WEBVTT - The Privilege of Worship, Part 3 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.360 And where is the mentality where? David said, I would 0:00:03.360 --> 0:00:07.200 rather be a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord. 0:00:07.880 --> 0:00:11.360 Where are those who come into his presence with thanksgiving 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:15.080 and into his courts with praise? Where are those who 0:00:15.080 --> 0:00:18.120 are glad to be in this place? 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:27.960 Welcome to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James Ford, 0:00:27.960 --> 0:00:31.000 junior senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. 0:00:31.040 --> 0:00:34.400 I'm Steve Hillard. Glad you're with us. Today we're continuing 0:00:34.440 --> 0:00:36.919 to look at Psalm 65, in a message called The 0:00:36.920 --> 0:00:40.919 Privilege of Worship. And pastor. Over the past couple of, uh, programs, 0:00:40.920 --> 0:00:43.279 we've talked a little bit about the fact that when 0:00:43.280 --> 0:00:45.519 we have a right understanding of who God is and 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:48.279 a right understanding of who we are, you know, the 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:52.680 natural outflow of that should be worship. But frankly, sometimes 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:56.480 it's not. Maybe our hearts have just kind of grown cold. Uh, 0:00:56.560 --> 0:00:59.960 we are choosing, for whatever reason, not to engage with 0:00:59.960 --> 0:01:03.279 recognizing who God is and who we are. Talk to 0:01:03.280 --> 0:01:05.520 the person who's maybe just feeling like I don't feel 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:06.759 like worshiping pastor. 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:10.959 Well, you know, I tell people when you come into 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:15.800 his presence, what you need to do is engage yourself. 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:21.559 So the preparation that God gives us as we come 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:27.040 into his presence there is preparation. Uh, a call to worship. Uh, 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:30.119 what is that? That's when a worship leader says to 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:34.720 the individuals, okay, forget about the roast. Forget about going 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:37.760 to church. I mean, join the church. Forget about going 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:41.160 to the mall. Yeah. Uh, you know, because I'm thinking 0:01:41.520 --> 0:01:45.000 out loud and sometimes they forget about church and go 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:48.080 to the mall. The mall? Right, right. Uh, but you're 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:50.520 coming into the presence of an awesome God. So there 0:01:50.520 --> 0:01:53.080 ought to be a setup for worship. Uh, and it 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:56.880 ought to be high liturgy. Uh, that is some psalm 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:00.320 that talks about the greatness and the glory and the 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:02.480 grandeur of God. As a matter of fact, Steve, I'm 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:05.840 going to tell you the place to begin, for the 0:02:05.840 --> 0:02:10.399 corporate worship is at home before you even get to 0:02:10.440 --> 0:02:13.800 the building where you're going to worship with other believers. 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:17.200 So at home you get up. And what I generally 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:19.760 do is I get up, I sing a song to 0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:23.040 the Lord, I open up my Scripture and let him 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:26.960 speak to me. I go to him in prayer. And 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:29.840 it doesn't have to be long and extended, but it's 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:34.280 kind of like lighting the fuse on the dynamite of worship. 0:02:34.600 --> 0:02:36.720 And then by the time I'm, you know, I get 0:02:36.720 --> 0:02:39.440 in my vehicle and as my young people would say, 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:44.840 I'll bump somebody on the box, uh, Kirk Franklin or 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:48.800 Nicole Mullen. You know, I know my Redeemer lives. You know, 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:52.040 something like that. On the way, I'm preparing my heart. 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:55.040 So sometimes I get up and I'm like that, that 0:02:55.040 --> 0:02:58.560 that little story where the mother said, son, get up. 0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:00.000 It's time to go to church. I don't want to go. 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:02.190 I don't like those people. They don't like me. But 0:03:02.190 --> 0:03:03.990 you got to go. Come on, son, give me two 0:03:03.990 --> 0:03:07.750 good reasons why. Mama. Number one, you're 45. Number two, 0:03:07.790 --> 0:03:10.630 you're the pastor. And so sometimes even I don't want 0:03:10.630 --> 0:03:13.470 to go. But I tell you what, Steve, uh, there 0:03:13.510 --> 0:03:17.030 are times when this has prepared me and became a 0:03:17.070 --> 0:03:20.310 catalyst and a motivation to me wanting to go. Then 0:03:20.310 --> 0:03:23.390 I'll tell you always, even when I don't want to preach, 0:03:23.550 --> 0:03:27.790 the choir will sing something. Somebody will say something that 0:03:27.790 --> 0:03:32.030 I know is from God to fire me up for worship. 0:03:32.070 --> 0:03:36.310 Yeah, well, hopefully most of us can relate to that 0:03:36.310 --> 0:03:38.590 and remember that the next time we're feeling that way. 0:03:38.590 --> 0:03:42.030 But right now, join us in Psalm 65 as we 0:03:42.070 --> 0:03:46.670 continue a message entitled The Privilege of Worship. Here's Pastor Ford. 0:03:47.350 --> 0:03:52.230 Let me give you Christ's Bible. Church stats tell you how. 0:03:52.230 --> 0:03:56.910 We love this place. 25% of our congregation only come 0:03:56.910 --> 0:04:01.870 one Sunday a month. That's first Sunday when Hebrews 1025 0:04:01.910 --> 0:04:04.310 is a command that says, forsake not the assembling of 0:04:04.310 --> 0:04:07.230 yourselves together, as the manner of some is exhorting one 0:04:07.230 --> 0:04:10.270 another so much the more as you see the day approaching. Yeah, 0:04:10.270 --> 0:04:13.270 you see the day of Christ coming. Amen. You should 0:04:13.270 --> 0:04:17.510 go to church more, not less. Yeah. 69% don't come 0:04:17.510 --> 0:04:19.990 to Bible study, even though the Bible says in acts 0:04:19.990 --> 0:04:24.270 chapter 241 and 42, they continue steadfastly in the apostles 0:04:24.270 --> 0:04:28.830 doctrine and fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayers. 72% 0:04:28.830 --> 0:04:31.150 of our people don't give at least 10% of their 0:04:31.150 --> 0:04:34.350 income to God. As a whole. We average 2%. The 0:04:34.390 --> 0:04:38.070 world averages for, well, we average 2.5%. And the world 0:04:38.550 --> 0:04:43.029 gives to their charities 4.5%, which means then unbelievers give 0:04:43.110 --> 0:04:46.430 about two times as much as believers give. And we 0:04:46.430 --> 0:04:48.590 say we're going to heaven and say they're going to hell. 0:04:48.630 --> 0:04:52.870 Yet they're more concerned about what's going to happen on 0:04:52.870 --> 0:04:56.270 this earth in an earthly existence with no hope of heaven. 0:04:56.270 --> 0:04:58.870 And it's not a cash issue, it's a commitment issue. 0:04:58.910 --> 0:05:01.830 You know what? Some of us spend more money going 0:05:01.870 --> 0:05:04.710 to the movies than we do giving to God. Some 0:05:04.710 --> 0:05:08.070 people spend more money on getting their lottery tickets than 0:05:08.070 --> 0:05:11.590 they give to God. Listen, most of you now don't 0:05:11.589 --> 0:05:13.830 look around at your neighbor. I'm talking to your neighbor, 0:05:13.830 --> 0:05:17.029 not you. Most of you would have more to give 0:05:17.029 --> 0:05:19.190 to God if you would give God some of your 0:05:19.190 --> 0:05:22.670 beer money. If you give God some of your wine money, 0:05:22.670 --> 0:05:25.190 if you give God some of your reefer money, if 0:05:25.190 --> 0:05:29.630 you would spend on God what you spend to go 0:05:29.630 --> 0:05:35.669 to a show, 65% aren't involved in any ministry within 0:05:35.670 --> 0:05:37.950 the church. They're not using their gifts for the body. 0:05:37.950 --> 0:05:42.950 According to First Corinthians 12, 89% don't come to corporate 0:05:42.950 --> 0:05:47.750 prayer Wednesday or Saturday. It's a sad state of affairs, 0:05:47.750 --> 0:05:51.630 but yet we all say we love Jesus. Now, let 0:05:51.630 --> 0:05:53.390 me just let me just let me just read the script. 0:05:53.390 --> 0:05:54.830 I'm going to go ahead and just read the script 0:05:54.830 --> 0:05:57.230 because I'm going to read the script. Okay. So some 0:05:57.230 --> 0:05:59.990 years ago, you know, Bible study was just it was 0:05:59.990 --> 0:06:04.190 worse than this. Only about 5% of people came. So? 0:06:04.190 --> 0:06:06.230 So we're about 800. If, you know, if I could 0:06:06.230 --> 0:06:08.429 get everybody here at the same time on a Sunday morning, 0:06:08.430 --> 0:06:12.860 but only about 5%. So we're talking about 20 to 0:06:12.860 --> 0:06:16.710 25 people coming to Bible study out of 800 coming 0:06:16.710 --> 0:06:19.349 to Bible study. So then I said, okay, this gotta 0:06:19.350 --> 0:06:22.350 stop because either I have to cut everything and say, okay, 0:06:22.350 --> 0:06:24.510 here's what we're going to do. We're not doing anything 0:06:24.510 --> 0:06:28.430 but Sunday morning worship, Bible study and prayer. No choir 0:06:28.470 --> 0:06:31.029 or come in and we'll sing a couple songs, and 0:06:31.029 --> 0:06:33.990 then we'll have the word take the offering and go home. 0:06:33.990 --> 0:06:36.150 And then on Wednesday, we're not going to do anything 0:06:36.150 --> 0:06:38.909 but pray and have the Word of God. And we're 0:06:38.910 --> 0:06:42.670 having nobody doing any ministry whatsoever. And God talked me 0:06:42.670 --> 0:06:47.270 out of that because he said, uh, no, no, no, no. 0:06:47.750 --> 0:06:51.029 Because once some of them stop doing something, they ain't 0:06:51.029 --> 0:06:56.910 coming back. I said, okay, okay, Lord. Okay, so what 0:06:56.910 --> 0:06:58.950 should I do? So I said, let me see if 0:06:58.950 --> 0:07:01.830 I can minister to you. What's the issue? So here's 0:07:01.830 --> 0:07:04.950 what the choir said. Well, look, we got families, and 0:07:04.950 --> 0:07:06.870 that's why you don't have a lot of stuff around here. 0:07:06.870 --> 0:07:08.270 You don't have a lot of stuff. I don't even 0:07:08.270 --> 0:07:10.070 got you out. You look at some of these churches 0:07:10.070 --> 0:07:12.430 in this city, and they got their people out 4 0:07:12.430 --> 0:07:17.430 or 5, six times a week, every week. You come 0:07:17.430 --> 0:07:20.430 here twice, most times. And so I said, okay, choir, 0:07:20.470 --> 0:07:21.990 you know what's going on? Why don't y'all come to 0:07:21.990 --> 0:07:23.910 Bible study? You know, the choir told me, well, we 0:07:23.950 --> 0:07:26.470 come out Wednesday and we come out Thursday, pastor. And 0:07:26.470 --> 0:07:28.950 that's just too much time. Okay, so what I did 0:07:28.950 --> 0:07:31.150 was I said, okay, we'll take care of that. Then 0:07:31.150 --> 0:07:32.990 I said, okay, why don't some of you others and 0:07:32.990 --> 0:07:34.830 I did it anonymously so everybody can say what they 0:07:34.830 --> 0:07:37.030 want to say and have to worry about. He knew 0:07:37.030 --> 0:07:39.030 I said that. No, I ain't know who said what. 0:07:39.030 --> 0:07:42.030 So some people said, well, uh, I work in the evening, 0:07:42.030 --> 0:07:44.390 so I can't come to evening Bible study. And then 0:07:44.390 --> 0:07:46.510 some people said, well, I get off of work. I 0:07:46.550 --> 0:07:48.830 work downtown by the time I get home from work, 0:07:48.870 --> 0:07:51.670 you know, and eat and, and do the kids homework. 0:07:51.670 --> 0:07:53.830 Bible study halfway over ain't used to me coming late. 0:07:53.830 --> 0:08:00.910 I don't like to be coming nowhere late. Then. Then 0:08:00.910 --> 0:08:03.030 some people say, you know, and we're hungry, you know, 0:08:03.070 --> 0:08:04.990 and we want, you know. So here's what I did. 0:08:04.990 --> 0:08:08.550 I combined the choir rehearsal on Wednesday and said, okay, 0:08:08.550 --> 0:08:10.750 now you don't come on Thursday anymore. You ain't got 0:08:10.750 --> 0:08:12.869 no excuse for that. So you could come to Bible 0:08:12.870 --> 0:08:16.630 study because choir rehearsal is right after Bible study. But 0:08:16.630 --> 0:08:18.750 you know what? That wasn't the real reason. How do 0:08:18.750 --> 0:08:22.429 I know that? Because some choir members didn't come this Wednesday. 0:08:22.470 --> 0:08:25.110 Want to know why? Because the praise team was singing today. 0:08:25.110 --> 0:08:27.230 And since they don't sing today, they ain't come to 0:08:27.270 --> 0:08:29.830 Bible study because the only reason they come to Bible study, 0:08:29.830 --> 0:08:32.310 some of them, is because they know somebody's going to 0:08:32.309 --> 0:08:34.630 get up in their grill talking about, hey, you, you 0:08:34.670 --> 0:08:36.550 came to rehearsal. How come you didn't make it to 0:08:36.550 --> 0:08:41.350 Bible study? I had three teachers volunteer. They teaching the 0:08:41.350 --> 0:08:44.830 public school system. They with kids all day. But yet 0:08:44.830 --> 0:08:48.870 they said on Wednesday from 5 to 630, we will 0:08:48.870 --> 0:08:51.390 help the children with their homework. We had a homework 0:08:51.390 --> 0:08:54.110 room and we had three teachers that came for a 0:08:54.110 --> 0:08:59.430 whole month at 430 right after school and came over here. 0:08:59.470 --> 0:09:04.339 Guess how many kids came in one month? None. None. 0:09:05.220 --> 0:09:09.700 Not one. And then those who talked about feeding. What 0:09:09.700 --> 0:09:12.020 happened to that? Because we feed, we said, okay, now 0:09:12.020 --> 0:09:15.100 that they're feeding the people who are outside, y'all come 0:09:15.100 --> 0:09:17.260 on in. Well, y'all ain't feeding them good food, are you? 0:09:17.300 --> 0:09:21.740 How come we aren't? Because I go up there and eat, too. 0:09:22.500 --> 0:09:25.540 And you ain't give me no junk. So sometime there 0:09:25.540 --> 0:09:28.780 was fried chicken. And everybody know every Christian love fried chicken. 0:09:29.100 --> 0:09:33.660 Especially we who are pastors. Fried chicken done had roasts, 0:09:33.700 --> 0:09:37.100 done had turkey. And sometimes we get low level hot 0:09:37.140 --> 0:09:39.900 dogs and beans and chips. But that's alright. We got 0:09:39.900 --> 0:09:45.620 Kool-Aid too. And so where is everybody that say I 0:09:45.620 --> 0:09:49.660 can't come to Bible study because this, that and the other? Yeah, 0:09:49.660 --> 0:09:51.660 I gotta get this one because this is the one 0:09:51.860 --> 0:09:54.100 I love. I do this one all the time. I'm 0:09:54.100 --> 0:09:56.939 never going to retire this one. I love my church, 0:09:56.940 --> 0:09:59.860 I really do. I love her with all of my might. 0:10:00.059 --> 0:10:03.380 I go on Sunday morning, but not on Wednesday night. 0:10:05.059 --> 0:10:09.060 I give my time and treasures there, do everything just right. 0:10:09.059 --> 0:10:11.940 I do it Sunday morning, but not on Wednesday night. 0:10:13.059 --> 0:10:16.540 My preacher preaches very well. He really is quite bright. 0:10:16.540 --> 0:10:20.140 I hear him Sunday morning, but not on Wednesday night. 0:10:20.260 --> 0:10:23.660 I know the Lord Jesus is coming soon and I'm 0:10:23.660 --> 0:10:26.540 ready to take my flight, but I hope he comes 0:10:26.540 --> 0:10:34.100 on Sunday morning and not on Wednesday night. Mm. Yeah. 0:10:34.500 --> 0:10:39.500 That's it. Yeah. And where is the mentality where David 0:10:39.500 --> 0:10:43.500 said I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house 0:10:43.500 --> 0:10:46.620 of the Lord. Where are those who come into his 0:10:46.620 --> 0:10:51.500 presence with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise? Where 0:10:51.500 --> 0:11:02.740 are those who are glad to be in this place? Okay, 0:11:03.340 --> 0:11:09.420 here's the last one. Here's the last one, he says. Uh, 0:11:09.420 --> 0:11:15.580 we come in his presence. It's a privilege. And it's 0:11:15.580 --> 0:11:18.660 a privilege of his person. It's the privilege of his place. 0:11:18.820 --> 0:11:22.219 It's the privilege of his praise. Now get this. Where 0:11:22.220 --> 0:11:25.100 do you get that? Listen to this. And unto thee 0:11:25.100 --> 0:11:29.500 shall the vow be performed. Say, what in the world 0:11:29.500 --> 0:11:33.540 is going on here, Pastor Ford, where he talks about. 0:11:33.540 --> 0:11:36.819 And the the vow. Now, here's the context. I'm just 0:11:36.820 --> 0:11:38.500 going to. Bottom line, you got to do your own work. 0:11:38.620 --> 0:11:41.579 Here's what he's saying. We're waiting to praise God because 0:11:41.580 --> 0:11:46.339 praise is fitted for him. It's custom made, designed for God. 0:11:47.500 --> 0:11:52.500 So then it's part of the vow that I have made. 0:11:52.940 --> 0:11:56.219 Has anybody ever said, Lord, if you get me out 0:11:56.260 --> 0:12:02.140 of this. Has anybody ever said, Lord, if you just 0:12:02.140 --> 0:12:06.420 do this one thing, Lord, if you just forgive me 0:12:06.460 --> 0:12:12.300 one more time. Anybody ever say that? Yeah. Yeah. Mhm. 0:12:12.700 --> 0:12:18.300 That's what he's talking about. We owe God praise. And 0:12:18.300 --> 0:12:23.980 so since it's not ours we are cheating him. Because 0:12:24.020 --> 0:12:26.660 praise belongs to God. 0:12:29.700 --> 0:12:33.220 You're listening to treasure truth and a great reminder of 0:12:33.220 --> 0:12:36.579 praise and the privilege that it is to worship God. 0:12:36.940 --> 0:12:38.700 We're going to get back to this teaching from Psalm 0:12:38.700 --> 0:12:41.340 65 in just a moment. I want to let you 0:12:41.340 --> 0:12:43.179 know Pastor Ford has written a number of books. You 0:12:43.179 --> 0:12:46.780 can check those out when you come to our website, npr.org. 0:12:46.860 --> 0:12:49.380 Click on the link that says Books by Pastor Ford. 0:12:49.420 --> 0:12:52.300 You'll see the different titles available as a paperback or 0:12:52.300 --> 0:12:55.900 an e-book format. Again, that's at Treasure Truth Radio. Dot org. 0:12:56.860 --> 0:12:59.300 Back to our message. Here is Pastor Ford. 0:12:59.860 --> 0:13:02.060 Now, I could have broken this down several ways. You 0:13:02.059 --> 0:13:04.660 know I am. I'm a teacher, not a preacher. And so, 0:13:04.700 --> 0:13:06.940 you know, even on this, uh, you know, I just 0:13:06.940 --> 0:13:09.939 worked on it yesterday and, and I got three different outlines, 0:13:09.940 --> 0:13:11.860 but but here's what I want you to see. What's 0:13:11.860 --> 0:13:15.540 he talking about? In verses one through four, he focuses 0:13:15.540 --> 0:13:19.380 on the grace of God in verses five through eight, 0:13:19.420 --> 0:13:23.660 the government of God, and verses nine through 13, the 0:13:23.660 --> 0:13:28.020 goodness of God. Now get this he's saying, because of 0:13:28.020 --> 0:13:31.420 God's grace, because of his government, because of his goodness, 0:13:31.620 --> 0:13:34.820 we owe him praise. Now let me show you how 0:13:34.820 --> 0:13:36.700 he does it. If we'd have followed this outline, here's 0:13:36.700 --> 0:13:40.340 what we would have said because of the grace of God. 0:13:40.980 --> 0:13:43.060 And that's when God gives us what we do not deserve. 0:13:43.300 --> 0:13:46.420 We are to want him. That's verses one through four. 0:13:46.420 --> 0:13:49.179 We ought to want him. We ought to desire him. 0:13:49.300 --> 0:13:51.740 We ought to have a passion for him. But because 0:13:51.740 --> 0:13:54.699 of the government, that's his rule and reign, his sovereignty, 0:13:54.700 --> 0:13:58.300 that he's King of kings and Lord of lords, then 0:13:58.300 --> 0:14:03.420 we are to walk with him. One preacher say walk 0:14:03.420 --> 0:14:07.660 with the king and be a blessing today. And then 0:14:07.820 --> 0:14:09.900 the goodness of God. You know what that means. We 0:14:09.900 --> 0:14:12.660 ought to wait for him. There's things we want and 0:14:12.660 --> 0:14:16.460 we in a hurry. I want it like yesterday. And 0:14:16.460 --> 0:14:19.180 sometimes what we'll do is we'll rush. And I done 0:14:19.180 --> 0:14:21.580 told you ladies over and over again. But it's good 0:14:21.580 --> 0:14:24.660 to plug it in right now. You rushing God about 0:14:24.660 --> 0:14:27.900 a boo. And you get in the Ishmael. And God's 0:14:27.900 --> 0:14:30.100 trying to send you an Isaac. And the devil will 0:14:30.100 --> 0:14:33.620 always send you Ishmael before God sends you your Isaac. 0:14:33.620 --> 0:14:35.420 So the next one that try to step to you, 0:14:35.420 --> 0:14:40.740 just look at him say, gotta be Ishmael. I'm waiting 0:14:40.740 --> 0:14:44.700 on Isaac. And so what's it all about? Let me 0:14:44.740 --> 0:14:49.140 summarize it because Imma let you go home. AP Gibbs, uh, 0:14:49.260 --> 0:14:55.020 has a book called Worship The Christian's Highest Occupation. Now, 0:14:55.020 --> 0:14:59.020 here's what he said, and I quote, praising God is 0:14:59.020 --> 0:15:06.890 the occupation of the Christian soul. It's a job when 0:15:06.890 --> 0:15:13.690 the soul of a Christian is occupied and comprehends the 0:15:13.690 --> 0:15:21.090 blessings God has given. That soul is overcome with gratitude 0:15:21.450 --> 0:15:26.170 for the grace of God. So then it's the nature 0:15:26.170 --> 0:15:31.450 of the believer to praise God. He's saying, you can't 0:15:31.450 --> 0:15:36.410 separate believer from praise. Amen. And he goes on and 0:15:36.410 --> 0:15:37.650 let me get let me get the rest of it. 0:15:37.690 --> 0:15:42.690 He goes on to say, you can tell what something 0:15:42.690 --> 0:15:50.570 is by its nature, because. The nature of a thing 0:15:50.610 --> 0:15:53.130 tells what it is. Okay. And he goes on, and 0:15:53.130 --> 0:15:56.570 I quote, it is the nature of a dog to bark. 0:15:57.770 --> 0:16:01.530 If you have a dog and your dog don't bark. 0:16:02.170 --> 0:16:06.650 Something wrong with your dog? It's the nature of a cat. 0:16:06.690 --> 0:16:10.010 And this morning I said to meow. And Elder Dixon 0:16:10.010 --> 0:16:14.010 was like. He said, no, pastor, you know purr. I said, okay, 0:16:14.010 --> 0:16:17.130 I must have been thinking about meow mix. Meow meow 0:16:17.170 --> 0:16:19.570 meow meow meow meow meow meow meow meow. 0:16:19.610 --> 0:16:21.290 Meow meow meow meow meow meow. 0:16:21.330 --> 0:16:23.970 But it's the nature of a cat to purr. If 0:16:24.050 --> 0:16:27.770 your cat doesn't purr. There's something wrong with your cat. 0:16:28.410 --> 0:16:32.450 It's the nature of a fish to swim. If your 0:16:32.450 --> 0:16:39.570 fish don't never swim, it's dead. It's the nature of 0:16:39.570 --> 0:16:46.090 a believer to pray. And if you don't know. Praise God. 0:16:47.810 --> 0:16:52.090 Something's wrong with you as a believer. And I'm going 0:16:52.090 --> 0:16:54.290 to close and take my seat. But I need to 0:16:54.290 --> 0:16:58.570 tell you that some miracles only take place in the 0:16:58.570 --> 0:17:03.410 context of worshiping God. We talk about them all the time. 0:17:03.810 --> 0:17:07.650 But whenever the children of Israel walked around the wall 0:17:07.690 --> 0:17:10.609 on the seventh day, they were to shout to the Lord, 0:17:10.609 --> 0:17:14.050 now what did they shout? I'll tell you what they shouted, 0:17:14.050 --> 0:17:19.170 because Psalm 135 three says, Shout hallelujah to the Lord. 0:17:19.250 --> 0:17:22.369 So they didn't shout anything. They want to shout Hallelujah 0:17:22.369 --> 0:17:25.170 is the highest praise. And so here's what they did. 0:17:25.369 --> 0:17:35.890 All those over 2 million. Walking around the rock. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. 0:17:36.010 --> 0:17:38.889 And the wall came tumbling down. Want to know why? 0:17:38.930 --> 0:17:43.570 Because some miracles only happen in the context of worship. 0:17:45.450 --> 0:17:49.889 Paul and Silas in jail. They start worshiping. And what happened? 0:17:49.890 --> 0:17:56.209 You have jailhouse Rock for the first time. Because some 0:17:56.210 --> 0:18:02.010 miracles only happen in the context of worship. Jehoshaphat three enemies, 0:18:02.010 --> 0:18:06.570 they got him surrounded. And what happens? They begin to 0:18:06.609 --> 0:18:11.290 praise and sing, and it says. And the Lord set 0:18:11.290 --> 0:18:16.609 ambushes for their enemies. Because some miracles only happen in 0:18:16.609 --> 0:18:28.210 the context of worship. Oh, oh, come, magnify the Lord 0:18:28.410 --> 0:18:36.970 with me, and let us exalt his name together. That's 0:18:38.010 --> 0:18:42.530 worship folk, that's worship. Let me close. I said, one 0:18:42.530 --> 0:18:44.010 for the father, one for the son. This for the 0:18:44.010 --> 0:18:49.730 Holy Ghost. Blessed. Three and one Luke 1710. Lepers come 0:18:49.730 --> 0:18:52.330 into the presence of Jesus Christ. Now wait a minute. 0:18:52.690 --> 0:18:55.810 You're supposed to stay away from people, and I think 0:18:55.810 --> 0:18:58.169 it's 40ft. And when you get close to people, you 0:18:58.170 --> 0:18:59.490 gotta let them know you're a leper. So you you'd 0:18:59.490 --> 0:19:03.889 say unclean, unclean. But they got close to Jesus. Why, 0:19:03.930 --> 0:19:06.770 he let them in their space. In his space, when 0:19:06.770 --> 0:19:09.650 they came in his space. You know, I can imagine 0:19:09.650 --> 0:19:12.730 they're like, he doesn't do us like everybody else. He 0:19:12.730 --> 0:19:16.170 let us into his space. And then they didn't even 0:19:16.170 --> 0:19:18.889 have to say anything. They say, Lord, will you heal us? 0:19:18.890 --> 0:19:20.530 And he said, go show yourself to the priest. Now, 0:19:20.530 --> 0:19:23.850 what does that mean? Leviticus says, after you're healed. But 0:19:23.850 --> 0:19:26.170 what they do, they go before they're healed. Why? Because 0:19:26.170 --> 0:19:28.130 we walk by faith and not by sight. So they 0:19:28.130 --> 0:19:30.770 have faith. And they. And Jesus said, do you believe 0:19:30.810 --> 0:19:33.010 even when you don't see it, that I'm able to 0:19:33.050 --> 0:19:35.650 be it and do it for you, but then walk 0:19:35.650 --> 0:19:40.290 like you already have what you don't have? And it 0:19:40.290 --> 0:19:42.970 says as they turn, they were healed. And you know 0:19:42.970 --> 0:19:46.930 the rest of the story. Only one came back and 0:19:46.930 --> 0:19:52.730 Jesus said, did I heal? Ten? Well, how come only 0:19:52.730 --> 0:19:56.209 this Samaritan came back? You're getting ready to get up 0:19:56.210 --> 0:19:58.770 on out of here and break camp. But I want 0:19:58.810 --> 0:20:01.970 to ask you a question before you leave. Did you 0:20:01.970 --> 0:20:08.170 really worship God today? Did you pay your bill on 0:20:08.170 --> 0:20:10.369 time because it's due every first Sunday. 0:20:10.730 --> 0:20:12.090 Right? Yeah. 0:20:12.890 --> 0:20:15.170 Did you make a full payment or did you make 0:20:15.170 --> 0:20:16.450 a partial payment? 0:20:16.770 --> 0:20:17.210 Right. 0:20:19.170 --> 0:20:24.210 And do you know that until we are raptured or die, 0:20:24.810 --> 0:20:29.850 we can't praise him enough to pay it at one time? Yeah. 0:20:29.970 --> 0:20:35.650 So I'll see you Wednesday night or Wednesday morning so 0:20:35.650 --> 0:20:38.570 you can make another payment. And then I'll see you 0:20:38.609 --> 0:20:41.490 next Sunday, Lord willing, should he let us live. So 0:20:41.490 --> 0:20:45.530 you can make another payment. And then every Sunday and 0:20:45.530 --> 0:20:49.810 every Wednesday you make a payment. You're giving praise. You 0:20:49.850 --> 0:20:54.050 give him honor. You say, I can come into your presence. When? Now. 0:20:54.090 --> 0:20:57.290 All over this country, there are over 100 countries where 0:20:57.290 --> 0:21:03.040 they cannot do what we're doing right now. Darfur, Sudan. Uh, Syria. Uh, 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:10.320 in Aleppo and Iran. Iraq. Turkistan, uh, Kyrgyzstan, uh, North Korea, China, 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:13.680 all over the world, Christians are dying just for carrying 0:21:13.720 --> 0:21:17.000 a Bible, just for saying it. And you can come 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:21.200 in here and you can stay almost two hours and 0:21:21.200 --> 0:21:26.480 worship him without fear, without failure. Do you understand the 0:21:26.480 --> 0:21:31.040 privilege that you have? And I have to worship the 0:21:31.040 --> 0:21:34.560 true and the living God. We ought to praise him 0:21:34.560 --> 0:21:37.239 because he's the bright and morning star. We ought to 0:21:37.240 --> 0:21:40.400 praise him because he's the lily of the valley. We 0:21:40.400 --> 0:21:43.560 ought to praise him because he's the fairest of 10,000 0:21:43.600 --> 0:21:46.840 to our souls. We ought to pray because he wrote 0:21:46.840 --> 0:21:50.120 our name in his book. We ought to praise him 0:21:50.359 --> 0:21:55.040 because there's nobody else worthy of the glory of the 0:21:55.040 --> 0:22:00.640 honor of the praise all the time He richly deserves it. 0:22:00.760 --> 0:22:06.120 He rightly deserves it. He rightly deserves it. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! 0:22:06.480 --> 0:22:07.720 Glory to your name. 0:22:10.640 --> 0:22:13.760 That is Pastor James Ford Jr, inspiring us to come 0:22:13.760 --> 0:22:18.320 before the living God with passion and sincerity. You're listening 0:22:18.359 --> 0:22:21.720 to Treasure Truth, a message called the Privilege of Worship. 0:22:21.720 --> 0:22:24.520 And to hear previous programs come to our website, treasure 0:22:24.520 --> 0:22:29.600 Truth radio.org. Well, our program exists to nurture your faith 0:22:29.600 --> 0:22:33.720 in Christ and provide practical instruction for your daily life. Now, 0:22:33.720 --> 0:22:36.360 we do that through these audio messages and also through 0:22:36.359 --> 0:22:40.360 the resources that we choose to supplement Pastor Ford's teachings. Now, 0:22:40.359 --> 0:22:42.160 right now, when you give a gift of any amount 0:22:42.160 --> 0:22:44.240 to the ministry, we're going to send you a book 0:22:44.240 --> 0:22:47.960 by Pastor Ford called Seven Reasons Why God Created Marriage. 0:22:48.720 --> 0:22:51.399 So what's the difference between a Christian marriage and a 0:22:51.400 --> 0:22:54.639 secular one with someone who didn't really know? You? Be 0:22:54.680 --> 0:22:57.320 able to tell that you're a believer simply based on 0:22:57.320 --> 0:23:00.680 the way that you interact with your spouse. The book, 0:23:00.680 --> 0:23:03.880 seven Reasons Why God Created Marriage Will Strengthen the Pillars 0:23:03.880 --> 0:23:06.800 of Your Marriage. Whether you're newlyweds or you've been with 0:23:06.800 --> 0:23:10.320 your spouse for decades. So give a donation and request 0:23:10.320 --> 0:23:14.359 Pastor Ford's book, seven Reasons Why God Created Marriage. Call 0:23:14.359 --> 0:23:20.000 us at 888644 7660 or come to treasure truth. Radio.com. 0:23:21.200 --> 0:23:24.280 By working together, we can spread God's Word to places 0:23:24.320 --> 0:23:26.800 neither of us could reach on our own. It's your 0:23:26.800 --> 0:23:29.760 support that allows us to broadcast into homes, cars, and 0:23:29.760 --> 0:23:33.680 workplaces across the country. 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