Apostles Live | Enduring Wisdom | Part 2

[Music] the master forever i thank god [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] get up get up get up get up get up get up get up [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey [Music] so [Music] on behalf of the entire leadership team at the church of the apostles welcome to this special time of worship and celebration good morning i'm zach cardin thank you for joining us today if you're a guest with us please fill out the card to pew in front of you or online also if you have any prayer requests please share those with us as well this wednesday february 17th we're hosting a blood drive for the american red cross it'll take place in the sts gym from 2 pm to 8 pm registration is required so make sure you reserve your spot to donate today also on wednesday nights at 6 15 we're offering a special class called a crash course in world view and culture registration is still open to join either online or in person if you've been joining us online would like to join us in person at our 10 30 a.m service remember we offer an overflow section in the chapel where masks are mandatory we also have a mask section in the sanctuary at all of their times and locations at the church masks are highly recommended you can find more information about our upcoming events in our online bulletin at apostles.org or by scanning the qr code posted outside of the sanctuary we're so glad you're with us today to worship the lord good morning church let's stand together and let's worship the lord [Music] we bring our whole hearts [Music] no more come all you sinners come find his verse come to the table he will satisfy taste of his [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is praise god praise god from whom all blessings flow praise him praise him for the wonders of his love [Music] [Music] is [Music] us forever is and bring all your failures bring your addictions and come lay them down at the foot of the cross jesus is waiting god so love the world [Music] i was lost but he brought his love for me free [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] is [Music] in my father's there's a place i am not against [Music] is [Music] in my father's house there's a place for me i'm a child of god yes i [Music] [Applause] what a blessing that he has given us to be in his family in the family of god turn around look at your neighbor say hello brother hello sister good morning [Music] when i was looking over the scripture that dr youssef is going to be preaching on today i read a few lines that reminded me of this song a few verses that reminded me that song when i was a little kid old school southern gospel song i don't know if anybody's ever heard this i'm a little scared of singing it but we'll see how it goes picture in your minds little eight-year-old max singing in a little bitty church and uh and sing along it goes like this consider the lilies they don't told or spend but there's not a key with more splendor than them consider the sparrows but they're fed by the master who watches them grow and the whole church sings together we have a heavenly father above with eyes full of mercy and a heart full of love and he really cares when your head [Music] [Music] concealer and then you will know that's good singing church put those hands together come on i also grew up in church singing this one i know you know it sing along oh lord my god [Music] [Music] i want to hear your church single out then sings my soul [Music] how great thou art [Music] how great thou art when christ shall come in christ shall come [Music] with shouts of acclimation and take me home the choice shall fill my joy then i [Music] my god [Music] how great [Music] me praise the lord here we go tell him that he is great me have the lord this morning amen amen great singing y'all may be seen [Music] good morning what a privilege it is to come to you this morning and and lead us all together as the holy spirit binds our hearts to pray corporately pondering what should be the words that we would return to the lord today how should we praise him what should we ask of him and i was reminded of one of my favorite psalms psalm 98 in the midst of all that we're going through i find myself sometimes wringing my hands in despair worry sometimes anger thinking about my children and grandchildren and things that are happening in this world in psalm 98 the psalmist who may have been david or the son of jesse says sing to the lord a new song he has done marvelous things his right hand and his holy arm have gotten us the victory amen let's go to the lord let's join our hearts by his holy spirit in prayer this morning father god what a privilege it truly is that we can close our eyes to help us focus and be less distracted that by your holy spirit and through the shed blood of jesus we can enter the throne room of the god of the universe in prayer how grateful we are lord god i do pray that you would help each one of us to take our gaze away from the horizontal the things that we see and that we are hearing and god that we would cast our eyes on you that we would look to you god and i pray this morning by the time we leave this time of worship that there would be a reset and that you would give each one of us a new song in our hearts father god you have gotten us the victory we are so journeying through this life to go to our eternal home where we will be surrounding your throne singing holy holy holy father god thank you lord i do know father that we have allowed our hearts to stray from being in pure fellowship with you through sins that we've committed through things that we've not done that you've been leading us to do by allowing our minds father to be fed untruths and god for me and maybe many others by worrying god paul tells us we're not to be anxious for anything but in everything with prayer and supplication make your request known to god and then the peace of god that surpasses understanding will guard our hearts got our hearts where your word is hidden and it will guard our minds father where the battle is fought in christ jesus god we humbly come before you now we pray that you would clean the slate we come with repentant hearts father we come not wanting to be fraught with worry and strife we want to come not being worried about where our next paycheck may come from we want to come not worried about how bad we feel [Music] forgive us lord cast our eyes on you father give us that hope that springs eternal father in our hearts and then god let us be salt and light to those with whom we come in contact let them look us in the eye and say what's different about you tell me why are you not concerned why are you not so worried and then lord give us boldness to tell the story of jesus and how he has transformed us and given us a great hope and that we we don't have to depend on men and women for we are yours and we've been bought with a great price lord we pray for the persecuted church we pray around the world god for those who are being persecuted but now father the persecution is just as real right here in our own country and we pray father that you would encourage hearts that you would give personal time with you father that it would be rich and and strengthening god that you would give them a boldness to lord we pray for our leaders in government we pray god for humility we pray that they would realize father that they are servants and that you've called them to serve that you would put aside all the egos and that you would help them to seek your face for wisdom and how to govern father we thank you for this church where we worship not only sitting in these pews but at home and around the world god what a blessing that we have a place where today we can preach the gospel unabashedly unwatered down the full gospel of jesus christ what a blessing father and we pray for all the staff that labor here that you would bless their hearts that you would enrich them once again that you would fill them father with your holy spirit we thank you for our rector michael and we pray a blessing on him as he brings your word to us let our hearts be soft let it be freshly plowed soil to hear your word and then to respond to that father and give you glory thank you lord jesus thank you that we have a new song in our heart thank you father that you bought us with a great price thank you that you have carved our name in the palm of your hand you've written our name in the lamb's book of life and that we are yours and father with that we say thank you and that we are a grateful grateful people and we honor your holy name thank you lord jesus amen [Music] amen we're preparing now for time of worship through our giving of our tithes and offerings um if we are if you're here with us in church here church of the apostles ushers we'll be taking your offering as we leave after the service is over if you're joining us online we're so thankful that you've joined us we're so glad that you're with us and hope that one day you can join us here live in person but we're thankful that you're with us online uh you have a chance to give and worship god through giving as well there's a tab that you can click and follow that link and as we give today i want us to be reminded that we're not just giving we're when we give our tithes and our offerings we're not just giving we are acknowledging we are we are recognizing that everything that we have everything we possess everything that we own everything that we are is from god it's by god alone we don't really have anything of our own we're going to sing a song that uh in following of that psalm of singing a new song it's not a brand new song we've only done it once though so it's still newish and we we wrote it uh the group of us got together and wrote it a few weeks ago uh based on a sermon that dr youssef was preaching from second chronicles where david was preparing to build the temple and he gave so much of what it took to build the temple of his very own possessions and he acknowledged god and in doing so he said everything comes from you lord and so we're going to sing that chorus together today i'm going to sing the chorus remind you of how it goes and then we're going to get up and clap and have a great time worshiping the lord everything comes from you everything comes from you anything that i might have it's only by your hand you sing that everything comes from you come on everything comes from you take my treasure in my heart cause i know my god it all belongs to [Music] every need and every deep desire you know all i want and all i have [Music] you are my creator and provider so much more than i could ever ask let's sing this together now we praise you lord our god for you i worthy praise you lord i got everything [Music] everything comes from you take my treasure in my heart cause i know my god it all belongs to you belongs to you belongs to you deserve much more than i can offer what i have i'll gladly give to you so i'm laying all i have down at this altar my silver and my gold on my heart and all my soul we praise you everything comes from you everything comes from [Music] take my treasure in my heart cause i know my god it all belongs to you oh lord everything [Music] everything comes from you take my treasure in my heart cause i know my god it all belongs to you belongs to you cause i know my god it all belongs to you everything comes from the lord amen praise the lord this morning [Applause] amen all of god's people say thank you lord and thank you team pastor hughes tells a story that he heard from a college professor when he was in college he's about my age so he's been many years ago and his college professor told this story english professor true story of her family she was one of five sisters growing up in a small town in midwest during the depression time her father in spite of all the difficulties of the great depression and yet he succeeded and became a successful banker she went off to university but all the four sisters stayed home got married and stayed close to home and she too got married but she moved to the west coast where she was teaching fast forward several decades her aged father died and as soon as she and her husband heard the news they immediately made preparation to come back home for the funeral as they were comforting her aged but grieving mother now widowed they noticed something that stunned him really stunned him he she and her husband just could not believe it to their amazement they noticed that everything in the house all the furniture everything was tagged with a tag with the names of the four sisters on each different item judy margaret whatever their names were she and her husband were not only appalled but they were devastated at dinner time tension around the table was so thick that you could cut it with a knife in the middle of this terrible tension and very awkward conversation interspersed with periods of really kind of acrimonious silence suddenly her husband got up from the dinner table and stood behind his mother-in-law and he said every one of you have tagged what you want to have we're going to tag her and he put his hand on her shoulders we want to take her and take care of her now beloved i want to tell you having ministered in more than one continent i know i have seen how greed is always ugly always covetousness is the root of all pain and sorrow and worry and anxiety we began a series of messages entitled enduring wisdom from the gospel of luke and then the last message in the first 12 verses of chapter 12 we saw how to overcome hypocrisy and we saw that hypocrisy is when you try to appear to be what you're not and our lord jesus christ turns after a debate heated debate with the pharisees and he looked at the disciples he said the cure for hypocrisy is to focus in is to honor god the father god the son god the holy spirit the triune god and right in the middle of this intense teaching and intense debate with the pharisees masses of people around a knucklehead that's probably all the best way i can describe him a knucklehead says jesus tell my brother to share his inheritance with me i mean you if you read the passage carefully you you almost feel how incredulous jesus feels about this what what has got to do with what i'm saying you want me to do what who set me a judge but that gave jesus an opportunity to teach them his disciples particularly that's his focus their disciples to teach them to guard against another deadly sin so i want to turn with me please to luke 12. we're going to be spending about a total of two four messages on that chapter luke 12 verses 13 to 34. and again if you don't have your own bible the pew bible page 1617 1617 in the pew bible i'm going to ask you to stand in honor of the word of god and then i'll have you read it because that's how you allow the word of god to seep into your hearts and your minds as often i do i'm going to read the very first verse and then i'll let you take it from there someone in the crowd said to him teacher tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me go is is myself awesome like is um ah foreign is holy spirit you authored the words that uttered by the god the son the lord jesus christ and now we ask you in the name of jesus to take those words apply them to our lives and our hearts lord god that we would make a total change that we would live by faith and not by sight in jesus name amen in many ways hypocrisy which we looked at in the last message and greed belonged to two different realms of life two different areas of our life and yet they're both very essential those realms are very essential for our existence hypocrisy belongs to the spiritual realm while greed belongs to the material realm these two sins are closely related false religion is the love of biblical error greed is the love of having more and more and more and more and more people can be deceived by false teaching just as they can be deceived by false materialism today of course we're actually seeing this with our own eyes and we're seeing the connection between the false teaching and the so-called prosperity gospel and the pharisees at the time of jesus were up to their eyeballs in both sins this man that jesus interrupted jesus teaching could not wait for jesus to finish what he's talking about from the spiritual realm so he can get to his class materialism by the way i want to make something very clear before i get to the passage i want to make something very very clear very clear money is not evil money is neutral did you get that i challenge you to find me a passage anywhere in the scripture that says money is evil this is a problem we we get so confused and we don't understand the scripture in its true sense it is what you do with money that can be evil or can be for good the bible makes it very clear that what is evil is the love of money what is evil is the greed for wanting more and more and more and never satisfied and never being rich toward god now while i'm at it while i'm at it since i already stepped on some of your toes so let me continue okay and now i'm going to ask for your forgiveness later some of you i think the majority of you will understand what i'm going to say this so-called social justice that is preached from many a pulpit today is not biblical in fact social justice as it is preached today is a blatant form of greed taking money by force is a form of greed politicians who preach this gospel of social justice it's their way of taking money by force money that's not theirs to line up their own pockets listen we have seen politicians who are not worth two dollars and when they left office they're worth millions and millions and millions of dollars these are the preachers of social the the social justice now there is a biblical way but theirs is unbiblical the biblical way is found in first timothy chapter 6 verses 17 18 and 19. appeal that is an important word the apostle paul is writing to the pastor of the church in ephesus timothy and he says to him appeal to the rich of this world not to be arrogant and place your hope on uncertain riches but to be rich toward god this is the biblical way the apostle paul is teaching us what he really read and learned about what jesus said in luke 12. hear me right please the bible never forbids possessing of money or possessions deuteronomy 8 18 from the very beginning it is god who gives you power to make wealth in the bible there were so many godly men and women who were wealthy abraham isaac jacob boaz job joseph of aramathia where jesus's body was buried in history and the list goes on and on and on and yet listen to me the bible is merciless on the love of money on those who love their wealth and those who worship and uh obsessed with money and their wealth those who worry themselves sick because of the accumulation and they want to accumulate and accumulate solomon who was the richest man in his time richest man in the world in his time in ecclesiastes 5 10. he said he who loves money will not be satisfied with money in proverbs 23 4 and 5 he said wealth certain certainly makes itself wings like an eagle and flies toward heaven with those two eyes i have seen this happen more than once please listen to me love of money creates unbelievable amount of pain ask aiken the son of kami in joshua chapter 7 he will tell you the pain of the love of money ask balaam in the book of numbers chapters 22 all the way to 24 he will tell you the pain that love of money brings delilah for money sold and betrayed samson judas is carry it for the love of money betrayed the lord jesus christ and he is in the pit of hell right now the love of money causes people not only become arrogant but they forget god the love of money causes people to lie steal cheat and compromise even their own convictions the bible is very clear about the love of money not money the love of money throughout the scripture throughout the scripture you see it always leads to pride certainly here the lord jesus christ links the love of money to the sin of worry they go together they go together look at verse 15 of luke 12 as we've just read jesus again focuses on his disciples he gets over discussion with that knucklehead about the question and he said hey i'm not going to be your judge and then he goes on to the sub he looks at him looks at them and he said now you beware and be on your guard against all forms of greed in fact this is the opposite of a hollywood movie in which the term greed is good repeated several times look at verse 15 with me here's a literal translation real life is not really dependent on excessive materialism that's really the literal translation that's a literal translation beloved a fulfilled life a satisfying life a joyful life is not dependent on how much you accumulate the joy for life the fulfilled life comes from knowing that you are going to spend eternity in heaven with jesus and to illustrate this point the lord jesus gives them a parable now everybody i'm talking about the bible translations different translations always call call this rich fool now but i want you to listen carefully because you need to can really analyze it and look at it carefully the land that this man owned is very productive and you want to say praise the lord thank you father what a wonderful blessing right hello yes there is no suggestion that this man gained his blessings through dishonest gain or oh that he did something wrong no no no no no beloved listen to me it is not a crime it's not a sin to be successful except in the eyes of the greedy socialists right amen amen this man have been blessed of god praise god it's wonderful he's got a a bumper crop he's not great i mean this is really so far so good so far so wonderful nothing wrong with that i have great deal of respect to farmers i really do i have all my life i have a great deal of respect for farmers and i have many farmers friends and i'll tell you because they depend on god for their success they know that god is the one who controls the weather that god has controlled the market god controls everything only after all of this part of the power of the parable that jesus gives that you begin to see the foolishness of this man you see so far it's so great so good so instead of praising god and saying god bless you thank you lord thank you for your blessings to me now that i can share this blessings with others thank you lord now now i'm going to be rich toward god thank you lord now i can help others thank you lord now i can contribute to your work around the world now i can give to the less fortunate thank you praise you god now instead of that he started getting worried about how to hoard it how to keep it how to hoard it or how to accumulate it and he was worried probably that his crop will flood the market and drive the prices down and so instead of sharing his selfish indulgence had him tear down his old small barns and build big ones but even that listen to me i want you to listen carefully even that is not the core of the problem that's that is not the i think listen to me this is my personal opinion so do it do it with it whatever you want to do in my opinion i think businesses need to plan ahead for the future i think all businesses need to create space for growth i think all businesses need to plan on hiring more people and provide jobs for people and their families but that's not what happened with our friends here with our friend in fact he used the word my four times he used the word i eight times i my mind i want to say my my my now i can't help but intersect interject something personal here i know and i always warn you when it's something is my opinion or personal i think this is the only place in the new testament where the bible recognizes retirement unfavorably [Laughter] disapprovingly i know the bible talks about old age or even slowing down but i am convinced the bible does not recommend pampered retirement luxurious retirement lazy retirement do nothing retirement okay and really got in trouble with everybody in the congregation this man's selfish indulgence was what earned him the term fool he said i will say to myself self live it up now beloved listen to me we all self talk okay we all self-talk if you don't raise your hand i know we all self-talk some people even self-talk faster than others but the question is when you self-talk what do you talk about i my me or him his glory his honor with my witnessing for him that is the question you must always ask yourself and when you get going into this stop where's god and begin to talk to him the word fool here athron in the greek is often referred to somebody who's mindless mindless somebody who's lacking incense someone who is totally ignorant of the fact somebody who's totally lacking knowledge of the truth and you know that and i know that we have an overabundance of these in public life today overabundance that's why i turned the news off four months ago and i have not missed it i can get the headline in three in two minutes from my iphone i don't need to listen to these well i'm not going to use that because it could be a temptation to sin whatever they are empty heads talking about something that they don't know anything about this man foolishly had forgotten god and god's ownership not just of his crop but the very breath that he has and that is why the bible said the fool says in his heart he's a self-talk again the fool said in his heart there is no god please listen to me there is no greater fool than the person who does not prepare for the life to come that is the ultimate in foolishness so what is the answer verse 21 well the answer to be rich toward god is to store up treasures in heaven hear me right please this is important the location of your treasure reveals our true condition or the true condition of our hearts being rich toward god indicates the degree of our love for god and the degree of our love for god is expressed in true worship as the the music team know this and we talk about this how inaccurate it is to refer to singing just singing as worship everything else now just a singing word anybody can sing hello some friend of mine said years ago he said the the songs we sing sometimes make more liars of people and there are some songs i keep my mouth shut i can't sing because i'm not going to lie anyone can sing but only those who know how to sacrificially give of themselves how to sacrificially give of the result only they are true worshipers and that's why the bible talks about the sacrifice of praise and worship the cure for foolishness and for sinful materialism and for greed is not social justice as it spouted by so many thoughtless people around but to give of ourselves sacrificially but there's more there's more don't think i'm finished yet i haven't started my sermon have you ever asked yourself have you ever asked i have and i'm telling you because i read statistics and i follow these things that happen false of have it from my degree when i studied sociology so i'll follow the statistics have you ever thought the poorest among us i'm talking about the poorest among us the poorest in the west in an america live much better off than kings lived 200 years ago have you ever asked yourself that question and have you asked yourself the question why why we are in the pinnacle of affluence indulgence and creature comfort and i love my creature comfort don't misunderstand me while we're at the apex of this and yet our society is also at the pinnacle of stress anxiety worry and depression today's suicide is rampant now psychologists give us labels on all these forms of worry obsessive-compulsive disorder panic attack post-traumatic stress disorder social anxiety disorder general anxiety disorder these are just handles not to mention all the phobias that are on the increase beloved anxiety afflicts tens of millions of people and it's a huge business listen i'm not against medicine god knows my indebtedness to those in the medical profession god only in heaven knows my indebtedness and i thank god for them every day and those who are my friends here in this year they will they know that but we have reached a level like never experienced in history half of the population of the united states and half of the population of the united kingdom suffer from anxiety only 20 years ago was less than 15 percent think about that in fact worry is defined let me give you a definition of worry okay it's a small trickle of fear that meanders through the mind until it cuts a channel where other thoughts are drained do you want to repeat that it's a small trickle of fear that meanders through the mind until it cuts the channel where other thoughts are drained listen to me i think we're all to a certain degree experience worry everybody to a certain degree the difference between those who nurse or worry and those who don't is your focus on god and as i'm going to show you in the passage in a minute as i said i haven't got the sermon yet i left some for some of you to panic but i even i really love people who have a sense of humor about worry i mean i i find myself always joking about it because that's what you should do joke about worry don't if you take it seriously you're going to be sick and the more sick you get the more worried you become i i read the story not long ago about this dear lady who just could not sleep at night because she believed that she's going to be burgled in the middle of the night and she just couldn't sleep stays awake everything happened she wakes up and stays awake no matter what her husband said to her honey i'm here and all of that maybe that's what panics are more but but she just couldn't sleep i mean no matter what 10 years think about it 10 years of that 10 years later her husband heard some noise downstairs so he goes downstairs and sure enough there's a burglar there and he calmly kind of says to him hi there i'm glad to see you please come upstairs and meet my wife she has been waiting for you for 10 years [Applause] verse 22 for this reason and some translations said therefore what reason always remember said if you find therefore you find out what is therefore for the reason of not being like this foolish man for this reason for not being like this foolish man who did not know the true god who did not trust in the promises of god he said don't be like him don't be like him and when you're not like him you have absolutely no reason in the world to worry about your needs think about this think about this think think about this with me please jesus speaking to people at the time and check me out on this they barely had enough food and clothes i mean they're not an affluent society like ours he was just talking to people who barely had food enough food and clothing today oh my goodness gracious me our culture has become super neurotic about food and clothing oh my goodness gracious television ad feed all the ads feed on this neurosis and alluring images every product imagine imaginable about the body the product for the body night after night after night this product will turn your body this product will pamper your body this product will take the wrinkles out of your body this product will close your body this product is going to drug your body this product is going to stimulate your body and on and on and on and on it's so nauseating in fact our culture our culture is telling us about worries that we did not know we have and these worries it can only succeed in killing our discipleship listen i'm not minimizing the problem please understand i said i was earlier we all worry about certain things but but i'm not minimizing the problem but it's nearly impossible to live by faith in in the culture we're in it's so materialistic that so many christians actually understand the nature of god they understand the promises of god and yet they fall in this temptation of worry and stay there and that is why jesus said verse 22 all the way to 34. he gives us six six mark them down six reasons why the believer should not worry i told you i haven't got the sermon yet here's my six-point sermon now i'm just going to go through them very quickly the reason believers must never worry never is because reason number one is found in this passage because we are god's priority one did you know that we are his priority number one priority secondly because we are the recipient of his provision thirdly because we are divinely divine divinely privileged fourthly we are gods and the recipient of god's preferential treatment you notice all the peace just help you out here and five because god has parental blessings to his children and finally because we are the source of god's pleasure now listen to me we need to go home now i mean this is it right but you know i'm not going to do that it's too early i want to go through them very very quickly it really won't even take me a few minutes because they're very important why should the blood bought and you are blood-bought of the blood of jesus christ heaven-bound children of the living god why must i never worry six reasons verses 22 and 23 because we are god's priority number one priority because we are at the center of his attention because we are god's in in his sight all the time all the time therefore we must trust your loving heavenly father can i get an amen if he feeds the birds and close the flowers how much much much much higher priority are his children for whom his son shed his blood secondly verse 24 we're always going to receive his provision and the reason he chose raven of all the birds of all the creatures he chooses the raven jesus does this deliberately because ravens are vultures they're not even like the ants who who uh solomon said they they store food for the winter they're not like that at all they they are mindless they are vultures they are too dumb to store food yet they survive solely by god's provision for them how much more valuable we are our heavenly father will never fail to supply all that he knows we need david said i have been young damn old i have never seen the righteous forsaken nor his children begging for bread not only that his children are priory one for him not only that his children are the recipients of his provision but thirdly verses 25 and 26 his children have divine privilege oh my goodness if you're not going to shout about this one i don't know what are you going to do i did i think throughout history people always worried about health i think that's fact if you read history i mean it's not it's nothing new but oh my goodness now it's a trillion dollar business as you all know i try to stay fit i really do i exercise i take supplements i do everything this but i'm not obsessed about it and i think everybody should because our bodies are stewardship and the lord convicted me of that 12 years ago when i was abusing my body and sometimes in the gym people say are you exercising hard because you want to prolong your life boy i love it because what an opportunity for me to tell now i say jesus said who of you about worry can i add one hour to your life [Laughter] you should see the reaction in the elevator just two days ago a guy would come with a cane and said something i said oh lord i said he's coming back soon he nearly just fell off enough no jesus said none of us none of us can prolong our life it's appointed a day the bible says upon it a day in which and then judgment it's appointed a day nobody can change that nobody can add one hour to their life as i said we take care of our body that's a form of stewardship in fact worrying about your health will actually make you sicker fourthly you have god's preferential treatment look at verses 27 all the way to 29. here you see clear comparison with the rest of creation god's children his redeemed believers have a preferential treatment over all created things and you know the evolutionists say that man is only a highly developed animal right the only thing we have in common with animals and plants is that we're all created by god from that time on we're all separate now if you want to believe that you are descendant of a tree god bless you that's where it ends but because humans are uniquely created in god's own image we are created with the capacity to love and to reason above all we are created with the capacity to worship god and god's compassionate preference is for those he made in his own image but then it goes a little further we even get a prefer i love preferential treatment don't misunderstand i really love preferential treatment and no matter where i go i want preferential treatment i confess that up front but this is not just professional treatment because we are created in god's name we are have further preferential treatment because we are the children of the living god beloved listen to me some some preachers talk about we're all the children of god no we're not we're all the creation of god but only the blood bought children of the living god they are the children of god in verse 29 he said your little faith you have little faith it means you're lacking in trust in god's knowledge of your needs you see but that's not all that's not all lacking trust in his knowledge to know of your need but also lacking trust in his power to meet your needs can i get an amen such lack of trust beloved listen to me it dishonors god and produces worry and sometimes it even restricts god's flow of blessing god's priority god's provision god's privileged children god's preferential treatment fifthly god's parental blessing to his children verses 30 and 31 here for the first time our lord jesus speaks of believers as god's children that's why i want you to underwrite it underline it in your bible beloved the fatherhood of god is only for his believers this should lift you to the highest level of joy it does to me this should lift you to the highest heaven in praise and thanksgiving now i am aware of the fact and i know that experientially there are some people who have negative experience with their earthly fathers i know that and sometimes the problem and the error comes when you compare your heavenly father with your experience the negative experience with your earthly father please listen to me i want you to imagine the most thoughtful the wisest the kindest the most compassionate father that you could ever imagine having then multiply that million times and you get close to your heavenly father can i get an amen but jesus but jesus is saying more than that he is saying that you do not even have to ask god for these needs i know this is going to really kind of get some of you having epilepsy you don't even have to ask why why because he already knows that these are your needs and he's going to meet them and meet all of your needs when your focus is the kingdom of god when you praise him adore him and worship him and serve him and sacrifice for him and witness to him for him and being obedient to him he will meet all your needs he'll meet all your needs all of them in his perfect way there are times and i have to confess it took me time it takes time and you walk with god to develop this trust it's just growing in in in in your relationship there's just no doubt about it but now there are times there's some deeds desperate needs and i would say lord you know that i have need you already know it you're going to take care of it thank you for doing that goodbye i don't do that but i don't say goodbye but but i'll begin to praise him and thank him and move on get on with my serving six and finally god takes pleasure in his children look at verses 32 all the way to 34. little flock don't don't just go past that very quickly because that is a term of endearment little flock jim elliot who was martyred for christ was a mission in latin america said the following he said he is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose i have a dear friend in australia who said to me through going went through a horrendous times and then god brought him back and he said i believe in giving with a warm hand not a cold hand everybody wants to leave everything you know to their family well god bless you that's fine he said i believe in giving with a warm hand not with a cold hand another friend many years ago used to say to me he said michael i like to do all my giving while i'm living so i am knowing where is going beloved is the cry of my heart and i pray of my heart for myself and i pray that for you that we develop a total trust of our heavenly father total trust not occasional trust not when things going well total trust so that we can overcome worry god's way and all of god's people say praise the lord will you stand up prepare your heart with me for the lord's table a precious heavenly father i look back at those 72 years of my life and i give you praise and thanksgiving for your faithfulness to your promises now one time not one time were you unfaithful to your promises lord we praise you we worship you we adore you and as we come to your table prepare our hearts to grow deeper in our trust of you in our confidence of all of your promises for we pray this in jesus name amen and amen amen be seated please could you come and remove that thank you you often hear me say that this is a three-prong experience as we come to the lord's table we look back and remember the blood that was shed for us we think of the present and we thank him for all his blessings and then we look forward to the day when we will participate in the marriage supper of the lamb and that is why the apostle paul told the corinthians the lord jesus on the night he was betrayed he took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me in the same way after supper he took the cup saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood do this in remembrance of me for whenever you eat the bread and you drink the cup of the lord you proclaim his death until he comes again and therefore anyone who eats of the bread and drinks of the cup of the lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body in the blood of the lord everyone everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink of the cup for anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the lord eats and drinks judgment on himself this is the word of god those have you been around long time this is not how we have been celebrating the lord's table but this is for especially for the visitors this is the kind of covert era and it's our best judgment it's the safest way and i will just demonstrate to you and when you finish with this you can put it in the white envelope that's in the pew you turn it upside down and you get the bread [Music] thank you lord for your flesh that was torn on that cross for me [Music] then you turn it up and you get the cup [Music] thank you for your blood lord jesus sprinkle your blood on your people today in jesus name [Music] amen [Music] so worthy of every song we could ever see worthy of all the praise we could ever bring worthy of every breath we could ever breathe we live for you [Music] live for you jesus the name above every other name jesus the only one who could ever say worthy of every breath we could ever breathe live for you we live for you [Applause] [Music] open up my eyes and wander and show me who you are and fill me with your heart and lead me in your love to those around me [Music] worthy of every song we could ever see [Music] worthy of all the praise we could ever bring [Music] worthy of every breath we could ever breathe we live for you [Music] jesus the name above every other day jesus the only one who could ever say worthy of every breath we could ever breathe we live for you [Music] oh we live for you [Music] only there is [Music] show me who you are [Music] [Music] me [Music] i will build my life upon your love it is a firm foundation and i will put my trust in you upon is there is who you are there is who you are [Music] please stand and join us the prettier body the wine in your blood sweet communion you set a table for us to crucify jesus no greater love than the bread your body then the white [Music] jesus our savior just to know you and yourself foreign [Music] the 39 lashes brought me back to life and before resurrection there was a grave in hell [Music] oh jesus jesus our savior for just to know you and himself this morning lord what you've done for us how you poured out your blood for us how you gave your body away for us we praise you this morning lord this is our savior look at him look at him this is our savior look it up look at him this is [Music] look at him we will remember [Music] jesus [Music] church [Music] just to get me closer than i've ever [Music] been [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] blessed let your voices loud with all of him shall praise [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] blessed blessed amen praise the lord go out in the power of the triune god have a great sunday god bless you we'll see you next week [Music] [Applause] [Music] thank you for joining us in this corporate worship today we would love to hear from you and love to pray for you and encourage you in what god is doing in your life if you would like more opportunities to connect with us please let us know may god bless you and your loved ones today and the coming week [Music] you

Channel: The Church Of The Apostles

Views: 1,571

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Sermons by great preachers, testimonies of christians, jesus christ, leading the way, Dr Michael Youssef, The Church of the Apostles

Id: VJIaOAattho

Length: 97min 54sec (5874 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 14 2021