Sermon
What Happens When We Worship | Week 1
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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It's good to see you guys this morning.
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My name is Kyle service lead Pastor here.
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If you're visiting today, I want to say thanks for being here.
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Glad you're here, worship with us, I'm going to have you turn
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to your Bibles to two places in your Bibles today.
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First, we'll look at a verse in Romans 11.
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We'll look at verse 36 here in a moment and then the bulk of our
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reading really will come from Genesis chapter 3.
Genesis 3 chapter mention
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But you can look at, you know, you can kind of hold your finger
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at one. If you want.
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I'll read a couple of verses from there.
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But largely will be in Genesis chapter 3 as we expound on what
Genesis 3 chapter mention
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we're going to see in Romans 11. So they were going to go
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together. But today, what we're doing is
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we're starting a new series series is called what happens
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when we worship. And so, in this series of the
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next 13 weeks, we're going to examine the Theology of worship,
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the anatomy of worship, and what we should do in response to
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those things that we see in God's word, going to look at How
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do we worship? But what happens when we worship
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today? Our topic is created to worship.
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You have been created to worship.
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You are created for worship, you are wired for worship.
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And so I want to talk to you about the origin.
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The purpose, the means of worship and and help that inform
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the lives that we live. Hopefully in worship to the
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Lord. And so if you would, would you
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stand with me as we read a Romans 11:36?
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It's allowed. God's word says, in Romans 11:36
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for from him. That is from the Lord and
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through him, and to him are all things to him, be glory forever.
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Amen. This is God's.
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Holy word. Thanks be to God.
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Let me pray. Heavenly Father we praise you
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for your word and a verse as simple as Only several words.
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Says so much about why. We're here.
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What our purpose is how we got here.
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The Lord is my hope. It is my prayer that today, we
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would see from your word that we were created for worship.
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And in many ways we are always worshipping.
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Father is you were well aware at times we get our worship wrong.
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At times, we worship in ways that we, like, we worship things
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that we think are worth worshiping.
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And so, our worship is misplaced misunderstood at times.
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It's sinful. So Lord, we ask that you would
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help us to regain as we go through this series over the
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next few weeks. We gain an understanding of what
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Biblical worship is that you have not been silent on worship,
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but that you have spoken clearly from your word on how we are to
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worship. So Lord help us to grasp that
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Vision, help us to understand your word, help us to apply it.
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So Lord, we in that prayer, we are desperate for your Holy
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Spirit to give us insight to give us understanding and
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knowledge and wisdom on how to apply it.
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Or we need you to sanctify, our hearts and Minds by your spirit,
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through the washing of your word today.
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We are dependent upon you as we open up your word as we read
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from it, as we see it. So, Lord, I pray that you help
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me along in this help me to proclaim the excellencies of
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Christ today. It having heard today.
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The people do not hear Kyle they hear Christ reach.
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That his word is a bomb into their souls, that it's not me.
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Lord help us to be devoted fully to your son, Jesus Christ, name
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I pray. Amen.
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Amen. You may be seated So when I say
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worship, which I've said multiple times already, it's
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most likely that you envisioned like the singing part of the
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service, right? When we say worship often, we
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think that worship is, its, are singing.
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And that's really, by Design over the last several decades,
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and depending on your church background, you may even
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Envision like private singing to God in your home or maybe even
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your in your chair at church, you know.
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We're kind of raised at times to think that worship happen.
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Right there in your seat or your Pew.
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And it's just between you and the Lord.
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And it's really, it's all about your experience.
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These understandings are the result of what we might call the
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Contemporary worship movements, which is really popular.
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It's done a lot for church growth, it's done a lot for
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modernizing things and not that everything that's come out of.
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It has been wrong but much of it is misplaced by Design.
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There's really a long history that we don't have time to get
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into fully today. And so, I'd like to just provide
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a brief explanation of the roots of contemporary worship.
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Contemporary worship, the idea that it's about your singing and
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that singing must move you to some emotional feeling kind of
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stir you up in some way, the roots of that or Pentecostalism
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and revivalism the birth out of those things of a goal and
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Pentecostalism or Pentecostal worship is to provide the
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worshipper with A personal experience with God, a personal
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encounter with God. And so, you'll hear that
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language often that you come and see the presence of God, come
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experience the presence of God With Us, come experience, a move
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of the spirit. God is on the move here.
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God is doing great things in this worship service.
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You know, you don't want to miss this.
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And that's that is its purpose is to stir up the emotions of
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the worshipper so much so that he or she feels like they have
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worshipped God. There's Goose he's and there's
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chills and there's palpitating heart beats and maybe sweat
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revivalism is really much in the same vein.
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They kind of entered the scene really around the same time as
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in the 1800s and revivalism got its jump.
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Start with a man named Charles Finney.
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He's really kind of the founder of revivalism in the 1800's, a
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finished purpose, Finney was a traveling preacher and he would
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preach Revival services and his purpose for these.
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Revival Services was to stir up the emotions of those in
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attendance so much so that it forced them to make a decision
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for Jesus. Am I call these salvations?
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They might call them decisions but it was a decision is MM.
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It's just largely based on their emotions.
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He was playing on the emotions of the congregation in song.
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How many of you know that song Moves you right like you hear a
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song and you go back to moments in your life where you first
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heard that song over that song is connected to some feeling or
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something, right? For should I have a song that
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you know, that we share? Air between us.
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That's it's a, you know, a lot of songs so when I hear that
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song played my mind is in raptured with just visions of
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Patricia, like all the moments we've had in our life, right?
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This is what music does? It moves people?
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It's created by God to move people.
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But it's like any tool that God gives us can be misused and so
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Finney would play on the emotions of the congregation in
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song. He would especially do this in
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his preaching and most of all he would do it with emotionally
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driven altar calls. Then he was quoted.
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He wanted to find these quotes about this was he says, yes, the
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spirit works, but we must work first.
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Did you see how that is backwards?
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Yes, the spirit works. But we must work first.
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So, this makes God dependent upon us for all things
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pertaining to our godliness. It puts man first, he must move
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if God is going to move. And so, contemporary worship
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takes shape in light of early Western Pentecostalism and
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revivalism it has been a wide sweeping movement over the last
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several decades. Now throughout church history,
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worship has sorry, worship was understood as the entire Lord's
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day service. We us why we call this our
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worship service, over. When we come together to worship
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God, it's not that we just come together to sing.
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We come to seeing, yes, but we come to pray together.
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We come to hear the word Todd. We come to preach the word.
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We come to read the scriptures, we come to celebrate the Lord's
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Supper like we'll do today. We come for baptisms when we
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have those right? There's lots of things about.
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There's several things that go into a worship service.
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But the emphasis in contemporary worship is is on the worshipper.
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it's on the the song part of the service, especially And so, the
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emphasis is taken off of the one being worshipped.
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And it's put on the one who is worshipping songs are written
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and performed in such a way, as, to stir up, the emotions of the
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worshipper to manipulate their feelings.
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So that they feel like they have worship, which might lead to a
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greater response during the altar call, if a church has one
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and largely, it's emotional manipulation.
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Most of us have been discipled in this most of us.
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Just, this is learned behavior and so I don't really blame
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congregations for this. I blame leaders for this blame
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pastors for this. It happens in churches across
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the globe, it happens in churches across our County, it's
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happening right now. I've attended several of these
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churches, in my time in Magnolia, which is a life.
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The service starts large often with an upbeat song, the song of
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praise and then it moves into a slower song and then oftentimes
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an even more slower song which is called worship song.
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The first song is a praise song, these songs are now worship
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songs and before it might it'll finally wrap up with a fourth
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song that is either another upbeat song or a slow song
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depending on what is planned for the sermon that day.
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So the transition to the sermon becomes easier based on what
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kind of song you end with when the preacher is finished.
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You sing something like just as I am 17 times until people
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respond to the preachers call appropriately, right?
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Until the spirit has moved. I can remember sitting in
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worship services and the preachers saying, you know, at
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12:15. After he's preached, after we've
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seen more, more singing is happening.
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More calling upon the holy spirit to move on us is
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happening. And he's saying, we're not
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leaving this place. Until we sense the presence of
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the spirit. It's wrong.
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It's false teaching. It's ungodly.
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It's sacerdote ilysm really is what it is.
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It's and and that means that it is.
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It's all about the emotions of something and you're having to
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sacrifice sacramentalism. Sorry, it's all about.
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The things that are being performed to make the certain
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experience happen. It's Roman Catholic and approach
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is what it is. And so the service starts that
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way and ends that way. And the result is an emotionally
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manipulative people go away thinking that they have
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experienced God possibly even responding and what they think
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or they're told is Faith In Jesus because they raise their
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hand and the preacher. Pray to congregational prayer
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over them. And then what happens, these
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people who have this emotional stirred up experience flame out
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at some point, because Emotions, Don't Last, you can't carry that
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emotional High into the rest of your life, that emotional high
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was caused by everything happening in that service, that
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force, that person to make that decision.
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You can't maintain that in your daily lives, the Christian Life,
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as we say, around here, as Eugene, Peterson wants to.
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It's a long Ants in the same direction.
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Right, it's day after day waking up and living for the lord, it's
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showing up to worship services and worshiping god with the
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congregation. It's not about stirring up.
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Emotions are emotions that go into it.
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Absolutely, absolutely. Their emotions that go into
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Charles Finney also said this. He said a Revival is not a
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miracle. What a Revival is not a miracle
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or dependent on a miracle in any sense.
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It is purely philosophic. That means it's scientific.
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It can be figured out, it's the result of the right use of the
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constituted means. What's he saying?
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You get all the right elements together.
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You'd all the right pieces together and you perform them in
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the exact way. You will have Revival.
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We see this today is churches still practiced planned.
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Revivals weekly revivals? Who in the lot of the same
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things that they would say they disagree with.
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Emotions of such worship might be good the motivation.
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Sorry, if such worship may be good, but there is a better way.
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There's a far better way. There's God's way to doing this.
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The problem with such worship is that man is the standard of
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worship. He is the center of worship,
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your starting with the congregation, and you're saying,
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let's do what he or she needs to have an emotional experience.
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You're starting with the leaders who are saying, we need to make
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this. This happen, it's manipulated
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for man's purposes, God's purposes.
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These people are not truly trying to build the kingdom of
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God, man cannot be the standard of Godly worship because Godly
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worship is decided by God Alone. Jonathan Cruz wrote this in a
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book he said worship is Meaningful, not because of what
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we do, but because of what God is doing and in and through Us
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by his spirit, Therefore, we must not only sanctify Our
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Lives. We must sanctify our worship
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also. But none of us disagrees that
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our lives, should be Sanctified that we should be putting away,
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sinful thoughts. If you got a problem with lust,
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you should put that away, right? None of us is going to argue
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that. If you got a problem with anger,
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you're angry at a brother, you're angry at a sister.
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You're like, you should put that away, you got a problem with
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bitterness, you should be depending upon the Lord to help
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you put that away, right? None of us is saying, we
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shouldn't be sanctified But when it comes to our worship, we
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often think there's no need to sanctify it.
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But it's not true. Like, there's reason to grow in
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what we understand about God, and how we worship God, and to
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look into his word and see what it says about worship.
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And to see is what we're doing aligning with what God's word
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says about worship. The let him sanctify our
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worship. So I want to put before you
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today this really kind of basic big idea but worshiping God his
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way is the most important thing you will ever do in your life.
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Learning how to worship God. His way is, the most important
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thing you will ever do in your life.
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In fact, you were created to worship.
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Why God created you was to be a worshipper?
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Romans 11:36 again, says, for from him and through him, and to
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him are all things to him, be glory forever.
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Amen. First phrase, therefore from him
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from him, are all things. The Apostle Paul here is telling
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us that all things originated from God.
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From him are all things. That means out of God, comes all
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things. This is what happens in creation
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will look a little more at that in a moment.
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He is the source of all things. Amen.
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Through him are all things for from him and through, him are
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all things through him. Are all things, all things have
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their life. and their function and they're being because of God
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who created them, they came out of him and so therefore they
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exist, what through him He decides their existence, they
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have life because of him, for from him, and through him are
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all things. And so if it's from him and it's
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through him, then once it's in, it's to him, right?
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To him are all things for from him and through him.
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And to him are all things, all things, find their end in God.
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A plant that grows. Sprouts up from a seed or from
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something that was germinated, right?
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This plant Springs forth out of the ground.
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What is it doing? It's worshiping God.
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It's doing exactly what it was created to do.
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All right, it's living according to the will of God for its life.
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And so it exists all creation exists unto God.
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Only we might say it this way. Got us to Source the life.
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And the end of all things is the source of life, in the end of
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all things to him, alone belongs the glory.
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No. See Apostle Paul says the glory
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not Glory but the glory the apostles saying that Supreme
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Glory belongs to God, that all the glory Belongs to the Lord.
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And so all of creation and is shouting.
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Fourth, the glory of God because all of creation has come from
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God. All of creation is there for
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worshiping God. If you'll pay attention, like if
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you look around and notice creation, this is what creation
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is doing. And your life is no different.
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You were created to bring glory to God, who created to Worship
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the Lord, you were created to be that to be bringing forth into
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the world. Proper Godly worship as we see
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in the scriptures. One man's definition of worship
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is this he says it's Drawing Near to communion with God
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through Christ in the spirit by faith.
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That's important. You may write that down Drawing
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Near to communion with God. Through Christ in the spirit by
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faith. It's trinitarian and nature.
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This is true worship, drove. Do we draw near to God through
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Christ in the spirit by faith? It's not just that God said some
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things about worship. It's not just, it's not just
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that he's, you know, he might have some ideas about worship
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and now we get to do kind of whatever we want with in worship
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and we can call that worship because, you know, anything
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that's done. In the name of the Lord must be
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good, right? Oh, this is why there's false
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teachers and false teaching, right?
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It's not just false teaching is not just other religions.
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It is false teaching. Sure.
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But false teaching is that which looks Christian.
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But, as false in nature, right, And the Christian world is far
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more full of this than we might initially realize.
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It's because something Bears, the name Christian.
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Doesn't mean it's Christian, doesn't mean it's biblical, all
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right. And so, in the creation event,
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that we see in the beginning of Genesis, is the creation of
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worship. It's the Genesis of worship,
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it's the foundation for worshipers over and again,
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throughout God's word, we see that the purpose of creation is
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to proclaim the glory of God. What are you doing?
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When you proclaim the glory of God, you're worshiping right?
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Perhaps someone 48 which Alan preached on last month, is one
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of the clearest pictures of this truth.
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Let me just read some of the verses I probably won't read it
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all just for time sake but praise the Lord.
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Praise the Lord from the heavens, Praise Him in the
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Heights, praise him all his angels, praise him.
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All his hosts, Praise Him, sun and moon.
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Praise him. All you shining stars.
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Praise Him. You highest heavens and you
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Waters above the heavens, let them praise the name of the Lord
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for he commanded and they were created and he established him
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forever and ever. And he gave a decree.
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And it shall not pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth.
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You great sea creatures and all beeps fire and he'll snow and
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Mist, stormy, wind fulfilling his word mountains and all Hills
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fruit trees, and all Cedars beasts, and all, livestock
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creeping things and all Flying birds Kings of the earth, and
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All Peoples, princes, and all rulers of the earth, young men
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and maidens together old men and children.
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Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name, alone is
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exalted. His majesty is above heaven and
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earth. He has raised up a horn for his
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people. Praise for all his Saints, for
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the people of Israel who are near to him.
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Praise the Lord. So they wouldn't read it all,
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but I got caught up in it, right?
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Psalm 148. What's the point of the song?
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Praise God. Why?
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Because from him and through him and to him are all things to
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him, be the glory forever. Amen.
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Right. This is why we praise the Lord.
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So worshiping God his way again is the most important thing you
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will ever do. And so, when God makes Mankind,
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we read this in Genesis 1:26 and 27.
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It says then God said Let us make man in our image.
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So this is a trinitarian creation.
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Let us make man in our own image after our likeness and let them
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have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of
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the heavens and over the livestock and over all the Earth
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and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
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So God has at day six, he's at the end of day 6.
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Everything else in the Earth has been created and now he says,
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here's the crown jewel of creation Mankind and our image.
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Each male and female. For what purpose, the exercise
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Dominion to be fruitful and multiply to subdue.
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The earth. Does that mean to fill the Earth
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with the glory of God? Does that mean to be worshippers
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on the Earth? So God created, man in his own
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image. In the image of God, he created
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him male and female he created them.
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So to be created in the image of God is to Bear the impress of
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your creator. It's like the impress of the
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idea here is like the impress of a president on a coin, right?
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It Bears the image of the Creator but it's not the
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Creator, right? That coin Bears, the impress of
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a president but it's not the President, right?
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Nobody's saying, hey, I'm hanging out with Abe Lincoln
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today. All right no I got a penny in my
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pocket. All right.
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So you are not the Creator but you bear the image of the
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Creator. You're not the one worth
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worshiping but you were the one created to be a worshipper and
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he gave them the purpose of fruitfulness.
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Like you're meant to reflect the glory of God as a mirror
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reflects, what's in its view right?
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Again a mirror gives a reflection of what it sees, but
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it is not what it's he's right. We wouldn't hold up a mirror and
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say, hey, this has been Brigham just because Ben's image is in
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it. All right, but that's not how
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mirrors work. But it reflects the image of
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been just as you were created to reflect the image of your
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Creator. And so God made man to reflect
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his glory in all the Earth, gives them the purpose of
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fruitfulness Dominion to carry that throughout the Earth.
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So that his glory would fill the Earth.
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What does he do? When he calls Israel?
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The nation of Israel was supposed to do.
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What carry the glory of God? Into all the Earth was Israel.
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Get it right? No.
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And so the Old Testament is really all about the failure of
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Israel. To carry into image, the glory
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of God, there's pockets of hope, there's remnants of Hope, But
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ultimately we're still looking for someone to do that.
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And so Christ comes So when God places the man into the garden
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God, so he created him outside the garden.
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God takes Adam, always kind of imagine that.
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He's like just picking him up and placing him but probably not
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how it worked, right? Sounds good.
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But he takes Adam and he puts him into the garden and the
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Genesis 2:15, he gives him instructions.
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He says that he has to work it and keep it.
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To work and keep the garden. And interesting thing about this
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phrase in Genesis 2:15, is that Moses later uses it to describe
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the work of the Levites? Intending to Temple worship.
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They were to work it and keep it.
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I'm not even going to try to pronounce the Hebrew word for
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you, but it's the same phrase. So what was Adam created to do?
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He was created to be a priest on the earth to Bear the image of
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God. And the same way that the priest
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later on would carry the presence of God would tend to
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his presence in to make sure that God's glory could be seen
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properly. They could receive proper
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worship. This is what Adam was supposed
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to have done. And so in this God not only
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created Adam to worship, but he told him how to worship here to
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work and keep, he's giving him instructions for worship.
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Like I've put you in my place, this is My Sanctuary so to
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speak. I put you in my garden, but it's
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for my purposes, your to work it and keep it your, to cultivate
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it. You're to help it grow
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throughout the Earth. It would happen through
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cultivation and protection that Adam would Would do this.
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And so in this God will be glorified as Adam reflected the
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glory of God through his fruitful worship to God.
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But what happens in Genesis chapter 3?
Genesis 3 chapter mention
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We got the man in the woman created in Genesis 1.
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We see a close-up picture of what they were supposed to do
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and how they came to be. We see Adam created from the
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dust of the ground Eve's created from his rib to be a help me to
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Adam in working and keeping, and they were both to be fruitful
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multiply the exercise Dominion subdue, the Earth, and fill the
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Earth with the glory of the Lord.
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But in Genesis chapter 3, Our worship is disrupted by the
Genesis 3 chapter mention
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founder of Lies. The devil in the form of a
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serpent comes to Eve Who's Adams wife and he Tim's Sir With The
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Forbidden Fruit of the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil.
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So we got to place Adam in the garden.
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He gives him the command to work and keep but he gives them a
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command. Also, do not eat of the tree of
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knowledge of Good and Evil. From the day that you eat of it,
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you will surely die. She knows she's not supposed to
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eat him. He even adds to the command.
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I'm not supposed to eat it. Nor am I even supposed to touch
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it? The vet, the devil convinces.
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Her that this is simply the command of an egomaniac.
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Oh God. this is a God who, Who doesn't want you to be like him,
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but if you'll eat of that fruit, you'll be just like him and you
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won't need him anymore. How many of us fall to the
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temptation to be our own God daily?
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Take control of our own lives to do what we think is best without
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ever considering the commands of God in Scripture.
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I'll raise my hand. Guilty of that.
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The serpent says, to the woman. You will not surely die.
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I mean, I can, I don't know if I'm getting the inflection,
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right? But it just sounds like he's
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appalled by the fact that she says, will truly dies.
-
He will surely die. For God knows.
-
This is him. He's goes on, forgotten knows
-
that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you'll
-
be more like God, you will be like him knowing Good and Evil.
-
Woman hears this and we read this as so when the woman saw
-
that the tree was good for food so she hears what he's saying
-
she turns and she looks at the fruits.
-
That's when she saw that the tree was good for food and that
-
it was a delight for the eyes tree was to be desired.
-
To make one wise, she took of its fruit and she ate.
-
And she also gave some to her husband who was with her, he ate
-
Again, this is the temptation of daily and struggles, you know,
-
you might know the commands of God and you might be saying to
-
yourself. No, I can't.
-
Can't act this way or can't do this thing, or can't pursue that
-
desire because it goes against God's command.
-
I know that I've heard that my whole life and then what
-
happens? The tempter comes right.
-
The father of Lies comes to you and he says you want surely die
-
if you do that. God's trying to keep you from
-
enjoyment, trying to keep you from being your own God.
-
He doesn't want you to be like him.
-
Like if you'll just pursue all the desires of your heart, guess
-
what? Your God.
-
Now, you're the god of your own life.
-
This is the LIE of the world. This is what there?
-
This is what they're falling into, so rapidly in our world.
-
So what we have here in Genesis chapter 3 is the origin of sin
Genesis 3 chapter mention
-
in mankind. It's the beginning of it.
-
It's the Genesis of sin, this is where Godly worship gets
-
disrupted and so we read, we go on the reading the narrative,
-
then the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they
-
were naked and they sewed fig leaves together and made
-
themselves loin cloths. And they heard the sound of the
-
lord of the Lord. God Walking In The Garden in the
-
cool of the day and the man and his wife, hid themselves from
-
the presence of the Lord God Among the Trees of the garden.
-
So what's happened? Their eyes are opened They were
-
once it's not that there were blind they were once pure.
-
Everyone's holy as God is. Holy There were once without sin
-
but now their eyes have been open to evil.
-
Why? Because they experienced evil,
-
they committed evil, they committed transgression against
-
God and now they know who it. And they knew that they were
-
naked. It says they were exposed before
-
God and so they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves
-
loin cloths, they heard the Lord coming the hid themselves.
-
From the presence of the Lord, among the Trees of the law, of
-
the garden of Lord. God Called To The Man.
-
He said to him, where are you? And he said I heard the sound of
-
you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I
-
hid myself. God said who told you that you
-
were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of
-
which I commanded you not to eat.
-
The man said, the woman whom you gave me to be with me.
-
She gave me fruit of the tree and I ate and then the Lord said
-
to the woman, what is this? That you have done?
-
And the woman said, the serpent deceived me and I ate.
-
So again, here we see the Genesis of things like shame and
-
regret and blame shifting, and deceit rights, which were also
-
well acquainted. With now, if we're honest were
-
very good at all of these things.
-
A chiral to us like we were born this way or Okay.
-
The man and the woman are no longer an unblemished image of
-
the glory of God as they were created.
-
Created to mirror the image of the glory of God and all the
-
Earth. They are now broken mirrors.
-
The Bible helps us see. This just two chapters later
-
after Adam and Eve are sent out of the garden.
-
We read this in Genesis chapter 5, this is the book of the
Genesis 5 chapter mention
-
generations of Adam. This is verses 1, through 3,
-
when God created man, he made him in the likeness of God, male
-
and female. He created them and he blessed
-
them and name them. Man.
-
When they were created, when Adam had lived a hundred thirty
-
years, he fathered a son in his own likeness after his image and
-
named him. Seth You see the difference?
-
Is there when God created man, he made him in the likeness of
-
who God, then Adam fathered a son in whose likeness his own
-
likeness. After his own image, mankind,
-
still Bears, the image of their creator, but it's a broken
-
image. It's a it's marred by sin,
-
Romans 5:12 further clarifies this.
-
Therefore just as Sin came into the world through one man, which
-
is Adam, this chapter makes it clear that it's Adam Just a sin,
-
came into the world through one man, Adam and death through sin,
-
and so death, spread to all men, because all sinned, Romans 3:23
-
for all, have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
-
None of us are bearing the image of God anymore perfectly
-
Especially so, as unbelievers, we are marred by our sinful
-
nature, which are inherited, which is inherited from our
-
first parents, Adam and Eve. We are broken mirrors.
-
We are guilty of sin Alan just mentioned last week that we're
-
all worshiping something. We're all devoted to something,
-
some may worship false gods of their own imaginations of their
-
own creations. And some may worship the one
-
true God of the Bible, but no one is indifferent, there's no
-
neutrality in this, you are worshipping something, everyone
-
lives, their life and Devotion to something and whatever that
-
is it is their God. You might be what you're devoted
-
to most and so you are your own God.
-
It might be something else. Maybe your spouse, maybe your
-
children, may be saying. Everything I do is for these
-
people. And while it's a noble concept,
-
you're making your wife or your spout, your husband, you're
-
making them God, you're making your children.
-
God, if it's your career, you think this is who I am.
-
You're making it God. Maybe it's your addictions.
-
Your sins struggles. I am a believer but I'm also a
-
whatever alcoholic recovering alcoholic or same-sex attracted.
-
But I'm a Christian, you know, like what you're doing, is
-
you're making those things God. Adam and Eve were created to
-
worship God. By eternally dwelling, in the
-
presence of God. Joyfully doing the will of God,
-
spreading the glory of God into all the Earth.
-
But their sin got them removed from the garden verses 22
-
through 24. There in Genesis 3 just a few
-
verses later we read this. Then the Lord God said, behold
-
the man has become like one of us and knowing good and evil.
-
Now lets you reach out his hand and take also of the tree of
-
life and eat and live forever. And God just breaks his thought
-
there. Therefore the Lord God sent him
-
out from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he
-
was taken, he drove out the man and that the east of the Garden
-
of Eden, he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned
-
every way to guard, the way to the Tree of Life.
-
They are forever barred from entering the place of God, that
-
God had given them Adam and Eve leave the fruitful garden and
-
embark on a new far, more difficult journey to become
-
image. Bearers for the glory of God in
-
the Earth. And if that were like the
-
totality of the historical Narrative of our first parents,
-
like this is all we had, we would be filled with
-
discouragements and hopelessness and rightfully.
-
So for in that existence and existence separated from the
-
presence of God. And that existence, where you're
-
in your sin, there is no way to return to God and proper
-
worship. They're barred forever.
-
There's no way for us to commune with him because of our sin.
-
Our sin also removes us from the presence of God.
-
And if that's true, if we've been forever removed from the
-
presence of God and why in the world are we gather together
-
right now at this place. And in this time Why do we
-
gather? Why do we show up for corporate
-
worship on the Lord's Day each week?
-
Because we know, we know brothers and sisters that God
-
did not leave us in our sin. He has not left us without a way
-
to return to him and proper worship.
-
Amen. The look-back with me at Genesis
Genesis 3 chapter mention
-
chapter 3. Let's look a little closer at
-
what happened here. Because I believe that here, God
-
has established for us. The outline for what happens in
-
worship from the very beginning of time.
-
But the true worship only happens in God's way.
-
Which he reveals here in his work and we'll see it over.
-
And again, throughout the scriptures as we go through the
-
series, we see the same pattern. The first thing we see is that
-
God initiates God, initiates worship.
-
Happens on God's terms after their sin, Adam and Eve are not
-
seeking. God, they're naked and ashamed.
-
Right? What are they doing?
-
Are they running for the Lord somewhere?
-
No, we're looking for ways to cover themselves with loin
-
cloths, right? They're trying to cover their
-
shame. They're trying to hide their
-
sin. Kind of make themselves
-
presentable instead of running to their creator, begging for
-
his forgiveness. And pardon they cover themselves
-
in fig leaves. I'm here to tell you.
-
This is the pattern of all of humanity, no one seeks God.
-
No one seeks. God, this is what Isaiah says.
-
This is what Romans chapter 3 is saying there is none righteous?
Romans 3 chapter mention
-
No, not one. No one seeks after God.
-
It is God who seeks. So what does God do?
-
Look at verse 89 again, and they heard the sound of the Lord.
-
God Walking In The Garden. In the cool of the day.
-
And the man and his wife hid themselves.
-
From the presence of the Lord God Among the Trees of the
-
garden, but the Lord God. Did.
-
What ignore them? And just passed on by?
-
Oh, Lord, God Called To The Man. He said to him, where are you?
-
You see God seeks out the man and the woman.
-
The head. They have blasphemed, his name
-
have rebelled against him and true worship.
-
God comes to his people. The people do not first perform
-
for him and then he shows up as finny says rather.
-
They come because he calls them. This is why we begin the service
-
with a call to worship. The call isn't about us reciting
-
something out of dead, wrote religious activity.
-
It's about acknowledging that we are here, because God calls us
-
to worship him. We can come to worship because
-
God has called us to come. He draws Us in, and we respond
-
in obedience, we come. And though he calls us and we
-
come, this is not the end of it, we still cannot worship him
-
properly because our sin remains and he is perfectly, holy and
-
just and cannot approve of our sin. the second thing we see is
-
that we acknowledge our sin, I must acknowledge our sin.
-
What happens next in? The narrative is not a
-
restoration of Fellowship. God talking to the man saying,
-
where are you in the man? Answering back.
-
This is not Fellowship yet. This is not them dwelling
-
together in harmony. Yet this is not peace with God.
-
That's why the man's hiding and eventually is going to go on to
-
make excuses. He's not at peace with God yet.
-
He's still afraid of God because of his sin.
-
The Lord God Called To The Man and said him, where are you?
-
And he said, I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was
-
afraid because Cuz I was naked and I hid myself and he said,
-
God said, who told you that you were naked?
-
Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to
-
eat. And the man said no, no, the
-
woman who you whom you gave to be with me.
-
She gave me the fruit of the tree and I ate.
-
So who's at fault in Adams mind. Oh, the woman know.
-
God. He's accusing God of causing his
-
Misfortune right? The woman who gave you gave to
-
me. Sure.
-
Eve disobeyed Eve, offered the fruit Adam took of it, but who's
-
he blaming, right? He's not blaming the woman and
-
he is in a sense, but he's blaming God, the woman you gave
-
me. Did this?
-
Then the Lord God said to the woman?
-
What is this? That you have done in the woman
-
said, the serpent deceived me and I ate As noted earlier, this
-
is the beginning of regret and shame and blame Shifting.
-
The Regatta is the the origin of sin.
-
Really what's on display here is pride unchecked pride the woman.
-
You gave me It's your fault. God, you're the reason I'm in
-
sin here. It was better off.
-
I was better on my own. There's more than that happening
-
here though than just the regret and shame and the blame-shifting
-
that we see. This is more than a kid getting
-
caught with his hand in the cookie jar, right?
-
But I wasn't I was I was cleaning it.
-
Yeah just making sure there were cookies in it for later mom.
-
What God is doing here? Is he's asking what are you?
-
What's where are you, what have you done?
-
Got us pronouncing his righteous.
-
Judgement on the man and They were guilty of sin, and let me
-
tell you something, God means for them to understand it.
-
Deeply There is no good news of the Gospel here yet.
-
This is you are in Rebellion against my decree.
-
You have sinned against the holy God.
-
Why have you done this? We might all look at ourselves
-
in the mirror one day and asked the same things.
-
Because we're all guilty of treason against God, rebelling
-
against him. And so God is pronouncing his
-
righteous judgment. They're guilty of it.
-
He means from the sit, their hearts are foul, their sin has
-
blemished them forever. Have you eaten of the tree of
-
which I commanded you not to eat.
-
They got really have to ask. I mean, it's God, limited and
-
any kind of a way at all. Oh, you guys know this, right?
-
The one who created the heavens and the Earth out of nothing,
-
right. That he didn't have a substance
-
that he created these things out of him.
-
He spoke them into being by the power of His voice.
-
That he really need to know what happened.
-
Of course he didn't, he's an all-powerful all-knowing.
-
All presence. God from the depths of the
-
ocean, to the heights of the heavens, from the one corner of
-
creation to the Opposite corner of creation.
-
There is nothing hidden from the side, or the knowledge of God.
-
Everything, what exists from him, and through him, and to
-
him, it's all his nothing's hidden.
-
So he knew what Adam and Eve had done.
-
You know exactly what they did and he pronounces his verdict
-
and verses 16 and 19. The woman he said, I will surely
-
multiply your pain in childbearing and pain you shall
-
bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to
-
your husband but he shall rule over you and to Adam he said
-
because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have
-
eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat
-
of it. Cursed is the ground because of
-
you in pain, you shall eat of it all the days of your life thorns
-
and thistles it shall bring forth for you.
-
And you shall eat the plants of the field of the The sweat of
-
your face. You shall eat bread till you
-
return to the ground for out of it.
-
You were taken for. You are dust and to dust.
-
You shall return. Woo.
-
Sin, Sin marred, the very things that they were created to be
-
doing Eve, is creative, because God looks at him.
-
And says, it's not good for the man to be alone.
-
I'm going to create for him. I help meet Eve is created to
-
image the glory of God in creation.
-
Is she AIDS the man in fruitfulness?
-
As a help meet and mother. And she's now going to have
-
desires that are contrary to her design.
-
Namely, she will want to rule over him.
-
Her desire will be for him. By the way, we might say hello
-
to the foundation of the feminist movement, right?
-
That's what this is. Adam created to image the glory
-
of God and creation as he works, and keeps the fruitful guarding
-
the place that God gave to him. With the help of his wife will
-
now have to work against thorns and thistles by the sweat of his
-
brow until he returns to the dust that he was created from.
-
Adding insult to injury, God will send them out of the
-
garden, struggle and toil, and strife, will be their future
-
Decay destruction, and death will Mark creation for the rest
-
of time. The Earth exists.
-
This is the pronouncement of judgment and Adam and Eve have
-
heard clearly. The third thing that happens in
-
worship as that God provides atonement.
-
God provides atonement God initiates his Plan of Redemption
-
in his curse on the serpent. Which I intentionally did not
-
read yet but here you are verse 15.
-
I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your
-
Offspring and her Offspring. He shall bruise your head and
-
you shall bruise his heel. Though, the serpent deceived,
-
the woman, the serpent thinks I've won the day.
-
The victory is mine. I've caused the fall of God's
-
Crown, Jewel of creation, the ones who were meant to Bear His
-
Image. No longer bear His Image,
-
perfectly or marred by sin. They're like me.
-
They're liars. And deceivers.
-
But the victory we see here will ultimately belong to God because
-
God In The Offspring of the man and the woman will come in The
-
Offspring of the man. And the woman one will come who
-
will bruise the head of the serpent though.
-
He himself will be bruised in the process.
-
The bruise head of the serpent is a death blow dealt by the one
-
who's heel will be bruised in the process, but a bruised Hill
-
and a bruised head or not, the same thing.
-
Amen. You can stub your toe and that's
-
different than if something falls on your head, right?
-
Ultimately, there's going to be one who brings the death of
-
death. His heel will be bruised in the
-
process but he will deal the deathblow to death.
-
This verse is called the protoevangelium.
-
It is the first Proto pronouncement of the Gospel or
-
good news Evangelion. God is foreshadowing.
-
The provision of atonement. He's foreshadowing.
-
The coming of Christ by his Incarnation, through the seed of
-
the woman who the spirits conception and Merry Christ is
-
The Offspring who will cut off the head of the serpent, and he
-
does so on the cross. Amen.
-
On the cross Christ became sin for us who knew no sin.
-
Sorry he became sin who knew no sin for us.
-
So that by faith in him, we who knew nothing, but sin might
-
become the righteousness of God. Second Corinthians 5:21 all who
-
call on the name of the Lord, by faith in Christ death.
-
And his resurrection will be saved, Romans 10:9.
-
Genesis 3:21 says this and the Lord God made for a demand.
-
For his wife, garments of skins and clothed.
-
Now them now, this is right before, so they're trying to
-
make fig leaves, which is what we do in our own righteousness.
-
Which is filthy rags right there.
-
Trying to sew together loincloth and like, cover themselves.
-
And God says, I do know where I'm sending you out there.
-
You're going to need a different kind of clothing, and so we
-
closed them in animal skins, which is really just a further
-
foreshadowing of believers who are ultimately, we being clothed
-
in the righteousness of Christ by faith.
-
Foreshadowing taking their awful clothing.
-
Removing it from them and giving them proper clothing, which is
-
what we see of those were worshipping.
-
At the end of Revelation there, dressed in the robes that Christ
-
has Adorn them with righteousness of him.
-
Fourth thing we see is that we commit ourselves to him, Adam
-
and Eve faced with their sin, but hearing the promise of God
-
to crush the serpent commit themselves to God.
-
Genesis 3:22 look what it says. The man called his wife's name
-
Eve, because she was the mother of all living.
-
Adam knew that life because of the promise that God made in the
-
curse of the serpent, he makes a promise to Mankind and because
-
of that promise Adam knows that my wife is now the mother of all
-
living like she is. The reason the seed that carries
-
on through her is going to be the reason That life is restored
-
to Mankind, we know death now but we will know life again
-
though they had sinned against God and received death that his
-
sin came into their life, it's death and that way but it's also
-
the end of life at some point. It would not last forever.
-
So he calls his name, wife eat, his wife's name, Eve, To
-
commemorate this. The fifth thing we see is that
-
we feast and communion with God and now have communion with God
-
again, though that was disrupted by Kane's murder of his brother
-
Abel. All hope is not lost, right?
-
We'll see this right here in Genesis chapter 4, which comes
Genesis 4 chapter mention
-
on the Tilt that these last few years, come on the telling of
-
the story of Cain and Abel. So, Adam.
-
And Eve had two sons, one gets jealous of the other because his
-
offering was received by the Lord because it was made in the
-
right way. Kane tried to Worship in the
-
wrong way. God didn't receive his offering
-
and he gets jealous. So what does he do?
-
Cousin, kills his brother. And in verses 25 through 26
-
after Cain is banished, he's gone.
-
Now to go do his thing and you read about all the destruction
-
that's going to come from him in the future verse 25.
-
It says in Adam knew his wife again, meaning they conceived
-
again, she bore a son and called his name Seth for she said, God
-
has appointed for me another Offspring.
-
She's holding onto this Hope Of The Offspring in Genesis 3:15,
-
instead of Abel for Cain killed him. so and if you track it, you
-
trace it, and the genealogies, all those things, we Skip and
-
read Christ comes from the line of Seth I mean it's a whole long
-
line, but it's there and the same way.
-
Oh and then so and that says, to Seth also was born.
-
A son was born and he called his name enosh.
-
And at that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.
-
He is God God's in the cool of the day, wandering through the
-
garden. Adam and Eve sinned, what does
-
he do? He calls on them.
-
And now here we see the people calling on the name of the Lord
-
and proper worship restored Fellowship.
-
There in communion with God again by faith. we come to see
-
that fleshed out in Abraham chapters 12 and on in Genesis,
-
So in the same way we have communion with God today,
-
through faith in Christ of the pictures become clearer and
-
clearer Through The Years, through Revelation.
-
Because of the atonement that Christ, the see The Offspring of
-
who Christ is and how he dealt a death blow to Satan and so we
-
can dwell with God. Each day we can live for God.
-
When being communion with God, the sixth thing we see is that
-
he sends us We're kind of describing the flow of a worship
-
service. Prescribing, the flow of worship
-
in the Bible. The six elements of this six
-
part 2. This is that he sends us, God
-
sent a Adam and Eve out of the garden committed to God.
-
They would be able to live for him once again by faith.
-
We see this in their children and the fact that the people
-
began to call upon the name of the Lord in that day.
-
Or at that time, Adam and Eve must have been cultivating and
-
guarding a Devotion to God, that others were NG to do also
-
carried on through their son. It's a weekly worship is a
-
reenactment of this shape that God calls us.
-
The verdict is pronounced. Atonement is seen in Christ.
-
We commit ourselves to him and he sends us, amen.
-
It's a reenactment of this gospel shape that God provides
-
here in Genesis and we'll see it throughout the scriptures will
-
begin to see this take shape as we go through this.
-
So you see worship does not begin with man as the standard
-
man. Were the standard would get it
-
wrong, man, cannot be the standard because he is sinful
-
and corrodes God and His word are the standard for worship.
-
Everything we do and worship must be held accountable to
-
God's word. More than that.
-
Everything we do in worship must be derived from his Word and not
-
everything we do and worship just because we think it's good.
-
And right means that it's good. And right on the side of God.
-
In the coming weeks, we'll look more at the Theology and the
-
elements of a worship service, but for now, must understand
-
that worship is Drawing Near to communion with God through
-
Christ in the spirit by faith. That is to worship God's way and
-
it is the most important thing you will ever do.
-
So I ask you brothers and sisters and what ways does your
-
life, not reflect true Godly worship and what ways are your
-
heart is your heart devoted to your own desires of the desires
-
of others. And what ways have you ignored
-
God? Daily in your life.
-
And what ways have you like? The proverb said, become has
-
your belly become your God, meaning you go the way of your
-
own desires, your own appetites. I'm for you today.
-
To answer the call of God, to repent of your sins, to commit
-
yourself to Christ, centered worship, allow him to send you
-
out as you fellowship with him. Men, let me pray for you.
-
Heavenly father, I thank you. For these men and women.
-
I thank you, Lord, for your word and your faithfulness to us.
-
What would you help us to worship you correctly?
-
Help us worship you properly. The ways that you have designed
-
in the ways that you have made clear in your word.
-
Father, we recognize that you call us.
-
We call us. And so therefore we come we love
-
because you first loved us, you have called us out of darkness
-
and into Marvelous Light you have pulled us up from the Miry
-
clay and given us a rock to stand on.
-
We owe everything to you. If we are saved it is because of
-
Christ it is because of your call is because of your actions,
-
not our own. There is no way to fellowship
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with you, apart from faith. So Lord, would you deepen our
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faith? Would you strengthen our faith?
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If we might Worship You More completely more fully, we might
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exercise a deeper Devotion to you.
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And we might not sin against you by going the way of our own
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bellies. Seeking out our own desires.
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Help us to depend on Christ Alone.
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Lord, we love you, praise you for your word.
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Thank you for your spirit, which convicted Spirit, which leads.
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Spirit which teaches us by Your Word, trains Us by Your Word,
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reproves us corrects Us by Your Word, so that we might grow in
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faith. Help us to be Holy Father, as
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you are holding. Thank you for your word Christ
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name. I pray.
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Amen. Thank you for your word Christ
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name. I pray.
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Amen.