S1: And where is the mentality where? David said, I would
S1: rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord.
S1: Where are those who come into his presence with thanksgiving
S1: and into his courts with praise? Where are those who
S1: are glad to be in this place?
S2: Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford,
S2: junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago.
S2: I'm Steve Hillard. Glad you're with us. Today we're continuing
S2: to look at Psalm 65, in a message called The
S2: Privilege of Worship. And pastor. Over the past couple of, uh, programs,
S2: we've talked a little bit about the fact that when
S2: we have a right understanding of who God is and
S2: a right understanding of who we are, you know, the
S2: natural outflow of that should be worship. But frankly, sometimes
S2: it's not. Maybe our hearts have just kind of grown cold. Uh,
S2: we are choosing, for whatever reason, not to engage with
S2: recognizing who God is and who we are. Talk to
S2: the person who's maybe just feeling like I don't feel
S2: like worshiping pastor.
S3: Well, you know, I tell people when you come into
S3: his presence, what you need to do is engage yourself.
S3: So the preparation that God gives us as we come
S3: into his presence there is preparation. Uh, a call to worship. Uh,
S3: what is that? That's when a worship leader says to
S3: the individuals, okay, forget about the roast. Forget about going
S3: to church. I mean, join the church. Forget about going
S3: to the mall. Yeah. Uh, you know, because I'm thinking
S3: out loud and sometimes they forget about church and go
S3: to the mall. The mall? Right, right. Uh, but you're
S3: coming into the presence of an awesome God. So there
S3: ought to be a setup for worship. Uh, and it
S3: ought to be high liturgy. Uh, that is some psalm
S3: that talks about the greatness and the glory and the
S3: grandeur of God. As a matter of fact, Steve, I'm
S3: going to tell you the place to begin, for the
S3: corporate worship is at home before you even get to
S3: the building where you're going to worship with other believers.
S3: So at home you get up. And what I generally
S3: do is I get up, I sing a song to
S3: the Lord, I open up my Scripture and let him
S3: speak to me. I go to him in prayer. And
S3: it doesn't have to be long and extended, but it's
S3: kind of like lighting the fuse on the dynamite of worship.
S3: And then by the time I'm, you know, I get
S3: in my vehicle and as my young people would say,
S3: I'll bump somebody on the box, uh, Kirk Franklin or
S3: Nicole Mullen. You know, I know my Redeemer lives. You know,
S3: something like that. On the way, I'm preparing my heart.
S3: So sometimes I get up and I'm like that, that
S3: that little story where the mother said, son, get up.
S3: It's time to go to church. I don't want to go.
S3: I don't like those people. They don't like me. But
S3: you got to go. Come on, son, give me two
S3: good reasons why. Mama. Number one, you're 45. Number two,
S3: you're the pastor. And so sometimes even I don't want
S3: to go. But I tell you what, Steve, uh, there
S3: are times when this has prepared me and became a
S3: catalyst and a motivation to me wanting to go. Then
S3: I'll tell you always, even when I don't want to preach,
S3: the choir will sing something. Somebody will say something that
S3: I know is from God to fire me up for worship.
S2: Yeah, well, hopefully most of us can relate to that
S2: and remember that the next time we're feeling that way.
S2: But right now, join us in Psalm 65 as we
S2: continue a message entitled The Privilege of Worship. Here's Pastor Ford.
S1: Let me give you Christ's Bible. Church stats tell you how.
S3: We love this place. 25% of our congregation only come
S3: one Sunday a month. That's first Sunday when Hebrews 1025
S3: is a command that says, forsake not the assembling of
S3: yourselves together, as the manner of some is exhorting one
S3: another so much the more as you see the day approaching. Yeah,
S3: you see the day of Christ coming. Amen. You should
S3: go to church more, not less. Yeah. 69% don't come
S3: to Bible study, even though the Bible says in acts
S3: chapter 241 and 42, they continue steadfastly in the apostles
S3: doctrine and fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayers. 72%
S3: of our people don't give at least 10% of their
S3: income to God. As a whole. We average 2%. The
S3: world averages for, well, we average 2.5%. And the world
S3: gives to their charities 4.5%, which means then unbelievers give
S3: about two times as much as believers give. And we
S3: say we're going to heaven and say they're going to hell.
S3: Yet they're more concerned about what's going to happen on
S3: this earth in an earthly existence with no hope of heaven.
S3: And it's not a cash issue, it's a commitment issue.
S3: You know what? Some of us spend more money going
S3: to the movies than we do giving to God. Some
S3: people spend more money on getting their lottery tickets than
S3: they give to God. Listen, most of you now don't
S3: look around at your neighbor. I'm talking to your neighbor,
S3: not you. Most of you would have more to give
S3: to God if you would give God some of your
S3: beer money. If you give God some of your wine money,
S3: if you give God some of your reefer money, if
S3: you would spend on God what you spend to go
S3: to a show, 65% aren't involved in any ministry within
S3: the church. They're not using their gifts for the body.
S3: According to First Corinthians 12, 89% don't come to corporate
S3: prayer Wednesday or Saturday. It's a sad state of affairs,
S3: but yet we all say we love Jesus. Now, let
S3: me just let me just let me just read the script.
S3: I'm going to go ahead and just read the script
S3: because I'm going to read the script. Okay. So some
S3: years ago, you know, Bible study was just it was
S3: worse than this. Only about 5% of people came. So?
S3: So we're about 800. If, you know, if I could
S3: get everybody here at the same time on a Sunday morning,
S3: but only about 5%. So we're talking about 20 to
S3: 25 people coming to Bible study out of 800 coming
S3: to Bible study. So then I said, okay, this gotta
S3: stop because either I have to cut everything and say, okay,
S3: here's what we're going to do. We're not doing anything
S3: but Sunday morning worship, Bible study and prayer. No choir
S3: or come in and we'll sing a couple songs, and
S3: then we'll have the word take the offering and go home.
S3: And then on Wednesday, we're not going to do anything
S3: but pray and have the Word of God. And we're
S3: having nobody doing any ministry whatsoever. And God talked me
S3: out of that because he said, uh, no, no, no, no.
S3: Because once some of them stop doing something, they ain't
S3: coming back. I said, okay, okay, Lord. Okay, so what
S3: should I do? So I said, let me see if
S3: I can minister to you. What's the issue? So here's
S3: what the choir said. Well, look, we got families, and
S3: that's why you don't have a lot of stuff around here.
S3: You don't have a lot of stuff. I don't even
S3: got you out. You look at some of these churches
S3: in this city, and they got their people out 4
S3: or 5, six times a week, every week. You come
S3: here twice, most times. And so I said, okay, choir,
S3: you know what's going on? Why don't y'all come to
S3: Bible study? You know, the choir told me, well, we
S3: come out Wednesday and we come out Thursday, pastor. And
S3: that's just too much time. Okay, so what I did
S3: was I said, okay, we'll take care of that. Then
S3: I said, okay, why don't some of you others and
S3: I did it anonymously so everybody can say what they
S3: want to say and have to worry about. He knew
S3: I said that. No, I ain't know who said what.
S3: So some people said, well, uh, I work in the evening,
S3: so I can't come to evening Bible study. And then
S3: some people said, well, I get off of work. I
S3: work downtown by the time I get home from work,
S3: you know, and eat and, and do the kids homework.
S3: Bible study halfway over ain't used to me coming late.
S3: I don't like to be coming nowhere late. Then. Then
S3: some people say, you know, and we're hungry, you know,
S3: and we want, you know. So here's what I did.
S3: I combined the choir rehearsal on Wednesday and said, okay,
S3: now you don't come on Thursday anymore. You ain't got
S3: no excuse for that. So you could come to Bible
S3: study because choir rehearsal is right after Bible study. But
S3: you know what? That wasn't the real reason. How do
S3: I know that? Because some choir members didn't come this Wednesday.
S3: Want to know why? Because the praise team was singing today.
S3: And since they don't sing today, they ain't come to
S3: Bible study because the only reason they come to Bible study,
S3: some of them, is because they know somebody's going to
S3: get up in their grill talking about, hey, you, you
S3: came to rehearsal. How come you didn't make it to
S3: Bible study? I had three teachers volunteer. They teaching the
S3: public school system. They with kids all day. But yet
S3: they said on Wednesday from 5 to 630, we will
S3: help the children with their homework. We had a homework
S3: room and we had three teachers that came for a
S3: whole month at 430 right after school and came over here.
S3: Guess how many kids came in one month? None. None.
S3: Not one. And then those who talked about feeding. What
S3: happened to that? Because we feed, we said, okay, now
S3: that they're feeding the people who are outside, y'all come
S3: on in. Well, y'all ain't feeding them good food, are you?
S3: How come we aren't? Because I go up there and eat, too.
S3: And you ain't give me no junk. So sometime there
S3: was fried chicken. And everybody know every Christian love fried chicken.
S3: Especially we who are pastors. Fried chicken done had roasts,
S3: done had turkey. And sometimes we get low level hot
S3: dogs and beans and chips. But that's alright. We got
S3: Kool-Aid too. And so where is everybody that say I
S3: can't come to Bible study because this, that and the other? Yeah,
S3: I gotta get this one because this is the one
S3: I love. I do this one all the time. I'm
S3: never going to retire this one. I love my church,
S3: I really do. I love her with all of my might.
S3: I go on Sunday morning, but not on Wednesday night.
S3: I give my time and treasures there, do everything just right.
S3: I do it Sunday morning, but not on Wednesday night.
S3: My preacher preaches very well. He really is quite bright.
S3: I hear him Sunday morning, but not on Wednesday night.
S3: I know the Lord Jesus is coming soon and I'm
S3: ready to take my flight, but I hope he comes
S3: on Sunday morning and not on Wednesday night. Mm. Yeah.
S3: That's it. Yeah. And where is the mentality where David
S3: said I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house
S3: of the Lord. Where are those who come into his
S3: presence with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise? Where
S3: are those who are glad to be in this place? Okay,
S3: here's the last one. Here's the last one, he says. Uh,
S3: we come in his presence. It's a privilege. And it's
S3: a privilege of his person. It's the privilege of his place.
S3: It's the privilege of his praise. Now get this. Where
S3: do you get that? Listen to this. And unto thee
S3: shall the vow be performed. Say, what in the world
S3: is going on here, Pastor Ford, where he talks about.
S3: And the the vow. Now, here's the context. I'm just
S3: going to. Bottom line, you got to do your own work.
S3: Here's what he's saying. We're waiting to praise God because
S3: praise is fitted for him. It's custom made, designed for God.
S3: So then it's part of the vow that I have made.
S3: Has anybody ever said, Lord, if you get me out
S3: of this. Has anybody ever said, Lord, if you just
S3: do this one thing, Lord, if you just forgive me
S3: one more time. Anybody ever say that? Yeah. Yeah. Mhm.
S3: That's what he's talking about. We owe God praise. And
S3: so since it's not ours we are cheating him. Because
S3: praise belongs to God.
S2: You're listening to treasure truth and a great reminder of
S2: praise and the privilege that it is to worship God.
S2: We're going to get back to this teaching from Psalm
S2: 65 in just a moment. I want to let you
S2: know Pastor Ford has written a number of books. You
S2: can check those out when you come to our website, npr.org.
S2: Click on the link that says Books by Pastor Ford.
S2: You'll see the different titles available as a paperback or
S2: an e-book format. Again, that's at Treasure Truth Radio. Dot org.
S2: Back to our message. Here is Pastor Ford.
S3: Now, I could have broken this down several ways. You
S3: know I am. I'm a teacher, not a preacher. And so,
S3: you know, even on this, uh, you know, I just
S3: worked on it yesterday and, and I got three different outlines,
S3: but but here's what I want you to see. What's
S3: he talking about? In verses one through four, he focuses
S3: on the grace of God in verses five through eight,
S3: the government of God, and verses nine through 13, the
S3: goodness of God. Now get this he's saying, because of
S3: God's grace, because of his government, because of his goodness,
S3: we owe him praise. Now let me show you how
S3: he does it. If we'd have followed this outline, here's
S3: what we would have said because of the grace of God.
S3: And that's when God gives us what we do not deserve.
S3: We are to want him. That's verses one through four.
S3: We ought to want him. We ought to desire him.
S3: We ought to have a passion for him. But because
S3: of the government, that's his rule and reign, his sovereignty,
S3: that he's King of kings and Lord of lords, then
S3: we are to walk with him. One preacher say walk
S3: with the king and be a blessing today. And then
S3: the goodness of God. You know what that means. We
S3: ought to wait for him. There's things we want and
S3: we in a hurry. I want it like yesterday. And
S3: sometimes what we'll do is we'll rush. And I done
S3: told you ladies over and over again. But it's good
S3: to plug it in right now. You rushing God about
S3: a boo. And you get in the Ishmael. And God's
S3: trying to send you an Isaac. And the devil will
S3: always send you Ishmael before God sends you your Isaac.
S3: So the next one that try to step to you,
S3: just look at him say, gotta be Ishmael. I'm waiting
S3: on Isaac. And so what's it all about? Let me
S3: summarize it because Imma let you go home. AP Gibbs, uh,
S3: has a book called Worship The Christian's Highest Occupation. Now,
S3: here's what he said, and I quote, praising God is
S3: the occupation of the Christian soul. It's a job when
S3: the soul of a Christian is occupied and comprehends the
S3: blessings God has given. That soul is overcome with gratitude
S3: for the grace of God. So then it's the nature
S3: of the believer to praise God. He's saying, you can't
S3: separate believer from praise. Amen. And he goes on and
S3: let me get let me get the rest of it.
S3: He goes on to say, you can tell what something
S3: is by its nature, because. The nature of a thing
S3: tells what it is. Okay. And he goes on, and
S3: I quote, it is the nature of a dog to bark.
S3: If you have a dog and your dog don't bark.
S3: Something wrong with your dog? It's the nature of a cat.
S3: And this morning I said to meow. And Elder Dixon
S3: was like. He said, no, pastor, you know purr. I said, okay,
S3: I must have been thinking about meow mix. Meow meow
S3: meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow.
S4: Meow meow meow meow meow meow.
S3: But it's the nature of a cat to purr. If
S3: your cat doesn't purr. There's something wrong with your cat.
S3: It's the nature of a fish to swim. If your
S3: fish don't never swim, it's dead. It's the nature of
S3: a believer to pray. And if you don't know. Praise God.
S3: Something's wrong with you as a believer. And I'm going
S3: to close and take my seat. But I need to
S3: tell you that some miracles only take place in the
S3: context of worshiping God. We talk about them all the time.
S3: But whenever the children of Israel walked around the wall
S3: on the seventh day, they were to shout to the Lord,
S3: now what did they shout? I'll tell you what they shouted,
S3: because Psalm 135 three says, Shout hallelujah to the Lord.
S3: So they didn't shout anything. They want to shout Hallelujah
S3: is the highest praise. And so here's what they did.
S3: All those over 2 million. Walking around the rock. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
S3: And the wall came tumbling down. Want to know why?
S3: Because some miracles only happen in the context of worship.
S3: Paul and Silas in jail. They start worshiping. And what happened?
S3: You have jailhouse Rock for the first time. Because some
S3: miracles only happen in the context of worship. Jehoshaphat three enemies,
S3: they got him surrounded. And what happens? They begin to
S3: praise and sing, and it says. And the Lord set
S3: ambushes for their enemies. Because some miracles only happen in
S3: the context of worship. Oh, oh, come, magnify the Lord
S3: with me, and let us exalt his name together. That's
S3: worship folk, that's worship. Let me close. I said, one
S3: for the father, one for the son. This for the
S3: Holy Ghost. Blessed. Three and one Luke 1710. Lepers come
S3: into the presence of Jesus Christ. Now wait a minute.
S3: You're supposed to stay away from people, and I think
S3: it's 40ft. And when you get close to people, you
S3: gotta let them know you're a leper. So you you'd
S3: say unclean, unclean. But they got close to Jesus. Why,
S3: he let them in their space. In his space, when
S3: they came in his space. You know, I can imagine
S3: they're like, he doesn't do us like everybody else. He
S3: let us into his space. And then they didn't even
S3: have to say anything. They say, Lord, will you heal us?
S3: And he said, go show yourself to the priest. Now,
S3: what does that mean? Leviticus says, after you're healed. But
S3: what they do, they go before they're healed. Why? Because
S3: we walk by faith and not by sight. So they
S3: have faith. And they. And Jesus said, do you believe
S3: even when you don't see it, that I'm able to
S3: be it and do it for you, but then walk
S3: like you already have what you don't have? And it
S3: says as they turn, they were healed. And you know
S3: the rest of the story. Only one came back and
S3: Jesus said, did I heal? Ten? Well, how come only
S3: this Samaritan came back? You're getting ready to get up
S3: on out of here and break camp. But I want
S3: to ask you a question before you leave. Did you
S3: really worship God today? Did you pay your bill on
S3: time because it's due every first Sunday.
S5: Right? Yeah.
S3: Did you make a full payment or did you make
S3: a partial payment?
S5: Right.
S3: And do you know that until we are raptured or die,
S3: we can't praise him enough to pay it at one time? Yeah.
S3: So I'll see you Wednesday night or Wednesday morning so
S3: you can make another payment. And then I'll see you
S3: next Sunday, Lord willing, should he let us live. So
S3: you can make another payment. And then every Sunday and
S3: every Wednesday you make a payment. You're giving praise. You
S3: give him honor. You say, I can come into your presence. When? Now.
S3: All over this country, there are over 100 countries where
S3: they cannot do what we're doing right now. Darfur, Sudan. Uh, Syria. Uh,
S3: in Aleppo and Iran. Iraq. Turkistan, uh, Kyrgyzstan, uh, North Korea, China,
S3: all over the world, Christians are dying just for carrying
S3: a Bible, just for saying it. And you can come
S3: in here and you can stay almost two hours and
S3: worship him without fear, without failure. Do you understand the
S3: privilege that you have? And I have to worship the
S3: true and the living God. We ought to praise him
S3: because he's the bright and morning star. We ought to
S3: praise him because he's the lily of the valley. We
S3: ought to praise him because he's the fairest of 10,000
S3: to our souls. We ought to pray because he wrote
S3: our name in his book. We ought to praise him
S3: because there's nobody else worthy of the glory of the
S3: honor of the praise all the time He richly deserves it.
S3: He rightly deserves it. He rightly deserves it. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
S3: Glory to your name.
S2: That is Pastor James Ford Jr, inspiring us to come
S2: before the living God with passion and sincerity. You're listening
S2: to Treasure Truth, a message called the Privilege of Worship.
S2: And to hear previous programs come to our website, treasure
S2: Truth radio.org. Well, our program exists to nurture your faith
S2: in Christ and provide practical instruction for your daily life. Now,
S2: we do that through these audio messages and also through
S2: the resources that we choose to supplement Pastor Ford's teachings. Now,
S2: right now, when you give a gift of any amount
S2: to the ministry, we're going to send you a book
S2: by Pastor Ford called Seven Reasons Why God Created Marriage.
S2: So what's the difference between a Christian marriage and a
S2: secular one with someone who didn't really know? You? Be
S2: able to tell that you're a believer simply based on
S2: the way that you interact with your spouse. The book,
S2: seven Reasons Why God Created Marriage Will Strengthen the Pillars
S2: of Your Marriage. Whether you're newlyweds or you've been with
S2: your spouse for decades. So give a donation and request
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