Sunday Morning, January 24, 2021 AM

Good morning everyone.

There we go. We're glad that you're joining us for worship this morning. If you're watching us on live stream, we're glad that you're able to join that way as well.

As we get started, we've got a few announcements this morning. Looking ahead, come back this evening for our evening service.

That's at 530. Looking ahead to Wednesday, again, dinner for the whole church.

That's at 545. Come for that and for fellowship and then at 630,

Bible study for the adults and tag for the kids. Also looking ahead, next

Sunday, fifth Sunday of the month. So kind of a busy Sunday. We'll have communion in the morning next

Sunday and then music night next Sunday. I'm going to throw it to Mr. Brian Barcelo.

He'll have more to say about that. So we would love, we'd love to have you share with us any gifts of music or whatever for that night.

And then after the service next Sunday night, there is truth group meeting for the young adults.

In relationships that are related to that, there are a few spots left in April, May and August of this year to help feed those young people.

So I said it last week, I'm sure they'll eat about anything. So don't feel like you have to provide a, you know, five course meal for them or anything.

All right. Our fighter verse for this week comes from Romans chapter 11 verses 33 through 36.

This is so, so good. Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways for who has known the mind of the

Lord or who has been his counselor or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid for from him and through him and to him are all things to him be glory forever.

Amen. That's a good verse to memorize this week. Operation Christmas Child.

Uh, we're just trying to get out ahead of that. So in the four year, there's a box where you can give a certain items.

Uh, this month are, uh, bars of soap and washcloths. And then in February, they're going to be collecting hats and gloves.

It's just to try and put as much stuff together, uh, for when we do that in November and December, um, later this year as we can.

And then lastly, I just wanted to recognize Mrs. Starley Bullard. Today is her birthday.

So if you know Starley to know her is to love her. So we're so thankful for her and for the gift that she is to our church.

Oh, would you like, we can do that. We're going to sing. I'm sure she would appreciate it.

Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday, dear Starley. Happy birthday to you.

All right. We're thankful for you, Starley. Uh, one more thing.

There's a nice insert in your bulletin about an upcoming abolish abortion day at the state

Capitol. In conjunction with that, there is a two day conference that's going on. If you're interested in attending that, there is a registration that you'll have to do, but that's

February 9th, uh, coming up at the beginning of next month. All right. If there's no other announcements this morning, we're going to have a time, uh, just of quiet prayer and preparation for worship.

And then after we're done with that, dad will open us in prayer. Heavenly father.

It is a blessing to be able to gather together this morning. Lord, we come this morning because we are a needy people.

We need you. We need to draw near in Christ this morning, or would you help us to do that today for the glory of your name?

Lord, as we come this morning, may we come with a glad and sincere hearts.

May we give thanks to you for the blessing of Jesus, our savior, to be able to come into this place and, and, and into your presence in Jesus name.

Lord, we bow down and give you thanks this morning.

We give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness. Lord, we, we give you thanks for you have exalted above all things, your name and your word.

Lord, may we come into your presence today with joy in Jesus.

Let me give you glory and honor and praise and blessing in Jesus name.

Amen. Would you stand with me for our call to worship this morning?

We're going to continue in Psalms 57 today. Read verses seven and eight.

Read with me together. My heart is steadfast though. God, my heart is steadfast.

I will sing and make melody. Oh, wait, my glory awake.

Oh, harp and lyre. I will wake the dawn. Our first song this morning is a song that we sang last week.

We're going to start with the chorus. Be exalted.

Oh God. If you'd like, you can be seated for our next song.

The, the blessing to, to know

God, the blessing that he's revealed himself to man. Uh, brother

Michael's been talking about how he's preserved the word of God for us, that we have, and then we have a translated in a language we can understand.

And of course, the ultimate revelation of God is the Lord Jesus Christ sent to live a sinless, perfect life, to die on the cross for our sins, raised the third day.

We might have victory over sin and eternal life with him. Of course, God created everything.

He created us. He created the universe, the world, incredible power of God. So our next song is going to talk about that.

It's like the song is like a Bible study. Okay. Uh, you can just list as you sing, listen to the words, meditate on the words in your heart.

You're the word, the God, the father from before the world began, every star and every planet has been fashioned by your hand.

All creation holds together by the power of your voice. Let the skies declare your glory.

Let the land and seas rejoice. And every verse is just rich in the truth of the power and glory of our

God. So sing with your whole heart to him all together by the power of your voice.

Let the skies declare your glory. Let the land and seas rejoice.

You're the author of creation. You're the

Lord of every man. And your cry of love rings out across the land.

You left the gaze of angels, came to seek and save the lost, and exchange the joy of heaven for the anguish of a cross.

With the prayer you fed the hungry, with the word you calmed the sea, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, with the word you healed the wounded, ♪

Things out across the land. ♪

You may recall a couple of weeks ago, I was forced to use my crummy old work glasses to read up here. Thankfully to my wife,

I mentioned it to her and she bought me some new ones, which are destruction proof, provided I don't do anything that will destroy them.

Just so you know. Let's stand for the reading of God's word. Deuteronomy 31, starting in verse 14, and we'll read to the end of the chapter.

Then the Lord said to Moses, behold, the time for you to die is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting that I may commission him.

So Moses and Joshua went and prepared themselves at the tent of meeting. The Lord appeared in the tent in the pillar of cloud and the pillar of cloud stood at the doorway of the tent.

The Lord said to Moses, behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers and this people will arise and play the harlot with the strange gods of the land into the midst of which they're going and will forsake me and break my covenant, which

I have made with them. Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day and I will forsake them and hide my face from them and they will be consumed and many evils and troubles will come upon them so that they will say in that day, is it not because our

God is not among us that these evils have come upon us? But I will surely hide my face in that day because of the evil which they do for they will turn to other gods.

Now therefore, write this song for yourselves and teach it to the sons of Israel. Put it on their lips so that this song may be witnessed for me against the sons of Israel.

For when I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to their fathers and they have eaten and are satisfied and become prosperous, then they will turn to other gods and serve them and spurn me and break my covenant.

Then it shall come about when many evils and troubles have come upon them that this song will testify before them as a witness.

For it shall not be forgotten from the lips of their descendants. For I know their intent, which they are developing today, before I have brought them into the land which

I swore. So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the sons of Israel. Then he commissioned

Joshua, the son of Nun, and said, be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the sons of Israel into the land which

I swore to them, and I will be with you. It came about when Moses finished writing the words of this law in the book until they were complete that Moses commanded the

Levites who carry the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord saying, take this book of the law and place it beside the

Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, that it may remain there as a witness against you.

For I know your rebellion and your stubbornness. Behold, while I am still alive with you today, you have been rebellious against the

Lord, how much more than after my death. Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers that I may speak these words in the hearing and call the heavens and the earth to witness against them.

For I know that after my death you will act corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you, and evil will befall you in the latter days.

For you will do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger with the work of your hands.

Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song until they were complete.

And the following chapter is that song which you are free to read. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we're so grateful to be here today. I pray, Lord, that you will help us to remember to just take this time, forget about the things going on in the world around us, and just use this time to worship you.

Just pray for Michael as he comes, that you would strengthen him and quicken to his mouth the words that you've put on his heart.

Just pray that you'll bless us today and just help us to follow you closer as a result. In Christ's name, amen.

You may be seated. Hopefully, as you came in, you picked up our next song on the back, on the podium in the back.

Jesus shall reign where 'er the sun. And then after that, we'll go right into page 133,

You Are the Lord, and on that one, we'll start on the chorus. Jesus shall reign where 'er the sun.

♪ Reign, reign, reign, reign, reign, reign, reign ♪ ♪ Where the sun does its successive journeys run ♪ ♪

His kingdoms stretch from shore to shore ♪ ♪

Till sun shall rise and set no more ♪ ♪

Blessings abound wherever he reigns ♪ ♪

The prisoner leaves to lose his chains ♪ ♪

The weary find eternal rest ♪ ♪

And all the sons of want are blessed ♪ ♪

To the king he highest praise ♪ ♪

Christ he through eternal days ♪ ♪

Just and faithful he shall reign ♪ ♪

Jesus shall reign ♪ ♪

People and realms of every tongue ♪ ♪

His song and infant voices shall proclaim ♪ ♪

Their early blessings on his name ♪ ♪

To our king be highest praise ♪ ♪

Christ he through eternal days ♪ ♪

Just and faithful he shall reign ♪ ♪ Jesus shall reign ♪ ♪

Every creature who rise and reign ♪ ♪

Blessing and honor to our king ♪ ♪

Angels descend with songs again ♪ ♪

And earthly people of all men ♪ ♪

To our king be highest praise ♪ ♪

Christ he through eternal days ♪ ♪

Just and faithful he shall reign ♪ ♪

Jesus shall reign ♪ ♪

To our king be highest praise ♪ ♪ Christ he through eternal days ♪ ♪

Just and faithful he shall reign ♪ ♪

Jesus shall reign ♪ ♪

You are the Lord, you are our

God ♪ ♪ Father, Son, and Spirit, you are the

Lord ♪ ♪ You are exalted,

God of endless grace ♪ ♪

Saints from all nations, praise you all the days ♪ ♪

Gathered around your throne, we will exalt you ♪ ♪

Worthy and glorious, and it's done by you ♪ ♪

You are the Lord, you are our

God ♪ ♪ Father, Son, and Spirit, you are the

Lord ♪ ♪ You are the Lord. ♪

I invite you to open your

Bibles and turn with me to Psalm 115. Psalm 115, we are coming back to the

Psalm again, to hear a little bit more about the Lord who was our help and our shield.

We are looking at this Psalm, which apparently is my favorite Psalm. I did not know that until I began preaching through it, but it's my favorite

Psalm right now. 116 may prove even more precious, but we have been exhorted in this

Psalm to trust in the Lord because he is our help and our shield.

Repeatedly, we are exhorted to trust in the Lord because he is our help and our shield.

He is the only help and shield for he is the only God. He is the only

God and he is a faithful God, and he is a gracious God. And so we are to trust him as our help and our shield.

This morning, we should think and ask ourselves, to what end?

Why is he our help and our shield? What is his desire in this? What is his aim in being our help and our shield?

To what end do we trust him as our help and our shield?

And that is what we are thinking about this morning. Let me pray for us, and then we will read the text.

Father, we come before you and I give an amen, an echo to my brother,

Ken. We are here because we are needy. We are here because we need you. We are here because we are hungry and you have our food.

We are here because we are thirsty and you have our drink. We are here because we are simple and you have our truth and our knowledge.

And we are foolish, but you have our wisdom. And we are sinners, but you have our forgiveness.

You have our atonement. You have our acceptance.

You have our grace. We are mortal, but you have our everlasting life.

So we come to praise you today. We come to glorify you today. And I pray that you would help us in this and that you would bring these words that you have breathed out by your

Holy Spirit that were borne along by a holy man long ago, faithfully brought to bear in our lives here this morning.

Bring these words home to rest and reign in our lives and in this world through your word.

We pray for these graces, looking only to Jesus Christ, the one with whom you are well -pleased.

Amen. I invite you to stand with me as I read Psalm 115.

These are the words of our Lord. O Lord, not unto us,

O Lord, not unto us, but to your name give glory because of your mercy, because of your truth.

Why should the Gentiles say, so where is their God? But our

God is in the heaven. He does whatever he pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.

They have mouths, but they do not speak. Eyes they have, but they do not hear. They have ears, but they do not hear.

Noses they have, but they do not smell. They have hands, but they do not handle. Feet they have, but they do not walk, nor do they mutter through their throat.

Those who make them are like them. So is everyone who trusts in them.

O Israel, trust in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the

Lord. He is their help and their shield. You who fear the Lord, trust in the

Lord. He is their help and their shield. The Lord has been mindful of us.

He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless those who fear the

Lord, both small and great. May the Lord give you increase more and more, you and your children.

May you be blessed by the Lord who made heaven and earth. The heavens, even the heavens are the

Lord's, but the earth he has given to the children of men. The dead do not praise the

Lord, nor any who go down into silence, but we will bless the

Lord. From this time forth and forevermore, praise the

Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. In the first three verses of this psalm, we talked about the exaltation of our

God. Not to us, not to us, but to your name, give glory. Verses four through eight, we saw the excoriation of other gods, the mockery, the shame heaped upon the false gods of the nations of the pagans.

In verses nine through 11, consider the exhortation of the godly, that the heart of the psalm is exhorting one another to trust in the

Lord as our help and our shield. And then last time we considered the explanation of our good, verses 12 and 13, the nature of the

Lord's blessing and grace upon us. And now here in verses 14 through 18, we're considering the expansion of God's glory, the expansion of his glory.

Now last week, we talked about the blessing. He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel.

He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless those who fear him. That's a lot of blessing.

And that is a heap of blessing. What are they all for?

What are all these blessings for? Why is he blessing and blessing and blessing?

It's possible that for Christmas or a birthday, because I know half of you have your birthday in January, it's possible that for Christmas or a birthday, you received a gift that came with a qualifying lecture or label.

A young man's first knife comes with the qualifying lecture.

This is a tool, not a toy. It has to come with that.

It's a qualifying lecture. This is what it is for. Some gifts come with the qualifying label.

Use only as directed. You've seen that label before. You may have taken that label off.

You may have discovered that label when cleaning, but that label is on all kinds of products and items.

Use only as directed. You find it on propane tanks and chainsaws and pressure cookers and prescriptions.

Use only as directed indicates that this tool or this substance is powerfully good and useful when used according to the instructions.

Use only as directed. And if it is used in a way that is not directed, it may not turn out so well.

The Lord's blessings are to be used only as directed.

Directed. They are powerful and they are good and they are abundant as we've seen.

The abundance of blessing, but they are to be used as directed in accordance with the end for which he has given them.

And to this end, he is our help and our shield. And that end is that he would be praised and glorified.

The end of the Psalm tells us the point of all of the blessings, that he would be praised, that he would be magnified, that his name, not to us, not to us, but to his name be glory and honor and praise.

When used as directed, God's blessings promote his praise. How we know if we're using his blessings appropriately.

Am I using his blessings in a way that brings him glory, that promotes his praise, that is toward the end, that God would be seen and treasured and known as good and right and glorious.

You see, he helps us and he shields us for his praise to the end that he would be magnified and glorified.

So let's consider the expansion of God's glory as the end for which he blesses, that the point, the reason why he blesses and blesses and blesses again.

Why does he do this for the expansion of his own glory? That's what the

Psalm has been about from the beginning. Not to us, not to us, but to your name be glory.

That's the point, that's what this creation, this world has been about from the beginning. Is that God would be glorified, that God would be honored, that God would be praised.

The heavens declare the glory of God. And their song traverses the earth, which is filled with the fruit of God's manifold works.

Read Psalm 19 and Psalm 104. The whole point of God's creation is that his glory would be manifest, that his praise would be heard throughout all of his creation.

When we are thinking about how to use God's blessings to promote his praise, in the text it comes down to a question of three things.

And the first is that of privilege. The first is that of privilege, which is all the rage these days.

As we've talked about before, we're very often using the same vocabulary in different dictionaries. So what in the world does this word mean?

Comes from the Latin privis and lex, private law, special rights, special access.

Special access is the idea. And that's what's so offensive to many, that some have special access that others do not.

And that is in today's religion, in the pagan religion of our culture, that is an abomination, that some have special access where others do not.

And the gospel that is preached on our televisions and from our politicians is that all should have the exact same access on every single level in every single case.

And not even just special access, but also access means results. And that's why this word is such a hot topic, because it stands at the heart of, as the prominent sin in today's religion.

And yet, as we read the scriptures, we discover that the Bible is full of privilege, of some having special access that others do not.

And in fact, we discover that privilege is throughout the Bible, sovereignly ordained and righteously desired.

In fact, it's prayed for right here in our text. May the Lord give you increase more and more, you and your children.

Well, who's the you? Who's the you? The house of Israel, the house of Aaron, those who fear the

Lord, not every single person from every single nation, not everybody from every single religion, just you?

Why are the worshipers there in Jerusalem? Why are these people who have gathered back to Jerusalem, back to rebuild the temple, they've been in exile in Babylon, but now they've come back to Jerusalem, they're rebuilding the temple, and they're looking at one another and saying, trust in the

Lord, He's your help and your shield. And then they invoke blessings upon one another and say, may the

Lord give you increase more and more, you and your children. And the person on the other side says, you too.

Why aren't they saying that about their neighbors who are giving them such political trouble?

Those who are trying to ensnare them in various traps. Why are they not saying that about other kinds of people?

Why are they praying for special access? Why are they desiring these things?

What's their basis for that? Look what they're praying for. They're praying for blessing. And they're praying for blessing from the

Lord. So there's a supply that they are praying for, that they are desiring from a particular source.

May the Lord give you increase more and more, you and your children. May you be blessed of the Lord who made heaven and earth. So there is the supply and then there's the source.

What are they asking for? They're asking for blessing in general. Increase, just a word that means more.

More of this and more of that. They're praying for increase. They're saying, may God increase you.

May God increase you in general in all the ways that he can increase you.

May he increase you. And not just in general, but generously. More and more. And not just generously, but generationally.

You and your children. May it just keep going. What is the basis for these requests?

How did they learn to pray like this? How did they learn to desire these things and consider in their minds that this would be a good thing?

That they should seek and desire blessing of the Lord in every respect and that this would be over the top and down the road.

Why would they desire these things? Why are they praying this way? And is it right that they would seek such privilege in this world?

The basis for this comes from Genesis. And of course, there's the big picture of how

God repeatedly blesses mankind. Adam and Noah, blessing and blessing upon blessing.

The Lord blessed them. But then specifically in terms of Abraham, in Genesis chapter 12, in verses one through three.

Now, the Lord said to Abram, get out of your country from your family and from your father's house to a land that I will show you.

I will make you a great nation. I will bless you and make your name great and you shall be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you. I will curse him who curses you. And then you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

Well, then you begin reading the story. Some of you already reading the story. You're reading about how

Abraham gets blessed and blessed and blessed. You read from the rest of Genesis 12 all the way through Genesis 23.

And story after story goes to emphasize and demonstrate how God keeps his promises and his blessing

Abraham. He blesses him economically. He fills up his household with all kinds of flocks and possessions and slaves.

And then he blesses him politically. He becomes powerful in the region and people must deal with him because Abraham is great.

He blesses Abraham numerically as he gives him his son and promises that others will be descended from him.

In fact, change his name from Abram to Abraham, father of many nations. He blesses him spiritually, speaking with him and strengthening his faith and guiding him according to his promises.

And so it is that when we come to Genesis chapter 24, when Abraham is ready to find a wife for his son

Isaac, the very first verse says this. Now, Abraham was old, well -advanced in age, and the

Lord had blessed Abraham in all things. In all things.

So when these worshipers have gathered back to Jerusalem and they're rebuilding the temple and living in faith and anticipation of God sending the

Messiah and starting up the new covenant, they are operating based on these well -established principles that God said to Abraham, I'm gonna bless you and I'm gonna bless your descendants.

I'll make them as numerous as the sands on the seashore and the stars in the heavens. And they're gonna possess the gates of their enemies and I'm gonna bless, bless, bless their sandals off.

And so here the exiles have regathered to Jerusalem and they're not numbered in the hundreds of thousands, they're numbered in the tens of thousands.

They are not a great power anymore. They are not really significant in world events anymore, but they're looking at one another and saying, may

God bless you, may he increase you, may he do so more and more and make your descendants blessed as well.

And they're doing that on the basis of the promises that God made to Abraham concerning his descendants.

So are they desiring the right thing? I would say yes. Not only are they desiring the right thing, but from the right source.

They don't wanna be blessed in, they don't wanna be blessed from just anyone, just from anywhere.

They want their blessing to be from the Lord. May the Lord give you increase.

May you be blessed by the Lord, the one who made heaven and earth, the only true God. Be blessed by him, they say to one another.

We notice this as well in the life of Abraham in Genesis 14, a story where Abraham's blessing is very obvious, his prominence and his power.

He is blessed politically, militarily, he's blessed materially, as he rescues

Lot and his family and his neighbors, all the residents of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abba and Zeboim and Zoar.

He rescues them all from the clutches of Chedder -Lamor and the mercenary Northern armies.

And he has delivered them militarily, but he did so gathering together others with him who respected him and honored him.

And now he has rescued them and gathered all of the former captives and spoils of war.

And he goes to the city of Salem, Eresh -Shulam, where he meets Melchizedek, priest of God most high, king of Salem, and they worship

God together. And Abraham gives a 10th of all the spoils to Melchizedek because he's saying, this is all from the

Lord. The Lord is the one who did all this. And then the king of Sodom gets the idea that the loot is getting split up.

It's time to deal with the loot. So he says to Abraham, here's what I'll do. I'll give you all the stuff, but you give me all the people.

Abraham says, no, I'm not gonna take anything from you, not even a sandal strap, because I don't want you saying, oh, king of Sodom, that you have made

Abram rich. The source matters. And so the people gather together and they say, may

God bless you more and more. You and your children, may God do it. May God do it.

What do we see here then in verses 14 through 15? That God's blessings should be desired for his praise.

That God's blessings should be desired for his praise. The Lord has done it.

Look what God did. Look how God blessed us more and more, how he increased us over and again, us and our children and our children's children.

God's blessings should be desired for his praise. I find this a significant matter for us in our time because there is two particular ways to fall off the path here.

Remember reading about a Christian pursuing faithful through in Pilgrim's Progress and coming to a very difficult period.

And he's trying to follow the path. The path is very narrow and either side you can fall and it's bad both ways.

When it comes to blessings, I think there's two temptations for us presently.

It could be more. One is that we fear man.

And so we fear leaving or losing our surplus.

We fear losing our surplus to man. Those worshipers in Jerusalem here in Psalm 115 are not desiring surplus, but they are seeking supply.

And there is a difference in this sense. They have said not to us, not to us. It is surplus which magnifies man.

Where we locate our boast in our self -sufficiency, I don't need anyone.

I have a surplus. Therefore I am independent, self -sufficient.

Nobody can tell me where to go. I have a surplus. And we fear man when we fear the loss of our surplus due to what man may do to us.

So desiring surplus is not what is being prayed for here. This is not the invocation in Psalm 115.

They're not asking for surplus when they say more and more and on and on.

That's not what they're asking for. Asking for surplus, that would be the barnology of the fool.

You know what barnology is, right? When the young man came to Jesus and said, my brother's not splitting the inheritance with me in the way that I think he ought to.

Jesus told him a story about a fool. A fool who received great increase one year where he had an abundance.

He had a surplus. And so in his foolish barnology, he decided that he would tear down what he had and build bigger and better so that he could put the more stuff in the more stuff that he had.

And so he would have the stuff. That's barnology of the fool.

We're not to trust in surplus. We're not to seek surplus from God, but we are to seek supply from God.

And supply from God is intended for his praise, for his glory, for the magnification of his name.

Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories glory in this, that he knows me and understands me, the

Lord who exercises loving kindness, faithfulness, and truth.

For in these I delight, declares the Lord. Some trust in chariots, some trust in horses, but we will remember the name of our

Lord, the name of the Lord, our God. Let him who glories glory in the

Lord. The supply is to be used as directed from its source to his specifications.

The other way we can go wrong with this is if we believe that blessing upon blessing, more and more, on and on, that this desire or the actual results of the answer to these prayers that God would supply in such an abundant way, the thought is today, in and of itself, that that is wrong.

That that is wrong. Righteousness is being looked for in the absence of privilege, or in the taking up of privilege and the burying of it and the wasting away of it, or the giving away of it, the denial of it.

That holiness is somehow in asceticism, and that it would honor God if we would all take vows of poverty.

Is that biblical? Is that honoring to God?

Here they're praying for blessing upon blessing, more and more, on and on. How does that work? Righteousness is not found in the absence of privilege, but righteousness is found in Christ, in whom we receive every blessing as a stewardship of praise.

It's not a matter of, I have too much stuff, and man thinks that I have too much, therefore

I must get rid of it, so man will be happier with me. No, it's unite my heart to fear your name.

There's all these things that you have entrusted to me that I am to be a steward of, that I care about.

So unite my heart to fear your name, that every strand of affection and interest that I have will be coalesced into a focus upon you that would fear you and demonstrate your worthiness with all that you have entrusted to me.

There's a sign on I -40 heading east. It's a massive, massive ranch, and boy, they're doing stuff.

They've got two semi -truck loads of lumber out there, and they are doing a lot. One of the things they did is they redid one of their signs.

Everybody on I -40 sees it going east. It says, to God be the glory, great things he has done.

Oh, it's just a sign. Oh, what a sign. We should be posting signs like that over everything that we are stewards of, desiring, desiring

God's blessings for his praise. Secondly, the expansion of God's glory is not only a question of privilege, but also a question of place, of place.

Very often, we get the idea that we should never desire any kind of blessings that have anything to do with everyday life.

We should only ever ask for spiritual blessings. I wonder if that holds up.

You know, time and space are the canvas for God's glory. We hear in the Psalm, they're concerned about the future, you and your children.

They know that God's glory is revealed in heaven and on earth. Genesis 1 .1, in the beginning,

God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

And what God made, he owns. What God made, he owns, and he is free to designate as a stewardship.

And this is manifested in this Psalm and in the rest of scripture concerning, it concerns us as we are to be submitted to God in our stewardship, submitted to God in our stewardship.

We are submitted to him because our God is in the heavens. Our God is in the heavens. He does whatever he pleases. He is enthroned in the heavens.

In fact, it says the heaven, even the heavens are the Lord's. In Genesis 1, we read about how

God made the greater light and the lesser light to govern the day and the night, how he created and fashioned the stars in the heavens to govern and declare the seasons and the years.

And then we read that God is ruling from the heavens, that this all belongs to him. The whole idea is of his exalted rule.

Now, of course, God is a spirit, does not have a body like man, but this is a man -shaped expression to say,

God is over us in his authority. His throne is higher than anybody else's throne.

He's in charge. And when we read verse 16, the heaven, even the heavens are the

Lord's, but notice the earth he has given to the children of men.

The earth he has given to the children of men. So where is God's glory to be expanded?

What is the scene in which God's glory is to be expanded, God's praise to be magnified?

It's the earth, it's on the earth. Our father who are in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come, your will be done as it is in heaven.

Do you remember the tabernacle was a copy of what was in heaven. Life on earth is to be ordered by heaven.

We have to understand our place. First of all is submission, that we want

God's will to be done on earth as it is done in heaven. So under God's authority, we have this stewardship.

And it says that the Lord has given the earth to the children of men. This is where we are to exercise dominion.

We have responsibilities and we do all that we do to the praise of the glory of his grace. What God gave to Adam, the second

Adam receives. He is the heir of all things. What was given to the first Adam, the second

Adam receives. Let's go to Psalm eight. It's an interesting Psalm.

One in which David is just praising the Lord, saying, look how excellent and glorious and magnificent you are.

Why do you even think of us? You ever get that impression sometimes looking at the glories of creation and you feel about this big?

Why are you even concerned about someone like me? Psalm eight, oh

Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth who have set your glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants, you have ordained strength because of your enemies, that you may silence the enemy and the avenger.

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained. What is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you visit him?

Just the grandeur of what God has made. Why are you even concerned with us?

For you have made him a little lower than the angels. You have crowned him with glory and honor. Why would you do this,

God? Why would you so exalt and honor man at any level?

Why would you give him this glory and honor? You have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands.

You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the sea.

Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth. They've said, I'm just gonna praise you,

God. You are so big, you are so powerful, you are so mighty. You prove this in the way that you make the heavens and you have given us the earth to be masters over.

You have given us this great gift, he says. Now, in the description of man, the son of man, and you have made him a little lower than the angels, you have crowned him with glory and honor.

You notice that this is all in lowercase, but when you turn to Hebrews chapter two, it's all in the uppercase because what was given to the first Adam, the second

Adam receives. And all of it has been given to Christ. Read Hebrews two, all of it has been given to Christ who has preeminence in all things.

And so what was given to Adam has been given to the second Adam. What was given to man now belongs to the son of man.

And we are living in the new household of Jesus Christ, the new oikonamos, the new economy of Jesus Christ.

We're on his time, we're on his turf. We're using his resources. He owns it all. He's the heir of all things.

We're his stewards. He wants to see great things to the glory of God in our lives.

Matthew 28, 18 through 20 says, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Jesus says, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the

Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And lo,

I am with you always, even to the end of the age. So all authority is his.

And we've got some things to do that involve the entire earth, things that involve people groups from everywhere, teaching everyone that Jesus Christ is in charge, that he is so because of his life, death, resurrection, and ascension.

And he has lived and died and rose again to win for himself and save for himself and purchase for himself and raise to new life for himself a people.

Second Corinthians chapter five, verses 16 through 21. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh.

You hear that? Wokey McWoke face. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh, even though we have known

Christ according to the flesh, yet now we have known him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.

Well, how big is that ministry? That is that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them.

And he has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading through us.

We implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him.

This great commission, this word of reconciliation has global implications and has global applications.

This is what we are to be about. So God's blessings are to be deployed for his praise.

We should desire these blessings more and more, us and our children, yes. And then we're going to deploy them for his praise, for the spread of his fame, for the spread of the glory of Jesus Christ, that the world being reconciled to him would be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea.

So in our parenting and in our scheduling, as we design our legacies, as we manage our land, as we repair our houses, as we pursue education, as we make choices about our careers, as we use and reuse and acquire new vehicles, whatever, not a square inch of our stewardship needs wasting.

It doesn't have to be wasted. It doesn't have to be in some Gnostic way relegated over to something that doesn't matter.

Christ is the heir of all things and we're his stewards. All may be arranged, all may be arranged for this multinational, multigenerational magnification of God's glory to the promotion of his praise, which looks like daily choices.

The trust in God, how we pray, how we obey, how we teach, how we give, how we serve.

This is where Jesus is looking at in our lives. He's looking to what we do on the daily basis, how we follow him.

And he uses this for God's glory. You see, it's the zeal of the Lord of hosts that is gonna accomplish this, not our smarts, not our resources, not our abilities.

It is Jesus who's going to do it and we're his and we can faithfully follow him in the day to day, in the small things and he will be honored and glorified.

And lastly, it's a question of people. I've been talking about people all along, but the point must be made, not all the children of men praise the

Lord. You probably have noticed this. The earth has been given to the children of men, but not everybody's praising the

Lord, are they? Okay, Isaiah 66 verses one and two says this, thus says the

Lord, heaven is my throne and earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you will build me?

And where is the place of my rest? For all those things my hand has made and all those things exist, says the

Lord. But on this one, I will look on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at my word.

It's a question of people. All the things that God has made. Herman Babbitt calls it the vestigia dei, the vestiges of God.

You look at the things that God has made, you say, wow, what a wonderful creator. But it's different than looking at the image of God, isn't it?

The imago dei. The vestigia dei, the vestiges of God, the creation that he has made.

What is he doing? He is filling it up. He's filling up his choir loft with his choir.

And what are the characteristics of these kinds of people? They are those who fear the Lord. They are those who fear the

Lord. You don't believe me that he's filling up his choir loft with his choir? Psalm 22, verses 27 to 28.

All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord. And all the families of the nations shall worship before you.

For the kingdom is the Lord's and he rules over the nations. Scripture is full of that. What are the characteristics of these people?

How should we understand who we are? First of all, we're alive. Praise God, we are alive.

Look at the people in verses four through eight. Look at the people in verses four through eight.

Look at who they worship. They're worshiping gods that are not alive.

They have the appearance or the shape of life, but they are utterly dead. When we read that the dead do not praise the

Lord nor any who go down into silence, who are those? They are those who make these idols and trust in those idols who have no life and make no noise.

That's who that group is. But in contrast, but we, praise be to God, glory to God, but we, by the grace of life in Christ, we are alive, that we are living.

How do we know we're alive? What's the symptom of life? What are the signs of life?

Praising the Lord, praising the Lord, worshiping God, giving thanks, rejoicing in the

Lord. That's the sign of life. Not only living, but lasting. But we will bless the

Lord from this time forth and forevermore, not only a living people, but a lasting people.

Spurgeon writes, once began praising God and we have entered upon an endless service.

Even eternity cannot exhaust the reasons why God should be glorified, though the dead cannot and the wicked shall not.

And the careless do not praise God, yet we will shout hallelujah forever and ever, amen.

And the third characteristic is loud. You read this in Revelation a lot. The people of God get together and then they worship

God, they worship Christ, and it continually says that they were loud. They were loud.

Yes, it has to do with the number, but it also has to do with the attitude.

People of God are living and lasting and they are loud, meaning we are unashamedly, unabashedly, unapologetically, unmuted, uncensored, unregulated, unmixed, unqualified, unendingly, undeniably loud about the praise of God, the worthiness of God, the glory of Christ.

God's blessings you see should not only be desired for His praise and deployed to His praise, but declared, declared to His praise.

And this is the word of the Lord, given to the people of the Lord, who make up the house of the

Lord, who enjoy the blessings of the Lord, doing the work of the

Lord throughout the land of the Lord in the year of our Lord.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the time you've given us in your word. We pray that we would indeed give you praise and trust in you as our help and our shield, that we would desire your blessings and that we would put them to use as directed.

We pray these things for the sake of Christ, amen. Would you stand with me for our song of benediction?

As Brother Michael was preaching, I couldn't help but notice there in Psalm chapter one, chapter eight, that the first verse and the last verse, that Lord, oh

Lord, oh Lord, how majestic is your name. And then also I thought about a song that the children sing in children's church.

Our God is so big and so strong and so mighty, there's nothing our God cannot do.

So just writing that theme, we've got a song for our song of benediction this morning, page 66, to God be the glory.

So to God be the glory, great things he has done. Sing praise to him. ♪

To God be the glory, great things he hath done ♪ ♪

So mighty the world that he gave us his

Son ♪ ♪ Who yielded his life in atonement for us all ♪ ♪

And opened the life gate that all may go in ♪ ♪

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Let the earth hear his voice ♪ ♪

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Let the people rejoice ♪ ♪

O come to the Father, through Jesus the

Son ♪ ♪ Give him the glory, great things he hath done ♪ ♪

O perfect redemption, the purchase of God ♪ ♪

To every believer, the promise of God ♪ ♪

The mildest offender who truly believes ♪ ♪

In the word from Jesus, how proudly he speaks ♪ ♪

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Let the earth hear his voice ♪ ♪

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Let the people rejoice ♪ ♪

O come to the Father, through Jesus the

Son ♪ ♪ Great things he hath done ♪ ♪

Great things he hath taught us, great things he hath done ♪ ♪

And great are rejoicing, through Jesus the

Son ♪ ♪ But pure in heart, and greater will be ♪ for twin

Jesus is he. Praise the Lord, praise the

Lord, let me praise the

Lord, praise the Lord. The love of the

Father and the grace of the Son and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. We are dismissed.