Alright today's lesson. We're in lesson three of looking at worship. You can see that. It's called humble worship and a subtitle how true revival comes Last week as we In fact, I'll have you open to Exodus 19, because that's kind of where we'll start. We have a verse in Lesson 3, but just as a reminder for last week, we looked at Colossians 3.16, which presented a particular truth concerning the worship of God richly in wisdom. And then Proverbs 9.10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We looked at Christ's high priestly prayer and saw the unity where he ended that prayer in the unity of believers, not just as disciples, but in verses 20 through 26, speaking of us and how we're united. And we saw the reality of the church universal in Colossians chapter one, verses 15 and 18, just as we use John 17, the Lord's prayer. in the garden the night he was betrayed as a springboard and understanding that when we're saved, we're saved into the church universal. We're not just saved, we are certainly saved individually as Christ redeems us as sinners, but we're saved into the eternal, spiritual, universal church. And it is expressed through local church worship because of certain things that are defined that we can't do with the universal church except through Christ. There is a reality that we're tied into that. But that central reality, I think, drives really what worship is all about because worship Is not just for the here and now today is Sunday, but it is also for It is it is that reality that we are Living for there's no such thing as worship practice, and I think that we'll discover There's no such thing as a practice really practice for worship. It is worship. Everything is worship as we saw in lesson one and One of the things that we saw is this pattern in local worship. We saw doctrine devotion and disciplines doctrine and chapter Colossians chapter 3 verses 1 through 11 which gave us a direction for united worship are The doctrine the things that we believe that are in the Bible concerning who Christ is what he has done who God? Who the triune God is God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit and it directs us in our worship then Colossians 3 verses 12 through 17 a devotion in the united worship where we're devoted unto Christ and one of the most I believe one of the most primary things there is our gathering together as believers so that that can be expressed because of the presence of God, the very presence of Christ. That's very central in our worship. And then the disciplines that are developed, as we see in Colossians 3, verses 18, through chapter four, verse one, those things that we do. And one of the things that, and so those are our duties from United Worship, and it is a preparation for the United Worship. One of the things that was brought up last week towards the very end, and it wasn't oversimplified, is that when we come together, we should prepare ourselves to meet with God. But when you think about it, The desire to even prepare comes from a reality that we're born into the universal church, that the presence of Christ is a reality, not just as an individual, but we're going to see the truth of where two or three are gathered together, there he is also. And so if two or three, he is with us in our family devotions, in our home devotions, then by far the presence of the spirit of Christ, The Holy Spirit ministering through us as a corporate body is going to be powerful. I think that's, see, that is God's plan. As we ended it last week, we see a gospel pattern in it, in that same truth that we see unfolded in Colossians chapter 3. The gospel pattern in worship is the declaration of Christ. You know, the Law and the Prophets are the written revelation of Christ. So we see life proclaimed in Christ. We see the incarnation of Christ, Jesus Christ, uniting sinful souls to himself by his death, burial, and resurrection. That's a life redeemed in Christ, so that's who we are as we gather. Christ is with us, he's redeemed us, and so he unites us together in himself. We're called the body of Christ. And then the sanctification of Christ's people, the spirit of Christ sent to empower us. And so we see a life transformed for Christ and it becomes somewhat encyclical. I just wanted to use that word. It becomes kind of a cycle because as we are grown in Christ here, as we gather together, we're strengthened so that we, during the week as we go about and do our work or do our business as masters, employers to employees, as slaves, employees to masters, as fathers to children, as husbands to wives, as wives to husbands. We see those things worked out as disciplines in our lives to prepare us to come back and be empowered again. And as a church, many of us gather on Wednesday because We can't wait until a week passes before we can gather together and be empowered by Christ, and that is worship as well. And we see this heavenly pattern that this ultimately will be, there'll be a consummation of this, that everything is worshiped now for that which will be perfect worship when Christ returns. We'll have God's declared word will be complete. Now, it is complete as far as written word, But its declaration and all its fulfillment will worship God according to his perfect will, that which is completely fulfilled in Jesus Christ according to his word. Because, so we'll worship him because of what he said in heaven. We will, God's living word crowned. That is the reality that we will see Christ. First John chapter three, verse two, we shall see him as he is for we shall be like him. It does not yet appear what we shall be, but when he does come, when he does appear, we shall see him as he is, for we shall be like him. And so everything that has hindered us in worshiping Christ crowned will be removed because this mortal will put on immortality, according to 1 Corinthians 15. And so we'll worship Christ according to his sovereign majesty because of who he is and what he's done because he's seated upon the throne. He's gone to the cross. He has redeemed our lives and we will see him for who he is and what he has done. And then finally, God's resurrected witness changes God's people. We'll worship Christ in perfect holiness because we've been transformed. This mortal puts on immortality. So that same pattern is there that we see in Colossians in heavenly worship. And I believe that as we Uncover it will see those things in particular verses and it will strengthen us and edify us and there are things like I said, I've left out because I'm Trying to tailor this for us in particular. I'm praying and asking the Lord What is it that we need to see because there's things that you probably I believe that you have seen that you have studied and That we have studied together as a body of believers and some things we already know some things We want it will need encouragement for so this isn't going to be like a general Hopefully I'm not bringing things to you that I've been there done that bought the t-shirt. I know that let's move on these are things that truly there are some aspects that that some of us really will be encouraged by and So that when we gather as a local church, we are contributing to the universal church at large We are being who we must be in the null chick, Alaska for the glory of God as we worship, so that's our introduction and make sure I'm staying right on time. Okay, so the purpose of worship, everyone pretty much here knows that in your handout, I have the purpose of worship because it's the purpose of man. What is the chief end of man? The Westminster and Spurgeon's Catechism says right off at the first, what is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. To glorify God, we see from It's scripture proof, 1 Corinthians 10, verse 31, that says, therefore, whether you eat or drink and whatever you do, do all under the glory of God. But the purpose in enjoying God forever, I think it actually speaks to us concerning worship. I provided the New King James Version right there in your handout. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside you. My flesh and my heart fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. And except for the THs at the end of some of the words, and the whom have I in heaven but thee, it's pretty much the same as the old King James version. That it is God who is our inheritance. It's God who it is God who we worship But it is God who is our inheritance. He is our reward. We will be with Christ Ultimately when he returns that's what heaven is all about But we get a glimpse of that every time that we gather I believe and it was foreshadowed in one of the most wonderful ways that we see this pattern Exemplified is through the book of Exodus and And so this is actually kind of almost a condensation of the Book of Exodus in showing worship. And there's a note that I left out of your handout. Hopefully, we have enough time to get to it. And if we don't, we'll carry it on and do a part two if we need to. And if you need to stop me for questions, in fact, I'll ask before we continue on, are there any questions or comments? All right. Preparation. Preparation, proposition, presence, problem, propitiation, and then presence again, but very powerfully as we see things unfold. Preparation, Exodus 19 verses 10 through 13. This is after the children of Israel have been redeemed. They've crossed the Red Sea, Pharaoh's army has been been destroyed in in the Gulf of I believe the Gulf of Aqaba they're in the Midian back desert at this particular point and God is going to meet with them in Rephidim and and Exodus beginning in Exodus 19 verse 10 The Lord said unto Moses, go unto the people and sanctify them today and tomorrow and let them wash their clothes and be ready against the third day. For the third day, the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai. And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about saying, take heed to yourselves that you go not up into the Mount or touch the border of it, whosoever toucheth Mount shall be surely put to death, verse 13, there shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through, whether it be beast or man, it shall not live. When the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount. So here we just have a snapshot of a preparation of God meeting. Now as he's redeemed the people of Israel, and they are preparing to worship, he gives them instruction. In fact, this instruction, setting boundaries, give us a foreshadow that we don't just worship God willy-nilly any which way we please. There are places today in America that do so, saying that, well, God hasn't absolutely condemned this, so let's do all these things. And I've mentioned, time, a time or two, about when I was flying in a, I got gifted a first class ticket, so I had this video that I was watching on the plane, and they were showing a church, and I don't know where it was, quote unquote, a church of the Lord Jesus Christ, a Christian church, and the guy was, they had somebody inside this auditorium doing a motorcycle jump like Evel Knievel. Inside the church building. I Was my mouth dropped literally dropped open. I just couldn't believe I was watching this thing I mean, how are you gonna top that the next week? It's just hope that somebody dies and you raise them from the dead or something weird And in fact, I think today, this morning's message, when we're in the Gadarenes with the Legion of Demons, we'll see that miracles won't save anyone, except for the miracle of Christ's presence to save a person. The witness of miracles will not save a single person, just seeing a miracle. In fact, it might even drive people away, or cause people to tell Jesus to go away. So, but there are boundaries that are set. We see there are certain things that are set here, and there's a preparation, as was mentioned last week, that we prepare. In fact, even here, three days might even give us, not a legalistic thing to do, add to our plate, oh, you know what? Three days prior, we're gonna be worshiping on Sunday, let's start Thursday night. Prepare because on the third day. We're gonna be meeting with the Lord, but Since it is in Scripture There might be a blessing to it You know I kind of consider that myself on Wednesday nights We've prayed I take the prayers that we have discussed and what we were going to pray for and then on Thursday morning I said we're coming up We're coming up on another Sunday, and I'm looking forward to spending time with your people and spending time with The reason why I'm looking forward to spending time with God's people is because God's dwelling in you. And so I'm going to meet with God in many varied forms of his expression through us. And so it's always a wonderful, wonderful thing. So from preposition, you go right into the propositions. Remember, there are boundaries. And so God, brings to them 10 commandments, which are good for us to read over and be reminded of. And this is one that I'm not going to run into the ground, but I will mention this, that when I was in the quote, unquote, America's Bible belt in the South, there were pastors, some of them with master's degrees and doctorate degrees that couldn't recite the 10 commandments in order, who haven't read the Bible at least one time through, from Genesis to Revelation. I just thought that that was ridiculous. But they were so busy on learning how to preach homiletics, the way to deliver a message, hermeneutics, how to interpret and study the message. They were so busy studying all that other stuff and reading others that wrote about that stuff that they didn't have time to read the Word of God or even get the Ten Commandments in order. That just, to me, seemed the epitome of stupidity. But I met these men. Some of them were encouraged to finally read the Bible and others just didn't have time. They were so busy doing the work of the ministry that some of the most important things were foreign to them. So anyway, in chapter 20, verses 1 through 17, God gives us a snapshot of certain boundaries. They're divided up. One of the ways I believe that they're divided up, and we saw that in our practical study in Romans chapters 12 to 16, the sovereignty of God in the first five, and then the unity, if you will, the unity and submission of man to God's sovereignty through one another in the second five. beginning with thou shalt not murder in the second five. First one, and God spake, verse one, and God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage, verse three, thou shalt have, there's the first commandment, thou shalt have no other gods before me. Verse 4 begins the second commandment, thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. Verse 5, thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children under the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, verse six, and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments, which is an interesting commandment if you think about it, because in a few chapters, God is going to give instruction to make images of what Moses has seen from heaven. as just an ironic picture. See, God commands this because the worship is supposed to be specific. So we understand the heart of idolatry is anything that man crafts or creates is what is idolatry as opposed to what God commands. The crafting of man apart from the word of God that bring about the truth of Christ is idolatry. But the command of God isn't. He wants the worship of him to be specific and precise. Not somewhat, but specific and precise. I should have wore Levi jeans because I'm stuttering like Moses. Because everyone knows that you have to have Levi jeans to be in the priesthood, right? Verse 7, the third commandment, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Verse 8, remember of the fifth commandment, excuse me, the fourth commandment. Third commandment was verse 7, The fourth commandment is a longer one, beginning in verse eight. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work. Verse 10, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work, thou nor thy son nor thy daughter, thy manservant nor thy maidservant. nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger, that is within thy gates, verse 11, for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. verse 12 honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee so verse 12 is the fifth commandment and it's couched under the sovereignty of God because all this we see as God is sovereign he has put all those things in order by his providence even mothers and fathers whom we honor because no one got to choose who their mother and father was. God did that in his sovereign grace. So that's all under God's sovereignty. Now, as we, as our lives are affected by God's sovereignty, we have the next six commandments, which are written on the other side by the very finger of God on these tables of stone. Verse 13 the sixth commandment thou shalt not kill or can be rightfully Translated because in the Greek it's translated murder Verse 14 thou shalt not commit adultery the seventh commandment verse 15 thou shalt not steal or The ninth commandment, verse 16, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. And verse 17, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his maid servant, nor his man servant, nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is thy neighbor's. And there we have the propositions, the truth declared in the commandments of God. Then we have the presence of God in verses 29 to 42, chapter 29, verses 42 to 46. Now that God has established, hey, this is what worship is all about, you need to prepare for worship because it's God's presence. uh... the proposes the the commands for according to worship proper the propositions and now the presence of god in chapter twenty nine He brings, there's sacrifices that are spoken of in chapter 29, it speaks of the, actually the priestly ephod, excuse me, in chapter 28, there are certain things, the priestly ephod and how he is dressed, because it speaks of our great high priest, Jesus Christ, and then it speaks of some sacrifices in chapter 29, in consecrating the priesthood, Aaron and his sons, and then, from verse 42 to 46, this is, speaking of the burnt offerings, this shall be a continual burnt offering in verse 42, offering that's the morning and evening sacrifices that are brought for, burnt offering or consecration offering, that's this offering that Leviticus 1 speaks of as being completely burned. All of the There's nothing left of the sacrifice once it's brought to the altar. It is to be burned completely by the fire of God that is upon the altar. And that is to take place morning and evening at 9 o'clock in the morning and 3 o'clock in the afternoon, coinciding with, as we understand now, the ceremonial duties that are in the tabernacle and then also in the temple later on. That was continually, day after day after day, nonstop, seven days a week, 30 days in a lunar month, 360 days in a lunar calendar. lunar calendar year every single day. So this will shall be a continual burn offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord where I will meet I will meet you to speak there unto unto thee and verse 43 and there I will meet with the children of Israel and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory verse 44 And I will sanctify the tabernacle, the congregation and the altar. I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons to minister to me in the priest's office, verse 45, and I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. And they shall know that I am the Lord, their God that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord, their God. Now, we have a very wonderful instruction that the purpose of even the tabernacle existing is so that God's people, when we gather together, that the very presence of God will dwell among us. His desire is to dwell among us because the greatest blessing for God's people is to have his presence go with us, to be a part of us, to direct us, to warm us in our cold hearts and misgivings to cool us in our hot distemper and our sins. But here we have the presence of God, but there's a problem. There's a problem. As soon as Moses was receiving these commandments from God that he's writing on the tables of stone that the first set that God cut out of the mountain by himself because he created the mountain and wrote on the front and the back with his very own finger, The problem is, as we'll see in chapter 32, verses 1 through 6, that while Moses is receiving from God these commandments and instructions, make the tabernacle, Moses, because here are these people. I want to worship with them. I will redeem them for a purpose that they may enjoy me forever. that I will dwell among them and be their God and they will be my people. In chapter 32, verse 1, and when the people saw that Moses delayed to come out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him, up, make us gods which shall go before us. Bless you. Make us God's who will go before us, for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we want not, or we don't know, we want not what is become of him. And Aaron said unto them, break off the golden earrings which are in your ears, in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me, verse three. And all the people break off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. And verse four, he received them at their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool after he had made it a molten calf. And they said, these be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made proclamation and said, tomorrow is a feast of the Lord. Verse six, and they rose up early on the morrow and offered burnt offerings and brought Peace offerings and the people sat down to eat and the drink and froze to play while Moses is receiving these commands of God and also These are the people that witnessed ten plagues upon Egypt the death of the firstborn in Egypt God destroying Pharaoh's mighty army in the Red Sea covering the allowing them to walk on dry land and covering them completely feeding them with manna and Um, we don't know what's happened to Moses. Apparently they, they've witnessed all these miracles and yet they go and break every single one of the commandments and we won't read it. But when Moses, Moses is told by God, go down, this is a stiff neck people. Uh, he's carrying down these commandments and he throws them down because, and, and breaks them. And, uh, because they've broken every commandment. We recognize that in James chapter two, verse 10 says that if anyone would fulfill the law, complete the law, do the whole law, and fail in one point, he's guilty of all. Because that's, God is a holy God. Every one of his commandments must be, but they broke them all anyway. They made idols. And I love, and even though we're not gonna read that verse, but I love what Aaron says when he's confronted by Moses. What did you do? The people, you know what kind of mischief they get into. They gave me their gold, I threw it in the fire and out came this calf. He was lying to cover his tracks. That's the problem. Romans chapter 3 verse 23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God gives instructions that says I'm going to dwell among you and here are the requirements for you to be a holy people because I'm a holy God and we break the commands the first chance we get. All their efforts, in fact, to prepare to meet with God were nothing. They're null and void because of the sin problem. But the propitiation was foreshadowed, as we see in chapter 32, verses 30 to 33. Good old Moses being like a type of Christ. Verse 30. You can tell I had fun putting together these notes, huh? If I can just see through these glasses progressive lenses, I hate them Verse 30 and it came to pass on the morrow that Moses said unto the people, you know The people gave Moses a headache by committing idolatry So the Lord gave him a prescription take two tablets and come up here in the morning. Call me in the morning So Moses calls on God in the morning. On the morrow that Moses said unto the people, you have sinned a great sin, and now I will go unto the Lord peradventure. I shall make an atonement for your sins. And Moses returned unto the Lord and said, oh, this people have sinned a great sin and have made them gods of gold. Verse 32, yet now if thou wilt forgive their sin, And if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And the Lord said unto Moses, whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. Therefore, now go lead the people into the place of which I have spoken unto thee. Behold, mine angel shall go before thee. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them. And the Lord plagued the people because they made the calf which Aaron made. Moses in verse 32 and 33, he intercedes, forgive them, and if not, blot me out. This is foreshadowing exactly what Jesus Christ did. That's what Jesus Christ did. He was blotted out by suffering God's wrath. He was blotted out of the book of life by suffering God's eternal wrath for those three hours upon the cross when it was darkness on the land, and died a death and shed his blood. Only God could do that. But Moses foreshadowed this as the propitiation is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The propitiation being that the sacrifice to gone in advance for our sins eternally in the truth of Jesus Christ. We have Galatians 3 verse 13. It's fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. And we recognize this now that as the tabernacle, the instruction for the tabernacle, God gives unto Moses, as we saw in Exodus 29, that whereas now it's the temple and the veil that separated the holy place, the very presence of God, which the high priest could only go into once a year, according to Leviticus 16, that when Jesus died, it says, and he cried out again with a loud voice in Matthew 27 verses 50 and 51. He cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom in verse 51 of Matthew 27. And the earth quaked and the rocks were split. And so here we have the truth of now the access to God, which was covered by a veil. Moses' face too, which was hidden by a veil because of the glory of God shown upon it after, as we see the powerful presence of God in person. Christ gives us access now to the very presence of God. We have it individually, we have it in our homes as a family, but it's secured and established, I believe, as the local church is a reflection of the church invisible, the church universal, the church heavenly, the church spiritual, because we serve a spiritual God in spirit and in truth, which we've been covering for the last couple lessons. And so we'll, again, in Exodus, I'll have you turn finally to Exodus 34, verses five through 11, that we see this truth of the, this is also a foreshadow of the powerful presence in Exodus of what, of what God's presence Jehovah's presence means as in verse 5 it says in the Lord descended in the in the in the cloud and Stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. This is where Moses is meeting with the Lord the next day. He says Actually just before that he promises in chapter 33 he says my presence will go with you and he says if your presence doesn't go with us I don't want to go we don't we don't want to go without your presence and as a people. And he says, my presence will go with you. And so Moses, he says, Moses, because you've interceded, because you want my presence more than anything. If your presence doesn't go, we'll just stay right where we are. But if you feel that way too, Brother Mike, absolutely. I don't want to go. Lord, you're not going to be there going before me. And God says, I like that, Moses. That's exactly what you should be doing. That's what the people of God should be doing. That's what Christ did in everything that he did upon the earth. And so he says, what will you have? He says, show me your glory. No man will see my glory and live, but come up the next day. And he came up the next day, and this is the Lord descending now. He places him in the cleft of the rock and hides, puts his hand over his face to hide the the fullness of his glory, so he only sees the back of God's glory. Verse 5, the Lord descended in the cloud and stood within there and proclaimed the name of the Lord, the Lord And the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children's children under the third and the fourth generation. And Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. Verse nine, and he said, now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance. A powerful presence of God brings forth worship. It brings forth humility as we see that Moses bows down his face to the ground. If he could bow it lower, he probably would. But he bowed down as low as he could to worship God. because of the reality of his presence. It brings forth humility. Because one of the things about humility, I'm gonna have you open the Acts chapter two to show its corporate reality. And then there's a, for some reason, I didn't put this verse, this scripture reference in your handout, and we got time enough to cover it, as I see on the clock, how it'll all tie in together hopefully hold tie-in together for you, and then you can give me whatever questions you have. And if I can't answer, if we don't have enough time to answer all those questions, to pick it up next week and answer and cover those things. Now after Christ has brought forth now the fulfillment of that propitiation, dying a death on the cross, rising again, saying to the disciples in Acts chapter 1 before he ascends after he appears to them for 40 days. And if you calculate out the day of the Feast of the Firstfruits, every single Pentecost should actually be not what the Jews call the Sixth of the Savon, The of the month of the sixth day of the month savon which could fall on any day of the week According to their calendar it should fall on a sunday Every single time the day of the feast of pentecost 50 days 50 days following the feast of first fruits would be on a sunday because first fruits fell on a sunday um Because firstfruits falls on a Sunday because of Joshua going into the garden and we covered that in our message feast the firstfruits and the resurrection Jesus was raised on a Sunday or you know Saturday night basically out of the tomb Sunday morning when it was still dark they came there's an empty tomb feast the firstfruits was being offered because of reflection of memorial from when they came into the promised land and on the first Sunday, the first day following the Sabbath, which is a Sunday, the first day of the week, they bring the offering of firstfruits. So 49 days from that, it will cause that to be, 49 days from that, seven weeks, would be on this, it would end on the Sabbath day, and so the day following is when you have the Feast of Pentecost, so it falls on a Sunday. Acts chapter two, So they waited 10 days, and then on Sunday, when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. The day of Pentecost had fully come, they were in the temple. They wouldn't have been any other place, because that's what they were commanded to do. and they weren't in the upper room at that place because the house that they're talking about is the most used term for the temple. It's not the house in the upper room, they were at the temple. And verse three, it says, and there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as a fire and it sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Verse five, in their dwelling, at Jerusalem, Jews devout men out of every nation under heaven. In verse 6, now when this was noised abroad, this is why some people will say, well see it was a house so they were in the upper room and then they had to spread and get to from the place in the upper room so it could get to all the Jews that were at the temple. Well these Jews were at the temple also. 120 from chapter 1. They didn't have to go running about because the witness of the cross was before the entire nation of Israel in front of everyone in plain view. The resurrection was that for the disciples, but it was still an open witness because the Jews had to lie about it. And when the peace of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came, it was in front of all of them. And they marveled. They said, they're drunk with wine. 9 o'clock in the morning, that's where they were. It was the time of prayer. And it was the Feast of Pentecost. So there's the powerful presence of God coming there, being fulfilled because of a sanctified life. And we see the power of the 120 that are gathered because Peter preaches this message, the miracle of their speaking in languages that they could understand of those who are from Parthia and Medes all the Jews that came from in verse 9 where it says they came from Parthia and Medes and the Elamites and the dwellers of Mesopotamia and in Judea because every male Jew was to appear before the Lord three times a year. The spring feasts at Passover, Passover unleavened bread and first fruits, the Pentecost seven weeks later, and then the fall feasts of the Feast of Trumpets, the Feast of the Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, and also the Feast of Tabernacles. Three times a year they need to appear. And so here they are from everywhere, and they hear them speaking these, praising God in languages that they could understand from where they were. They weren't babbling. Their testimony was they said that they were from Cretes, and in verse 11, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. It was understood because they miraculously were speaking. But those miracles didn't save them. It was the preaching of Jesus Christ and the rest of Acts chapter 2. By God's presence being in the congregation, it brought forth the power so that now men could be saved. Now the works can be done because we're empowered. Finally, as far as the powerful presence of God, the scripture reference I didn't write down was Revelation chapter 1 verses 9-20. And just point out a couple things from this portion. Many of you recognize this and have probably seen this before, but I think this somewhat ties it up. Though John is an individual who's in the Spirit on the Lord's Day in Revelation 1-9, we'll see how he is humbled by the presence of God. There are some people that have told me in the last few years that the book of Revelation is a book, they've discovered, they believe the book of Revelation is about worship. And I said, you're right, but every book of the Bible is about worship because everything is worship. We are to worship God almighty for who he is, which includes what he has done. because what he is necessitates what he does, and what he does exemplifies who he is. In Revelation 1, verse 9, we see, picking it up right here, I, John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and some people would say that that was the Christian Sabbath, or I was in the spirit on the day of the Lord. Maybe he's seeing the Lord's coming, and there are elements that suggest that that could be true as well. But at any rate, I heard behind me a great voice as a trumpet. we'll find out it's Christ's voice in verse 11 saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and what thou seest, write in a book and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia, and Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea, which is interesting because what we read in Exodus in preparing In Exodus chapter 19, prepare to hear from God, whose voice will be like when you hear the trumpet sound. It's the voice of God. It's the voice of Christ, as we see in Revelation chapter 1. And so these seven churches are mentioned, and notice that John's back is turned, because John's still, though he's not yet been glorified, he's still a sinful man, and that's often how we hear the voice of God. It comes from behind us because our back is turned, or also that we don't see the fullness of his glory, because remember how Moses had to have God's hand, or God placed his hand upon him, and so he could only see the back part of his glory in Exodus 34. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me notice this in verse 12 I came to see the voices spake with me and being turned I saw seven golden candlesticks and we find out from verse 20 those golden sand candlesticks represent the seven churches the first thing after hearing the voice of Jesus Christ That John sees is the church or the churches the Universal Church exemplified by seven seven being a perfect number the world will not see Christ apart from the church and That's the very first interesting point. In verse 13, and in the midst of the seven candlesticks, now it says they'll see Christ, because the unsaved, unbelieving world will not see Christ apart from who we are, the church, as we're gathered together. Because this is the presence of God, because it must take, it must be Christ's presence that saves them. He sees one like unto the son of man clothed with a garment down to the foot and girt about the paps with a golden girdle verse 14 his head and his hairs were white like wool as white as snow and his eyes were as a flame of fire Verse 15, and his feet like unto fine brass, as it were, burned in the furnace, and his voice is the sound of many waters. Verse 16, and he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And verse 17 will be very key right here. As he sees the glorified Savior, our great High Priest, He's in the midst of the church. And so that was always the, we consider that really, truly always the context of Christ is in the midst of his church. His very presence is among us. And the description of all the meanings behind them, which we're not covering right now, if we are even in this series, they come from the fact that he does stand in the middle of the church. because we receive instruction as people, and certainly we do not just in the instruction today. When we go home from here after worshiping God, the things that we've heard today from the Lord through the word that's preached and taught, and our daily readings, they'll have much more meaning because the presence of God is what brings to us the reality of its truth. And so verse 17, and when I saw him, I fell. Verse 17, at his feet is dead. Same word feet for that which we saw in lesson one, Matthew chapter 28, I believe in verse nine, where the, when they saw the resurrected savior, they fell and grabbed his feet and worshiped. Now it doesn't use the word worship here that John falls down at Christ's feet. It doesn't use proskuneo, but it does use I think it's pus, which is feet in Hebrew, excuse me, in Greek. But John falls down at his feet as a dead man. He's humbled because of the presence of Christ and he falls down at his feet. The presence of God in our corporate worship will humble us when his presence is there. We might not literally fall down at Christ's feet, but within our hearts the truth of who he is. Within our souls the truth of who he is should humble us. We tend to take humility and try to manufacture it and manipulate it because it says humble yourself inside the Lord and he shall lift you up. First Peter speaks of that and James also tells us of that. But the truth of it is that it's a grace of God that comes by his presence and then we'll be in awe of who he is when his presence becomes a reality. I know that we believe that the Word of God says that the Holy Spirit lives within us. He is God. But the reality of His presence, am I living according to that reality and submitting myself to that reality? And when that comes, sometimes I'm humbled to tears. You know, when I'm up there sometimes preaching the Word and the presence of Christ is here, I'm trembling, literally trembling up there, because I'm handling God's Word and His presence is ministering unto you. Not words that I'm saying, but words of Christ to you. True humility, which comes from God by the reality of His presence when we gather, will produce revival in our individual lives. In our individual lives, collectively as believers, and also in our community as it spills out. It's not just an academic intellectual thing. It becomes a real truth. I don't want to get hyper charismatic about this. I don't even want to get charismatic at all about this. But I want to live according to what the Bible says that he really truly is in us. And sometimes I forsake that like John and my back is turned to the reality that Christ is with us right now where two or three are gathered and we're gathered in his name to worship him. And and and there are borders set about it. We remember that that that was the foreshadow that keeps us from swinging from the hanging fan. We want to be reverent. We want to fear Him, but we want also, we want all, what He wants to do, we want to be as Moses. Lord, I don't want to go forth doing all kinds of zany stuff unless You're having me do it. the craziest thing is is that you know, my my children somewhat have been embarrassed because I've come out of church meetings where I just want to tell them about Jesus. I come out of a Wednesday night prayer meeting and I go and take them for something to drink and I'm telling the waitress who's bringing us some, you know milkshake. Hey, have you heard about Jesus? Because his presence has gone with me. And whatever fruit that ends up bringing, maybe the only thing it did was make a witness for my kids. That, hey, he's the greatest thing to proclaim. Greatest person to proclaim. Anyway, any questions or comments?