Worship — Manley Beasley

You may have noticed a little bit of difference in the voice today. This is Manly Beasley, Jr., rather than Manly Beasley making the introduction. The main reason for that is that at the time that we're making the master for this tape, Dad has just been in the hospital and went directly from the hospital to a meeting.

And we do appreciate your continued prayers. We're having to make some minor adjustments with regard to the dialysis procedure. They could become major adjustments, and they could affect the travel schedule of Dad and some of his future with regards to the way the Lord has been leading him to do these things.

So be much in prayer. He will probably say a little more about it on next month's tape of the month when he has been able to evaluate a little more in depth. Let me say a word also, it's been a real blessing this month to just see that the way the Lord has done an incredible deliverance for us.

We are very hesitant and have always been very hesitant to specifically share our needs for several reasons. One is we believe that a faith ministry is to be supported out of the faith of people who are praying for a ministry and are trusting God for a ministry.

And we believe our ministry is a faith ministry. And so we believe that God is perfectly able and capable of speaking to your hearts and giving you leadership when there is a need in our ministry for you to partake in.

And many of you have been very sensitive. But in this particular situation, the Lord has used an outside source to get us over a very difficult hump financially. The crisis that we have faced has basically been related to several factors.

One, at this time of the year we are always facing a rather difficult situation for some reason. I'm not sure why, but it seems to be true every year. And also because of the fact that with the convention and all of the participation that we have with regards to that, we spend a certain amount of money that we don't normally have to spend during a particular month.

So we just have to take that in stride, and it's usually a significant amount, basically depending upon where the convention is at a particular time. In this particular case, as you probably well know, the Southern Baptist Convention was held in Las Vegas.

So that involved an abnormally high amount of airfare, as well as the conditions all surrounding it were just a little more expensive than normal. But the Lord has really just done a miraculous work. He's really tested our faith in it, though, because we've just been praying and trusting him to come through in a way, hoping that we wouldn't need to share in a public way what was going on.

Now that's not to say that there are not times where the Lord will have us ask you to pray with us about a burden that we're having and different things. But in this case, we really didn't feel good about broadcasting it.

So we just want to praise the Lord. We're excited about what he's doing, I tell you. As I said before, there will be a lot that Dad will have to say and want to say on next of the month club. Another reason that I'm making this introduction, besides the fact that he's not handy right now, is because also we are sending out a message that he's been planning on you hearing for a while now, and it just worked out where this would be the best month for you to hear it.

We are going to try to stay with the approach of him teaching you in a personal month-by-month way. We feel like that's the best way at this point. But upon occasion there will be messages where he's gone into a church and preached a message and just feels like there's an anointing and there's a need for the message to be presented to you.

And this is one of those cases. So prayerfully listen as he shares with you the message as God has laid upon his heart. Let me say one more quick word. I don't often do the introductions for the tapes when Dad is well.

But there are a number of new Tape Club members. We've added just an incredible number in the last year, actually the last six months since January. But we do want you to know that the Tape Club is the real nucleus of this ministry.

It's through the Tape Club that we feel the heartbeat of where we believe spiritual Christians are heading in our day. We get input from you. We encourage input from you. If there are ever any questions or any problems or anything, please write us.

Let us know. We do this by computer, so we realize that there are often typographical errors and all kinds of mistakes and things that take place there. And we're happy to try to make those adjustments.

Some of you need to realize that when you do send in letters or suggestions or even your payment for the bill, that many times they cross in the mail. And so you may have sent something in and yet receive a tape that does not show the corrected address or whatever that you have sent in previously.

But the chances are the next time it will reflect that correction or whatever that you've commented on. So keep that in mind. And we're just excited about all of you who are a part of the Tape Club, those of you who have been with us for many, many years, and those of you who are new and are just now beginning to be a part of this.

Please pray for us. We love you and depend upon you. And I trust that you're continuing to make this ministry a focal point of your prayer time with our Lord. Would you listen as Dad speaks to us?

Knowing God and Walking With Him

...relationship with this church in that I have got acquainted with you through your pastor in a hospital room. And he had a need and the Lord obviously had designed a meeting time and it was in the very room where they announced to him he had cancer.

And we didn't plan that. God put it all together. And so I got acquainted with you through him and I've come over several times and talked to you about the Lord and about the things of God. And he's one of my special cases.

Now, you may not believe it, but the doctor asked me if I would deal with him. And then the doctor went and asked him if he would come and see me. And the Lord put it all together. He really did. He really, it has amazed both of us how God got that together.

And right now, Brother Harvey, I'm dealing with a young man, possibly the greatest revivalist in the world. His name is Dale Fasenfeld. And Dale has just had a tumor taken off of his brain and been given six weeks to six months to live.

And they set up an appointment with him, with me and him together on telephone for him to talk to me. And I prayed, Lord, Lord, Lord, what in the world can I say to that man? And the Lord rebuked me. And he said, Now, son, I've been preparing you for about 40 years to talk to that man.

And when you have the opportunity, you'll know what to say. And I got a word last night that he's rejoicing in the Lord with only six weeks to six months to live. And I'm anxious just to see what God's going to do with that man.

But what we're going to talk about these days is how to know God and walk with him. Now, friend, I am expecting, I don't know what kind of a crowd to expect, because we haven't really got out and worked for a crowd.

But I do know I'm expecting God to show up. And I'm expecting people get to know God in a way they never have. And I'm expecting them to learn how to walk with him. And so you come. Let me urge you to come.

I mean, you do all in your power to come. Because our Lord says, I'm going to let all the stops out as far as preaching is concerned. Now, I'm sort of weak when it comes to walking a mile. But when I come to preach, I can preach till you get tired.

And I guarantee you. And I can say more in 15 minutes than you can handle in a year anyway. And so don't you worry about what you're going to get. Because you will get the truth. And we're going to see some mighty things this next few days.

And I believe that this particular type of thing is the beginning of something that God is going to let happen for a few months in my life. As I prepare some people. We're headed for some strange days.

And we're in them. And I'll tell you, it's going to be tough. Now, if you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to the book of Hebrews, the 11th chapter, this morning. The message this morning and tonight will be relating to faith.

And it will fit into everything that I'm going to say Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. But I have found that reputation doesn't hurt a person. So there are a few things that you might hear this morning and tonight that I might pass by again.

But I will not deal with it extensively. But I am believing that God this morning will use this time to really help us. Now, if I had a title for this message, it would be How to Grow in the Lord. And you'll find that we have made some gross mistakes in our teaching people how to grow in the Lord.

In what we have taught them to do. When they get saved by the grace of God, one of the first things we do is we teach them how to be legalistic, not Christian. The first thing we do, right off, when a person gets saved by the grace of God, we'll tell them, you do this, this, this, and this, and this, and you'll make it.

And the problem with that, that's just not so. And they come up in a crisis after they have done all these five things. And the answers are not there. And they don't know what to do. And it's because we have told them, as newborn babes in Christ, a legalistic way to handle and walk to know God and walk with Him.

After they get saved. So this morning, I'm going to talk to you about how to know God and how to walk with Him. How to grow with Him. What to do when you first get saved. What are the first things that you learn to do?

And in this 11th chapter of the book of Hebrews, God has left us a pattern. Now, there is a way that a Christian can think. And to not think as a Christian should will get you in trouble. Now, let me just give you a little illustration.

Here is a man walking on this wall. And before him is truth. And he keeps his eyes on truth. And they walk on this wall. And feelings come along behind. But now, if this man takes his eyes off of truth and turns around and looks at the feeling, he falls off the wall.

Now, that is a process of thinking that is absolutely necessary if you keep a balanced Christian life. And I want you to know, you cannot depend on your emotions. But your emotions will become so much a part of you that they will dictate to you to such extent that you will take your eyes off of truth and look to emotions and you will go down the drain spiritually and you will wonder why.

And it is because you have not kept your thinking theologically correct. Because if you think correct, you are going to come out correct. Now, this morning, what we are going to do is deal with an outline that outlines the correct way to grow in grace.

To mature as a child of God. To know God and to walk with Him. A few weeks ago, a young man came up to me that had surrendered to preach. And he wanted me to tell him something profound as to how to be a great preacher.

And I think he thought I was a great preacher so he thought I would give him the answer. And so here is what I told him. I said, if I had it all to do over, I would spend my life in learning to know God and how to walk with Him.

He said, is that all? I said, friend, that's enough. I said, that will get the job done. That will get the job done. Now, this morning, we are going to deal with that. Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

For by it, the elders obtain a good report. Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God so that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. My, my, my, my.

Now, listen to this. By faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it, he being dead, yet speaketh.

For by faith, England was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him. For before that translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God. Now, without faith, it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Now, by faith, Noah, being warned of God of things not seen yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house and by the which he condemned the world and became heirs of a righteousness which is by faith.

Now, by faith, I'm just going to read one reference to Abraham because actually the next few verses, a number of verses refer to Abraham. In fact, through the 19th verse, refers to Abraham and his family.

So by faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should afterwards see for an inheritance, obeyed and he went out not knowing whether he went. Now, in this pattern of message or scriptures I've read to you, we have the pattern of spiritual growth that I believe God's people need to learn.

Four Stages of Spiritual Growth

And that pattern is the first thing that a child of God needs to learn if he's going to know God and walk with him is how to worship God. The second thing he needs to know if he is going to know God and walk with him and that is how to walk with God.

The third thing he needs to learn is how to work the works of God. And the fourth thing that he needs to learn is how to reproduce with the Lord. Now, there's more to it than this. But this is the thing that I believe that will bring us to what we call a fruit bearing life.

It will bring us to a life where we are reproductive. Now, we have changed at least I have in my thinking from when I first got saved. When I got saved in 1948 the philosophy of the Baptist in general was if you put him to work he will stay faithful and thereby grow in grace.

Now, the only problem wrong with that is the only thing wrong with that is just wrong. And so the fact is the thing they did that day when I got saved as soon as they could, they made me the church clerk.

Now, that's very funny because at that time I could not read or write like a person should. And I became the clerk of the first Baptist church, Fort Natchez, that runs 6 or 700 in Sunday School. Can you imagine a man that couldn't read or write becoming a church clerk to a church like that and their business meetings, they'd have 300 or 400 people there.

And I had to take all that junk down. But their philosophy was give him something to do and he'll grow in grace. Isn't that something? Isn't that awful? If it hadn't been for my sister, I probably would have had a nervous breakdown right away because that was really something.

But, beloved, listen. The Bible teaches the first thing that a child of God needs to learn is how to worship. Now, on your sign out there, I don't know I didn't read it this morning but in the as you drive up to most churches and you see the sign, it says worship service at 11 o 'clock or 10 .30 or 9 .30 in some churches.

Worship service. And friends, what they mean is that we're going to meet and we're going to have some songs some prayer and an offering and a sermon and an invitation. And they call that worship. Now in more recent months we have had develop among Baptists and it's come out of the Pentecostal movement because they've been so visible on television that we are going to worship God by singing praises unto Him.

Now there's just something wrong with that. That is not worship. That is praise. And there I find that they have mixed praises and worship. And worship is not praise and praise is not worship. Now praise may mix into worship occasionally but it is not worship.

The Bible teaches us that Abel worshipped God. And that is the definition of worship that I want to leave with you this morning. What did Abel do? He brought to God a sacrifice that was acceptable to God.

He brought it by faith. In other words what he did was he discovered what God wanted. And he became persuaded of that. And he brought it to God and laid it at God's feet. And it was acceptable to God.

And when it was acceptable to God man had done his part. Then God did His part. And that means that Abel brought unto God a sacrifice and placed it on the altar. And when that sacrifice was on the altar God consumed it with His presence.

And my dear friends because of that forever Abel even though he's dead will preach and live and magnify God's gospel. Now that's the result of worship. In other words when a person worships their life takes on the dimension of eternity.

I mean totally, a total eternal dimension. It is amazing. Yet they die physically. They live on forever. And I'm just not talking about heaven. Their testimony lives on forever in earth, ever in earth.

So worship my dear friends as a person recognizing their nothingness recognizing that they have nothing within themselves that pleases God but themselves and their nothing. And recognizing that God is everything everything and so they come to the end of themselves with all of their complexity whatever that problem might be they come to the altar and they lay themselves so completely on the altar by faith in God that my dear friends when that all is on the altar they have done three things.

They have seen themselves as nothing they have had a change of mind about their ability to be to be anything and do anything apart from God. And they have made the choice to lay themselves at God's feet for Him to consume as He wills and do with them what He wills so here they come to worship God my dear friends that's not a praise that's a living sacrifice I beseech you brethren by the mercies of God that you present yourselves a living sacrifice unto God and my dear friends in some translations that living sacrifice the word there is used worship that's so beautiful.

Worship as Surrendered Sacrifice

Why? Because the man of God the woman of God the child of God comes to that place and that altar and lays themselves at that altar before God. Oh my friends they lay themselves so adequately before God at that altar that my friends God consumes it with His presence and takes them up and my friends they are able to see things at that moment as God sees things.

My the first step in growing is learning how to worship God. Amen. Learn how to worship God. Brother Abraham gives us the great definition he was asking God to offer up his son Isaac. Now you have to remember that Isaac was the son of promise the son of performance the son of purpose because Jesus would come through Isaac.

I mean everything in Isaac could only be explained by God and yet God said to Abraham I want you to offer him up as a sacrifice. Isn't God contradicting himself. Well see we are looking at that experience on a humanistic level.

Let's watch Abraham as he works through this situation. Let's watch him as he works through this situation. Somehow someway he begins to work through this situation and he saw his son in a figure Hebrews 11 19.

I do not know exactly how it happened but my dear friends it happened that Abraham was able to get in a spiritual sense Isaac on the altar and God saw showed him in a figure Isaac alive. So one day God said to Abraham get the fire, the wood, the knife the cord, the servants the animals and go to a certain mountain.

And when Abraham got to that certain mountain at the foot of it he turned and said to the men with him you stay here with the animals. Isaac and myself will go yonder. Listen to me now listen to me. We will go yonder and worship.

Yes sir we will go yonder and worship. Now my dear friends what is he talking about. He said my God will provide himself a lamb a sacrifice. But my dear friends in the heart of Abraham and the heart of those servants Isaac was the sacrifice.

And he goes up to the top of that mountain and he calls this worship. He goes up to the top of that mountain and you remember the cross is on top of a hill a mountain my friend he builds an altar and he sets a fire to that altar and he reaches over and he tells Isaac to get on that altar.

And there my dear friends on that altar he binds Isaac to that altar with the cords and he raises the knife to slam into Isaac's body. And God said that's enough that's enough. And Abraham calls that worship worship my dear friends is when you face life and it's many different aspects blessings adversities night and day whatever it is that is God's call to you and me to worship.

And my dear friends we by whatever method we can to the altar that's been built and that altar is called the old rugged cross. And we get on that altar my dear friends and when we are so completely on that altar there's nothing left of us.

A knife has been raised. We have come to the end and we have said whether live or die all I'm interested in is I glorify God. God says that's enough that's enough. And he consumes us with himself and he shows us the lamb tied caught in the bushes.

In other words we see his provision. We see his provision. Yes my dear friends we see the thing like he sees it that's the result of worship. We see it as he sees it. One day God said to me I want the best thing you've got the only thing you've got and that is your life.

And one night at one third in the morning I was able after seven months to get on that altar and say God whatever and that night earth and heaven met together in my soul and God let me see when I got to the place whether live or die all I wanted was that my life magnified, glorified the Lord.

One third in the morning he spoke to my heart and I saw the lamb thou shall see thy children. That's enough. He said that's enough that's enough. And I know a man that I shared this with one time in a hospital room and after weeks of struggling he got to that altar and said oh God whatever as long as you are glorified in my life whether I live or die and God said that's enough that's enough.

And he saw things as God and he was able to say I am not going to die, I'm going to live. And he's sitting right there. Yes sir my dear friends it came out of learning to worship. And the first step in Christian growth is learning to worship.

Learning to worship God learning my dear friends when you are dealt with in any way my friends learning how to get to that old rugged cross how that's the altar that's been built and my dear friends you know what the cross means death and it's where you come to the end and God steps in.

Phew. Yes it does brother that's it, that's it brother that's it, that's it glory to God that's it, yes sir it's where you and me come to the end of all of our struggle chaos and confusion and get it all on that altar where it's the end.

And when we get to the end he steps in and then he shows us the things like he sees them and my friends our lives take on a measure of eternity. And yet my dear friend he died, yet he's speaking yes sir Tuesday of this week I flew to Memphis Tennessee.

I'd been dealing with two businessmen both of them were some of the biggest businessmen in Memphis Tennessee and one of them got to the place of worship just by talking by phone and correspondence. He got to the place and he got the victory.

Worship in Business and Personal Crisis

And I wish I could tell you that I'm trying to be so practical with this this morning because you have to work for a living. And I'm dealing with this man in business and he's going broke and he doesn't know what to do but he learned that he could give up and get to Calvary and there worship God and God would bring him to the end of himself.

And there he would see this thing as God sees it and everything changed. So one man though had not seen this and I went and spent four hours talking to him and I said sir you have got to get to the cross and get so completely on that cross that whether you live or die it doesn't make any difference.

You just want God to be glorified. And when you get there then God will consume that sacrifice and you will see things as God sees things. And it won't make any difference anymore. What you think or want it will all be what God thinks and what God wants.

And that's the only way out of your dilemma he said. But brother namely five years ago I was worth eight million dollars. I own nine oh no excuse me seven car dealerships one of the most successful men in this town.

I said that doesn't mean anything to me. I said what means something to me is that you have got to learn to worship God. He said what do you mean. I go to worship service every Sunday morning in one of the best churches in this country.

And he does. But I said friend that doesn't mean you worship. Because friend for you to worship means you're going to have to take your business your faults your sins your life your metal your difficulty your being everything.

And you're going to have to get all on that old cross to where there's nothing left. All you want is for God to be glorified whether you live or die. Whether that business goes down or not all you want now is that God be glorified.

And I said when you get there then God is satisfied and God will consume that offering with his presence. When you come to the end God steps in. And then folk whew you see things as God sees things. I'm in one of the most unique test of my life.

I have not been in this test that I'm in right now whether I'll be probably in 15 years I've not been in the test. I'm in right now and night for last I couldn't sleep and I need rest. But I couldn't sleep.

And I got up and I walked all over my house up and down the stairs in every room and I just kept going. And finally I got to the end of myself on the old rugged cross at the altar. I got to the end and I said God if it will magnify you to let her sink if it will magnify you to raise it up whatever God whatever.

And I got it all. And I got to the end and I said to Lord I have a daughter in law that's down in MD Anderson with cancer and I got her. I got that situation to the end. And when I did God stepped in he consumed that sacrifice with his presence.

I saw things like God could see things and I saw the victory. And it's mine. Oh yes it's mine. Yes sir it's mine. And I don't know how he's going to do it because how he does it is not my business. My business was my dear friend to raise the life to such extent that God put it on my life to the extent that God said that's enough.

That's enough. That's enough. That's enough. When you worship God in spirit and in truth the outcome of that worship is that you see things like God sees things. And I'm going to tell you when you see things like he sees them then you can walk then you can work and then you can reproduce.

And we'll talk about those tonight. Now folk I have not been profoundly presenting you something this morning but I'm going to tell you if you want to know God and you want to walk with God you're going to have to learn how to worship God.

Now let me say this before I finish. If you will be sensitive to God, God will not have to work desperately and God will not have to work drastically is the word I'm looking for in your life to shut you up to him because of what God wanted to do with my life and my insensitivity God has had to work drastically in my life.

And in most people he does. You know why? Because they will not be sensitive when he says come. So he has to work drastically in their life and get them so desperate that they have no other way to go but to God.

The Altar, the Cross, and Daily Worship

So let me invite you today to come and worship God. If you're going to walk know him and walk with him friend you have to learn how well I've said enough more than we'll probably live up to in a long time.

Could I ask you to let you put it all on the altar. I mean put it all on the altar. You say well I've done that. You may have to do it five times a week. I don't know in fact I am not so sure that God hasn't designed worship to be a day by day thing a hour by hour thing a moment by moment thing.

But I know when you do worship God. When you really do worship God you prove to the world what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. You see friend they see that you know God and that you're walking with God.

And I'll tell you there's nothing greater can be said of you than that when the children of Israel came out of Egypt and the spies went to Jericho you know what that what that woman said she said when we heard not of what you did for God but what God did for you.

Our hearts melted within us. And I'll be very honest with you she got saved from just hearing about what God did for those people crossing the Red Sea changing the bitter water to sweet. When she heard about that she got saved.

You say how do you know preacher. Because when those spies had come she had already changed professions from a prostitute to a dealer in black. Amen. You check it out cause when she hid them she hid them among her business things.

And I missed you this morning. I trust I have been very simplistic because folk the old timers had it. We don't know much about it today. You see they didn't have all the gimmicks and gadgets to get things done.

You see in the New Testament they they didn't have all the modern methods so they couldn't get the job done without God. So they sought God and worshiped God in spirit and truth and the job got done. But now you and I can get people and money in the church houses without God and grow churches without God.

And we don't have to have God. So you know why? We don't worship God in spirit and in truth we have a superficial worship and so we don't need God so we can be explained by hard work and ingenuity and our ability and we can be explained and when you can be explained folk you can be assured that you are not knowing God and walking with Him.

Amen. I feel like and here I go using it wrongly. I feel like that I haven't got this across to you how important it is but I will say this to those that have eyes to see and ears to hear this could be a life changing hour for you.

Amen. Yes sir it could be a life changing hour. I trust that it will be to you that have never been saved by the grace of God, washed in the blood of the Lamb, you know how you get saved, you get saved by God showing you that you are a sinner you see yourself as a lost sinner, wretched and undone and miserable, having never been saved, you see yourself as you are and in that condition seeing yourself as such an awful sinner there is a change comes in your mind about your ability to do it and God's ability to do it, so you have a change of mind and you know what else, there in your heart you make a choice to come to the Lord Jesus that died on the old rugged cross just for you and when you make that decision to come home as a sinner to Jesus very likely the moment you make that decision you are saved by the grace of God and you come someone to deal with you and show you what to do, if you haven't done it how to do, and you can know the Lord so I trust that you'll come this morning and know the Lord, I trust that you'll let him have his way, so I'm gonna ask us to bow our heads my friend, this morning I have talked to you about how to worship God, I have said in my heart over and over as I've watched people throughout the ages 30 something years 40 years as a preacher as I've watched people, they're doing legalistic things to worship God, they read their Bible, they pray, they go to church, they witness and they do that because someone told them to do it do you know what and you get out there and then you start failing, you start failing, my friend what you need to do is come and learn to worship God and when you learn to worship God, you find God in spirit and in truth so the word of God is read definitely amen, and one of the best places to hear about God is church, amen the things of God and the church should be a worship service and it is for some when they come to the end of themselves and lay themselves totally on the altar yes sir, yes sir yes sir that is worship but they go out, chains, people forever, so this morning let me invite you to come to this altar as a child of God and worship God and as a lost sinner let me invite you to come to Jesus and worship Him as Lord and Savior of your life and you that are here today that are God's people, if this church is the place where you need to be with the people of God, you are impressed that God wants you there or here, you come you come this morning I want us to stand for prayer the choir is going to sing the invitation hymn Lord Jesus have your precious way this morning, oh God have your precious way Lamb of God you have shown us what you are going to do this week, Lord I can see the mountain peaks but I can't see the valleys, now Father I don't know whether people really see that the way to really walk with God is learn how to worship Him now.