Sunday, March 26, 2017

The Greatness of God


The Greatness of God

Psalm 145.3 Great is the LORDand most worthy of praise;
    His greatness no one can fathom.
4 One generation commends Your works to another;
    they tell of Your mighty acts. (And of who can that be said?)
5 They speak of the glorious splendor of Your majesty—
    and I will meditate on Your wonderful works.
6 They tell of the power of Your awesome works—
    and I will proclaim Your great deeds.
7 They celebrate Your abundant goodness
    and joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
8 The LORD is gracious and compassionate,
    slow to anger and rich in love.
9 The LORD is good to all;
    He has compassion on all He has made.
10 All your works praise You,  O LORD;
    Your faithful people extol You.
11 They tell of the glory of Your kingdom
    and speak of Your might,
12 so that all people may know of Your mighty acts
    and the glorious splendor of Your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
    and Your dominion endures through all generations.

We are talking about the greatness of God this morning. I am at a severe disadvantage because  am sharing about a subject we cannot get to the depths of, just as the Psalm we just read told us. This message is more in awe and praise than it is instructional and didactic. 
There is immeasurably more and exceedingly abundantly above than can be said and than what I am able to share on this subject.

Here's is what we know...


1. God is Great v.3

 Gadowl in Hebrew
meaning...
large (in magnitude and extent), in number
in intensity, loud (in sound)
older (in age)
in importance

There is no part of God's Greatness that is not worthy of our great praise.

So great that David opens this Psalm with the statement that he is going to praise the LORD every day and forever and ever because of His greatness.

God is great!
Psalm 47:9 The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; He is greatly exalted.

Psalm 66:3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cringe before You."

Psalm 71:19 Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens, You who have done great things. Who is like You, O God?

Psalm 76:1 For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of Asaph. A song. God is renowned in Judah; in Israel His name is great.

Psalm 82:1 God presides in the great assembly; He renders judgment among the “gods”:

Psalm 86:10 For You are great and do marvelous deeds; You alone are God.

Psalm 89:7 In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; He is more awesome than all who surround Him.

Psalm 95:3 For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods.

Psalm 96:4 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; He is to be feared above all gods.

Psalm 104:1 Praise the LORD, O my soul. LORD my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty.

Psalm 135:5 I know that the LORD is great, that our LORD is greater than all gods.


2. The Greatness of Our God is Unfathomable.
We won't be able to get to the depths of it this morning or ever!

a search for something, investigation,  enquiry

God's ways, His thoughts are higher than the heavens, beyond our finding out.
God's Greatness is deep, deeper than we can ever get to, unfathomable.

He is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine.
Nothing is too difficult for Him.

They cut down an old oak tree next to my daughter's house. My granddaughter and I looked at it. I was half tempted to go into the yard and count the rings. I told her that the tree was older than me. The average life span of the common oaks around here is 200 years! Yes you could very well be looking at oak trees planted when Abraham Lincoln was President! Amazing. In the West the red oaks can live up to 400 years! So some of them may have been around in the 16th Century! They were there before our country was founded! Almighty God created these trees. There is nothing that has been made that wasn't made by Him! How great is our God!

Psalm 147.5  Great is our LORD and mighty in power;
    His understanding has no limit.              

So we see His greatness in creation. 
By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations, by it He set the heavens in place; (Proverbs 3.19)

His Greatness is way beyond what we can see in the heavens and on earth. 

So much more than just the physical universe is the spiritual realm. There are the angels, God's messengers. There is His Spirit. There is Heaven itself and the New Jerusalem He is preparing for us.

There is the knowledge and wisdom of God.

There is His Word which stands eternal in the heavens!


3. The Greatness of God Spreads Across Generations.

Chuck Berry Rock and Roll great died last week. Remembered but gone.

The stories we are listening to of God's Greatness span 6,000 years.

He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
    the sea, and everything in them—
    he remains faithful forever. Psalm 145.6

One generation tells of His mighty acts to another. God's interaction with each generation since Adam.  He is deeply involved in the affairs of human beings. History is His Story. To those who commit their lives to God they get to have interaction with Him all day long.

Each generation gets to witness His mighty acts.


Think of the amazing spread of the Gospel! 
Ignorant and unlearned men who had been with Jesus.
Acts 4.13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

Men who had been with Jesus.
It wasn't that they were unwise, on the contrary they were very wise, wiser than those they stood before. It was that they had no formal education. They were men who had been with Jesus and were now filled with His Spirit.

Those unschooled men carried out the desires of Jesus and our Father in Heaven and over the past 2,000 years the Gospel has gone out around the world. 

God continues to work that way today.



4. God's Works Are Great.

The things recorded in the Bible.

The works of God in History.

The works He is doing today.
Good things, wonder filled things.
Missionaries from other countries.

James Jeong on the flight down to Haiti.

Taiwanese couple I met in Queens whose son is a missionary in Nepal but moving here to Brooklyn to evangelizing the Russian Jews.

Doctor Rosemarie coming from Spain to Haiti this September.

Interview with Casandra


5. God's Heart Is Great! vs.5-6
5 They speak of the glorious splendor of Your majesty—
    and I will meditate on Your wonderful works.
6 They tell of the power of Your awesome works—
    and I will proclaim Your great deeds.

 Wonderful=extraorinary

Awesome= fear, revere, be afraid

Good 

Righteous=justice

Compassion= love deeply, have tender affection, mercy

Love

"When you cannot trace God's Hand, you can trustHis heart."- Spurgeon


Psalm 33.4 For the Word of the LORD is right and true;
                      He is faithful in all He does.
5 The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
    the earth is full of His unfailing love.

God is great! His Greatness is unfathomable. His Greatness spreads across all generations. Let us praise Him everyday and forever!







Sunday, March 19, 2017

Fine Tuning Our Prayers


Fine Tuning Our Prayers

Past month visitors to The Sunday Message: Brazil, France, Germany, Hungary, The Ukraine, South Africa, The Philippines, The United Kingdom, Greece, Poland, Ireland, Hong Kong, Czechia, The Netherlands, India, Russia, Indonesia, Canada and Thailand.

We have had  recently over 200 views a day on this blog, which are my notes for the message you hear. Some we know have borrowed them to share with their congregation. This blog is in its tenth year, where we have gone through the Bible once.

Last week within 24 hours we had over 100 views of our morning worship service and message on live stream. By midweek, 120 and this morning, 129. That translates into over 1,500 people this week being touched by the ministry of the Word of God from this little fellowship! We are now going to be live-streaming from our Facebook Page and on Bambuser. Use this in inviting people to church. Tell them they can check out our services on these venues. If they attach their device to their flat screen TV it can viewed in their living room or den.
This morning...
Psalm 141.2 May my prayer be set before You like incense;
    may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

Every once in a while our cars need a check up. We need to see fluid levels, how our brakes are, alignment...

So it is with our spiritual life. Some have designed revival meetings for this, other discipleship accountability groups. Here we have chosen the Bible's self examination: Taking the LORD's Supper each month. 
I Corinthians 11.28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

This morning we are looking at a verse of scripture which should reflect our prayers. David prayed about his praying. He wanted it to be according to God's Word, modeled after worship in the Temple, which was a copy of what is in heaven.

We are talking this morning about seeing how our prayers line up to God's Word and making adjustments if needs be.

Proverbs 1.5a  let the wise listen and add to their learning...
The wise will add to their learning.
Wise people continue to grow in the grace of the LORD, in the knowledge of Him. So our prayers ought to be fine tuned from our time in the Word and our experiences of life as we walk with the LORD.

Jesus spoke about prayer to His disciples. He modeled prayer. He taught them how to pray. He is praying for us now. He sent the Holy Spirit to help us in our praying. He is here this morning to help us.

Look carefully at this these words God inspired David to write...
1. My Prayer

Personal
Prayer is talking to God about Him and us and others.

From my heart to God's

To some of Israel's religious leaders of His time, during Holy Week...
Mark 12.24 Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?"
We need to know and put into practice what His Word says about prayer.
We need to see the power of God working as we pray... in our daily bread and in  powerful contests of power. Elijah, Epaphras- always wrestling in prayer
We need to make our prayers personal. David's use of "my' and "You" show his close fellowship with the LORD.

Get that fellowship where it is supposed to be and other things fall into place, not the least of which is our prayer life.  Align your life with God's Word and keep a tender heart and your prayers will be fined tuned.

2. Like Incense

incense, smoke, odor of (burning) sacrifice
sweet smoke of sacrifice
perfume

Incense in the tabernacle and later in the temple symbolized the sweet prayers of the saints rising up to God, and His response of love and joy over them.
God loving and enjoying the prayers of the saints.

Incense was carefully prepared, on fire and devoted to God. Just like our prayers ought to be.

Revelation 5:6-8
6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. 8 And when He had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. 

 8:3-5
3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. 4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand. 5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

Under the Old Covenant..
*Incense was broken and pounded before it was used-
the sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite heart. Psalm 51.17
*Incense had a fire under it.
*Incense rose up as a sweet smell to heaven

Ephesians 5.2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.

Our prayers and our lives are inseparable. When observing Paul Rees, Richard   Gehman observed, "Watching him, I realize this man's entire life is a prayer."

Praying without ceasing is what we are to seek after.

This means "Be still and know that I am God."
Keeping our eyes fixed upon Him.
Listening.
Living with one foot in heaven.

David asks that his prayer might be like be... 
3. Like The Evening Sacrifice
Lifting up Hands...
Psalm 63.4 I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands.
I Timothy 2.8 Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing.
David is equating prayers with the lifting up of his hands.
Customs-
In Haiti a number of children and young adults call me Papa or Daddy. It seemed strange at first but now I understand. It is a term of warmth and respect. Learning Manners and Customs of a Foreign Land is invaluable.

What was meaning of the custom in the Old and New Testament of lifting up the hands?

It was a gesture of worship and adoration to Almighty God.

What was the evening sacrifice? 
Shorter service than the morning sacrifice.
Took place between 2:30 to 4pm each day.
At the end the priest who burned the incense would come out and pronounce the blessing Aaron taught his sons, the priests in 
Numbers 6.22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 “Tell Aaron and his sons, ‘This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them:

24 “"The Lord bless you
    and keep you;
25 the Lord make his face shine on you
    and be gracious to you;
26 the Lord turn his face toward you
    and give you peace.”"

What an awesome way to conclude the day!

We have an actual account of this in Luke 1. 8-22 with Zechariah.

The evening sacrifice included worship and blessing and communion with God- all things that prayer ought to have in an increasing measure. Praying without ceasing.

Jesus said, "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. (Matthew 6.6)

In that quiet secluded place worship God, thank Him and commune with Him.

Like the evening sacrifice...
What time of the day did Jesus die? He went to the cross at 9am and gave up His Spirit at 3pm He went to the cross when the morning sacrifice was being offered and ( darkness came over the land at noon) died at time of the evening sacrifice, the time of prayer-3pm.(9am,12pm,3pm were the times of prayer for the Jews)

At the close of day, the close of the business... Wall Street closing bell
After the day has been spent may my prayer be quiet and still and reflective of the deep riches I experience from the LORD. 

Fine tuning our prayers.
*Make it personal between you and the LORD. Grow in that fellowship.
*May it be like incense: sweet fellowship, rising up to heaven, pleasing to God, full of the worship of Him, 
* Sacrificial, Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that openly profess His Name.  
Begin the day with prayer, end it with prayer.

Psalm 5.1 Listen to my words, O LORD,
    consider my lament.
2 Hear my cry for help,
    my King and my God,
    for to You I pray.
3 In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
    in the morning I lay my requests before you
    and wait expectantly.

Psalm 141.2 May my prayer be set before You like incense;
    may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice


Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess His name. Hebrews 13.15

Now Walk With God...

Sunday, March 12, 2017

God's Amazing Will

Welcome to this past month visitors: France, Germany, Hungary, The Ukraine, South Africa, The Philippines, Brazil, The United Kingdom, Greece, Poland, Ireland, Hong Kong, Czechia, The Netherlands, India, Russia, Thailand and Canada. 

 Psalm 135.6 The LORD does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. 

 Pleases: to delight in, take pleasure in, desire He has a heart of love and mercy. His faithfulness continues through all generations. He is the God of all comfort. He abounds in compassion. Does whatever: to fashion, accomplish, work, make, produce to deal (with) act with effect to prepare put in order celebrate to acquire (property) to appoint, ordain, institute to bring about to use We know that when He created the heavens and the earth... Genesis 1.31 God saw all that He had made and it was very good. We are told in Revelation 13.8 that Jesus is the Lamb slain from the creation of the world. Jesus was destined to die on the cross from creation. More than that. The plan of redemption was put into place before the creation of man and his fall. God had His grace operating before sin entered. His amazing will! His will is amazing and many times along the journey we are in awe of its operation in our lives. As we grow in the LORD we come to embrace His will as the best for us even though we do not understand it. We come to believe indeed He is working all things together for our good. We want more of what He wants and less of what we want. That is a mark of spiritual maturity. You will read this week in Psalm 139.16 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be. God has such a wonderful plan for our lives. It is not without struggle. In fact He uses the wrestling in prayer, the struggles, the difficulties for our good, for His glory. Just trust Him in it. Pictures from Bellevue 1. It is a Good Thing It doesn't say Whatever pleases us! Spoiled children- no one wants to be around them. We would get everything we want- not a good thing. Lack of knowledge of God's plan, we would mess up what He plans. Limited vision He looks down from His throne in heaven and knows the thoughts of each heart! He knows the beginning from the end. He knows all things. Psalm 138.6 Though the LORDis exalted, He looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, He sees them from afar. Jacob's wrestling with God is a good picture of how many try to "handle" God's will in their lives. How much better to submit to God. Profane history exhibits the instruments by which Jehovah works; the finger of Divine Revelation points to the unseen but Almighty Hand which wields and guides the instrument, and causes even Herod and Pontius Pilate, together with the Jews and the people of Israel, to do what the Hand and the Counsel of God determined before to be done.—George Payne, in "Lectures on Christian Theology," 1850. Jesus submitted to His Father's will, set an example for our submission To... 2.God's Good Pleasing and Perfect Will - Romans 12.2 Good=good in its nature, pleasant, agreeable, joyful, happy, excellent, distinguished upright, honourable Carol West this week on Facebook. Pleasing= He does whatever pleases Him. To be well off To prosper Spiritual riches last, they grow more precious in time and in eternity. Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust corrupt and where thieves break through and steal. Rather store up for yourselves treasures in heaven... Perfect= brought to its end, finished, integrity and virtuous. Psalm 135.6 The LORD does whatever pleases Him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths God's Amazing Will in Our Salvation: John 6:39 “Now this is the will of the One who sent Me, that I lose not one of all He has given Me, but raise each one on the last day." I was made for His pleasure and find true fulfillment when I please Him. My life will never be fulfilled if I am seeking for my pleasure. You will probably get some momentary pleasure but not long lasting fulfillment, no contentment. I was sharing some of the Hand of God in my life and through people, some of who are in heaven and how that connection and thread runs through my life today. As I reflect on this looking back on my journey I am so blessed and fulfilled down deep in my heart. If I lost all my material possessions tomorrow i would still have these rich deep memories and the present experience of seeing God's Hand upon me. 3. Our Faith in Him and His Wisdom and His Ways Here is how we apply this verse. We must have faith in Him and in His Wisdom and His Ways. God is good and loving. He will withhold no good thing from those who walk uprightly. Psalm 84.11 Psalm 115.2-3 Why do the nations say, "Where if their God?"Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him. His ways are higher than our ways we are told in Isaiah 55.8-9 As high as the heavens are above the earth! We must have faith if we are to trust His will in our lives. The "no" answer to prayer we must embrace just as we embrace the "yes". Often we do not know if the answer is "wait" or "no". Waiting is so that God can bring about His perfect will, lining things up, bringing in people He wants a part of the answer. David testifies, "I waited patiently for the LORD and He heard my cry." Psalm 40.1 He does whatever He pleases. Nothing can stop God from accomplishing His purposes. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church. When men design evil against us the LORD turns it around and uses it to make us more like Him. What about when we have prayed for someone to be healed and they died? Remember... Precious in the sight of the LORD are the death of His saints Psalm 116.15 Good people pass away; the godly often die before their time. But no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come. Isaiah 57.1 God's will is amazing, His good, pleasing and perfect will. He works all things together for good to those who love Him, who are the called according to His purpose. All we need to do is to have faith in Him and His Wisdom and His ways. Let's commit ourselves to His will. Let's trust Him. Let's say to the LORD, "Here I am. Help Yourself to my life, my heart, everything."