. You need to remember that. You need to remember that. We're running a race and we're running to receive a prize. First Corinthians nine. Judgment's harder and harsher on those who have been taught. Don't be many masters. James, I think three, one, you can look it up. God hates and is very tired of our dead, fake, formal, self-serving worship. God wants us to walk in here and say, Oh God, I'm here to worship you. He wants you in that early morning hour to open your Bible as a sign of sin. Just wanted to worship you today. He wants you to pray. Just wants to be worshiped. He hates our arrogant pride that seems to think we're doing God a favor by serving and giving. God hates it that we seem to be more comfortable and even delight in sin instead of him. I am many things in Christ, many promises, but I need to live up to those.

[64:15] There are people that are saved and they don't have time in the Bible. You can say, well, God accepts him anyway. Sure he does, but they're not doing acceptable. They're not working to please him.

[64:32] Have we lost our first love? Like in Revelation 2, 4, you have left your first love. Do we worship out of habit and routine or from the heart? Do we do outwardly what is not true inwardly? See, these Jewish people came, they brought their offerings. They said all the right words. They knew how to carry a Bible under their arm. They knew how to bring their offering. They knew how to sing the songs, but they weren't real. I really think the coronavirus may purge many of our churches.

[65:12] People haven't gone to church for three months. They used to watch it online. They got lazy and they quit. It's got to be real on the outside and on the inside. Do you know that God wants your heart more than your money? What's he want from you? Thanksgiving and praise, obedience to his word, trusting prayer, a desire to honor him in everything. He wants it all to come from the heart.

[65:44] I'll tell you a little simple, crazy story. His name was Jack. He was, remember, the first church I started, he was the most wealthy man in our church. He was a century 21. It was the name of his real estate agency back then. He had his own. And one day he told me, he said, my children don't like me.

[66:04] He had two sons. He said, I love me. He said, I've lived my entire life for them. I bought them every bicycle. I bought them motorcycles. I bought them cars. I've given them a great house. I've given them everything. I paid for all the sports and they don't even like me. You know what happened? Don't you? Kids didn't want the stuff. They wanted him. God doesn't want your stuff. He wants you.

[66:36] And when he has you, yeah, you'll give him stuff, but God's not up there going, well, I'm going hungry. If you don't give me some stuff, God's up in heaven saying, I just want you to know who I am. Father in heaven, I love you. I thank you for this wonderful chapter. It's a wonderful song.

[66:55] This wonderful psalm and how you're going to judge Israel, but how tonight you're working in our lives. And I would pray that we would worship you from our hearts, that we would live out who we are in you. I pray to your God that we would not be one of those who has forgotten you. I pray to your God that we would recognize you as creator, as owner, and as judge. And I'll give you praise and honor.

[67:26] With your heads bowed, your eyes closed, would you just please tell him, I know you're the king. Tell him in your heart. Tell him I love you. By the way, tonight when you lay down to sleep, I wish the last thing you'd say is, hey God, hey Jesus, I love you. I love you.

[67:45] Randy and I have gone to bed together for 46 years plus. And every night we say we love each other. How do you go to bed without telling him? You love him. Get up tomorrow morning. Tell him you love him.

[68:00] When you get food and clothes and you arrive at home, tell him you love him. Tell him you love him. Honor him. He is worthy. Father in heaven, I give you praise and thanksgiving for all you do. In Jesus' name, amen.

[68:18] Before I step out of here and they make some announcements, when Betty and I were young, every car I ever drove, I never knew if he was going to make it anywhere. I prayed every time I got in a car.

[68:31] I've been known to walk around to all the slick tires and lay my hand on them and say, God, if you could hold this together till I get to mama's house, it sure would be nice. You know, I was real thankful back then. Now I don't ever even worry. I don't even remember when I got a flat the last time.

[68:45] So I don't even worry about it. You know, God wants you to know he's taking care of you. Let's honor God. Great message. We have a God who's in control, a God who owns it all. A few quick announcements.

[68:56] Bible Institute is off to a great start. Those are Tuesday evenings at 7. And Adam Walls will be getting ordained next Thursday. Don't want to miss that. We also had a golf tournament this week. Went off really, really well.

[69:07] Raising funds are just one step closer to the Center for World Evangelism. And with that, you guys are dismissed. Thank you. Thank you.

[69:50] Take care. Call it in. Lawrence Manage. Thank you.

[70:09] . Thank you.