Latest / Collierville Radio Network / Admonition Podcast - Worship (Background and Fundamentals) (Lesson 3) - Aaron Cozort - August 05, 2026
Transcript
- 0:01Good evening.
- 0:05Hmm.
- 0:07It's good to see everyone this evening.
- 0:09We're continuing our study of worship and so I encourage you if you will to uh take your Bibles and open them to the book of Genesis.
- 0:26We've been considering the background concepts of worship, initially examining the idea that worship is as old as creation, and noticing that in the form of the way that the
- 0:46Bible speaks concerning the creation glorying or glorifying God.
- 0:54And that idea of a generic sense of worship, it brings honor and glory to him because he created it and it serves its purpose.
- 1:06It does exactly what he created it to do.
- 1:09So we're going to pick up from there this evening, but let's begin with a word of prayer in our and we'll get into our class.
- 1:17Our gracious God, one who is worthy of praise, worthy of glory.
- 1:25We come this evening bringing together our hearts and our minds to study your word, to learn more about you, that we might come to a full knowledge of what you would have us to
- 1:39do and how you would have us to live.
- 1:41And Lord, we seek daily to bring that honor and that glory to your name in our lives, in our actions, in our choices.
- 1:52We know sometimes we fall short of your glory.
- 1:55And we fail to do what you've commanded us to do, or we've failed to keep your commandments.
- 2:01And Lord, we pray that you will forgive us of those things when we do wrong.
- 2:06Lord, we are mindful of those who are struggling because of ailments, illnesses, difficulties.
- 2:14And we pray that you will give them strength.
- 2:16Pray that you will give them the health that they desire to have.
- 2:20We pray for those with upcoming procedures and with
- 2:24uh procedures that have occurred, we pray that you give them the desired health as well that they uh would long for.
- 2:32Lord, we pray for those who have lost loved ones and pray that you give them comfort and strength.
- 2:38Lord, we are mindful of our local elections that are coming and just uh tomorrow, and we pray that your will be done in these matters, but we also pray that people
- 2:53Have a mindset to look to your word to decide both how to conform their lives to it, but also how to build a nation that is continually continually looking to your word for
- 3:07guidance and for strength.
- 3:09Lord, we pray that you will be with us as we go through this period of study.
- 3:14May the things that we learn be things that we can apply to our hearts and our minds and our daily lives.
- 3:20Lord, will you forgive us when we sin and fall short of your glory?
- 3:23All this we pray in Jesus' name.
- 3:25Amen.
- 3:29In Genesis chapter four
- 3:33We read in chapter four verse one, Now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, I have acquired a man from the Lord.
- 3:42Then she bore again this time his brother Abel.
- 3:46Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain a tiller of the ground.
- 3:50And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord.
- 3:58Abel also brought of the offer uh of the firstborn of the flock and of their fat, and the Lord respected Abel and his offering.
- 4:08But he did not respect Cain and his offering, and Cain was very angry and his countenance fell.
- 4:16So the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry?
- 4:19And why is your countenance fallen?
- 4:22If you do well, will you not be accepted?
- 4:27Want to spend just a moment with this phrase that we find here in verse 7.
- 4:32Because God, as he presents this situation to Cain, there's no indication in the text that God spoke to Abel about this.
- 4:45uh Rather, that God spoke to Cain, Cain went out and killed Abel.
- 4:51But as God presents this to Cain, because Cain is angry that his offering is.
- 4:56Not being accepted.
- 4:58Now, bear in mind, we don't know all the ins and outs of how did Cain know that, other than the Lord addressing it with Cain.
- 5:07What is it that was in the offering that was different?
- 5:11What is it that was accepted versus unaccepted?
- 5:14There's a lot of things about this event that we do not understand.
- 5:21But this we do understand.
- 5:24The Lord specifically says to Cain, if you what?
- 5:33Do well.
- 5:38It is of interest and it is of note that the Lord did not say to Cain, if you feel like you did well.
- 5:50If you are of the opinion that you did well, was Cain already of the opinion that he did well?
- 5:59Yes, that's why he's angry and wroth because his sacrifice isn't accepted.
- 6:05Cain felt like he did well.
- 6:09Cain felt like his sacrifice should have been accepted.
- 6:13Cain was angry when it wasn't accepted.
- 6:16God's point is: if you had done well, it would have been accepted.
- 6:25And from the beginning of the discussion of worship, God sets a premise on this singular fact.
- 6:37God accepts the worship God prescribes.
- 6:45And not the worship man decides.
- 6:53Worship in Scripture is always prescriptive.
- 7:00It is set by the Lord.
- 7:05It is accepted in conditions with His terms.
- 7:10It is either in accordance with His commandments or it is not.
- 7:19But from the beginning of the discussion of worship in the scripture all the way to the end, all the way to the point in Revelation chapter 22, where John in the vision sees
- 7:30himself fall down and worship an angel in the very last chapter of the book, and the angel says, get up, you don't get to decide who to worship.
- 7:41You worship God.
- 7:45From beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation, God makes it clear he accepts the worship he prescribes and he alone is worthy of that worship.
- 8:02And so God addresses with Cain.
- 8:08If you do well, will you not will your uh will you not be accepted?
- 8:15And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door.
- 8:25God, as he confronts Cain, points out that when it comes to worship, it's up to the person who is offering the worship to choose whether or not their worship will be accepted.
- 8:42It's not God being arbitrary.
- 8:45And there's no indication from the text whatsoever that God is being arbitrary with Cain.
- 8:52That God has just allowed Cain and Abel to do whatever they so choose, and he will decide on a whim whether or not to accept their worship, given that he gave them no instructions,
- 9:03no information, no commandments, none of that.
- 9:07He just decided to let them figure it out.
- 9:10That's not what the text tells us.
- 9:12That's not what the text indicates.
- 9:14Turn over to Hebrews chapter eleven.
- 9:15We spent just a few moments here two weeks ago.
- 9:18We're gonna just spend a a little bit of time here.
- 9:22In Hebrews chapter eleven, as the Hebrew writer comments on the events that transpire.
- 9:35We find in Hebrews chapter eleven, verse one, now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
- 9:43For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.
- 9:47By 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 are visible.
- 9:55Question.
- 9:56When the Hebrew writer says by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God,
- 10:04Are we to suppose that the Hebrew writer is meaning we have looked at the stars and we have looked at the sky and we have looked at the heavens and we've looked at the earth and
- 10:13we've looked at creation and we've come to a general surmising that this is how it must have been done?
- 10:21Or is the Hebrew writer saying, God has revealed by inspired testimony that the worlds were created by the word of God?
- 10:32Which one?
- 10:35The second one.
- 10:37The Hebrew writer is by no means implying that faith is something that someone just conjures up out of themselves.
- 10:48His discussion of faith is that which is testified to by inspired revelations.
- 11:00He says, By 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 are visible.
- 11:11By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and through it he
- 11:28being dead.
- 11:30Still speaks.
- 11:34The Hebrew writer draws forward that not only was Abel's sacrifice accepted, but brings home the point of the testimony of God concerning Abel's sacrifice.
- 11:52As God addresses this with Cain and says, This sacrifice was accepted because it was right.
- 12:03And this sacrifice was not accepted because it was wrong.
- 12:10Now it's up to you, Cain.
- 12:12You can continue to offer a sacrifice that is wrong and it will continue to not be accepted, or you can fix the problem.
- 12:23But at all points in time the problem was Cain.
- 12:28Because God had given instruction.
- 12:33God had told uh Cain and Abel what was acceptable.
- 12:39You say, Aaron, how do we know that?
- 12:41Because you cannot obey by faith without revelation.
- 12:50You cannot obey without testimony from God in some form or fashion.
- 13:00Now it can be prophetic testimony from years gone by.
- 13:05It can be a demonstration, as was the case in the book of Exodus, where God demonstrated his existence and his power and his might through the plagues and demonstrated that Israel
- 13:17was his people.
- 13:19But without a demonstration of revelation, either verbal revelation or revelation through the events that transpire or revelation through a miraculous event, you cannot come to
- 13:34faith without testimony.
- 13:37And the testimony originates with God.
- 13:43The Hebrew writer says, By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God.
- 13:54The Hebrew writer doesn't say that because he was present when it happened.
- 13:58He says that because the Holy Spirit documented it through Moses and said, This is exactly how it happened.
- 14:14When we first understand that we are responsible for whether or not our worship is accepted or not, we then have to evaluate what makes worship acceptable.
- 14:36And what makes it unacceptable?
- 14:40Turn to Isaiah chapter one.
- 14:49Izeah is going to write.
- 14:54the nation of Israel he's going to prophesy and his prophecies will be recorded.
- 15:02Izea chapter one.
- 15:08Beginning in verse four, we read, Alas, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupt.
- 15:22You know, God's got a whole list of compliments for these people, have you noticed?
- 15:30Supposed to be about some foreign nation, right?
- 15:33No.
- 15:33This is about Israel.
- 15:37He says they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked to anger the Holy One of Israel, they have turned away backward.
- 15:46Now notice who is at fault according to these three statements.
- 15:56The people of Israel are they, they, they.
- 16:02They have chosen.
- 16:04They made the decision.
- 16:06They have forsaken the Lord.
- 16:08They have provoked anger the Holy One of Israel.
- 16:11They have turned away backwards.
- 16:14Why should you be stricken again?
- 16:17You will revolt more and more.
- 16:19The whole head is sick, the whole heart faints, from the sole of the foot to the head to even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying
- 16:29sores.
- 16:30They have not been closed or bound up or soothed with ointment, your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire, strangers devour your land in your presence, and it is
- 16:41desolate, as overthrown by strangers.
- 16:44So the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a hut in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.
- 16:54Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a very small remnant.
- 16:58We would have become like Sodom.
- 16:59We would have been made like Gomorrah.
- 17:03As Isaiah opens this prophecy, he immediately zeroes in on Israel.
- 17:11And what Israel has done and will not repent from doing.
- 17:20And Isaiah makes it clear that it is only by the nature of God's own mercy.
- 17:32That we, the nation of Israel, in Isaiah's day, have not been wiped off the face of the planet.
- 17:40Have not been consumed as Sodom and Gomorrah were consumed in the book of Genesis.
- 17:49He says, Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom.
- 17:53Give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah.
- 17:58He points out this isn't a problem at the top.
- 18:05This isn't just a problem with leadership.
- 18:09This is a problem with the people, too.
- 18:13He says, I want you to listen, you leaders, and I want you to listen, you t you people, because it's a problem with both of you.
- 18:22You can't stand over here and say, Well, they they they made us do it.
- 18:26They told us to worship this way.
- 18:29They told us to forsake the Lord, while the people come over here and say, Well, well.
- 18:34Or sorry, the leaders come over here and say, Well, you know, we just did what the people wanted.
- 18:39You remember what Saul's excuse was when he came back, bringing King Agag and all of the riches and all of the bounty from from the Amalekites?
- 18:49Well, the people wanted to offer sacrifices to your God.
- 18:57Samuel.
- 19:00Now, Isaiah says, Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom, give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah.
- 19:09To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me?
- 19:14says the Lord.
- 19:17I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle.
- 19:27I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of the lambs or of goats.
- 19:34And you pause for a moment and go, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
- 19:37Hold on.
- 19:39Wasn't it the Lord who from Mount Sinai delivered to Moses the very the very uh recipes, as it were, of what the sacrifice was to contain?
- 19:58The very cut of meat that was supposed to go into the sacrifice?
- 20:04The very portion that belonged to the Lord and not to the priests?
- 20:10The very specific part that could be saved and retained for the person who offered the sacrifice or the person who brought the sacrifice to consume as their portion of the
- 20:20worship?
- 20:22Wasn't it the Lord who did all of that?
- 20:24The answer is yes.
- 20:27So did the Lord just get tired of the sacrifices?
- 20:37Very first thing we understand about worship when it comes to the prescriptive nature of worship is that God demands more than the physical act.
- 20:52He says, When you come to appear before me, verse 12, who has required this from your hand to trample my courts?
- 21:02Bring no more feudal sacrifices.
- 21:06Incense is an abomination to me, the new moons, the Sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure, iniquity and the sacred meeting.
- 21:19God says, I have had enough of you persisting in your sin while trying to get access to my grace.
- 21:32and telling people that they can come worship me without repenting.
- 21:41The very first principle of the prescription of worship is God demands everything, not just a physical act.
- 21:56God requires the heart.
- 21:59Notice what he says your new moons, your appointed feasts, my soul hates.
- 22:05They are a trouble to me.
- 22:06I am weary of bearing them.
- 22:08When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you.
- 22:12Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear.
- 22:15Your hands are full of blood.
- 22:19So God doesn't just reject them, just like with Cain, God says, here's your opportunity.
- 22:30Not just a rejection, but rather an opportunity to fix the situation.
- 22:37He says, Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean, put away the evil of your eyes, or of your doings from before my eyes.
- 22:47Cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, rebuke the oppressor, defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.
- 22:55Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord.
- 22:58Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.
- 23:01Though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool, if you are willing and obedient.
- 23:10God makes it clear.
- 23:14If your worship is going to be accepted, your relationship with God must first be right.
- 23:24And all the worship offered by all the correct particulars without the relationship with God being right means nothing.
- 23:35God will reject it immediately.
- 23:47When we
- 23:51Look at wors.
- 23:54We have first the instruction.
- 24:01God commands us to worship.
- 24:06It is not optional.
- 24:11It is obligatory.
- 24:14It was obligatory in Cain and Abel's day.
- 24:19It is obligatory today.
- 24:24But it begins with more than just the act or the physical participation in worship?
- 24:34It begins with a right relationship with God.
- 24:40Now, interesting question.
- 24:43Can a person who does not have a right relationship with God offer worship that is
- 24:54viewed by God as good.
- 25:02Pause for a moment before you answer that question.
- 25:07Turn to Acts.
- 25:10Chapter ten.
- 25:28Acts chapter 10, verse 1.
- 25:31There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what is called the Italian regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave
- 25:46alms generously to the people and prayed to God always.
- 25:56Pause for a moment and understand something.
- 26:00Is this man lost or saved?
- 26:08Lost.
- 26:10Get to it in a minute.
- 26:14Why is he lost or saved?
- 26:15Well, the text will tell us why.
- 26:19But the fact of the matter is, he is performing actions that are good because he honors who God is.
- 26:33While at the same time not yet being in a right relationship with God, we're not going to see this as an exclusive one time environment example.
- 26:45We're going to see it again in just a moment.
- 26:49But I want us to set a level and a premise that there are those in the world who have come to a knowledge of who God is in a uh
- 27:01Conceptual way that honor him as God and are yet not saved.
- 27:12But their worship is not rejected the same way that someone who knows who God is and have rejected God in all points is rejected.
- 27:23Okay?
- 27:24So so I'm setting up a premise here that God establishes something that we should understand.
- 27:33Not because it is what he desires for the final point, but because he desires the person to take the journey.
- 27:40Okay?
- 27:41So we're watching a journey occur.
- 27:44This man, Cornelius, is praying to God.
- 27:48He is giving alms to the people.
- 27:51He fears God.
- 27:54He is a devout man.
- 27:57All of these characteristics.
- 27:58describe him as someone who we would describe as a morally good person.
- 28:07Who lives and acts out of his fear of the God who he knows exists, though he is at this moment in time ignorant of what that God expects from him.
- 28:22Okay?
- 28:23So notice the position he's in.
- 28:26He knows God exists, he honors him as God.
- 28:32That knowledge of who God is and that honor controls his actions.
- 28:37And his life, and yet he is ignorant of God's commandments.
- 28:43Okay?
- 28:44Watch the text.
- 28:46About the ninth hour of the day, he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, Cornelius.
- 28:54And when he observed him, he was afraid and said, What is it, Lord?
- 28:59So he said to him, Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God.
- 29:06Now
- 29:07Just a moment ago, we read in Isaiah, God told Israel, because of your sin, your rebellion, your rejection, I'm not even hearing your prayers.
- 29:20Right?
- 29:23And yet here the one who speaks to Cornelius says your prayers.
- 29:36Have been brought before God.
- 29:43True or false.
- 29:45God hears the prayers of sinners.
- 29:53True and false.
- 29:55All right?
- 29:59All right.
- 30:01Text specifically states, in a passage that I don't have the I don't have the verse reference memorized.
- 30:07I believe it's one of the Jewish count Sanhedrin that speaks it, but somebody'll have to check me on it.
- 30:15We know oh I know, it's it's dealing with a man who was born who was born blind, who's healed by Jesus.
- 30:22We know that God does not hear sinners.
- 30:28That's the statement that the man makes in justification of standing before the council when they say, Who is this man who healed you?
- 30:38He said, I know not.
- 30:40But I can tell you what he isn't.
- 30:42He's not a sinner.
- 30:44Because we know God doesn't hear sinners.
- 30:47Okay?
- 30:48But the distinction that is made here is important.
- 30:55Here is a man seeking God.
- 31:00And while he is ignorant of God's commandments, he is seeking God out of a sincere heart.
- 31:07And that is what comes before God as is described in the text as a memorial.
- 31:17It is important when we define the idea of hears prayers that we actually give some definition to what we mean by it.
- 31:30Does the mother who has the child pestering her down every aisle of the entire store hear the child say, Mom, can we get one?
- 31:42Can we get one?
- 31:43Can we get one?
- 31:44For everything they see that is made of chocolate, candy, or anything else?
- 31:49Does the mother hear the pleas of the child?
- 31:54Is the mother going to buy everything the child says?
- 31:58Can we get one?
- 32:00No.
- 32:03Might the pleas move the mother to do something benevolent for the child?
- 32:13Maybe, maybe.
- 32:15But it may not involve every piece of candy they see that they like.
- 32:23that yes, that's that's correct.
- 32:25That's the difference between the grandmother and the mother.
- 32:26I'm guilty.
- 32:29So it notice here, we understand this from a mother's perspective.
- 32:35Here's the request, denied.
- 32:38That's God and Israel in Isaiah 1.
- 32:43I'm not listening to you.
- 32:45Denied, denied, denied, denied, denied.
- 32:48You expect me to give you buy you candy?
- 32:51You haven't behaved yet today.
- 32:56And then there's the, you know what?
- 32:59You have been incredibly good today.
- 33:02You've been long suffering through the last 17 stores that I've dragged you through.
- 33:07And here we are at Kroger.
- 33:09I'm going to not buy you everything you see that you want, but I am going to get you something that's good for you.
- 33:17Okay?
- 33:19We understand this concept.
- 33:24Now, notice what happens.
- 33:28When he observed him, he was afraid and said, What is it, Lord?
- 33:32So he said to him, Your prayers, your alms have come up for a memorial before God.
- 33:37Now send men to Joppa and send for Simon, whose surname is Peter.
- 33:42He is lodging with Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea.
- 33:46He will tell you what you must do.
- 33:56And when the angel who spoke to him departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually.
- 34:05So when he explained all things to them, he sent them to Joppa.
- 34:10Here is the life of a man who motivates his decisions based upon his belief and his devotion in who God is.
- 34:22And so when the angel says, go do this, his immediate reaction, just like Abraham of old, is to go do exactly what he was told.
- 34:33But notice further, verse 34.
- 34:39After they the two men go to Joppa, after they retrieve Peter, after Peter and six men who are Jews come to the house of this Gentile.
- 34:49We read in verse 34: then Peter opened his mouth and said, In truth I perceive that God is shows no partiality, but in every nation
- 34:59Whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him.
- 35:08Now that fears him and does righteousness.
- 35:15Means here is a person who is motivated by their knowledge of who God is.
- 35:23And when God tells them to do something, they do it.
- 35:28That's the description.
- 35:31And Peter says, I have come to understand through the course of the vision that you read about there.
- 35:38in the text that it doesn't matter which nation you come from.
- 35:44If you fear God and do what he says, you're going to be accepted by him.
- 35:51So notice
- 35:54He says verse thirty six, the word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all, that word you know which was proclaimed
- 36:07throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Saint uh the Holy Spirit and with power, who went
- 36:19about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
- 36:24And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree.
- 36:34Him God raised up on the third day and showed him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with him after he arose from
- 36:48the dead.
- 36:48And he commanded us to preach to the people.
- 36:52And to testify that it is he who was ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead, to him all the prophets witness that through his name whoever believes in him will
- 37:06receive the remission of sins.
- 37:10Now Peter
- 37:13Has just begun to speak, to explain to Cornelius and his entire household and all those who are present who are gathered there to listen that God has been doing something in the
- 37:27nation of Israel.
- 37:33But that the results of what God was doing in Israel were intended and commanded to go to the entire world.
- 37:48But Peter makes it clear.
- 37:52That it is through the preaching of the name of Christ.
- 38:03The authority of Christ.
- 38:07The gospel of Christ.
- 38:12That remission of sins comes.
- 38:18Why would Peter say that to a man who was devout, who was moral, who was praying continually to God?
- 38:29Why would Peter discuss the remission of sins?
- 38:37Because the people had sins that needed remission.
- 38:46The angel did not tell Cornelius, go send for Peter from Joppa, because he preaches a good sermon and you'll enjoy it.
- 39:01He said, He will tell you what must do.
- 39:08And for some strange reason when Peter shows up, Peter immediately starts talking about the remission of sins.
- 39:20Almost like Peter knew their condition.
- 39:25Almost like we finally come to a realization, wait a minute, doing good, believing in God, praying to God isn't enough.
- 39:41It isn't enough because God said there's something more you must do.
- 39:49But for the person who is doing those things already, it doesn't mean that God doesn't honor what they're doing.
- 39:59It doesn't mean that God doesn't honor the fact that they're seeking him.
- 40:05But there's a difference between honoring the someone seeking and saying you found me.
- 40:12You know, in the game of hide and seek growing up, all the people who participated honored the fact that the person was seeking.
- 40:21How did they honor the fact that the person was seeking?
- 40:26By hiding.
- 40:27Right?
- 40:29We're we're participating in the game.
- 40:31Have you ever seen a game I've seen I've witch I've witnessed this.
- 40:34We probably all have.
- 40:35Where there was somebody seeking and the people hiding got so bored of hiding they quit playing the game and didn't tell the person who was seeking?
- 40:45You watch it happen.
- 40:46All the kids are at grandma and grandpa's.
- 40:50All the kids are playing hide and seek.
- 40:52One person's told to go count.
- 40:54The others go hide.
- 40:56Before the person comes and finds them, come to find out there's food available inside the house.
- 41:02So all the kids who are hiding go in and get the food.
- 41:06And the person outside seeking can't find anybody.
- 41:08Why?
- 41:09Because they're looking outside.
- 41:10The kids are on the inside.
- 41:17God honors.
- 41:20And it is seen here the fact that someone knows he exists, fears him, and motivates their life in accordance with that knowledge.
- 41:32But that's not the same as having the remission of sins.
- 41:38It is rather a point at which someone should be seeking and open to hearing the gospel.
- 41:50And so while Peter is still speaking these words, verse forty-four, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word, and those of the circumcision who believed were
- 42:00astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
- 42:08By the way, this is not an indication they were saved.
- 42:11This is not the point at which they were saved.
- 42:17You remember just a moment ago, verse thirty-eight, God, verse thirty-eight, anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.
- 42:32Peter's already described the fact that God poured out the Spirit on Jesus.
- 42:42And demonstrated that he was who God said he was.
- 42:49You're going to go over to chapter 11, and you're going to read where Peter is going to describe the events that occur here to those back in Jerusalem, and he will describe it in
- 43:02these words.
- 43:03We saw the Spirit poured out on them just as on us at the beginning.
- 43:12What he's speaking of is Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost, where the Spirit was poured out on them and they spoke in tongues.
- 43:19That wasn't the point at which the people on the day of Pentecost were saved, and it wasn't the point at which the apostles were saved.
- 43:27The pouring out of the Spirit, just as it occurs here, was a stamp of approval by God on the situation.
- 43:39God put his stamp of approval on Jesus at John the Baptist's baptism of Jesus.
- 43:45The Spirit descended like a dove, and God said, This is my beloved son.
- 43:50God put his stamp of approval on the apostles when they began to preach on the day of Pentecost, and the Spirit was poured out on them, and they spoke in tongues they had never
- 44:03learned, never studied.
- 44:05And God said, These are my spokesmen.
- 44:08To every nation under heaven.
- 44:11And God put his stamp of approval on the Gentiles being saved through the gospel.
- 44:20When he caused the house of Cornelius to speak in tongues.
- 44:24Now notice those of the circumcision were bel were astonished, who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured
- 44:35out on the Gentiles also, for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.
- 44:40Then Peter answered.
- 44:42Now pause for a moment and don't let me just read right past that sentence.
- 44:48What did the co the house of Cornelius do when the spirit was poured out on them?
- 44:59The text says they magnified God.
- 45:08What is that if we were to give a one word descriptive term to it that begins with a W and is followed up by W O R.
- 45:22They worshipped God.
- 45:27Do you think God honored that?
- 45:30Yes.
- 45:33But it was honored in view of the obedience they were about to participate in.
- 45:41Do you remember what God said to Israel?
- 45:44Come now, let us reason together.
- 45:47Go fix your hearts and your lives first.
- 45:55Then come worship me.
- 45:58The house of Cornelius had been doing that.
- 46:01They had been fixing their hearts and their lives for quite some time.
- 46:08God honored that.
- 46:09Okay?
- 46:10So bef since we're not gonna have time to, you know, spend another hour and a half going through these examples tonight, let me leave you with this so there's no d confusion,
- 46:20hopefully.
- 46:25Can a person who is not a Christian, who has not been obedient to the gospel, offer worship that is honoring of God?
- 46:48Yes.
- 46:50They can offer worship that honors God.
- 46:55Can they be in a right relationship with God without being obedient to the gospel?
- 47:01And the answer is no.
- 47:03Can a Christian who has rejected God's commandments in their lives and rebelled against God in their lives offer worship that is honoring to God?
- 47:18No, no matter how much they follow the prescription.
- 47:25Because they do not first honor God.
- 47:30Now there's a long discussion about this in the book of Romans.
- 47:34We're gonna spend some time with it.
- 47:38But I want us to have this appreciation for this reason.
- 47:44And I won't I'm I'm kind of trying to preface it and preload it, but I'm gonna give you kind of the conclusion that we're headed towards for a reason.
- 47:53Matthew chapter five.
- 47:55You all all already know the answer.
- 47:58We're just needing to apply it in the realm of worship.
- 48:06Matthew chapter five verse thirteen, you are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?
- 48:13It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
- 48:18You are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor do they light a lamp or p uh and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand and it gives light to
- 48:30all who are in the house.
- 48:31Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and what?
- 48:41Now, whose father is being discussed here?
- 48:48Yours.
- 48:49Yours.
- 48:49You're the one in a right relationship with God.
- 48:53But your life is to cause others to do what?
- 48:59Toward God?
- 49:01Glorify.
- 49:05You see, when it works the way God built it to work, there will be those who are not yet in a right relationship with God.
- 49:20glorifying and worshiping God saying, I don't know who this God is, and I don't know exactly everything that He's told for me to do yet, but I know He's God.
- 49:36And that honors God.
- 49:44And that is not only.
- 49:48Recognized by God, it is exactly what God commands us to create in the world, is a world that honors and glorifies God who they have not yet fully obeyed.
- 50:12So when the opportunity comes for you for you to invite that friend who you know's not a Christian to come worship with you, don't think, well, I mean I won't do them any good
- 50:27because they're not a Christian.
- 50:29yeah, well.
- 50:31Because it provides them an opportunity to glorify the God who exists.
- 50:38And that's a good thing that hopefully leads them to be open to being obedient to the commands of the God who exists.
- 50:50Okay?
- 50:51Thank you for your attention.
- 50:52We'll discuss this.