What Are You Worshiping? - Leaders' Talks

Hey, I'm Professor Steve Hole.

I want to empower you today to walk in your true identity as a worshiper and warrior.

Embrace the power of God's Word and the Holy Spirit.

Today be encouraged with a word from my guest speaker.

Welcome to the Born for War podcast.

Brian Ming's going to be speaking this morning, so let's welcome Brian.

Well, good morning.

Man, it's a beautiful day out there, right?

Man.

Turn in your Bibles, if you will, with me to Matthew chapter 19.

Matthew 19 · chapter mention

And I am going to speak kind of a different message than I've ever spoken before on the subject of worship, but I don't think that I've ever used these portions of scripture.

And so it's going to be a little bit different spin, a little different angle about worship, and uh, but I hope it blesses you today.

So Matthew chapter 19, and this is the story of the rich young ruler.

Matthew 19 · chapter mention

Um give you just a little bit of context.

Here was a young leader, a young entrepreneur, I would say, um, probably a business person, pretty well off, pretty wealthy.

Uh, but here's the thing: this guy was a believer.

He was familiar with the things of God.

He was not opposed to anything with the Jewish faith.

Um, he was pretty devout.

And uh, but yet he comes to Jesus, and this is very interesting because here's this guy who has been in church his whole life, comes to Jesus, and he realizes I'm missing something.

And I would say this there was about a three-year period where my wife and I, and actually a band that we had put together, traveled from church to church to church to church, and we ministered almost in a different environment for about three years, almost every Sunday, and at conferences throughout the week.

And um, so I got a pretty good idea of kind of the landscape of the Christian church in America.

And I want to tell you what I've perceived or saw is this story that we're about to read is pretty true.

It's actually pretty accurate.

I find that there are a lot of Christians who come to church pretty devout, pretty consistent, they pay their tithe, they are maybe in a Bible study, but still, like this rich young ruler, like this devout follower of God, seeker of God, still feel like they're missing something.

Still feel like they're lacking something.

So let's dig in.

Let's start at verse 16, and this is where it begins.

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?

Then verse 17, why do you ask me what is good?

Jesus replied, There is only one who is good.

If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.

I love this.

In verse 18, the man replied, Which ones?

There's ten of them.

And this is what Jesus says.

Which ones am I supposed to keep?

He said, Don't kill people.

Anybody kill people this week?

All right, need to repent?

All right.

Okay, don't kill people, uh, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't bear false witness, honor your father and your mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.

The young man said to him, All these things I have kept from my youth.

What do I still lack?

Isn't this interesting?

He said, I've come to church.

In fact, everything that you told me about being righteous, I didn't kill anybody, promise.

I didn't steal any money, I didn't lie, I didn't cheat on my wife.

Um, in fact, I'm pretty much I've kept them all.

But yet, isn't it interesting that he says, but what must I do?

And so as I read this, well, let me finish the story and then I'll get to what what I'm gonna get to.

The youngin said, All these I have kept from my youth, but what do I still lack?

Jesus said to him, if you want to be perfect, stop.

Any perfect people in the room?

Raise your hand now, and we'll repent later.

No, I'm just kidding.

All right.

What he's saying here is not perfection.

He's saying if you want to be whole, complete, if you want to be mature, if you want the answer to your question about being on target with your life, you want to be perfect, then here's what you need to do: go, sell everything you have, and give it to the poor.

And you will have treasures in heaven and come and follow me.

Listen to verse 22.

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

When I thought of this uh story, it was it was obvious what came to my mind.

It was that how the Grinch stole Christmas.

Is that not what you were thinking of?

In fact, I wanted to play the clip, but I couldn't because of YouTube, we get kicked off, and you know if we play anything.

Um, so so I I made the quote here.

I here's the quote for the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Here's what he says, and you'll you'll probably recognize it.

He said, He puzzled and he puzzled till his puzzler was sore.

Aren't you glad you came to church today to hear something edifying, you know?

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.

Maybe Christmas, he thought.

Can you see Jim Carrey in your head?

Okay, all right, all right.

Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.

Maybe Christmas, perhaps, is just a little bit more.

You're like, what are you talking about, Brian?

Maybe this Christian life doesn't come from a church.

Maybe it's a little bit more than keeping a list of ten commandments.

I I love how Jesus does this in our lives.

Because we justify, we we we justify, we justify, we we have this way of living that we don't want, you know, anybody to touch or or to challenge.

And we know all the while, sitting in church, obeying the things of God, we're not killing people, we're not sinning out there.

We're not, I mean, we're we're doing what's right.

We're coming to church.

We might even be in a small group.

We're in the church, we're doing the right things, but yet what I found is people still know, like this rich young ruler, I'm missing something.

What am I missing?

What's lacking?

And Jesus says, Well, are you doing, are you killing people?

Okay, well, that's good.

All right.

Are you lying?

Well, that no, okay, that's good.

And then he pushes right past the fluff, he pushes past the justifications, he pushes past kind of our lukewarmness, and he says, Oh, oh, by the way, if you want what you're missing, here's what you need to know.

You love money too much.

You love money more than you love God.

And let me just say, this is not a happy ending.

Here is the son of the living God standing in front of a very intelligent leader who knows that something's off, and he knows that something's not right, and yet he's doing all the right things in his mind.

And Jesus says, the problem is, is that you've put money on the throne of your life.

It dominates you, it controls you.

You live your life under the rule and dominion of money instead of the dominion of God.

And here's what the young man does: he turns away, he drops his head, and he walks away and he says, Too high a price.

I can't deal with that.

The son of the living God, who would lay his hands on people or just speak a word and demons would come out.

Blind people that couldn't see would see.

Lame people who couldn't walk would get up and just walk away.

I mean, the son, the third person of the Trinity, one of the triune gods, is standing before this man and tells him, I know what you're lacking.

I know what you're missing.

You just love money too much.

And even the son of the living God speaking the truth wasn't enough to cause this man to say, I'm willing to dethrone what is in control of my life and put God on the throne.

Here's what I found, and this is point one.

Jesus gives the rich young ruler an ultimatum.

It's one of two things.

He basically said, here's life, here's death.

Here's good, here's bad.

And what I hope, I hope, I hope that when when I'm speaking up here, when Pastor Steve speaks up here every week, I hope you're uncomfortable.

Do you think the rich young ruler was comfortable with this conversation?

I hope that you're hearing enough truth that will challenge the justifications in your life that will make you uncomfortable enough to be wholehearted.

Have you heard that term before?

Wholehearted?

A few times?

Wholehearted?

Because when we get up here and we speak, we're we're after that 4% that you haven't given up to the Lord.

Every week it's the 4%.

It's the 4%.

What are you withholding?

What are you saying?

You can have all of this, God.

You can have 96%, but this four, this isn't mine.

And that's what Jesus said.

He said, the problem is you're doing a lot of the right things.

You're coming to church.

On the outside, everything's fine, but you're withholding.

You're really not going all in.

God is really not in control and the Lord of your life.

And he gives them an ultimatum.

He says, it's either life or it's death.

And the young man walks away from the Son of God.

By the way, the person sent by God, that in just a short while later will be whipped, falsely accused, the one that was sent by God to die and to shed his blood, be nailed to a tree, lifted up.

And you know there's scriptures that talk about that when Jesus is lifted up on the tree, he's beyond recognition.

People looked up who knew Jesus before and said, I don't even recognize him.

He was beaten so brutally, and it was so gruesome that he was beyond recognition.

The rich young ruler turns and says, Nah, I'll keep my money.

I'll keep my money.

When God the Father sent that man, the Son of God, to redeem and to die for the sins of this ruler.

Number two is this the ultimatum is what do you worship?

Can we say that phrase together?

What do you worship?

Here's what I found when it comes to worship.

The question is not, are you going to worship?

I remember this businessman in uh San Diego when we were planting our church, and he was kind of my tennis buddy.

And uh I got him to come to church.

I kind of you know was you know casting in the net with tennis.

So we go out and play tennis and and then we talk about the Lord, and I finally I got him to come to church, and and then he started coming pretty regularly.

And and so then, you know, we got together and we're playing tennis, and he goes, Man, he goes, I really like your speeches.

I'm like, you mean my sermons?

He goes, Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever.

He goes, like, your speeches are really inspiring.

I really like hearing you talk.

He goes, but you know what I hate?

I hate that music part.

He goes, when everybody, like when the music starts playing and you know, and everybody stands, and some people are lifting their hands or clapping and singing, he goes, I hate that part.

He goes, I feel so uncomfortable in that part.

And I'm like, oh, okay.

Well, and then I just basically told him, I said, well, let me explain to you.

You know, the Bible talks about, you know, singing to the Lord and and you know, lifting holy hands and clap your hands, all you people.

And like everything that you see in that part is actually for God to give him glory and to give him honor and to worship him and to praise him.

And said, I, in fact, I told him, I said, You may not know this, but you were created to do that.

He's like, I was.

And then uh listen to these verses.

Isaiah 43, verse 21, it says, The people I form for myself that they may proclaim my praise.

Isaiah 43:21

The people I formed for myself, that they may proclaim my what?

Praise.

He formed us, he made us, he gave us a voice, he gave us hands, he gave us a body to dance, he gave us everything that we have so that we can proclaim his praise.

Then listen to this, Isaiah 43, verse 7.

Isaiah 43:7

Everyone who is called by my name, who I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

So here's the issue.

We were made.

We were fashioned, we were created in such a way to proclaim and to give God glory.

But a lot of people are like, well, no, no, that that's not me.

You know, like in service, have you ever seen the military pose?

You know, I'm in the Lord's army and they they prove it during worship.

At ease, gentlemen.

You know, they got their you know, their posture.

But but but here's the thing.

Those who like get very, very quiet in church, I've seen my football games.

And sitting on couches, when their team scores a touchdown, they're like, yeah, yeah.

And all of a sudden they're pretty demonstrative.

But but when it comes to things of the Lord, it's it's different, you know.

I I just am reverent before the Lord.

And and and then I talk to people out you know out in the lobby, and you know, they're not really that vibrant in worship or expressive in worship, but then I I ask him about their car that they're rebuilding.

Oh, yeah, let me tell you about my car.

Um, oh man, it's awesome.

I just put this engine in, and I mean, they just come alive because we were created to worship something.

Let me ask you this question.

What is the first thing that you wake up thinking about?

Well, when you're not being responsible, and I know we're all responsible, okay?

So we work during the day, and you know, we do what we're supposed to do.

We pay our bills, you know, we provide, um, we you know, we we cook food, we all this stuff, but then you get to the end of all your responsibilities and you have me time.

It's it's now, okay, oh, everything's done.

All right, so now it's just what I want to do.

What is it that you go to first?

And that's a pretty good idea of what you worship, what you're into, what you long for, what you look forward to, what you think about and dream about, and you're excited about it, and and the Lord wants to be that.

He wants to be the object of your affection.

You were created for it.

That's why he told the the church in Revelation, he said, Man, come back.

Come back to your first love.

I remember the day when when you first encountered me, and I was all you thought about.

You you you lived, you breathed, you ate, you slept, you you dreamed, you dreamed about me.

I was your everything.

And here's the Jesus looking at the rich young rule, and he's like, the problem is that your object of affection is money.

It's what you worship, it's all that drives you, it's what you're into, it's the object that you've put as the object of your affection.

And I will not be second.

I'm either on the throne or I'm not.

I'm either first or I'm not.

We were created to worship God.

Do you remember Saul in the book of Acts, Acts 9, 3 through 6?

Here's what it says.

As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?

Why do you persecute me?

Who are you?

Saul asked, I am Jesus, who you are persecuting, he replied.

Now get up, go into the city, and you will find out what you must do.

Let me just say this ultimatum.

The rich young ruler was left with an ultimatum.

Jesus said, Sell everything you have and come follow me.

Jesus appears to Saul who becomes Paul.

And here's the thing about Saul, I relate with Saul.

Because if you've ever been somebody who's very driven for success, and you and you just want you you're really into accomplishment, like I want to, man, I want to accomplish something.

I want people to see like all that I've done.

This is Paul.

This is Saul.

He's so zealous about, man, this cannot be.

This this political agenda cannot be.

And I'm gonna get behind it, I'm gonna do everything I can.

That's Saul.

He's so into this is not right.

These Christians are taking over, and it's not right.

The only problem is he's investing in the wrong thing.

It's so important.

I gotta build that 401k, and it's gotta be it's gotta be sustained.

It's got that, and we spend our whole life focused on and passionate about that's most important.

And then Jesus shows up, and we have this God encounter, and he's like, Hey, I want to be number one.

You've focused your attention on all the wrong things, the object of your affection, everything that you're passionate about, everything that you're so zealous about, and And in even doing it in the name of God.

And Saul falls off of his donkey.

He falls off of his ass onto his butt.

He falls off of his donkey.

And he encounters the living God.

And all of a sudden, it's because of this God encounter that the object of his worship shifts.

His passions, his purpose.

Which is why Pastor Steve is up here week after week saying, Don't you realize that if we just seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, the 401k, it'll be fine.

Your business adventures will be fine.

Your ministry, your family, your relationships will be fine.

But here's the thing: put God first.

Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.

And all these other things will fall into place.

All these things will work their way out.

Everything will be great if he's first.

Point number three is this a God encounter can change who or what you worship.

A God encounter, when you truly meet with God, what is this worship conference about?

So many people like, eh, worship conference, like we're gonna sing for three days, ball ring.

Like, why would I want to come and do worship for three days?

But but don't you realize, understand, that what you're doing is pushing back from everything that usually drives you, and I'm gonna put God in that place.

And I'm gonna come and hear more and learn more about him.

And any conference we do, any any event we do around here, it's not just so that we have something to do.

It's to change our focus.

It's to put him front and center, it's to give us these God encounters where he becomes first again, where he continues to be in our mind's eye.

And we see him face to face.

And we we go back to that place where he's our first and our only love.

A God encounter changes everything.

Number four is this God is the only one deserving to be worshiped.

God is the only one worthy and deserving to be worshipped.

In these two stories, in the story of the rich young ruler, we have the ultimatum that is given.

Sell your possessions, come follow me.

And here's the thing I really don't believe that it had to do with, like, Brian, are you asking me to sell everything, give it to the church?

Um, and that's not what I'm asking.

In fact, I'm not opposed to, and I think Steve would agree with this, that people would be abundantly blessed and have lots of money.

I pray that you're blessed and have tons of money.

So you can bless the works of the of the kingdom and man, be a blessing.

I want you to be blessed and have lots of money.

I just don't want money to have you.

That's what Jesus is talking about.

He's saying, it's fine for you to have plenty of money.

It's just not right for money to own you.

And that's the danger.

That's the danger.

God is the only one who's deserving.

Point number five is this: God will refuse to be second in your life.

God refuses to be second in your life.

Here's what Jesus said in Matthew 22.

Love the Lord your God.

In fact, this is interesting because we talked about the Ten Commandments and the rich young ruler, and then Jesus is asked, which is the greatest commandment?

And this is what he says.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.

This is the first and the greatest commandment.

Why?

Why would he say this?

Why is it that all that God wants is everything?

It's all he wants, is everything.

He just wants it all.

He said, I just want to be first.

And a lot of people say, well, yeah, you know, I prioritize my life.

You know, and I God's involved in my life.

If you think God is on your list, but he's not first, I'm telling you, he's not on your list.

If he's a part of your life, but he's not the center of your life, he's not on your list of priorities.

He will not be second, third, fourth, fifth.

He will not be anything but first.

And you're like, is God a narcissist?

We talk about this in Worship Academy.

God commands us to worship.

Is he insecure?

Does he need the affirmation?

Is he like, tell me how good I am?

And what we've concluded, we've had so many group discussions in Worship Academy.

Who gets more out of worship, God or us?

And what we've concluded, oh, by the way, God is holy.

I remember singing, holy, holy, holy, and the Lord spoke to me and said, What does that mean?

I said, Well, you're holy.

And then he said, What does it mean?

I said, Well, you're holy.

Holy.

He goes, You don't have any idea, do you?

I'm like, nope.

Been leading worship for 20 years.

No idea what that word meant.

We had to look it up.

It means that he is whole, he is complete, he is perfect.

You can never add anything to God, you can never take anything away from God.

Who he is right now is who he was at the beginning of time and who he will be a million years from now.

You cannot, your worship doesn't add anything to God.

He is already everything glorious that he is right now that he always will be and always has been.

He's that great.

He's that holy.

So, as we talk about who, is God a narcissist?

Is he insecure?

No, no, no.

What if we're the ones that need to talk and proclaim how good he is for our benefit?

What if we're the ones that need to give him glory?

Because he is worthy, because he is the all in all.

God demands our worship.

He commands our worship, not because he's insecure, he does it for our benefit.

He does it so that he can be first in our life, he does it so that when we glorify him, he can come in with his presence and he can change and transform and renew us.

The rich young ruler walked away sad, walked away lacking.

But if you notice Saul, after he has this God encounter, he looks at him and he goes all in with God.

Whereas he was seeking the wrong things, he was focused on the wrong agenda, he was focused on all his political ideas and the things that he needed to accomplish, you know, for Jewish customs.

But he has this God encounter and he sees the living God.

And when he sees the living God, everything changes.

So, Father, I thank you for this day.

I thank you for these stories, these accounts, these true events.

And you're challenging us.

And I do.

I pray that people are uncomfortable today.

I've learned that you're not as concerned about my comfort as I think you are.

You're always working on me.

You're always challenging me.

You're always wanting me to return, to get to that place where you are the center, where you are first, the very most important and precious thing, my object of worship.

God, as we come to you and even in the next few minutes, begin to lift our voice, lift our hands, we pray, God, that you would be glorified and you would help us to be realigned to that point of surrender and consecration where we give you everything and you are our all in all.

We love you, Lord.

Thank you for listening to the Foreign for War podcast.

We hope today's message has empowered you to make a difference in your world.

To conduct with Pastor Steve's sermons, books, and blog, visit Steve Holt Online.org.

God bless you.