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[0:00] We're going to begin a brief four-part series today. I've got four weeks to teach the adult Sunday school class, and I trust that it will be profitable for us. I hope that it will be. It's been good already for me to study some of these things. I want to begin with a question this morning, and that is, who are we?

[0:19] And that's a question for you to answer. Who are we? That's a little bit too broad. I understand that. Who are we as a church? What is our identity or affiliation? With the bride of Christ. Okay, good. That's a big, broad answer. And a good one? Sinners saved by grace. Amen. Also, a broad answer for who the church is. Good.

[0:49] We're Reformed Baptist. That's a little more particular and specific, which is what I was looking for. But the others are true as well. The church is made up of sinners saved by grace. We're the bride of Christ. Grace Fellowship Church, in particular, is a church that is both Reformed and Baptist. Will somebody tell me what that means? What does it mean to be Reformed and Baptist?

[1:16] On the right hand. We trust so. And with humility. Yes. Okay? More specifically, what does that mean?

[1:35] God is sovereign in all things. Very good. That's almost word for word what we're going to say in a minute. What else? God is the one who saves. God is the one who saves. Another way of saying that is God is sovereign in salvation. Good. Okay? God is sovereign over all things, generally, and specifically, He's sovereign in salvation. He's the one who does the work. We can't do it. What else does it mean?

[2:03] His word is inerrant. His word is inerrant. We believe that God's word has no mistakes in it. Good. What else? Chuck? Even though baptism is commanded, it doesn't save you.

[2:15] Okay? Good. Baptism does not save, but it is commanded, and it's something we do as an act of obedience to our Savior. And baptism is one thing that sets us as Reformed Baptists apart from Reformed Presbyterians.

[2:28] We baptize believers, and they would baptize infants. Okay? So there's another distinctive. Anything else? What does it mean to be Reformed? Calvinistic.

[2:40] Calvinistic. Okay? And what does that mean? We believe in the five points of God. Okay? Good. And I won't make you list them all off.

[2:53] The five points of God. We could say all sorts of things. It means we believe in what sometimes people call the doctrines of grace. It means that God is sovereign in His grace and in ministering and giving His grace and salvation.

[3:06] We could say it's salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, for God's chosen people alone. And we could say lots of other things. And what we want to study in the next four weeks, and our concern is that we understand that our identity is not merely a theological one.

[3:24] Everything that you all have said this morning has been theology. The sovereignty of God. The five points of Calvinism. Those are points of theology. Baptism. These things are things that we believe the Bible teaches.

[3:41] But we want to see that the difference our theology makes, or what difference our theology should make in the way that we live. What difference does it make in your life that you believe the doctrines of grace, or you hold to our confession of faith?

[3:58] Why does that matter? It should affect every part of our lives. Being Calvinistic and Reformed is much more than just holding to a particular system of doctrine. It is living a particular way of life.

[4:08] In other words, as we've said many times here before, doctrine matters. What we believe affects how we live. And the things that we do.

[4:20] And the things that we say it should affect your life, and my life, and our life together as a church. And that's the point of a book that was written by a Reformed and Presbyterian minister named Terry Johnson. He wrote a book called, When Grace Comes Home, How the Doctrines of Grace Change Your Life.

[4:36] And this is the book, When Grace Comes Home, How the Doctrines of Grace Change Your Life. And one pastor, J. Ligon Duncan, writes a recommendation for the book.

[4:47] And what he writes is this. He says, You've got to be able to answer those two questions if you want to say you're Reformed.

[5:08] How does sovereign grace make a difference in life, generally? And how is it specifically making a difference in your life? According to this guy, if you can't answer those questions, then you can't claim to be Reformed.

[5:20] Now, we've just had a series on practical religion. My brother Jason led us through it in the first part of the year. And my aim is not to repeat everything he said. A lot of the implications for what we believe were worked out in that series.

[5:34] But we're going to take four topics that weren't touched on in that series and see how these doctrines that we believe affect them. And we're going to talk about worship. That's today. We're going to talk about outlook.

[5:46] We're going to talk about assurance. And we're going to talk about guidance. Those are our four topics over the week. How do the doctrines of grace affect our worship, our outlook, our assurance and guidance? Just a word on outlook there.

[5:57] You can probably figure out what worship and assurance and guidance are. But outlook is how we view life. And we're going to talk about gratitude and contentment and hope. If we really believe that God is sovereign over all things, we'll be grateful for what he's given us.

[6:10] We'll be content with what he's given us. And we'll be hopeful about what lies before us. But for today, we're going to talk about worship. And I hope that you're never apologetic about being reformed and about holding to those things.

[6:27] Because with all humility, I trust. Because if there's a whole chapter in this book on humility, we're not going to touch on that one. We touched on it Wednesday night a few weeks ago.

[6:38] But if we're really reformed, it should make us humble. If we recognize who God is. He's this great God. And we're sinful creatures that are unable to do anything good on our own. It should make us humble in the way we hold our doctrine, in the way we live, in all of these things.

[6:52] But we shouldn't be apologetic about being reformed. We should be humble about it, but not apologetic. We should be glad. Terry Johnson says, How many people are robbed of their peace because other Christians persuade them they can have no eternal security?

[7:06] Or how many are devastated by affliction because they've been taught that God isn't sovereign? How many are trapped in the emotional turmoil of unworkable higher life views of sanctification? They can't get to that higher life that somebody's advocating.

[7:19] So when you're not reformed, it has negative implications. It's going to affect how you view adversity and how you view life. And it's going to be discouraging and troubling. And so we should be excited about being reformed.

[7:31] Studying this, I've gotten excited again about the doctrines of grace. And I'm somebody that's grown up in this. I grew up in a Reformed Baptist church. It's all I've ever known since I was from infancy. And so I take it for granted.

[7:44] And I know that's not true for a lot of you here. You came out of something else. And you've seen something different. But for me, I grew up with it. And so it's almost commonplace to me. But as I've studied it again in the last week or so, it's come alive again.

[7:58] It's been exciting. And so I hope it does that for you and that you're excited about being reformed and about how it makes a difference in your life. We're saved by God.

[8:10] And so we should praise God. We should be excited about that. If you really want to be living your best life now, then pop psychology and self-help teaching disguised as Christian teaching is not the way to do it.

[8:29] An awesome, powerful God is. And so the things we say we believe about being reformed should be a great encouragement, a great blessing. They should affect the way we live. Now, the first thing we want to do this morning is do a quick review of what it means to be reformed.

[8:44] And when I say quick, I mean really quick. You could spend a whole year's worth of lessons on what it means to be reformed. So we're going to sum it up in three points this morning, what it means to be reformed or what the doctrines of grace are.

[8:57] Three points. You say, I thought there were five. Well, we're going to sum it up in three today. And you see where if you can fit the other five into these three. And the first one is what our sister Cindy said, the sovereignty of God over all things.

[9:11] God made the world. He rules over it. He governs all things. He decrees and brings everything to pass that happens everywhere and in all times. I'm not going to take the time to prove these things from Scripture this morning. I'm going to trust that you know them well enough.

[9:23] I'm just going to assert them and move on to the implications of them. So God is sovereign over all things. The Westminster Shorter Catechism says in question 11, God's works of providence are His most holy, wise, and powerful, preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions.

[9:39] God's sovereignty extends over everything. His power, His control is over all things. One, God is sovereign. Two, human depravity. Man is by nature ever since the fall of Adam sinful.

[9:51] We are prone to breaking God's law, to disobeying God. We are by nature evil in every part of our being, and since that is our nature, we can only act according to that nature.

[10:03] The Westminster Larger Catechism, question 25, talking about man, speaks of the corruption of his nature, whereby he is utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite unto all that is spiritually good, and wholly inclined to all evil, and that continually, depraved in every part of our being, inclined to evil.

[10:22] Right? Man is depraved. Thirdly, the sovereignty of grace. And this is what Tim said. If both of those things are true, if the sovereignty of God over all things is true, and we're totally depraved and can do no good on our own, then we must have sovereign grace.

[10:37] That's the inescapable, the inevitable conclusion. If anyone is going to be saved, God has to do it. Johnson says, Man is so incapacitated by sin that unless God acts to rescue him, nothing will happen.

[10:50] He will remain dead and blind. Salvation is only by grace, and that grace is sovereignly dispensed by our sovereign God. We cannot earn it. Okay?

[11:01] So three things about what it means to be reformed are the doctrines of grace. God is sovereign, man is sinful, and God is sovereign in salvation. Sovereign grace. Now, I know those are some strong assertions to make without looking into the Scriptures, but in addition to the knowledge that you already have, as we look at some of the implications of these things, we're going to see them from the Scriptures as we go along.

[11:23] So let's begin by turning to Romans 9 this morning. And let's learn together what the implications for the doctrines of grace are for our worship today.

[11:35] That's our focus. How do these things affect the way we worship? What we've come here to do today? Romans 9.

[11:48] Now understand how they should affect us. Let's see how these things affected the Apostle Paul. Let's see what his response was to these things. He's talking in Romans 9 about the Jews.

[11:59] And you would think that the Jews who knew the Bible best, they had the Old Testament Scriptures, they had the prophecies, they were looking for the coming Messiah. You would think that when Jesus came, they would have recognized Him.

[12:12] But for many of them, that was not the case. Why is that? Well, it wasn't a shortcoming with God's Word. Romans 9. It is not as though God's Word had failed, for not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

[12:28] It's part of the problem Paul is getting at in Romans 9. Why weren't more Jews seeing that Jesus was the Christ? The problem is not with God's Word. And it wasn't just a matter of being a Jew.

[12:39] It was a matter of who God chose. A matter of faith. Those who are of Abraham are not his physical descendants, but his spiritual descendants. Children by faith. And faith is a gift of God.

[12:52] And so if some of the Jews didn't believe, it's because God didn't give them the gift of faith. That was his sovereign choice to do that. To make the point, he looks at Jacob and Esau. Look at verses 10-13.

[13:02] Not only that, but Rebecca's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. Yet before the twins were born, or had done anything good or bad, in order that God's purpose in election might stand, not by works, but by him who calls, she was told the older will serve the younger.

[13:22] Just as it is written, Jacob I have loved, but Esau I hated. Whoa! You say, that's not fair. They were twins.

[13:34] They hadn't done anything. And God chose one, and not the other. Well, Paul's ready for you. Okay? Because he says, in the very next verse, what then shall we say?

[13:47] Is God unjust? Is God unfair? He's anticipating somebody saying, that's not fair. That's not right. So he says, is God unjust? Not at all. For he says to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.

[14:02] It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. For the scripture says to Pharaoh, I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

[14:16] Therefore, God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden. Paul doesn't explain how it's fair.

[14:28] He simply asserts God's right to do as he pleases. Johnson, that was a quote from Johnson. He asserts God's right to do as he pleases.

[14:39] He tells us more about the salvation that we just read in verses 15 through 18. But you say, if that's the case, then it's not my fault if I'm a hardened sinner. I'm not responsible for my actions because God chose, and he chose that I wouldn't be one of his children, so it's not my fault.

[14:55] Paul's ready for that objection too. Look at verse 19. One of you will say to me, then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will? But who are you, O man, to talk back to God?

[15:08] Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, why did you make me like this? Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay, some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?

[15:21] And Johnson says there is the appearance of injustice, yet justice is not explained. Sovereignty is asserted. Paul doesn't try to explain this for us.

[15:32] He just affirms that God chooses. So why weren't all the Jews saved? Well, because God chose that to be the case. He chose some for salvation and not others. But then turn over to Romans chapter 10.

[15:46] Paul goes on to say in Romans chapter 10, something that might appear to totally contradict what we've just seen him say. Look at verse 9. Remember, we just said God decides who is saved.

[15:58] But Romans 10 and verse 9, if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. In verse 13, for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

[16:10] Which is it, Paul? Is it Romans 9, God decides who will be saved?

[16:22] Or Romans 10, anybody who believes can be saved? Oh, it's not either or. The answer is yes. It's both. You can't explain it, says Johnson.

[16:34] Calvinists accept the apparent contradictions of God's sovereignty and human responsibility. We can't reconcile them, so we don't need to try. Spurgeon's known for saying, why try to reconcile friends?

[16:46] The sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. They go hand in hand. And then Paul goes on from there to talk in chapter 11 about some of the implications of this for Israel. There is a remnant who will be saved.

[16:58] Verse 5, and they are chosen by grace. Chosen by God's grace. And that's Romans 11, 5. So what in the world do we do with this information? I haven't told you probably anything new this morning.

[17:10] Something you guys know, that God is sovereign in salvation, and yet we must believe, we must have faith, and that might appear to contradict. But what do you do with that? Well, what does Paul do with it? Where does he go?

[17:21] Look at the end of chapter 11. 11, 33 to the end. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out.

[17:39] Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

[17:51] What does Paul do when he thinks about these things? These doctrines of grace? He worships. To him be the glory. He falls down on his knees and he says, praise be to God.

[18:03] So we know these things. We've studied them. Maybe they're commonplace to us. We know that God is sovereign in salvation. And it's just off the cuff. But you know what it should be for us? It should be something that causes us to fall to our knees and to worship.

[18:16] To praise God. I want to read a passage for you from the book. And it's a little bit long, but I think he puts it so well. So, he says, this is what is so vital.

[18:27] We must all come to the place in our lives where we realize that we are dealing with one who is outside of our control. His will is not subject to ours. God sovereignly elects.

[18:37] He cannot be changed. He cannot be challenged. He cannot be manipulated. He cannot be controlled. This is a frightening thing. I am completely subject to the sovereign mercy of this God.

[18:49] I cannot argue with Him. I cannot bargain with Him. I cannot even understand Him. He transcends my logic. He exceeds all the categories of my experience and even my imagination.

[19:00] His ways are unfathomable. I may be one of the great ones of the earth. I may have great power and authority in this world. When I bark orders, people may fall all over themselves trying to obey.

[19:10] I may always get what I want. I may always get my way. But with God, this pattern comes to a screeching halt. He is in absolute control. And I am helplessly at His mercy.

[19:22] And now, here's the implication. Do you know this God? I'm not asking if you know Him intellectually or in theory. I think you do. We know what we believe. That's not what He's asking.

[19:34] I'm asking if you have looked into the face of the One who has absolute will and absolute power and felt your knees buckle. Nothing will cause you to bow and worship like the conviction that God is sovereign.

[19:47] Have you been gripped lately by the sovereignty of God? If you have, it should cause your knees to buckle and cause you to worship Him. You see, for Paul, these things aren't a source of embarrassment.

[19:58] They're a cause for praise. So turn over with me to Ephesians 1. We want to see something similar, but from Ephesians this time.

[20:16] I want to read verses 3-14. I don't think we have time, so we're just going to hit some highlights. Paul in Ephesians 1, 3-14 is talking about the sovereignty of God and salvation.

[20:28] You see it in the sovereignty of God over all things. Look at verse 11. In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything.

[20:40] There's no clarifying clause there. It's everything. Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will. So God's sovereign over all things, He says. But also, particularly, He's sovereign over salvation.

[20:55] Look at verses 4-5. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ in accordance with His pleasure and will.

[21:08] You see, he's talking about God's sovereignty over all things and God's sovereignty over salvation. But you know what? This isn't a lecture on systematic theology. That's not what Paul's doing here. This is a word of praise.

[21:20] Praise. He's glorifying God for His sovereignty in all things and in salvation. You see it there in verse 3. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who blessed us in the heavens and our realms with every spiritual blessing for He chose us.

[21:37] And so on. He begins with a word of praise. And then down in verse 6, it's to the praise of His glorious grace. Or verse 12, in order that we who are the first to hope in Christ might be for the praise of His glory.

[21:50] Or again in verse 14 at the end, to the praise of His glory. He's not just teaching about sovereign grace. He's worshiping God for it. He's praising God. And so if we believe that God is sovereign in salvation, then it should cause us to praise, to worship.

[22:05] And it becomes even more remarkable when we get to chapter 2 and verse 1. God didn't choose the lovely and the excellent of the earth to be saved because there aren't any. Chapter 2 and verse 1, As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins.

[22:22] Not sort of alive. Not mostly dead. Not mostly good with just a little bit of bad mixed in. Not almost dead. You were dead.

[22:34] Dead in transgression and sin. And when you're dead, if you're dead, are you able to do anything? Physically dead? You can't do anything, can you? Because you're dead. If you're spiritually dead, you can't do anything.

[22:46] You can't do anything good. You're dead in transgressions and sins. And so no wonder Paul is overwhelmed and can't help but worship. Because if God didn't save us, then we're dead.

[23:01] And we can't change that. Praise God that He did save. That He did send His Son. That He has made us His children.

[23:12] That's to His praise. And Paul is overwhelmed. He can't help but worship. He knows how helpless and undeserving He was. And so he speaks of God's love.

[23:24] It was in love, back in chapter 1, it was in love that He predestined us. That grace was freely given in verse 6. The riches of God's grace that He lavished on us in verses 7 and 8.

[23:35] And so Johnson says, Only when I truly understand the depth of my own depravity, my utter helplessness, and the sovereign initiating love of God can I understand the immensity of the grace of God.

[23:49] It causes Paul to worship and it should do the same for us. We should bow and be amazed at what God has done. Alright, so we see how it affects Paul.

[24:00] It causes him to worship. It should do the same for us. Let's take the time that remains and tease out some implications. for our worship, practically speaking. And you all help me here.

[24:10] What do you think are some implications of this truth? God is sovereign. We're not. God is sovereign over all things in our salvation. What are some of the implications of that for the way we worship?

[24:23] Dale? We can't come to Him and worship. He must initiate it. Okay. And we return it back to Him. Okay, initiated by God and we return it back to Him.

[24:34] Worship in many ways is a dialogue between us and God. He speaks to us in His Word and we return praise to Him. Good. How else does it affect our worship? Roger.

[24:45] The true religion is not about us. It's all about God and all about His glory. Excellent. God-centered and not man-centered. We're going to come back to that. Good.

[24:55] Roger. The other Roger. Roger, Roger. On the flip side, it is a warning to us because if you look at the Pharisees and the Jewish believers in the early age when Jesus confronted them, their concept and idea of God was different than the reality of who God was, who Jesus was.

[25:18] And even though they were claiming to worship Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Jesus said, your father is the devil. And so if we do not see God as He truly is in His sovereignty, are we not analogers as they were?

[25:37] Exactly. We've got to worship the right God and that means we've got to get our information from God Himself, not our own misconceptions or misinterpretations.

[25:48] And so this book, God's Word, is going to be at the center of what we do. Okay? Good. If we worship our own notions of God, we're idolaters.

[26:00] Good. What else? Steve? I'll just take the other part of that. It is important that we worship in truth but it demands that we worship in spirit.

[26:13] It's not just an external, once a week thing. We need to worship in spirit and be moved in spirit. Okay. Okay.

[26:24] Good. What else? Charlie? With that, yeah, it infuses our worship with joy and thankfulness. My heart is to realize that we're here because God has chosen us to be and He's chosen to save us.

[26:42] Amen. Good. We come with joy in our worship. Good. What else? Chuck? I guess to finish John's series, they did before in reverence and awe.

[26:55] Okay. Yeah. Yeah, we come with joy and we come with reverence and awe at the same time. And you see that in Paul in Romans 11 at the end, don't you? Who can understand this?

[27:08] God, oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom. You hear the awe in His voice or in His pen as He writes. Yeah. Good. Anything else? Okay. Jason?

[27:18] He decides how people want to be worshipped. What forms our worship should be? Very good. God decides how He's worshipped. We don't. Okay?

[27:29] Good. Well, let's come back and flesh some of these out a little bit. Implications for our worship. Most obviously, of course, it affects who we worship.

[27:40] If God is sovereign and we're not, then we worship God. And there's one true and living God. You shall have no other gods before me. And so we worship God. That's obvious, I hope.

[27:52] Instead of man-centered, our worship is God-centered. And how could it be anything but God-centered? When we see who we are in the light of who God is, any focus on man seems foolish, inappropriate, and out of place because it is.

[28:11] We've got something much greater than us to be thinking about in our worship. And that is the God who made us and saves us. There's nothing inherently good about us so we don't focus on us.

[28:21] When we worship, God is at the center. He speaks to us and we listen. We pray to our sovereign God. When we worship, we're going to pray, aren't we? Because He's sovereign. He's able to do all things.

[28:33] So we're going to bring our requests to Him. We're going to pray to Him in our worship. We come to Him. We sing praise to God. And we bring our offerings to God. And in all these things, we use God's Word.

[28:47] You've heard us say here before, we read God's Word, we preach God's Word, we pray God's Word, we sing God's Word. If God is sovereign, and of course He is, and He has spoken, and He has, then in our worship, don't you think we should listen to the God who's spoken?

[29:10] Again, not our own ideas, but we come and we, here's God's revelation to us. And so, what we do in worship is going to be focused on His Word. We come to worship God-centered, depending on His Spirit.

[29:24] To come and work stirring our spirits that we might worship in spirit. To praise Him, to understand His Word. Otherwise, without the moving of God the Spirit in us, we wouldn't come at all. Or if we did, we would be lifeless and we wouldn't understand.

[29:37] And so, our emphasis in worship, we seek to make it here anyway, to hold the glorious God before you, in His Word, so that you're moved to honor Him. So that you're joyful at what He's done.

[29:48] So that you're in awe of who He is. And you worship with reverence. Much of worship today focuses on stirring up people's emotions by saying certain words, playing particular music, certain lighting.

[30:02] And it's very man-centered. It's manufactured emotion. But if you hold the true and living God that we're talking about this morning before people, the emotions should gladly follow.

[30:14] I want you to be emotional when you worship. I want you to be joyful. I want you to be glad. I want you to be sorrowful for your sin. But not because we've manufactured that somehow or played on your emotions, because you've seen who God is.

[30:26] And who you are. We center our worship on God. And not on men. Where He's rightly seen and heard, our emotions will gladly follow. Alright, so, instead of man-centered, God-centered worship.

[30:40] Another point, this is what Jason said, the fact that God is sovereign also affects our worship in that we don't do whatever we think is best in worship. We understand that fallen man isn't going to come up with good ideas for worship because of our sinfulness.

[30:55] So instead of doing what we think is best, we worship God the way He tells us to. Who can tell me what's that? There's a name for that. Who can tell me what it's called? Chuck. Good.

[31:07] The regulative principle of worship. And very simply, that means that God regulates how we worship. And He does it by His Word. When God is in His rightful place, He's sovereign over all things, we see that He's sovereign over the way that we worship as well.

[31:26] And so, again, not our best ideas, but what God says. And so He says, you shall have no other gods before Me. That tells us who to worship. And then He says, you shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything.

[31:37] That tells us how we worship. And God is saying, you worship the way I say to. Not with an idol. Not with an image to bow down to. And then He fleshes that out elsewhere in His worship. We listen to Him in worship.

[31:48] And so on. So God directs the way we worship. Another implication. Instead of self-centered, we are worship-centered. Now, that's a different distinction between man-centered and God-centered.

[32:01] Okay? This is different. Instead of self-centered, we're worship-centered. And Terry Johnson says, perhaps one reason why so few are motivated to worship God with fervor is that we have reduced God to a slightly larger version of ourselves.

[32:17] He can be comprehended by our logic. He works within the bounds of our rules and reasons. He is so much like us that we see no real reason to worship Him. It is pathetic, but true. And so, many people come to church not really to worship, but they come to socialize or to be entertained or to see what they can get out of it instead of bringing what they can to God.

[32:40] It's worship-centered instead of self-centered. So are you a sinner saved by grace today? Well, that salvation is only because of a gracious God. You know what that means?

[32:52] It means you should praise the Lord who saves you. You should be active in worshiping Him. There should be a song in your heart today. And every time you come to worship, you see in different places how it's just exploding out of Paul.

[33:03] He can't contain it. You saw it at the end of Romans 11. We saw it in 2 Timothy 4. And he's talking about how God has delivered him. And there's confidence that God will deliver him. He's thinking on who God is and he just can't help it.

[33:13] He says, to Him be glory forever and ever. Amen. And that's how we should be when we come to worship. Not so much thinking about ourselves, but thinking about our God and what He's done so that we're oozing or even better, exploding.

[33:28] Can't wait to sing His praise. To tell Him how great He is. We're worms, wretches, who have been saved by grace.

[33:38] So we should come ready to worship the God who saved us. Most people come to worship wanting to get something out of it. And if that is your primary focus in coming to worship, then that is self-centered instead of worship-centered.

[33:54] When done rightly, you will get much out of worship. But that's secondary. Our primary reason for being here is to exalt the God who made us. To humbly bow before Him. And what we bring, it's weak, it's feeble, it's not what He deserves, but when it comes from hearts that are made right through the work of Christ, it can be pleasing to Him.

[34:12] And so that means instead of spectating in worship, coming and waiting for something to happen to you, being entertained in worship, and waiting for a bolt out of the blue, you come ready to do something, ready to worship.

[34:30] We're active in our worship. If we serve such a glorious God, we should speak His greatness and worth. We should proclaim His majesty. We should sing His praise. We should actively receive the Word that He gives to us.

[34:42] Do you know that the way you listen to the Word of God as it's read and preached is an act of worship in itself? Yes, you're going to get something out of it. You're going to benefit from it if you're coming, ready to receive it and ready to obey.

[34:54] But when you receive that, God is honored. Saying, that person respects My Word. He loves My Word. He listens to it. And He wants to obey it. And when you walk out of here, saying, boy, that should change My life.

[35:06] And then you go and it does change your life. That's worshiping God because you've received what He has given and you have obeyed Him. That's actively receiving His Word. It's worship-centered instead of self-centered.

[35:22] Alright? So, these things affect our worship, I trust, in many ways. We worship God. We're God-centered instead of man-centered.

[35:35] We obey God in worship. He regulates our worship. And instead of self-centered, we are worship-centered. Now, before we wrap this up, what questions or comments does that raise in your mind?

[35:48] Other thoughts about how our worship should be affected? Remember, we're worshiping God who is sovereign. We're sinful. And God is sovereign in our salvation. that just those things should cause us to bow in praise.

[36:03] So, I hope you come this morning to praise God. But what other questions or comments or thoughts do you have on how this affects our worship? Roger.

[36:14] God, please, no room for pride. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm.

[36:25] Hmm. Amen. Amen. Amen. That's exactly right. I've got a quote that says almost that exact thing to wrap things up with here. But, yeah, we're, we're low and God is high. And when we see that, we can't help but be humble, I trust.

[36:38] And so we come amazed that God would even invite us to come into His presence to worship. He's going to invite somebody as sinful as me. Huh. What a privilege.

[36:48] Amen. Good. Humility. What else? What other thoughts or questions? Jason. I think it's important to realize too that worship should lead to evangelism because God is not being worshipped by young people.

[37:05] Amen. Amen. I think it's Piper that says evangelism exists or missions exist because worship doesn't. And so we take the gospel to other people so that they too will worship God.

[37:18] And there's a chapter in this book on evangelism that we're not going to look at because we've studied it recently and may again in the future. But, exactly. We should want to see others being brought into worship.

[37:30] Good. There. Yeah, we do it for both reasons, I trust.

[38:00] Because it's commanded, yes, but we should exactly want to be here. And that's the Spirit of God working in us, drawing us to Himself and drawing our hearts out in praise. And that's why I wanted to study these things for four weeks so that we don't let it become commonplace, so that our hearts are warmed by what God has done as He draws us in.

[38:19] Jim. Just to back up what Dara said, Pastor, I noticed the same thing at times when we sometimes think, you know, things are not lined up or something like that. We make it a point to say, no, I'm going to put this off and come.

[38:33] I noticed that there's times where there's extra buses when we make the effort to come out. Not that we deserve them, but because it seems to me like God is rewarding or helping us to obey Him.

[38:45] And He's sending extra buses this past Wednesday evening with one. God is faithful. He's merciful to us. And yeah, even that desire to come when we are busy and other things are difficult, that's a gift from God.

[39:00] And yeah, and then He blesses us as we worship. Good. Anything else this morning? Mark. I think it's important when we come to worship that we remember that God sees our hearts and and He commands us to be reconciled to each other before we come to that and bring our gift to the altar or whatever it is.

[39:27] I think that should encourage us to leave our differences on the board. Amen. Good. Mike. Mike. The day of worship spans from 24 hours to 168.

[39:42] I'm glad you're good at math because I'm not. Is that 7 times 24? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. How many? 160? Sorry.

[39:53] How many? 168. I studied biology. Yeah. Good. Worship isn't confined just to one day.

[40:03] Amen. All of our life should be an act of worship to God. If He's sovereign over all things as we live our life in every area, our obedience should be an act of worship to Him. Good. Good.

[40:14] Jackie. Thank you. I have to be careful in worship that I don't go and judge other churches that are giving the word and that she is to worship different.

[40:25] And because I know that some have come into ours and have had a problem with us putting up words on a screen. So I need to be careful when the word's given not to go into that church and say, oh, I worship God differently, but yet I'm receiving the word and it's true.

[40:42] Especially in the singing, I think, as Reformed Baptists, we can be very judgmental on even going into other strong biblical churches.

[40:54] Instead of praising and giving God praise through that, just thinking, oh, this is so uncomfortable for me. I was just struck by the seven churches that Christ died.

[41:06] Jesus and Revelation are so different. He knew them all. They were his churches. Good. That's something we do have to be careful of.

[41:18] And I think if we're understanding what we've said about humility and holding our doctrine and love, then that should be our attitude. So long as they're not violating the regulative principle of worship and doing things that God has forbidden in worship or not doing things that he has.

[41:37] But you can go to a lot of Reformed Baptist churches across the country and find that they worship very differently from far, and they all hold to the regulative principle. So good to not sit in judgment on others for different interpretations on things where God hasn't spoken explicitly.

[41:56] Good. Good. All right. Our time is gone. One last quote from Johnson. What practical difference does Calvinism make?

[42:07] The first one is vital to all the rest. It will make you into a worshiper. When you come to realize that the God who is there is not subject to your desires, that he is sovereign over your eternity, and when you realize the greatness of his mercy and grace, you will begin to long for genuine worship that prostrates you and exalts God.

[42:27]  Well, may God make it so in our midst and may bless us. We're dismissed.