Revelation 5, verse number 2. We've been considering much about our King here in the last few days, and we've considered the portrait of our King, and we've considered the perception of our King, what He sees and knows of us. And then last night we began a thought entitled, The Power and the Possession of Our King. Notice in Revelation 5, verse number 2, Revelation 5 and verse number 2, Notice he's asking a question, Notice the response in verse 11, Verse 11 of Revelation 5, And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the beasts, and the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, Worthy, let's say those words together, Worthy is the Lamb. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. Go to chapter 16, verse number 9. As we see the gloves of God, the gloves of our King, come off in judgment as He deals with unredeemed mankind, the cry of joy breaks out in heaven, but a cry of rage permeates earth. For notice in Revelation 16, 9, The Bible says the men were scorched with great heat, they blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues. And notice this, and they repented not to give Him, what? Glory. We said last night that whether you give it, or whether you force God to take it from you, God will get the glory. You say, why? The Bible tells us, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. I'd like to continue tonight that thought we started tapping last night on the power and possession of our King. Let's pray. Father, thank you, Lord, tonight that you are the true and living God. We thank you, Father, you're righteous. We thank you tonight that you're holy. We are grateful, Father, that You are merciful. We thank You for Your love shed abroad in our hearts through the finished work of Calvary, the unspeakable gift of Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, in His name, we pray your blessing on our time tonight. Fathers, we consider what is rightfully yours and what is rightfully your son's. And praise your children, Lord, we not steal the glory from you, but we willingly give it to you. And fathers, there's one among us tonight that's never settled the issue of ownership. They do not belong to you and do not belong to your son. They're outside the household of faith. May tonight be the night they're saved. Lord as the word goes forth help us tonight not to be hearers only Deceiving ourselves, but by your grace to be doers of thy word we ask and pray this in Jesus name Amen, you may be seated Does everybody have a handout I know Little miss on's you just got in does everybody have a handout? Okay, just making sure the power and possession of our King I want to say that statement again because I believe it's one that if we will just tuck it in our heart, it'll affect our attitude, it'll affect how we live and our conversation as believers, but I'm going to say it again. Whether you give it or whether He takes it from you, God will get the glory. The glory is what belongs to Him. That's the possession of our King, and He does have the power to take it from individuals who refuse to voluntarily give it to Him. I want to know three things about giving glory to God. If you look at the handout, number one, this is very important to know, giving glory to God is not normal publicly. Giving glory to God is not normal publicly. What am I saying? Society lifts up almost everything today except the Lord. Amen? Could I illustrate? My search platform on my computer is Yahoo. That's my search engine. I guess there's other options, but I've always had that one. And if you ever go to the Yahoo home page, you'll find a top trending little section where whatever the buzz is, that's listed in the top ten. Could I say in all the years I've had Yahoo, in all the years I've opened up that home page, I have seen sports stars in the top ten. I've seen movie stars in the top ten. I've seen kings in the top ten. I've seen events in the top ten. But Jesus Christ has never Ever been in the top 10 trending Yahoo for all the years I've ever had that search engine You know what? That tells me society lifts up and admires and glorifies and is in awe of almost everything Except the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen You need to recognize that when you go out into that world It is a world that is not for him, it's against him. It is a world that wants to exalt everything and everybody except the one who deserves that admiration, the Lord Jesus Christ, all right? Maybe you want to know, what does it mean to glorify something? I wrote down this. To glorify means to lift up. To glorify means to admire. To glorify means to exalt and honor, all right? Does that make sense? That's not in the notes. It's just a little side thing if you want to just define what it means to glorify something. It means to lift up, to admire, to exalt, and to talk about and honor. I made a list today, tonight, on your notes, and I want you to fill this in, of what society today and people in general today glory in, what they lift up and admire. And you'll notice this, one of the things that people admire and glory and lift up today, they glory in their wealth. people today and society today glories in their wealth. Go to Deuteronomy 8. Look at the context of wealth, how God sees it. It is on certain riches, by the way. It's not certain riches. Stock market will prove that every time. But notice with me in Deuteronomy 8 the attitude that every believer ought to have concerning their treasure. Deuteronomy chapter 8. Do you know today there are people that think they're better than others because they have more money in the bank? There are people that think they're bigger and better and more valuable because they have more funds. They're wealthier than the individual that's living beside them. They glory in their wealth. It's their identity. It's what they think makes them special. Amen? Notice though in Deuteronomy what's said, and God is talking to His children here in Deuteronomy chapter 8. And listen to what He says in Deuteronomy chapter 8 in verse number 11. God says, Verse 12, built goodly houses, and dwelt therein. Look at verse 13, And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, look at what happens, verse 14, Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God. And verse 17, And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth. Verse 18, But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God, for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth. What a powerful scripture. How many people I know in society think it's their power, their wisdom, their might that got them wealth? I'm going to say it's the, that's God's power. Again, if he quits on the job, there's no life there anymore, amen? And notice the purpose of wealth. Giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant, which he sware unto thy fathers. You know, Christian, you and I need to always have the right attitude toward riches. First of all, they're temporary. Second of all, they're uncertain. Thirdly, they don't make you any bigger or better than anybody else. They're a gift from God He gave to you to be a steward of and to be wise in how you use it. Now you see, I'm the evangelist, so I'm always suspect when I talk about this. But I was a business owner once, too, with 43 people working for me. That verse was hanging in my office to remind me that when that big payday came and, man, there was extra, it's something to be used for the glory of God, not self. It was an early lesson I had to learn, but it was one that I have thoroughly enjoyed learning. So, first of all, society will glory in their wealth. Amen? Second of all, write this one in. I notice in society that people today glory in their wisdom. In their wisdom. what college they went to, what degree is hanging on the wall, what, where they came from. There are people that glory in their educational level and how many degrees and if they're a doctor or not, they glory in that. They actually lift up themselves based on their degrees. Notice what the Bible says about that in 1 Corinthians chapter 1. In 1 Corinthians 1 and verse number 25, the Word of God puts that in context compared to the Lord. In 1 Corinthians 1 and verse number 25, the Bible says, Because the foolishness of God, that's an interesting thought. First of all, God can't be foolish, but if He could be, notice, the foolishness of God is wiser than men. God in His most foolish day is still wiser than the wisest individual that's ever been created by Him. Amen? And God doesn't have any foolish days. And the weakness of God is stronger than men. Notice verse 27, But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen." Notice why, verse 29, that no flesh should glory in His presence. Verse 31, that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him what? Glory in the Lord. Amen? And yet today, society will glory in their wealth. Society will glory in their wisdom, not God's wisdom. Amen? I see people, write this one in, glory in their abilities. Glory in their abilities. Anytime I have the opportunity to watch professional sports, if there's not one, there's probably many, but they'll hit that game-winning buzzer shot, you know, and it's like, You know what I'm saying? They're glorying in their abilities. Look what I did. I'm the most valuable player. You know what I'm saying? I work out at Planet Fitness. I gave up running here a while ago. My knee and my hip, I was prepared I was gonna run the Marine Corps Marathon. I just cannot, I can't do it. And rather than check a bucket list and end up in traction, I said, I'm gonna have to switch out here. And so I'm in Planet Fitness. And if you know anything about that, they're all over the nation for about 17 bucks a month. I can just, there's always one waiting. And it's always classic to go to those places, you know, because there's at least one if not number of them, these weightlifters. You know, you know what I'm saying? They look like Arnold, you know. And I watch them, you know, and they're usually younger, not always, but usually, and you know, they're lifting and then they're in front of the mirror, you know. And I'm thinking, yeah, yeah. See you in about 30 years, bub. Yeah, chest is going to be in your drawers, you know. Your get up and go is going to be gone, you know. You know, isn't it crazy though? People today, they glory in their abilities. They think that is, that's what makes them greater than anybody else. Amen? People today, glory in their, write this one in, they glory in their appearance. Beauty is vain. Scripture tells us. But people glory in their appearance. They glory in their beauty. And yet, even that will fade one day. And many times, that's a curse, not a blessing, for it gives you an overinflated opinion of who you really are. People glory in their authority. Write that one in there. Their station of life. If they're the boss or if they're in charge of individuals, amen? Pilate said to Jesus Christ, he told him, do you have any clue who you're talking to and the authority I have in the book of John? And Jesus Christ said to him in John 19 11, thou couldest have no power except it were given thee from above. Amen. And yet people glory in their authority, their status in the company, their power over others. And then write this one in, I notice society and people today glory in their associations. They glory in their associations. You ever had that moment? You're talking to somebody and maybe they're just a stranger, maybe they're somebody you've just gotten to know, and as you're getting along in the conversation, they say something like this, guess who I met? And they tell you. And foolishly, you join the game. And you say, wow, let me tell you who I met. And now becomes the competition. to see who our associations are and who has the biggest association. Because just like the quarterback on the football team or the head cheerleader, they get a little panorama of glory. And if you can get into that spotlight and join them, you get lifted up with them. And so this becomes a competition. And it generally degenerates to this. It becomes this, well, I met the uncle of the cousin of so-and-so. Really, but I met 20 years ago that that that that that that that that that that that that that and it just becomes his competition To go ahead and glory in associations. You don't have always thought would be a good thing to do. Just make it a short one. I met the God of this universe and his son Put me in his family. I Know the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and I'm a joint heir with him the best they can do is tie you. Amen? But it's amazing to watch, and you just go through a Walmart checkout stand and see what the nation glories in, and money, and people, and fame, and celebrity status, and the powers of a politician, and associations. It's just unbelievable, and it's absolutely carnal. It's the very thing that fights against who really deserves the glory, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ. But society, you need to recognize this, giving the glory to God is not normal publicly in society. Go to Jeremiah. Watch this in Jeremiah chapter 9. God knows this. He knows the heart of His creation. And so in a single section, just a couple of verses, He seems to just sum this whole thing up in Jeremiah chapter 9. Jeremiah chapter 9, and look at what he says in verse number 23. I listed that verse there. In Jeremiah 9, in verse number 23, he says this. He says, Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Jeremiah 9, 23, Neither let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, saith the Lord." Wow. God says, don't glory in your wealth, don't glory in your wisdom. Don't glory in your status of life, your appearance, or your abilities, but if you want to admire, talk about, lift up, honor and exalt anything, glory in the fact that you know me. Amen? That's powerful. You know, it's interesting. There's two things in life that are the grand equalizers. First, death. I've strolled Arlington National Cemetery. I've filmed there with my film team. And as I walk through those grave markers, I've noticed privates lying beside generals. I've noticed enlisted men sharing that same hallowed ground with officers and admirals. Death cares not your rank or station, doesn't care about your wisdom or your wealth. It levels the whole playing field. All become equal in death. But there's another equalizer. It's the cross. When you get saved, there's no big I or little you. It's all about Him. The cross equalizes everything. Every one of us are just dirty, rotten, wicked, filthy sinners saved by grace. There's no big I's or little u's. In fact, the only one who's worthy of glory is the one who saved us and took us from the hell we deserved and now put us in His family. And could it be some lost people don't want to get saved? Because they now just become a generic nobody in the person of Jesus Christ. And they do not want to give up there. Yeah, I've seen it. I've seen pride, which is just the manifestation of glorifying something beyond the Savior, keep people from calvary. Amen. They don't want to be a nobody. They don't want to share any of that. They want to always think they're better. The cross of Christ equalizes. The first thing you and I need to recognize tonight, that giving glory to God is not normal publicly, amen? Recognize out in society, society does not lift up and exalt Jesus Christ. Number two, in my notes, I just noted this, second of all, giving glory to God is not natural personally. It's not naturally natural personally. What I mean by that is this. You and I tonight need to recognize in our old sin nature that we have an incredible obsession with self. Self does not want to get somebody else the limelight. Self does not want to go ahead and lift up somebody else. Self has a default setting. It's to glorify me. Amen? Have you ever noticed when you've told a story, you've gone back in time and shared an event that happened, that you always can't yourself and paint yourself in probably a better light than you should have? I remember this moment. At the end of every year, I write up a newsletter. I take a family event, and I go ahead and I take that event and I weave, when we were on the road, I would weave my children through. For instance, the first time we got on the road, living in an RV is like submarine warfare. So I was a skipper scanning the horizon, watching the port quarter and watching my crew, Lieutenant Kimberly Joy, scamper to this, and I just wove a story of a submariner, a skipper with his crew at sea, and it was fun to read. Well, one of the stories was a softball game we played. was down in Georgia just before the kids started peeling off and heading to college and so forth. And we have six children. So with Deb and I, that's eight. That's about a ready-made team. And we'd play with a number 10 softball, and we had four pitches. It was four pitch, your own person pitched. So we were just playing four on four, just us and I was the captain of one team, Kevin was the captain of another. And I can remember a year or two later, sitting with my children, telling the game. Just the play by play. I said, man, I remember how this worked. It was the last inning. Bases were loaded. We were down by three runs. We had two outs. Kevin's team has the field. And dad's up to bat. And I remember this like it was yesterday. I went ahead on that second pitch. Man, I parked it over into the woods. And Kevin went running over there. He got the ball. Bases are clearing. They threw it home. I slid in there, man. We won. The whole crowd because I'm dead all my family including my wife are kind of looking at me and they're really there's something going on I said What's the problem and? One of my daughter says well dad that's not how we remember it Well, how do you remember it? Well, we remembered you whiffed on the pitch and trickled the ball to Kimberly at first base. Kimberly, the one who everybody wanted on the other team. And she just pounced on the ball, and then you were out. I said, that is not how it happened. And as we went around, it was like 7 to 1 on the vote. I said, XO, my wife, executive officer, XO, is that how that happened? Uh, yes, hon, that's... Now, how could I have messed up that story? Self. I don't want to be the guy that was the third out, lost the game. I want to be the guy that won the game. Y'all with me? You just watch how you tell things. You just watch how you speak of yourself to others and how you always kind of fudge it into the well-done category rather than the medium-rare. That's supposed to mean right, not left. I don't know. I've never said that before. That was kind of weird. I'm not even in. That's probably why. The camera, I just found out that thing's been stalking me this whole meeting. Oh. OK. You hang my suit coat there. But we do that. We have this incredible obsession with self. Amen? You need to recognize that giving glory to God is not normal publicly. Second of all, it's not natural personally. But thirdly, watch this. Giving glory to God is not, this is big, it's not neutral. It's not neutral, and what I mean by that is it doesn't happen accidentally. Because our natural setting, even after we're saved, is not to naturally give the glory and the praise and the honor to someone else. If we just coast into this thought and we coast into the glory of God thought, you and I will find we will not give Him the glory He deserves because it is not neutral. It doesn't happen accidentally. Fill this in, in point A, I must, look at this, I must positively and on purpose give glory to God with my life. Or I put Him in the position where He must take glory from my life. It's a big deal here. I must positively, you must positively on purpose. It is an act of your will. It is a literal goal you set. It is something that doesn't just, you just don't go along and go, oh, look at that, I gave God the glory. I wasn't even thinking about that. No, no. You, with an act of your will, determine you're going to lift Him up, not something someone else or you. You must positively and on purpose give glory to God with your life, or you put Him in the position where He's forced to take glory from your life. And here's the thing I've noticed for me. If I do not do this, I will automatically give glory to someone or something else beside the Lord. And it's usually self. Amen? So with that said, I went through Scripture. I said, how can you and I give glory to our God? in a society that doesn't want to glorify Him. How can you and I lift up the Lord Jesus Christ in a society that doesn't want to honor Him and exalt Him? I found seven ways. Number one, here's the first way that you can give God glory and give His Son glory. Here's the first way you can give glory to your King, salvation. Salvation, number one. Go to Galatians 1 and look at how the Spirit of God through Paul says this. Galatians chapter 1, Notice what he says here in verse 23. He's speaking of his salvation here. In Galatians 1, in verse 23, he says this. But they had heard only, Galatians 1, 23, but they had heard only that he which persecuted us in times past, Paul's speaking of his life here, now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. And look at what this changed life did. And they glorified God. Wow. Do you know what? Change lives, glorify the Lord. Amen? When the drunk gets saved and goes ahead and starts chasing God, that gives God glory. That just makes Jesus Christ become very visible to people. I'm talking to people all the time, and I'll say, what caused you to consider the Lord? He said, man, dad got saved, and man, did I watch his life change. You know what I'm saying? There has to be a God. Only God could have done that. You know what I mean? Salvation brings glory to God. Amen? Number two, write this one in. Salvation is one way to give glory to a king, but second of all, gratitude. Gratitude gives glory to your king. Look in Luke chapter 17. In Luke chapter 17. You say, wow, I want to give glory to God. Well, first of all, get saved. But second of all, be grateful and thankful. In Luke chapter 17, ten lepers are cleansed. This is a very familiar story the Lord is sharing. Ten lepers get cleansed. Jesus Christ cleanses them. It's not a story he cleanses him. It's recorded here. And out of the ten, only one comes back to say thank you, and he was a Samaritan, a half-breed Jew. Notice how Jesus Christ responds when He returns, following cleansing of His leprosy. In verse number 15, the Bible says of Luke 17, And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice did what? Glorified God. How did he do it? He fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks, And He was a Samaritan. And look at the Lord's response in verse 17. Jesus answered and said, Were there not ten clans, but where are the nine? They are not found that return to do what? To give glory to God, save this stranger. Do you know tonight that when you give thanks to your Father, you're lifting Him up and glorifying His name? Amen? Gratitude and thankfulness is a way to give glory to God. Amen? And why am I saying that? Because our default setting is to not be thankful. We're ungrateful people by our own nature. Amen? But gratitude gives Him glory. Number three, write this one in. Righteous living. Righteous living gives glory to your King. We won't turn to the verse, I'll simply quote it. He says this, Jesus Christ speaking, Listen, a Christian living a righteous life brings glory to their king. Amen? Number four, here's another way you can give glory to God. Confess your sin. Confession of sin gives glory to the Lord. Confession of sin. Go back to Joshua. I want you to see this. This is an interesting moment. We know that a man named Achan disobeyed. He stole some of the bounty following a great victory. Notice what's said. Joshua chapter 7 is that event. Joshua chapter 7, go there, he took some gold, he took a Babylonian garment, and he hid them in his tent. In Joshua chapter 7, they cast lots, and Achan was found out, he was the one that took it, and listen to what's said in verse number 19. Joshua says in Joshua 7 and verse 19, he's confronting Achan concerning his sin. And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, listen to this, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto Him. Tell me now what thou has done. I did not from me and a can answer Joshua and said indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel and thus and thus have I done Wow, that's powerful tonight Do you notice that one of the ways you and I can give glory to the Lord is to confess our sin? Did you see that confession of sin brings glory to God? You say, how does that work? Just stop and think about this. How do, when I confess my sinfulness and I confess my sin, how does that lift God up? How does that bring Him glory? How does that exalt Him when I confess my sin? Any ideas? Okay. You're agreeing with Him concerning who you really are? What, what, what direction do you go when you're confessing sin? Oh, man. When you begin to confess your sin, it makes you lower. Right? Isn't that, confessing sin humbles you. It brings you down. It brings you down to really where you are. You're a sinner. Amen? Now what does that do when you, so if somebody's watching, alright, so you come down like this, what does that automatically do? He's sinless. He doesn't even have to change where He is. He automatically becomes lifted up and higher when we lower ourselves by confessing our sin. Isn't that big? That's a big deal. It hurts to confess our sin, but it lifts up and glorifies our God when we do. Confession of sin glorifies the Lord, gives glory to Him. Write this one in. Number five, praise. Gives glory to your King. The psalmist says in Psalm 50 and verse 23, Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me. Amen? It lifts him up. You're admiring Him. You're glorifying Him and praising Him for who He is. Number six, church attendance glorifies the Lord. Church attendance brings glory to the Lord. You know, tonight we're gathered in His name. And Ephesians chapter 3 and verse 21 says this, unto Him be glory in the church. That's an assembly. That's the assembly. There's glory. Listen, every time you go by a bar and there's a pile of cars parked there, they're giving glory to their God. They're giving glory to the thing that they worship. They're giving their money, their time, their parking there. They're giving their substance, material substance. They're gathering to glorify their God. And there's something nice about seeing a church house with a parking lot full because we're gathering to lift up our God tonight. His name's the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords. People say, what a waste. I could say that about every drunk I've ever met, too. is God's the loser, I got the winner. Amen? And time and eternity will bear that out. unto him be glory in the church." He gets glory when you and I gather to worship, to talk about, to sing about His name. Because the world talks about and sings and gathers over their gods, we worship and sing and gather in our God's name. Amen? And then look at this, number seven. You say, I want to give glory to God, witnessing, speaking for Him to others. lifting up Jesus Christ. Witnessing brings glory to God. Jesus Christ said in John 12, now He's speaking specifically of His crucifixion, He said, If I be lifted up, Jesus said, I will draw all men unto Me. You know, out in that public arena, I was talking to your pastor and Sister Hoffer and I, by the way, thank you again for a wonderful meal. It was a blessing. But, you know, one of my favorite places to witness is to go to a Panera, go to a Starbucks, Einstein Bagels. I mean, I've spent some time there this week. I study in the public arena, I watch for military ball caps, my Bible's out. I just, people, you know, they're lifting up and talking about a lot of stuff, and I just love the opportunity, right in a public arena, to see somebody, and we connect, and I start talking to them about the Lord. I don't care who's around me. The drunk's not ashamed of his God, you know what I'm saying? I'm certainly not ashamed of mine, amen? I've got the one who's the true and living God. But I'm just saying that you look at society and they're lifting up so many things and you and I, we sometimes get ashamed of the gospel and it's sad because what is there to be ashamed of? What about him do you find embarrassing? There's nothing embarrassing about our Savior. In fact, He's more than you even understand. When you meet Him one day and you meet your salvation, you're not going to look at Him and say, that's it? You're not going to say that. You're going to look at His heaven and go, that's it. That's it. It's going to be more than you anticipated. I have not seen nor heard nor entered the heart of those that love Him the things that God has prepared for us. You with me? If anybody ought to be embarrassed today, it shouldn't be a Christian. We have the true and living God. We have a Savior that cleanses from all sin. We ought to lift Him up in this world. You say, well, it's so dark out there. Man, it's just, well then, wow, how easily He'll be seen because He's light. Amen? You ought to go ahead and lift Him up. and light up the darkness. Witnessing is an opportunity to glorify the Lord. Look at this. As we look at this list tonight, before I close, I want you to notice something. God in His Word has shown us seven ways that we can give Him glory. Amen? If you're not saved tonight, you say, wow, how can I give God glory? Get saved. you're lifting up the value of Calvary, you're lifting up the sacrifice of the Son by saying, I need to be saved. I need who He is. Amen? You say, well, how else? Have a grateful heart and express it to Him and thank Him. Live a righteous life, not a sinful life. Confess your sin. Lower yourself. Allow him to be lifted up as holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. Go ahead and give him praise. Attend church faithfully. Witness to him out there. Notice there's seven ways I found. There could be more. These are the seven I found that you could give glory to God voluntarily. But there's only one way he takes it. Involuntarily. And that judgment. He offers His creation seven ways to give Him glory. And if His creation refuses those, then they leave Him only one option to take it, and that is in judgment. So, here's your assignment. It's a simple assignment. Tomorrow morning, this is what you ought to say and this is how you ought to say it. You ought to sing this. So, rise and shine and give God the glory, glory. Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory. Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory, children. You and I ought to be the ones leading the parade on giving glory to our King, amen? We should be lifting Him up seven ways to glorify Him. Only one way He takes it, and that's in judgment. Whether you give it or whether you force Him to take it from you, God will get the glory. You know what Philippians says in Philippians chapter 2? Watch this. We're about done tonight, but I want you to notice something in Philippians chapter 2. We see the end of it all, and in Philippians 2, the Bible says this in verse number 9, Philippians 2, 9, Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, that's the Lord Jesus Christ, given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow. Philippians 2.10, of things in heaven, things in earth, things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Wow. Whether you give it, whether He takes it from you, God is going to get the glory for it belongs to Him. I remember years ago when our kids were with us, They were that little singing group that would set up a meeting before Dad would preach. We had a tent ministry that would seat 300, and we would put tent meetings on across America. We do them in Indian reservations in Yakima, Washington. Probably one of the neatest tent meetings ever did was on the courthouse lawn in Somerville, Alabama. Oldest courthouse in the entire state. 100 miles away, they were peeling the Ten Commandments off the courthouse. On that courthouse, we were setting up a gospel tent. We did it twice, and the community would show up, and we would preach and sing and lift up the Lord. The mayor of the city, he was a deacon in the church, And he would actually have the convicts, the ex-cons, help me set my tent up in their orange jumpsuits. We'd set it right up there on the lawn and pounding the stakes in. And I turned to him one time and said, Mayor, how can you do this? I mean, just the political climate. I said, how can you possibly? He said, listen, Brother Sommerdorf, if I don't want you in, I will find a law that says you can't be here. But if I want you in, I will find a law that says you can be here. And that's leadership, amen? Pretty much is what we're going to do, stop me. And he was a character. But I'll never forget the first tent meeting we did there. It was about the second night of the meeting. And a lady got up to sing a special just before I preached. I still remember her name. Her name was Mary. She had an absolutely beautiful, gifted voice. And as she sang, though, she would sway and kind of struggle to keep her balance. I don't know if she had Parkinson's, she had something, but she began to sing the special. And I have never had my heart crushed by a song before or since. As she sang that song, this is, I can still remember the song she sang. This is how she sang it. There is a river that flows from Calvary." She sang it. And I'm sitting there getting ready to preach, and my heart is just pouring out. I just felt like getting on my knees and just crawling forward and just crumbling before God. It's just, I couldn't explain the Spirit of God using her like that. I could not explain it. Following the special, I got up there and I said, sis, no idea what your story is, but could you sing that at the invitation when I'm done? She said, sure. Pastor said, sure. So she did. Same thing. Just melted my heart. I can't explain it. I just crushed. The Holy Spirit of God just grabbed me and just melted me and crumbled me, and I just felt like crawling forward and just weeping and praying. Afterwards, I came up to her. I said, what's your name? She said, my name's Sister Mary. What's your story? This is what she said to me. Because I said, I've never been affected by a song like that. She said, Here's my story, Brother Dave. I was a professional singer for years. I belonged to the Lord, I got saved as a young girl, but as I moved on through life, I used that gift God gave me for me. I sang for me, and I was good. And then one day, God struck me with a disease. It almost took my life. And he graciously handed it all back to me. He said, now, Brother Dave, I just sing for Him. That was it. I thought, wow. How much that we have we claim to be ours, and yet nothing is ours. It's just what our God gave us. And with it, and every fiber of our body. We shouldn't glory in our wisdom. We shouldn't glory in our wealth. We should glory in our God and in his son. Amen. To God be the glory. So tomorrow morning, you and I should wake up and say, I want to on purpose, glorify my God today. I want to begin by thanking Him. Then I want to praise Him. I want to witness for Him. I want to live for Him and be righteous. And I want to confess my sin and crumble and humble myself, which will give Him so much glory, because He's a God who cannot sin. Tomorrow morning, We ought to start our day that way, amen? Because that society out there is not going to lift him up and admire him. He's counting on his children to do that. And don't ever get the attitude, do I have to? You ought to have the attitude, do I get to? For of his kingdom, there shall be no end. Amen? Let's stand and commit these thoughts. Heads are bowed and eyes are closed.