I understand why he said you're fearfully and wonderfully made, because just like so many other things in the Word of God, he's hidden them right in front of our eyes. This business of the glory of God was hid to me for 33 years as a Christian, studying the Word of God, all the lessons and the sermons and all the stuff that I'd taught and all the things that I'd heard, and missed the whole thing. And this business of we're fearfully and wonderfully made, I knew that verse. But to understand what that verse is saying, it's God, the Holy Spirit that opens up your understanding to what he's actually saying there and the purpose that he has behind saying it. And when he says we're fearfully and wonderfully made, he made you in such a way to inspire awe and wonder and admiration, to just be absolutely overwhelmed by his genius. I'm not looking for something that'll prove creation. I don't need that proven to me. I don't have to have my confidence built that I'm right and they're wrong. I want something that'll magnify God. When we get that together, we'll start on putting some information out. The tiny bits that I've already read are pretty amazing just to understand it from a different perspective. Instead of studying it just so that your knowledge leads to learning, you know, your learning leads to knowledge, you start looking at it from the perspective of appreciating your Creator more. And it takes on a different purpose. The direction that your mind works in is totally different than just being kind of impressed by, oh, isn't that pretty, you know, or isn't that fascinating, or isn't that amazing? No, it's someone who is amazing. It's someone who's fascinating. It's somebody that's really interesting. Anyway, let's start back into this stuff with our timeless creator. We're talking about proving the will of God. And I heard something yesterday, a short, brief interview with an ex-congressman. It was pretty funny, because we're talking about the will of God. We're talking about God's wish list. And he was asked, were you home on Father's Day? Yeah. Would you get anything for Father's Day? Got two boys. Yeah, they both got him something for Father's Day. One of them got him a soccer jersey. What are you gonna do with that ex-Congressman? I have no idea. The other one bought him a video game. He said, well, you know, they're just kids. He said, they bought me what they would like to have. And he said, the one of them wears the jersey and the other one plays the video games and I haven't used or played with either one of them. Now that's human nature. Now think about this just a minute. How could we possibly know what to get God? What we could do for God? How could our motives possibly be right when he says, your ways are not my ways, saith the Lord? How could we know? We're obviously gonna be drawn in the wrong direction. And in our mind and heart, even as Christians, we're gonna have this mentality of look at what we did for you, God. I mean, if we get up there to the judgment and you find out a bunch of your works that you thought really counted just go up in smoke, you're gonna say, well, what happened to them, God? He said, well, that wasn't what I wanted. Well, wait a minute, he did the same thing. Well, his sort was different than your sort. You know, you sort the clothes, right? You sort them out to do laundry. They're all clothes, but they're not the same sort. They're the same things, but they're not the same sort. And God's saying, there's a big difference between you doing this and this guy doing this. What makes the difference? The ones that God is affected by, the ones that stir his emotion, the things that meet his desires, his will. And so what he's told us, you know, he says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove, may prove, what is that good and acceptable and the perfect will of God. So he says, I'm gonna let my Holy Spirit prove this to you. How's that? The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. And you go back over and he looks at the fruit of the Spirit, and he says, you need to be proven these things. And he said, this is a deal between you and me. What if one said, Dad, what can I get you for Father's Day? Dad says, oh, I don't need anything. I can't even think of anything. Well, Dad, I want to get you something that'll make you happy. Well, I just can't think of anything. Dad, think about it a little bit, because I want to get you something for Father's Day, and I don't want to get you something that I think you'll like, because if I bring you something I think you'll like, it'll end up like a lot of the other stuff that I got you. I want to get you something that you want. Well, let me think about it a little while. God says, if you desire to know what I want, I've given you all kinds of ways here to know what I desire. And if you're interested in what I want, instead of just interested in giving me what you want me to have, here it is. So we're looking at a little bit more of God's wish list. Let's look at 1 Timothy 5, 1 to 4. 1 Timothy 5, 1 to 4. Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father, and the younger men as brethren. the elder women as mothers, the younger as sisters, with all purity. Honor widows that are widows indeed. But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home and to requite their parents, for that is good and acceptable before God." What is? Verse four, but if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home and to requite their parents, for that is good and acceptable before God. Now, you're off the hook if your parents are gone, but if your parents are still alive, God's telling you, this is on my wish list. What is it, God? What is that? Well, piety. What is piety? When you get out the dictionary and you begin to look at what words mean, especially in this book, you're going to find out all kinds of stuff. I was shocked again today. I looked up some words and I always took that for granted. I thought I knew what that was. The earnest of the spirit. You guys think you know what that means? You think it has something to do with the sincerity of the Spirit. You think it has something to do with the Spirit was like God, unchanging, you know, and steadfast and unmovable. That's not what it means. It means an entirely different thing. It's connected right back to the acceptable will of God. What's piety? Piety is a reverence of parents. accompanied with affection and devotion to their honor and happiness. You know who I thought about when I thought about that? Ann and Kay. Their mother's still alive, and those two women are dedicated to their mother's happiness and to her pleasure, and they put every effort into seeing that she's taken care of. Sometimes with a lot of difficulty that you may or may not know about, but they just continue to do it. In spite of whatever happens, just continue on. You realize that if you've got somebody that's got Alzheimer's, you've got somebody that's withering away, you know, and dementia, that God says, you kids, you start to show piety at home first. How come? What's on my wish list? If you can't do it for them, can you do it for me? What, I'm not worth it? Well, God, I never thought about it that way. Well, you know, I've only got $40 and I need 29 of those for what I'm gonna buy. Well, God, if I just had more time, more time for your parents or more time for me? You would be surprised what's on God's wish list. Once you begin to understand the glory of God, you begin to appreciate his genius and his magnificence and his power and his ability. you should begin to desire to do things for him. Now for me, God started it when I first got saved, and then I was misdirected. Looking back on it now, I was pulled back into that yoke of bondage, but then the Lord stopped me in my tracks, and he put me in a position to, he's so grateful to him, it was like I got saved all over again, and then I wanted to glorify him when he showed me that that verse was conditional. And it hasn't stopped yet. You say, has it eased up some? Yeah, unfortunately. I mean, I wish I had the passion of Paul. I do. I wish every morning I woke up, the instant thought is, oh, God, you are just so fantastic. Go to sleep at night, you know, God, you're just fantastic. I can't believe it. I'm still overwhelmed. That's the way we ought to be. I guarantee when we finally see him, we will be. It'll be like, I sure didn't pay much attention when I was down there, did I? No, you sure didn't. I tried to show you, but you see, but you don't see. You hear, but you don't hear. Anyway, what else? He says requite. What does that word requite mean? It means to repay, to return an equivalent good or to reward. I mean, if nothing else, your parents have done something for you, haven't they? You have to have. then it's about time to start doing something back for them. When? Well, when they get old, you know, when they get all worn out, can't do it for themselves, you know. But if you've got somebody like that, that's a widow indeed, you've got somebody that needs your help and they're your parents, God says, you want to know something else on my wishlist? There it is. What's that mean, God? What's that mean, acceptable? It means I receive those actions with pleasure. Well, what about my soul winner? What about my passing out tracks? It all depends upon what sort it is. Like I said, all clothes are nothing but clothes, but they're sure not all the same sort. There's a difference in them. God says, this one here is nearer to my heart than that one over there. Matter of fact, that one over there, in some cases, I despise it. What do you mean you despise it? Yeah, we did all these things in thy name and have cast out devils, you know, and healed the sick and all this other stuff. Apart from me, cursed. He said, I despise that kind of stuff. What about the rest of it? Well, I don't despise my children's efforts, but they make me sick sometimes because they're self-serving. What do you mean they're self-serving? You're buying me footballs and I don't want footballs. You're putting money in an offering plate and not taking care of your mother. You're putting your effort in and going out soul winning and reading your Bible instead of loving the brethren. You couldn't care less about what I want. You're just so involved with yourself, all you can think of is your desires. I didn't think you thought like that, God. I thought you thought just like I thought. Well, why do you think I told you? You think I'm a man such as ye. I made it as clear as I can make it. Your ways are not my ways. Your thoughts are not my thoughts. Your heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. There's none that doeth good. How are you gonna know if I don't show you? And I'm not gonna put it in your face. I'm not gonna shove my wish list into your face and say tomorrow's my birthday, here's what I want. Would you do that to anybody? Why do you think he would? You know when you start responding to somebody wanting to get you the things that you'd like to have for your birthday or for Father's Day or for Christmas? When they ask you. Unless you're a kid and you start putting out the list yourself, here's my Christmas wish list. And that's all self-serving. God's not about you serving yourself. You're made for his pleasure. You exist for his pleasure. and anything outside of that realm is just self-service, self-indulgent, that you may consume it upon your lust. Let me win the lottery, Lord, I'll give you half. What a joke. It's as if I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you. You think he's interested in letting you win the lottery so he can have half of the money? What an insane way to think. Daddy, if you buy me this go-kart, I'll let you drive it once in a while. Nuts, just nuts. Insanity, you know? See, insanity, the mental insanity of God's creation since they fell. We're all under a curse. All who sin, you know, come short of the glory of God. Well, that's us. We don't think right. We don't act right. You know, our responses to God aren't anywhere close to being right. Instead of praying for relief, we should be praying that God will help us understand what He wants us to know, what He's trying to teach us. How does this work for your pleasure, God? How is my response for your pleasure here? How can my mother have an Alzheimer's and me taking care of her? How can that possibly be good, God? Healer. Healer, I told you. You get somebody that's a widow indeed and you start taking care of them, being concerned about their happiness, I receive that with pleasure. What do you think I'm gonna fix this problem for? Find her a new husband that's rich. Why would I do that? because it's against my will. How many times your children ever get you to do something that's against your will? Once in a while they do, and then you regret it, don't you? You better believe it. Anyway, so a Christian can take care of their parents for the parents' sake and for God. I think I remember a verse, it's kind of a vague one, but it says, whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all to the glory of God. Isn't that amazing how all that stuff can fit back together if it's done the right way? If it's done while you're seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. If you're seeking His good, His will, His pleasure, His purpose. And then you go ahead and do the things that you would normally do, except you do them now with real purpose behind them. Parent gets the needed help, God gets pleasure, child gets the fruit of the Spirit, everything they need to get it done, all you gotta do is ask. We ask and receive not because we ask amiss. We're not interested in God's will, we have no idea what his will is, all we know is we bring to the table our will and expect him to answer the prayer because the need is so obvious and so great that God, you're not treating me right when you don't answer my prayer. God said, ain't no one of you guys are so messed up. You haven't paid any attention to me at all. Anyway, let's look at James 4 too. You have not because you ask not. But if you're gonna ask something for your parents, if Kay and Ann want something for Hilda, they're gonna have to ask and not a miss. They're gonna have to ask it in the will of God. How is that? It's not gonna be relief for self. It's not gonna be, well, God, help me take care of her. Well, she's just getting so messed up and my life's so difficult. If you just fix this thing, that's not it. The thing is, when you ask, you want God to help you do what he desires for you to do and give you what you need, like the grace and the wherewithal to help somebody for God's purpose, for his pleasure. Don't you see how those things fit together? They tie right back into the purpose we exist. And if you're asking for that reason, then you're not asking amiss. Anyway, let's look at 2 Corinthians 9. See, what's in 2 Corinthians 9? Actually, the greatest promise in the whole book. It's conditional, but it's still the greatest promise in the whole book. 2 Corinthians 9, 6-8. For this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man, according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth the cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye always, having all sufficiency and all things, may abound to every good work. You realize that covers a lot of territory. You say, what's going on there? Well, first of all, you have to want to do it. It can't be grudgingly. I gotta go to Mom's house and clean that place up again. She makes that thing such a mess and she just leaves it. You wonder why your prayers don't get answered? Because your prayers are self-serving. God said, Dad, it's not why I made you. He said, I got millions and billions of those kinds on this earth. He said, I'm looking for the other kind. I'm looking for the ones that want to break that box of ointment on my feet. I'm looking for the ones that want to come in and weep and then dry my feet with their hair and then break that ointment on me. Why? Because I want your heart. And if I don't have your heart, you've got nothing else that I'm interested in. If I don't get that first, the rest of it's a waste of time. That's the sword he's looking for. He's looking for the stuff that's done with desire for him. And so God's able to make all grace abound toward you. You know, it takes grace to take care of old people. You bet it does. It takes grace to do all kinds of things in life. But when you have to start dealing with a bunch of that stuff, it takes grace. You don't just jump in there and get some little old thing done without suffering for it. There's some people right here that know exactly what I'm talking about. But he can give you grace to get on through it. I'll come because the need's there. But instead of doing it for yourself because of the duty, or for the parent because of the need, you can do it because you love your parent and because you love God and you want to please him. Now that's a pretty great opportunity. But that is still conditional, being generous. I mean, if you're going to do it in an effort to feel good, don't you understand the connections between the vast majority of Christian service today, where it's self-serving because it makes them feel good to do it, and somebody that's doing it because they love God and the thought of self isn't even involved. And if they do feel good, it's an afterthought. It's something else. It's actually the fruit of the Spirit. but their desire up front is to do something because of somebody, because of what they've gotten, how they've benefited, or their gratitude, or generosity that somebody's had for them. I've always had a desire inside of me that somebody does something for me, I wanna do something back good for them, always have. I mean, I actually put forth a little bit of effort once in a while, you know? Sometimes it's hard to do something back for some people. Some people got so much, you know, what else you gonna do for them? Well, you just do what you can. Opportunity comes up, you do something for them. What can you do for God? What's he need? Man, God, you sure are hard to shop for. That's why I gave you a wish list. Anyway, what else? We gotta be in God's will, we gotta be in God's way, we gotta be in God's time. And those things have to be present. You're not gonna do something God's way if it's not God's time to do it. I mean, Moses got ahead of himself, killed that Egyptian, buried him in the sand. That wasn't God's time. Why? You don't think he wanted some Egyptians to die? God said, I'm gonna kill them, Moses. I don't need you to do it. And when I get to killing them, they're gonna die by the thousands. They're gonna wish they hadn't even been born. So you gotta do it in God's will, God's way, and God's time. But he gives you the details here. When he starts telling you about how to do these things, he puts every piece of the information there that you need to be able to discern all of those things. Anyway, let's move along. Next on God's wish list, 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2, one to five, and then we'll jump down to nine. Wherefore, laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envyings, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby, if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. That fit anybody here? to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. Ye also as lively stones are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Then verse nine, but you're a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people that ye should show forth the praise of him "'who hath called you out of darkness "'into his marvelous light.'" And that reference right there is to the Jews. I mean, there isn't any question about it. That book is written to the Hebrews. But you realize all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, correction, for instruction of righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished, and all good works. What's that mean? That means that that verse right there to those Jews fits you too. Are you called? You better believe you're called. Are you a royal priesthood? You better believe you're a royal priesthood. Are you a peculiar people? The goal isn't the foolishness of preaching and give your own money away to some crazy church organization. You're peculiar, all right. They can't do anything with you except just kill you. I mean, if you get to where you actually love God, that's the only thing they can do with a good Christian. They just burn them at the stake, chop their heads off, and they just gotta get rid of them, because they can't do anything else with you. You're ruined. They can't brainwash you. They can't fix you. You believe something to death. If you really got it, you should show forth the praise of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. You've been called out of darkness? You got some of that marvelous light? Has He shown you anything lately? You're just wandering around, you know, at dusk, bumping into stuff. Well, if that's you, then He's called you. That's us. What's that about? That's the stuff that he says, this is on my wish list. What's that? Spiritual sacrifices. Spiritual sacrifices. What's a spiritual sacrifice, God? Well, praising your creator. Whoso offereth praise glorifyeth me. That's a spiritual sacrifice. So it doesn't sound very sacrificial. Listen, when you get in the right realm with God, Nothing matters. Do you realize that if you had somebody that you dearly loved, and this was the only thing they wanted for Christmas, and it was expensive, if you love them, the expense is not even an issue. Their pleasure is. You don't think about that. You just think of the opportunity you have to do something for them that's just perfect. You understand that? You realize that those two women that brought in that very costly ointment and broke that on the Lord, wasn't any matter of how much this thing cost, had nothing to do with it. The pure joy and pleasure of doing something for somebody that you love that much was more than ample. The issue was not a matter of how much it cost. Anyway, making melody in your heart, You ever do that? Songs and hymns, spiritual songs, making melody in your heart? Must I be carried to the skies on flowery beds of ease while others fought to win the prize and sail through bloody seas? They didn't burn my kids. They didn't burn my wife. They didn't cut their heads off. They're not having to live in garbage city because of what they believe. God been good to you? Do you love him? Do you love him enough to take seriously his wish list? Let's close in prayer.