S1: He saw the sovereignty, the dignity, the authority, the mystery,
S1: the superiority, the preeminence, the piety and the majesty of God.
S1: And if you see all that and still think you're
S1: all that, then something's wrong with your worship.
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 Hiller. Glad you're with us today as we
S2: continue our study of Psalm 65 and a message called
S2: The Privilege of Worship. Now, pastor, we've been talking about
S2: the fact that when we rightly see God for who
S2: he is and you just helped us do that a
S2: few moments ago, looking at his sovereignty, his dignity, his authority, mystery, superiority,
S2: all of that, then the natural outflow of that is
S2: to be worshiped. But how are we then, to look
S2: at ourselves? Because you just said, hey, you better not
S2: think you're still all that then.
S1: Right?
S2: How do we see ourselves?
S3: Um. You are all that is a colloquialism that we
S3: use a lot in our community. And, you know, we
S3: say we used to have it extended. We say, you
S3: think you're all that and a bag of chips, you know? Yeah.
S3: Now you know the dip as well. And sometimes we
S3: do think, as my momma used to say, we're so
S3: Suchy much, especially those of us who are now living
S3: the way God wants us to live most of the
S3: time and know the Word of God and and can
S3: see a society that's on its way to the proverbial
S3: hell in a handbasket kind of thing, and we can
S3: become pharisaical. Sure, we can really think that we deserve
S3: to be able to worship. And of course, everybody's saying,
S3: I say nay, nay, you know, but sometimes that's reflected
S3: in the way we come and fold our arms and
S3: expect to be Be entertained, rather than to experience and
S3: express our worship to God. And so when you look
S3: in Scripture, everyone who saw him in all of the
S3: things we talked about in His Majesty, in his magnitude,
S3: in his magnificence, what did they do? Isaiah saw him
S3: high and lifted up his train, filling the earth, and
S3: he said, woe is me, I am unclean and undone.
S3: And he said this, and you guys as well, because
S3: I dwell in the midst of a people with unclean.
S3: John said, I saw him. I fell down before him
S3: as though dead. Yeah. And I don't know whether I
S3: talked about this in this message, but I talk about
S3: it sometimes when I talk about worship. There was a
S3: popular preacher on television and he said, the Lord Jesus
S3: came into my bathroom while I was shaving. And he
S3: said to me, and I said to him, and we
S3: had this, you know, I said, oh, this is why
S3: I don't watch this mess, right? You know, number one.
S3: Jesus appeared in the glorified Christ appeared in your bathroom,
S3: and you kept on shaving, right? The glorified Christ appeared
S3: in your bathroom and you didn't cut yourself. Come on, man. Yeah.
S3: There's a dead monkey on the line somewhere.
S2: Exactly.
S3: Yeah. And when you sense the presence of God, like,
S3: sometime in our worship services, people will start, just start hollering,
S3: you know, and I'll say, quit looking at them. You
S3: don't know their story. So just let them praise God.
S3: You don't know what he just brought them through. Or
S3: somebody will run to the altar, throw themselves on the
S3: altar and people will be looking. Why are you looking
S3: at that person? Yeah. You know, focus on your worship
S3: and let them worship. Yeah. Yeah. That's their expression of worship. Yeah.
S2: Well, we're going to look at the privilege of worship today.
S2: So join us in Psalm 65 as we continue our message.
S2: Here is Pastor Ford.
S3: We ought to understand Stand that worshiping God is a privilege.
S3: We can call on him in prayer. And the psalmist
S3: says worship is a privilege because I get to call
S3: on God in prayer. So let me go back to
S3: the oh, let me go back to the oh, look
S3: at the text. O thou that hearest prayer unto thee
S3: shall all flesh come. Now, last week, anybody want to
S3: stand up and tell us what O means? Exclamation point! Excitement, enthusiasm.
S3: So he says in verse one, praise Waiteth for thee.
S3: I can't wait to praise God. Hey, listen, how many
S3: of you understand that worship is not a spectator sport?
S3: It's a participatory sport that all of us ought to
S3: be engaged in worship. So here he says, oh, I'm
S3: excited about you, God. I'm waiting to praise you. But listen,
S3: he's as excited about prayer as he is about praise.
S3: Raise right over your head. Say, what are you talking about?
S3: That's what I see. He says we ought to be
S3: worshipping God for the privilege of being able to worship him,
S3: because we can come to him in prayer, and we
S3: ought to be consistent. Now, some of you, uh, are not, uh, see,
S3: think about this. Uh, some of you like some of
S3: the songs that we sing, but not all the songs.
S3: Some of you like some of the verses about Jesus,
S3: but not all of them. Some of you like some
S3: of the sermons that I preach, but not all of them.
S3: Because right now some of you are saying, I'll be
S3: glad when this is over. Uh, he go on back
S3: to relationship or something, you know, it's like, okay, I,
S3: I get it, I get it, I get it. Some
S3: of you going to lose your enthusiasm at offering time.
S3: Here's what he's saying. We ought to seek for a
S3: consistent life that that that we are to love prayer
S3: as much as we love praise. I'm just excited about
S3: prayer as I am about praise. I know some of
S3: you are not excited about prayer. How do you know that?
S3: Because you never come. You never come to prayer. I
S3: pray at home, but the Bible says we should pray
S3: together as a corporate church that that we need to
S3: come together because the effectual if the effectual fervent prayer
S3: of a righteous man availeth much, then how much more
S3: the effectual fervent prayer of righteous people. So we come together,
S3: because in the midst of it we give God an opportunity.
S3: Acts 242 and and believe it or not, I'm I'm
S3: almost done. I'm getting ready to sit down because I'm tired.
S3: I ain't been this tired a long time. It says
S3: to continue steadfastly in the apostles doctrine. They were consistent
S3: in four areas in acts chapter two. 42 Apostles doctrine.
S3: What was that? That was the Bible, the word of God.
S3: Because they didn't have a completed canon. So they had
S3: the Word of God given to them directly by the apostles.
S3: Then fellowship, social and spiritual. In other words, they came
S3: to church. They came, they, they, they gathered together house
S3: to house, every day in the breaking of bread. That's communion.
S3: Then it says, and prayers. And the church got together
S3: and prayed, and they prayed together, and there was power.
S3: You remember the power. Remember what happened? They beat them
S3: in acts four and five and said, don't say anything
S3: about Jesus. Anybody who's been beaten don't want to open
S3: their mouth again. And it says, and the church prayed,
S3: and the Holy Ghost filled them. And they went back
S3: on the same corner where they had been beaten, Elder Green.
S3: And they began to preach the word of God. Peter
S3: went to prison. What happened? An angel fetched Peter from
S3: the prison. Well, what fetched the angel? Prayer? And maybe
S3: we don't see what we need to be seeing because,
S3: like the psalmist, we don't understand that we ought to
S3: have consistency in prayer as well as we do in
S3: everything else that we do. Come on, help me preach
S3: and get you out of here. Look at your neighbor
S3: and say neighbor. Is your prayer fundamental or is it supplemental?
S3: Go ahead. Ask him again. Is he your first response
S3: or is it your last resort? See, the psalmist knows,
S3: and the church ought to know, that it's a privilege
S3: to worship God. Why? Because you can call on him
S3: in prayer. And the Christian that does not worship, fellowship
S3: and prayer is like a student who will not go
S3: to school. A soldier who went AWOL from the army,
S3: a businessman on a deserted island, a seaman on a
S3: ship without a crew, an author without readers, a child
S3: without a family, a football player without a team, a
S3: politician who tells the truth and a bee without a hive.
S3: And so look at here. What's he talking about? He
S3: says the consistency. Oh, but then notice the communion of prayer.
S3: Thou he says, O thou talking to God, and thou
S3: that heareth prayer, and unto thee shall all flesh come. Notice,
S3: notice what he's doing. He's trying to get us to
S3: understand something. He's talking to God. Well, that's what you
S3: do when you worship, right? Yeah. Well. Well, why now
S3: do you emphasize it in the context of a worship
S3: song that has to do with thanking God for the harvest?
S3: Why are you doing this? Because we need to understand.
S3: Most of us think that prayer is primarily communication with God.
S3: It is not. It is not. Prayer is primarily communion
S3: with God, because you can go into his presence in
S3: an attitude of prayer and never open your mouth. You
S3: can be still before him and know that he's God,
S3: but prayer is just the privilege of coming. Okay, I
S3: know you get it. In other words, it's communion with God.
S3: I wonder if you remember the story of the empty chair. Uh,
S3: pastor was new and was visiting, and he went to
S3: the family's house and uh, they said, uh, said, yeah,
S3: I haven't been in church in a while because my
S3: dad is terminally ill and I want to be here.
S3: I don't want to be gone when he when he
S3: goes home to be with the Lord. New pastor said,
S3: can I go and talk to him? Said, sure. So
S3: he goes in and grabs a chair, sits down and
S3: starts talking to him and he says, uh, yeah, I'm
S3: going to be with the Lord. I finally get to
S3: talk to him. He said, well, you talk to him
S3: every day, don't you know? He said, you know, this
S3: prayer thing is kind of rough for me. So I
S3: don't pray. You never pray. No, I've never prayed. Why? Uh,
S3: I don't know, I just don't. I feel so far away.
S3: He said no, no, no, let me let me tell
S3: you something. Here's what you do. And he gets up
S3: off the chair. He puts the chair there. He said,
S3: imagine Jesus sitting on this chair and just talk to him.
S3: He said that easy. He said, yeah, just pull the
S3: chair up. Just talk to him. He said, okay, but
S3: don't tell my daughter. So a couple days later she
S3: called and said, pastor, my dad went home to be
S3: the Lord and. But I want you to do his homegoing.
S3: But the strangest thing was that I found him. He
S3: was half in the bed and half off the bed,
S3: and he had his head in the chair. And the
S3: pastor said, let me tell you what happened. And he
S3: told her he understood. Before he left here, prayer was
S3: communion with Jesus. And he put his head in the
S3: lap of Jesus Christ and went home to be with him.
S3: Now notice notice the other two things. He he's confident
S3: about the prayer. He says he hears prayer and he
S3: has a conviction about it. He tells us that everyone
S3: will eventually go to God in prayer.
S2: You're listening to Treasure Truth, a message called the Privilege
S2: of Worship. And really drilling down a little bit today
S2: on the topic and the importance of prayer, how we
S2: move forward in worship. We're going to get back to
S2: this teaching in just a moment, but if you've missed
S2: any of the broadcasts in this short series, come to
S2: our website. You can always catch up online, or go
S2: back and listen again to something that really moved you
S2: that God used in your life. Stop by. Treasure. Truth radio. Again. Treasure.
S2: Truth radio. Back to the message. Here's Pastor Ford.
S3: Here's the last one. Here's the last one. Look at
S3: verse three. Why should we consider worship a privilege? Because
S3: we can come into his presence. Because we have confidence.
S3: We can call on him in prayer. Here's the third one,
S3: verse three. Because we can be cleansed by him for pardon.
S3: Notice the text iniquities prevail against me, and as for
S3: our transgressions, they shall purge them away. Now here's all
S3: I want you to see. You don't have to make
S3: a whole big deal about this. Notice what he says.
S3: Iniquities prevail against me. What's he saying? He said, man,
S3: sometimes I do the things I don't want to do.
S3: So sin has a tendency to overwhelm me. Now, let
S3: me ask you a question. Is David a Christian? Yes.
S3: He's a struggling with sin. Yes, but what does he say?
S3: Thou shalt purge them away. Get this. He's saying, if
S3: I will admit them, God will acquit them. He said,
S3: God's going to pull a Johnnie Cochran. So, so, so
S3: the converse is true. If I don't admit them, God
S3: won't acquit them. Psalm 6618 if I regard iniquity in
S3: my heart, the Lord will not hear me. Okay, I see,
S3: I gotta come get you anyway. So he says, if
S3: I can face it, God will fix it. If I
S3: can confess it, God will conquer it. It's overcoming me.
S3: I admit that, but God overcame it. Now, I know
S3: you got your church look working this morning, but guess what?
S3: We're not any better than David. David said, man, you know,
S3: I took Bathsheba, had her husband killed, counted the people
S3: of God. And I'm a man after God's own heart.
S3: I got issues, and this one says, listen, when we
S3: come to worship, aren't you glad you could come up
S3: in here and worship God and he ain't holding it
S3: against you where you were last night, and he ain't
S3: holding against you what you was drinking last night, what
S3: you was snorting last night, what you was smoking last night,
S3: who you was downing and dogging and backbiting last night.
S3: Who you was jealous over last. Y'all ain't going to
S3: pray with me in here. I know, because y'all y'all
S3: got y'all holy working today. But all David says I'm saved.
S3: But I ain't all the way delivered. I'm saved. But
S3: I still have issues. And so are some of the
S3: people they saved. And they still mean that they saved
S3: and they still fornicating. They save and they still unforgiving.
S3: They're saved and they're still depressed. They're saved and they're
S3: they steal a gossiper. They save and they steal a suicidal.
S3: They're saved. And they still get jealous at the drop
S3: of a hat. They save and they still shackled. And
S3: if I didn't get you, just come on and tell
S3: your stuff what it is, because you've got some issues too.
S3: He says when you come to worship, it's an opportunity
S3: to get clean. To get a new slate. To come
S3: together and say, God, thank you that you're not killing
S3: me for the things I fought, the things I did,
S3: the things I said, the people I hung with. Thank
S3: God you're a God of grace. Thank God you're a
S3: God of mercy. David, how did you know that you
S3: were so bad off? Well, I knew it because of
S3: verse one. When I came into his presence. Well, what
S3: did you see? What did Isaiah see that made him say,
S3: woe is unto me. I am unclean and undone. Yes,
S3: and I dwell in the midst of an unclean. You
S3: know what? No. What? Isaiah, when he saw God, he said,
S3: I'm jacked up. And everybody jacked up, that as soon
S3: as you look at God and see him for who
S3: he really. You really realize how jacked up you really are. Because, see,
S3: some of you don't think you jacked up because you
S3: wasn't in the club, right? There are sins of omission
S3: and sins of commission and disposition. But guess what? There
S3: are sins of the spirit and sins of the flesh.
S3: According to what Paul says in two Corinthians seven one
S3: and you know what that means? That means sins of
S3: the flesh. You can see them. Sins of the spirit.
S3: You can't see them. because sins of the spirit, jealousy, envy, backbiting,
S3: maligning they're just as bad as drinking and drugging and fornicating.
S3: And you don't believe that. You don't believe that. You
S3: don't believe that. So what did he do when he
S3: came into his presence? He saw his person. So what
S3: was he? What was he? He was mesmerized by majesty.
S3: Get this, get this. Here's what he said. Now, now
S3: I'll show you. The more you see God, the more
S3: you ought to see yourself. In other words, you want
S3: to see your own misery. Then you first gotta see
S3: God's majesty. And when you see His Majesty, you'll understand. Now,
S3: Isaiah say he's a prophet. So? So he's in the
S3: year that King Uzziah died, I also saw the Lord
S3: high and lifted up. We always talk about that. Here's
S3: what he said. Sitting on the throne. What did he
S3: see in worship? The sovereignty of God, high and lift
S3: it up. What did he see? The dignity of God
S3: and his train filled the temple. What did he see?
S3: The authority of God and the seraphim and seraphim had
S3: two wings. They covered their face. What did he see?
S3: The mystery of God. They had two wings. They covered
S3: their feet. What did he see? The superiority of God.
S3: They had two wings that flew. What did they see?
S3: The preeminence of God. And they cry, Holy, holy, holy.
S3: What did he see? The piety of God. The whole
S3: earth is full of his glory, the majesty of God.
S3: Do you see what Isaiah saw? He saw the sovereignty,
S3: the dignity, the authority, the mystery, the superiority, the preeminence,
S3: the piety and the majesty of God. And if you
S3: see all that and still think you're all that, then
S3: something's wrong with your worship. Yeah. Yeah. David says when
S3: I fess up, he cleans me up every time I
S3: mess up. That's good news. Yes. If we admit it,
S3: he will acquit it. And we don't admit to sin anymore.
S3: Adultery is called an affair. Abortion is called a choice.
S3: Lying is called a spin. Sin is called a mistake
S3: or a weakness. And drunkenness is called a disease. And listen,
S3: I told you once before. But Imma say it again. Drunkenness. Okay,
S3: I understand all that. All the medical stuff I don't.
S3: I don't care what you say. The Bible calls it drunkenness.
S3: So that's what I'm going to call it. And like
S3: I told you before, I ain't never went and bought
S3: a fifth of measles. Amen. Amen. I never got me
S3: a pint of mumps. And so what's going on here?
S3: And I'm going to stop right here. What's going on here?
S3: He's saying, listen, listen. When you have God and you
S3: come to worship, You ought to be thanking him and
S3: praising him because Jesus is president of the universe and
S3: he didn't get voted in. My hope is built on
S3: nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not
S3: trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name.
S3: On Christ, the solid rock I stand. All other ground
S3: is sinking sand. And because he's awesome, I stand in
S3: awe and see you come and worship. And what David's
S3: trying to get us to see is this you lost
S3: your job, but you didn't lose your mind. You ought
S3: to praise him. You're at church and you're not in
S3: the hospital. You ought to praise him. You're sick in
S3: your body, but you ain't dead yet. You ought to
S3: praise him. You're not eating what you want to eat,
S3: but you're eating every day. You ought to praise him.
S3: Your kids are in college and not in jail. You
S3: ought to praise him. You owe. Your kids are in jail.
S3: But they ain't dead yet. You ought to praise him.
S3: You're on the bus, but you ain't got a car note.
S3: You ought to praise him. Yeah. I'm not waiting for
S3: the undertaker. I'm waiting for the undertaker. I'm going to
S3: give him praise. I'm going to thank him. He let
S3: somebody that's raggedy as I am come into his presence.
S3: Lift up my hands, open up my mouth and say
S3: thank you, Jesus. I love you, I praise you, I
S3: magnify you, I glorify you. You are awesome. You are wonderful.
S3: You and only you are the God of the universe.
S3: And I came today to worship you because that's the
S3: very least I can do. I can't pay you for
S3: my salvation. I can't pay you for my blessings. I
S3: can't pay you for my cleansings. Oh, but I can
S3: say thank you. Praise your name for all that you've done. Hallelujah.
S2: Refreshing and biblical teaching for your day. That's Pastor James
S2: Ford Jr. The fifth part of a message called The
S2: Privilege of Worship. And if you've missed any of the
S2: previous segments, you can always access those audio files when
S2: you come to our website. Treasure Truth Radio. Well, maybe
S2: you've heard the saying marriage is like flies on a
S2: screen door. Those that are on the outside are trying
S2: to get in, while those that are on the inside
S2: are trying to get out. You know, it's not a
S2: very flattering perspective, but it does give an insight into
S2: how our culture views the sacred bond between a husband
S2: and a wife. Well, maybe you've experienced some similar thoughts.
S2: The picture perfect relationship you thought you were agreeing to
S2: on your wedding day has turned into something that has
S2: just worn you out over the years. You're longing for
S2: your marriage to be restored. Well, the first step towards
S2: a healthy marriage is an understanding of the biblical foundation,
S2: God's intention when he invented marriage. You know, that's the
S2: topic of a book by Pastor Ford called Seven Reasons
S2: Why God Created Marriage. We'd like you to have a copy,
S2: and we're going to send it with our thanks. When
S2: you give a gift of any amount to treasure truth.
S2: Call us at 888644 7660 or go online to Treasure
S2: Truth Radio.com. Don't let your marriage go another day without
S2: placing it firmly on a biblical foundation. Give a donation
S2: and request seven reasons why God created marriage. Again, call
S2: us at 888644 7660 or go online to Treasure Truth Radio.
S2: I'm Steve Hiller. Our producer is Amy Rios. Join us
S2: again Thursday as we hear a new message called How
S2: to have an Effective Ministry that's here on Treasure truth.
S2: Treasure truth with Pastor Ford is a production of Moody Radio,
S2: a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.