James Diliberto - Worship God - Let Your Lifesong Sing - Session 2 - Calling on the Name

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   . We finished our last session looking at the woman of Samaria. And some of you during the break were asking me a little bit more about that. What do you really think the truth part is? I think I got the spirit part right. What about the truth part? What does that really mean?

2. 0:47

   And my answer, unfortunately, probably a disappointed person that asked me about this. I'm very simple. I think it really is just that. It is truth. The truth. What is true about God. And that is what the woman of Samaria was missing. What the Jews had. And they were missing the spirit. And there is this natural tension between spirit and truth.

3. 1:08

   I see a woman that was too concerned about how she was making offerings to God. And the external. Because for her, the end was an end in itself. And the Jews, unfortunately, had a similar situation. And Jesus tested her understanding about sincerity and truth by literally unmasking her life that she was hiding.

4. 1:34

   Which is what he ended up doing by explaining that to her. And unfortunately, when we have a situation where we have ecclesias who are spirit ecclesias. And then you have these ecclesias that are truth ecclesias. You have a false dichotomy. We are in a both and situation here. Not an either or. And one thing that I love about the NCYC community is that I really do feel, I'm trying to blow you up here.

5. 2:05

   But you guys really have, I feel, one of the unique places in our Christophian experience. Where I feel like you don't trade one for the other. And I love you for that. And I'm grateful that you exist. And that people can come here and experience those things happening together. So I'm certainly not preaching any of this to anything that you don't know.

6. 2:26

   But there are probably people that you will need to explain that to. And on the one side. On the, let's call it, the ultra-conservative side. The extremely traditional side.

7. 2:40

   Unfortunately, this is why people that have PhDs in theology still commit adultery. Because it's not about more information. It's not about more knowledge. It's the loss of reverence and awe and love for God. And the joy of the salvation that makes you live differently. And so, on the one side. You can see how you can have all the form, all the outwards, all the things correct.

8. 3:13

   And you completely miss the heart of God. But on the other side. We also don't want to create, let's call it like a snickers bar Christianity. Where we're looking for quick fixes and quick pick-me-ups. And things that just kind of solve our urge and our desire quickly. And don't have a lasting effect on us.

9. 3:35

   And unfortunately, in some areas of our community as well. You're constantly lowering the bar, lowering the bar, lowering the bar. To like the lowest possible common denominator. So that people can feel entertained. And unfortunately, worship came in fades. And it might be a reason to come. But it's never going to be a reason to stay.

10. 3:59

    And so, young people, we need to be a both and community. We don't want to be known as a spirit ecclesia or a truth ecclesia. We want to have the spirit of Christ living in our ecclesias. And without truth, we will end up being emotional feelings driven to clubs. And without the spirit, we end up being vain religion.

11. 4:25

    So, anyway, I don't like compromise. I like balance. Equal amounts of both. I don't know how you sort of feel about that. But I feel like when we're in striving for compromise. It's like, well, if we just do it. That's a little bit too much. Let's back that off. And over here, that's a little bit too much feeling.

12. 4:44

    Let's back that off. And I'm like, no. Both and. These are both good. And when we emphasize both of those things correctly, we find a beautiful, beautiful balance. And we honor God by doing so. So, I hope hopefully that clarifies maybe for some of you. Now, I am married. And unfortunately, Charlotte is not here.

13. 5:04

    She says hello, by the way. I just spoke to her during the break. And when we first got married, we got given this. Back in 1995, which is before many of you were born, I was only 13. So, a little bit old. Am I old? I know. Dead cold. Gary Chapman published this book called The Five Love Languages.

14. 5:28

    How to Express Heartfelt Commitment. Anybody have it? Gary Pumbles? You actually have it? Anyway, I'll ask you if you've read it. I'm not going to look you in the eye. But as you might know, there are five love languages that he sort of talks about. He talks about words of affirmation, quality time, gift giving, acts of service, and physical touch.

15. 5:53

    Now, these are the language that you want expressed to you. They speak to you. It's not necessarily how you communicate. It's actually what people need, what fills their bucket. Now, without being disrespectful in any way, what do you think God's love language would be?

16. 6:16

    Acts of service. Sorry? Acts of service. Okay, the suggestion is acts of service. That could have been yours. Oh, no. Like, I don't think so. What do you think God really wants? I think that's what he wants. Quality time. All right. Raise your hand if you said it. All right there. There you go.

17. 6:41

    Thank you. Who else said it? There you go. Only two. That's it. You've got to be faster next time. I think you're right. I think when we look at the Bible. Let's call it from the back there. Sorry. I'm going to take somebody's head off if I try. Quality time. So, do you think we give God this in our worship?

18. 7:03

    Do we think we give that to God? Well, let me enlist you all the quality time that I give God. I go to meeting. I go to Bible class. I go to CYC. I go to Sunday school. I go to A&B meetings. I go to conference committee meetings. I attend all of the ecclesial activities.

19. 7:21

    God is getting a lot of my quality time. Is that a frame of it? As with many marriages, you've probably had this discussion with your spouse. Thankfully, I have a wife who has quality time as her number one love language. And I think that's probably not that uncommon. But there are plenty of people that are gift givers.

20. 7:42

    And plenty of people that are acts of service. But quality time is Charlotte's love language. And she said to me, not too long ago, I miss you.

21. 7:55

    Scratched my head. I haven't gone a day without seeing you for months. So, how can you miss me? That's kind of a strange thing to say. Okay. And this is possibly just my neurodiversion mind blocked into something I can't see the context of. And I said, well, look. We do all of these things together.

22. 8:16

    And she said, oh, it's not quality time. And then I said, well, we've been running camps, recording music, having friends over. My friends are coming over. We're tolerating your friends. And traveling to America to see my family. Tolerating your family. It's been great quality time. It really has been fantastic. And she looked me in the eye and said, but none of those things were exclusive quality time.

23. 8:42

    Just you and me. And I need you to show me that I am more important to you than any of those other things. Suppose your partner gave you a gift. And it was exactly what they asked for. Let's say it's quality time. Book it in. Put it in my calendar. I tried that one time.

24. 9:09

    I booked in Outlook. Quality time. Do not try that. And for her, she did not want to be scheduled in. She wants me to give it because I want to give it. The spontaneity of it. The choosing her to the exclusion of all others is what I promised when we got married and when I vowed that before our Heavenly Father.

25. 9:38

    And when I said, well, I've got some book in. I went immediately to the doghouse. Now I have to go. I did not collect $200. And when your partner asks for something that you want and you say, I gave it to you. And they say, well, what did you do that for? And if you said, well, that's what you asked me for.

26. 10:01

    How does that make you feel? It's not because you wanted to do it. It's because you're just doing it because it's your duty. How would that make you feel when your love expression is just out of duty? Now if I said, I just couldn't help myself because I was so overcome. This is a lesson for all of you here, so just take some notes here.

27. 10:25

    I couldn't help myself because I was so overcome with love and appreciation for you that nothing else could possibly make me happier than seeing you appreciated, satisfied by my honor, treasure, and value in wanting you and quality time with you as my wife. That's a winner. Let's say that again. We need to learn to worship God individually before we come to worship him collectively.

28. 11:20

    And that literally is how the Bible is laid out for us in the Old Testament leading up to the law. Now, this is quite related. Worship, just in case you thought that was super random. Worship is actually where our English word, worship, comes from. And it can be found in the OG church manual for marriages.

29. 11:52

    And one of the actual phrases in that manual for execute for doing marriages is, with my body I thee worship. You alone, exclusive quality time. Right? We say when we get married, we say to the exclusion of all others. You alone are worthy of this degree of submission, service, and love. You alone are worthy of this.

30. 12:21

    And so when we see it in a marriage, God and our Lord Jesus, we are the bride of Christ. We are the God in the Old Testament explains this. Right? He is the husband of his bride. And when things don't go well for God, like in relationships, I see there's a few relationships happening here.

31. 12:51

    When we give our adoration and love to anyone else, God gets jealous. God gets jealous. Exodus 20, verse 5. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. Exodus 34, verse 14. That's why he says, you shall worship no other God. For the Lord your God is a jealous God. You shall worship no other God.

32. 13:29

    For the Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God. You know, I really hope that my wife gets jealous of my time when I spend it with other people. Now, I don't, I'm not suggesting this is necessarily a test that you should try. But, if she wasn't jealous of my time, what does that say about our commitment?

33. 13:59

    What does that say about our exclusive devotion? So, this is a fairly understandable feeling. When you have adoration and when you have that love exclusively, you feel jealous when that gets given to someone else. And so, when Israel worshipped other gods, God was jealous. And he was not jealous because he's an egomaniac.

34. 14:28

    Because those gods will never satisfy. They are not gods. They have no power to save. They can't do anything for you. And so, God's jealousness is because he knows that he is the best thing for his people. And he doesn't want to be put in a box. There's kind of two models where we can give God our time.

35. 14:54

    One of them looks like this. Right? You've got your life. You've got your ekklesia. You've got your family. And then you've got God. I don't really think that's the model of relationship that God is looking for. It looks more like this. God is everything. To live is Christ. And everything else that we do, which will help us in our afternoon session, falls into the God circle.

36. 15:24

    How we do our family falls into the God circle. Obviously, how we do church and how we do everyday life all falls into the God circle. It is there because everything we do can honor God. And this means that it's not like what God wants 24-7 is what we see that picture in Revelation 4 in the book of Isaiah show of the angels.

37. 15:51

    Right? The angels don't have family, life, ekklesia, church. Like, they don't have that. So, the picture in Revelation 4, it says, And Isaiah sort of illustrates that. It says, So, one angel's like,

38. 16:16

    Then the other angel's like, That's a good one. Because holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The whole earth is filled with His glory. And he's like, That's really nice. But I've got something else I want to tell you. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. And day and night. They never stop saying it.

39. 16:31

    They never get tired of it. But they don't have anything else to do other than worship God and do His bidding. So, we are practicing for that time. So, we have to have a way that, How do we show that God is holy in the way that we do our work life or our school life?

40. 16:46

    How do we show that God is holy by how we reflect that in our marriage? How do we show that God is holy by, obviously, how we behave in His ecclesia? We need to show God in everything. Not just put Him in a box. We have this awesome hymn that says, With thankful hearts to worship Thee.

41. 17:08

    And I feel like we can thank the minimum amount of worship. The minimum amount is just having a heart of thankfulness. Now, in America, we just had Thanksgiving. We did ours last weekend. It's like, would have been happening basically like right now. Thanksgiving is this amazing holiday. We used to think where everybody goes around the table, and as we're sort of sharing this meal, everybody sort of talks about thankfulness.

42. 17:30

    This is the minimum amount. But this should be the most easy one. And that's why we're putting up all of these on the wall here. We want everybody to put things up. Reasons. But thankfulness, if you can't find a reason, maybe put something up there that you're thankful to God for. And maybe that's something that can help.

43. 17:49

    All right. So what I want to do in this session is show how the way God animated His people before the law was literally walking with His people. A lot of exclusive quality talk. And we'll start off by looking at Adam and Eve. Think about Adam and Eve in the garden. They walked with God in the garden, in fellowship with Him.

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    It was one of the things that I feel gave them pleasure. And God had pleasure walking amongst His people. I remember when my parents split up. And I don't know if anyone else is in that category here. But my parents are divorced. And that was one of the hardest times in my life to go through.

45. 18:38

    And I actually didn't want to be with anyone else. I didn't know how to talk about it. I didn't know how to share about it. I didn't even know what to say. I didn't know what to feel about them. And when I was feeling overwhelmed, when people asked me, do you want to talk about it?

46. 18:54

    What I would say is, I just feel like going for a walk with God. Sometimes I even said, I'm going to go have a coffee with God. And I made my way over to Starbucks. And I just sat in a single table with an empty chair on the other side of me. And I drank a coffee by myself.

47. 19:08

    And I just talked with God. I shared it with God. And poured out my distress. I complained before Him, as the Psalms tell us to do. And I just, it wasn't always everything is great. It was actually that quality time. And in a relationship, it's with God. It's the same as people. It's sometimes actually just sharing your sorrows.

48. 19:27

    Sharing your burdens. Telling God what you're struggling about. What you're struggling with. And I imagine that you would think, well, once they left the garden, I guess they weren't able to do that anymore. Well, you say, oh, well, that's easy. God was walking in the pool today. Isn't that pretty easy? God is just walking there.

49. 19:48

    So it's fairly convenient. We don't have that today. And Adam, as we just sung, Adam, we just sung that in our song. Unfortunately, Adam saw the goodness of God looking after his personal needs. And then a perfectly suitable partner. And he gave him everything that he needed. And at that time, there was no reason for shame.

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    The goodness of God was literally running after him. And then they sin. And they break that relationship with God. And they need to leave that fellowship of God. But what does God do? Is that it? Is that the end of relationship with God?

51. 20:32

    No. He makes a way. And when they go out of the garden, he has a flaming sword guarding the way back in. And when we get to Genesis chapter 4, we see what I feel is God reminded them of what he really wanted. So turn to Genesis 4. We're going to just go through verses there.

52. 20:56

    Genesis chapter 4. This podium is angular here. Everything is about to fall out of my Bible. So anyway, if that happens, so do you. Alright. Now, in verse 3, it says, in the course of time, Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. And Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and the fat portions.

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    And here God shows up again. It says, the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, but for Cain and his offering, he had no regard. Do you want to, I want to take a guess as to why that was. Why was Cain's offering unacceptable and Abel's offering was acceptable? Abel's worshiping God on the way that God instructed him to.

54. 22:15

    Okay. Where did he get the instructions to do that? The more the symbology of them using the calm God and sacrificing the animal clothing. Okay. So do you think that God was going to hold him accountable for not picking up on the inference from his parents?

55. 22:33

    Could be. It could be. And Abel's got an alternative. God has the sacrifices of the wicked. Okay. Read very closely. And to me, this is a great Bible marking moment.

56. 22:48

    It says, for Cain, not Cain's offering, it says, for Cain and his offering, the Lord had no regard. And have a look at what it says about Abel. But for Abel, and his offering, the Lord had regard. So God is not pleased with Cain, is pleased with Abel. And that conjunction word, and, to me, is the thing that solves the whole problem.

57. 23:22

    Abel, we find out from so many places in the New Testament, Abel was righteous. Right from the blood of righteous Abel, his life for God, was dedicated. And how did he show that he loved God? How did he express that love for God, that knowledge of God? What did he bring? What was it about his offering that was special?

58. 23:48

    I don't, it could be that it was like, it should have been maybe this kind, and maybe that was kind of an interesting thing that could be a symbol and tie back to his parents. Like, maybe. But what does it say about that? Let's assume that's true. But what does it say about the offering?

59. 24:01

    What was the qualitative element? The best thing to do. It was the best. He's like, I'm bringing it to God. I'm going to bring the best that I've got. I'm going to leave nothing unturned. I'm going to give him the absolute best. And therefore, the thing that made his offering great was the life song of Abel.

60. 24:25

    It was Abel. It was his life. It was his spirit. And in truth. Together. And so we have spirit and truth married here. And he expresses it in such a way that it's quite clear. Now what do we know about Cain? You are totally right. Cain was wicked. He killed his brother. It talks about other people in Jude 1.

61. 24:46

    People walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain. That means he was selfish. So the whole life of Cain was unacceptable. I think it probably would have been okay if he brought the grain. But if he brought the best of his grain, the first of his fruits, if he brought everything that he could because it was proportional to how he saw God, I think he probably would have been accepted.

62. 25:10

    And it almost says so much in the scripture. Like, had you understood, had you actually taken it, like, would you not have been accepted? So it's clearly saying that there was a world that Cain could have been accepted. But what was accepted was the blood that flowed in Abel's veins was righteous. Matthew 23, 34, 35.

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    The blood that flowed in Abel's veins was righteous. He loved God. And he had that testimony. And so, what makes an offering acceptable to God? It's the life. You know, when we think about music, what makes that song that we just sung, how beautiful that song was, what makes that song pleasing to God?

64. 26:00

    It's the thankful hearts that worship him for our, him. It's the hearts. So the song is just an altar. It's something to put our lives on top and offer. So it's a vehicle that carries the life of the believer. Now, many things that are not songs can also do that. But what happens now, for the whole rest of this patriarchal journey, is you have these patriarchs that want that time with God, and they literally start to build altars.

65. 26:34

    And that is from this, that comes at the end of the chapter four. People began at that time to call on the name of God, to know him personally, to start to interact with this grand creator by name, on a name basis. So this is all about prayer, sacrifice. At that time, you might even make an argument that God appointed a time, because it said at the appointed time they brought these offerings.

66. 27:02

    So as you said, people start to make a formality of some of these things. And they began to call on God's name. And then you get these very interesting people like Enoch. Turn to Genesis 5, verse 24. So just flip the page. Genesis 5, 24. It seems kind of random. So at this time, people began to call on the name of the Lord.

67. 27:40

    And Genesis 5, 24, we meet someone. It's unique up until now. Remember, Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden. And you might think, oh, well, they're out of the garden, so they can't walk with God anymore. Not true. It says that Enoch walked with God, and God met him with that commitment.

68. 27:59

    And he was not, for God took him. Probably, as we find out in the New Testament, he was translated so that he would not see death. He walked with God. What does it mean to walk with God? I think we're going to, are we going to do, I'm coming to the ark right after this.

69. 28:12

    Yes. Okay, cool. He's not the only person that walked with God, but we're going to sing about that in just a moment. But Enoch walked with God. He also, like Noah, was a faithful servant. And he walked with God. He had fellowship with God. And he pleased God. That testimony comes in Hebrews chapter 11.

70. 28:31

    Hebrews chapter 11, verse 5. It says he had this testimony that he pleased God. What does it mean, as in marriage, what does it mean to give God pleasure? Well, obviously, on a human level, that looks very different. But giving someone their love language gives them pleasure. They feel fulfilled. And if you haven't thought about it, I made a little verse chain.

71. 29:00

    And I'm just going to read it for you. I'm going to use my phone because I couldn't find an easier way to do this very quickly. What does it mean to please God? Well, let's first of all talk about what is the most, probably one of the foundational memory verses that we all get is, the first time we learn about that is Hebrews 11.

72. 29:21

    Without faith, it is impossible to please him. He that comes to God must believe, one, that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. So there's like a quantitative element and there's a qualitative element. Obviously, this is kind of like Romans chapter 1. So we understand that faith and pleasing God, the first thing that we have that pleases God is actually faith.

73. 29:45

    But that's not the only thing. Just think about this little verse chain here. I'm going to put them all, I'm going to put them all together.

74. 29:56

    First, thinking about Romans 8, verse 8. Those that are in the flesh cannot please God. So there's spirit and truth. If you are in the flesh, it is not possible, no matter what song you sing, no matter how good a talk you give, no matter what acts of service that you do, if you are living according to the flesh, you cannot please God.

75. 30:21

    But what he says rather is, let each of us please his neighbor for his good and to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of those who reproached you fell upon me. He says, just as I try to please everyone in everything that I do, he also says, so while we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

76. 30:45

    Here's a real simple one. You might have never thought that this was worship. I know there's some parents in the room here. Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this pleases the Lord. Obedience to your parents gives pleasure to God. That kind of obedience, obeying that simple commandment. Children, obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.

77. 31:09

    The Colossians version says, children, obey your parents in everything for this pleases the Lord. Then you think about the calling of the Christian to please Christ as our commanding officer. Share in the sufferings of God as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one gets entangled in civilian pursuits since they make it their aim to please him.

78. 31:30

    And then maybe one more. Finally then, brothers and sisters, we urge and ask you in the Lord Jesus that just as you receive from us how you ought to walk, there's Enoch, and to please God. Just as you are doing, I pray that you will do so more and more. So the ambition is, does God, does God enjoy this?

79. 31:54

    Great. Do better. Do more. This constantly comes up in the book of Thessalonians. Is God pleased by what we're doing here? Yes, do more. Do it again. Don't accept that it's enough. And sometimes in our marriages, in our relationships, you can sort of feel like you're just ticking the box, like we're just doing enough.

80. 32:11

    Do more. If there's more that you can do, we want to do it. And that is exactly what happens. And Noah then, when we meet Noah in the next chapter, he finds favor in the eyes of the Lord. And he also is known to have walked with God. So Noah's walking with God.

81. 32:32

    What does that look like? Well, Psalm 16, Psalm 16, I'm just going to put them down here because that will make it easier. In Psalm 116, we talked about this idea of pleasing God. Noah finds favor in the eyes of the Lord. And what does it say about him when he comes out of the ark?

82. 32:55

    Obviously, God had saved him. So let's turn over to Genesis chapter 6. First of all, what is it about his mentality that pleases God? What was the thing that made Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord?

83. 33:16

    In verse 9, he was a culture setter. These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation, and Noah walked with God while the earth was corrupt. Now, Noah goes on and obeys the Lord. And after his salvation, what is the first thing that he does?

84. 33:44

    He builds an altar. look at Genesis chapter 8, verses 20 to 22. Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal, some of every clean bird, and offered burnt sacrifices on the altar. And when the Lord smelled the what? The pleasing aroma. Noah, the Lord said in his heart, I will never curse the earth again.

85. 34:13

    I will never curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart was evil from his youth, and neither will I strike down every living creature which I have done. While the earth remains, sea time to harvest, cold and mean, summer and winter and night shall not cease. Noah has a heart that is having an exchange with God.

86. 34:33

    Now, does God have a nose? No. This is obviously a metaphor. But what are we offering up to God in our service that pleases God? What is our pleasing aroma that rises up to God that pleases Him? It's the offerings that we put onto the altar. And for some people, if you probably remember, when you think about altars, the patriarchs constantly built these altars, and it says that they returned to them.

87. 35:04

    They returned to them. They built an altar here, and then they returned to it. In my life, places like Novi, and maybe for you, I think Ailey said this is her 13th grade. Novi? Maybe for some of you, November Camp is, which is I think the OG name for this camp, November Camp is an altar.

88. 35:27

    And we return to it. We return to it. Maybe for you, it's study week. Maybe for you, it's Bible school. I'll give you some photos here. Maybe for you, it's study week. Maybe for you, it's Bible school. Maybe it's that little fire thing at Rathbun. If you're me, for Manitoulin, it's the Halla.

89. 35:46

    It's where we sing around the fire. It's the choir. In New Jersey, it's Schoolies Mountain, where we learn how to play music with the grandparents playing on mandolins and accordions. Like for me, that was how we learned how to worship, was there. Like with my dad and with his dad. For me, like every time I go back there, it's like returning to an altar.

90. 36:07

    And then it makes you, it brings back all these memories of what God had done that made you build that altar in the first place. And then you offer on it again and again and again. And it rises as a sweet pleasure to God. Now one interesting thing besides altars is actually planting trees.

91. 36:27

    Those of you who know Phil Rosser, I'm just going to tell a story here. Those of you who know Phil Rosser, he's one of my best friends ever. And when we moved from our house, Phil, to remember, this time that we had written like all these songs like literally in my backyard, like all of this music that I could come out of like hanging out in my backyard and singing around the fire and just all these things that just naturally came out.

92. 36:52

    And when we moved from that house, I was really quite sad about moving from that house. And Phil, on the day that we moved out, Phil brought me over a tree. And we planted this tree. And we literally prayed over this tree. Trust me, it's not as weird as it sounds. We prayed on this tree and we dedicated this tree.

93. 37:15

    So as this tree is growing up, it's like our friendship. It's like our worship. It has deep roots. It's stable. And it's going to grow for years and years and years. And it's going to provide fruit for others. And so we literally planted a tree. And some of the patriarchs even did that.

94. 37:29

    Abraham chose to plant a tree. He planted this terebinth tree. So whether it's building an altar out of stone or whether it's planting a tree, we see that these moments, when we have an experience with God, mark the moment. Remember it. Remember that moment. I've got a phone, you probably see, you take a lot of photos.

95. 37:49

    For me, that's kind of like a way to relive moments in time. But for you, if you're going to be like that, sometimes you forget the goodness of God and then you come back to an altar, like Novi, and it all comes back. You remember that experience that you had with God. And so I feel in our life, in our devotional life, we need to have altars, things that you can reliably go back to.

96. 38:15

    For me, a lot of that is music. When I listen to the NCYC albums, if I'm struggling or I'm thinking, oh man, I'm talking to these young people, it's really difficult, and then I go listen to that album, I'm like, wait, everything's all good. I just listen to that album and it's horrible.

97. 38:29

    And I just, it just, for me, like these are things that, it's not the album in itself. It's the people. It's the love and the dedication of the people that went into it. So that thing becomes an altar. So whether it's a, something that you made, or it's a talk that you listen to, or it's a place in your ecclesia, or a place at a camp that you return to, all these things are altars.

98. 38:53

    And that is what the early patriarchs did. They didn't have a church. They didn't have a building. They just had God. And that was enough. And so they built these altars. And God communed with them on those altars. And I hope that you will be inspired to do the same. Now, for the rest of our time, I want to talk about Abraham in particular.

99. 39:20

    Abraham is a person that builds a lot of altars. Like, every two seconds, Abraham is building an altar. And, that's probably not exactly true, but you know what I mean. Every time he flip a page, Abraham built an altar. Abraham built an altar. He's constantly building these altars. And, what I feel about Abraham, particularly, is that Abraham has the ability to constantly remember what God had done for him.

100. 39:52

     And, when you get to his final altar, he's going to put something on his final altar that we have recorded. And, that offering is going to seriously cost him.

101. 40:13

     Turn to Genesis 22. after these things, God tested Abraham. And, Abraham said, here am I. he said, take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I will tell you.

102. 41:06

     So, Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his home, and two of his young men came with him and his son, Isaac. And, he cut the word for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place that God had told him. And, on the third day, plenty of time to think. Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.

103. 41:26

     And, Abraham said to his young men, stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there and worship. worship. This is actually the first time the word worship is coming up in the Bible. The actual word worship, do a quick search in your Bible, is the first time worship comes up.

104. 41:51

     And, it really gets to the heart of worship. The heart of worship is when we are willing to take something that's special to us and devote it to God. And, Abraham's perception of God asking him to do this was worship. So, down in verse 9, they came to the place and Abraham does what he always does and he builds an altar.

105. 42:22

     And, there he laid on the wood in order to bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar. Are we willing to offer God only things that are convenient or are we willing to offer God things that cost? You could probably make an argument, me as a parent, now, there is nothing greater that you could say than your own children.

106. 42:52

     And, God, in all of his confusion and even though Abraham knew because of the promise that he was able to raise him from the dead, he was willing to put it on the altar and just trust in God to do what is right. He was willing to give all the highest cost and trust that God would be faithful.

107. 43:20

     And, of all the altars that Abraham ever built, this was the last altar ever recorded of Abraham building. And, God says, now I know the answer of God because he was not willing to withhold. And, what God is asking of you and I today, in whatever altar that is, don't hold back. Give him everything.

108. 43:50

     He's asking for our whole heart. And, we need to offer him everything. So, our reading was in Psalm 116. And, this is where I'm going to finish out. Psalm 116. And, we're going to talk about the power of death. I'm just going to put up a quick quote from Timely that we did the Sons of Korra song.

109. 44:34

     So, Matt Tankaghi from the Sons of Korra who's a really awesome person and a good friend. He also lives in Melbourne. He's a really, really great guy. And, he wrote a book. A lot of people think about him for the Sons of Korra music group. But, he's actually a pastor of theology at his church in Geelong.

110. 44:54

     Anyway, he wrote this book and he said this. You need more debt. Debt empowers and the more in debt you are, the more in power you will be. Intuitively, debt is associated with weakness and the more indebted we are to someone, the weaker we feel. Debt signals a dependence and a subjugation, hardly empowering ideas in most people's minds.

111. 45:20

     In the Psalms, however, we see another system at work and it is here that the remarkable connection between debt and empowerment is expressed. So, when we look at Psalm 116, the power of debt is the thing that gives us the motivation. Why did Noah build the altar as soon as he came out of the ark?

112. 45:47

     Why did he build it? Because God saved him. So, he felt indebted to God and so he wanted to repay the Lord just something. He could never earn his salvation but he wanted to repay the Lord something. So, why did God ask to preserve all of those animals, seven of one kind? Because he knew the kind of heart that Noah had and that he was going to offer and offer and offer.

113. 46:13

     That's why God asked him to keep those animals on the ark so that when he got off the ark he had something to offer. And that is exactly what we see here in Psalm 116.

114. 46:26

     How can I repay the Lord for all of his goodness to me? Can we ever repay the Lord? Sorry, verse 12. How can we? We can't. We can never repay the Lord but we can respond to his goodness by offering him everything. And what did Noah do? Verse 13. And what did Abraham do for saving his son?

115. 46:54

     He did what I hope we all will do for the rest of our days. Verse 13. I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord which is what they began to do in Genesis 4. What does it mean to call on the name of the Lord?

116. 47:09

     It's to recall his name and his purpose and the fact that we're saved. And verse 14. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of his people. Verse 17. I will offer to you the sacrifice. There's Noah. the sacrifice of thanksgiving. The minimum thing we can all give to God and call on the name of the Lord and I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of his people.

117. 47:37

     The thing that Noah and Abraham and Enoch and all of us do, it's our lives that we offer to God. It's our lives. It's the blood of righteous evil that can also flow in our veins through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what God wants. Will you call on his name?

118. 47:58

     Will you pay your vows in the presence of his people? What can you render to the Lord for all of his benefits? How can I repay the Lord for all of his goodness to me? It's to live your life as a song to him.

119. 48:23

     What can you