Real familiar verses here. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts. And we've read that, and it's starting to become real familiar to us. And until recently, I didn't realize how important it was. The Laodicean church majors exclusively, and they do. If you think through this, you'll understand, and you'll know that I'm telling you the truth. They major on salvation, hell, heaven, and service. That's what they stick with. And if it doesn't fall under those categories, they pretty much leave it alone. They don't talk much about the other things. If they get out into any other realm, it may have to do with what God's doing in your life, or if we suffer with Him, we'll reign with Him. But all that stuff is directed right back to the things that God has written in this book, how they affect us personally and directly. That's what it's about. Well, there's a lot more to it than that. And this business of the one generation talking about God from one generation to the next, There's far more importance in there than I've ever given credit to it. There is, there's some things that happen. There's some changes that actually start to take effect. And it's no wonder they don't understand anything about God's glory. Brother Mark and I, and I'm sure some of you have tried to talk to some people about a few of these things, and it goes right over their head. And the reason it does is because unless it affects them personally, they don't understand it. And I can tell you that until God did what He did with Joan, I was without understanding of any of these things. I had no clue. I was just doing like everybody else does, you know, going along and doing what I was supposed to do. And sometimes it was fun and sometimes it wasn't. Sometimes it was just pure duty and sometimes it was pure work. I said, well, man, what were you getting out of it? Well, the sense of calm that, well, one day I'm going to stand before God, and I guess maybe at the judgment seat of Christ, I hope they'll be better than what it might be if I don't do it. That's about all it came down to. But my affections for God were all based on how He treated me. I didn't have any affection for Him because of who He was. My understanding was only limited to what I understood about me and how He affected me. He's only thought of seriously when he's related to the church subjects and their personal needs or desires. You say, what are you talking about? If it doesn't have to do with church, if it doesn't have to do with some need in your life or some personal problem or some personal desire in your life, then God's pretty much left out of the things in people's lives in delay to see in church. It ain't no wonder that they come to church and they're different on Sunday than they are on Monday. because they focus on just those things. Those things aren't happening Monday at work. Church isn't happening Monday at work. Nobody's praying Monday at work for God to bless him and to help him and to minister to him and all this other stuff. That's only happening in church. It ain't no wonder God's confined to a box with a steeple on top. Because God's just only as big as the stuff they think about him. Their understanding is limited to their own thoughts. That's just how big God is to them. You realize how big God is? No, we don't. We do not. We can't comprehend a God that can set stars out there, 800 billion of them in one thing. In one thing. We don't get that. And yet, for years, speaking for myself, for years, God was no bigger than the stuff that affected me personally. I was as big as he was. And he was only really seriously important when I had a real serious need. The rest of the time, it was pretty passive. I was like, oh, okay, yeah, I'll witness for you, God. I'll go to church and I'll sing the songs. Most of the time, you sing them and you don't even know what you're saying. Somebody comes back and says, what'd you sing Sunday morning? Uh. What'd you preach on Sunday morning? Uh. And that was Sunday night when they ask. Why? Because none of it's having any effect on you. It's not reaching you. God's not doing a thing. And they go, well, how can you say that? We're in church. God's not doing a thing. I asked Brother PJ this morning, I said, why doesn't God do more than he does? Oh, because we won't let him. Oh no, I mean, you couldn't stop him. Simple, he doesn't want to. Question is, why doesn't he? Why doesn't he want to? Well, because he's a mean God. That ain't it. Does God answer your prayers? You're hard-pressed to find the ones he answers, the real important ones. Those things are still hurting you. You're still suffering from them. You still got family members that aren't saved. You still got problems in your life you can't solve. And it just keeps going on and on and on and nothing changes. How come you don't do more, God? Because I don't want to. Why don't you want a God? He's got things in mind. He does. Anyway, we pray for help and blessings and deliverance. Outside of this, we only pray out of duty. You ever pray for missionaries? You ever pray for them heartfelt? Well, yeah, after you've been down there for a little while, then you can feel what they feel a little bit and you'll pray for them seriously, but you get away for a little while and you forget. Then you're praying out of duty. That one guy, I think it was John R. Rice, was in there. They come up and take the offering, and John R. Rice asks one of the deacons to lead in prayer, you know, and he says, God, we pray for all of those with whom it is our duty to pray, you know, and he goes on this old dignified, refined, Episcopalian prayer, and he sits down. John R. Rice points at him in front of that whole congregation. He said, bud, your heart's as cold as a block of ice. How'd you like that? It wasn't cold then. It warmed him right up. He probably started sweating in about a minute or two when he thought about that. We're all like that. We get to feeling like, well, yeah, I'm not like that. Oh, yes, we are. There's nothing to do with good. So they're talking about somebody else. I don't think so. Hebrews 11, six. What's that mean? You say, what is the verse? Oh, it's real familiar. But without faith it's impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." You know what I used to think that meant? I used to think that meant seek salvation. I used to think that meant seek His will. You know, we pray for His will, but then when He gives it to us, we pray to get out of it, because you don't recognize it as His will. You think any bad thing happening to you must be the devil or one of these other rotten Christians doing something to you. You don't really believe it's He that worketh in us, both to will and do of His good pleasure. Why don't we get deliverance? Why don't we get the things that we desire? If that's the devil and if that's the flesh, don't you think God would be compelled by His love for us to do something for us in those times of great need? Well, mommy, if you really loved me, you wouldn't make me go to school. If you really loved me, you wouldn't make me clean my room. If you really loved me, you wouldn't make me stay up this late doing homework. If your kids don't understand you any better than that, what makes you think you understand God better than that? We don't. Why are we without understanding? Good question. It has something to do with the way we're taught. Those children could understand more if we'd take the time to explain it to them. If you could communicate your love for those children through all of those events and explain it, they're smart enough to get it. Even if they didn't like it, they'd be smart enough to get it. Well, let me tell you why you need to go to school. Well, I still don't like it. I don't think I need to go. Only reason you're going is because I love you and I know if you don't go, it's gonna cost you a lot more than if you do. That kind of stuff. We don't bother explaining that kind of stuff to them. We try to logically reason with them. You can communicate a whole lot better when it comes out of your heart than when it comes out of your mind. You start to reach people then. Tears say a whole lot more than intellect. They do. What is that? We think it means salvation and His provision. He that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He's a rewarder of them that diligently seek His stuff, His blessing, His provision, His protection. That's not what it says. It says Him, and it means exactly what it says. And unless you're seeking Him, all you're seeking is His. And as long as all you're seeking is His, why should He bother? Question is, why doesn't He do more than He does? Because He doesn't want to. Why doesn't He want to? Because He doesn't benefit at all. All that it does is make you want more. It spoils you to the point where you're just like a little kid, and this isn't enough, and he started answering this prayer, and that prayer, and that prayer. Next thing you know, you are spoiled rotten. And the only thing you want is more, because every time he answers your prayer, you think you can get what you want, and it doesn't draw any attention to him at all. It just focuses you on your next desire, your next achievement, the next thing that you see that you want, that you may consume it upon your lusts. It says, seek him. Anyway, over there it talks about His reward. He's a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. What is His reward? Is it stuff? I mean, think about this a minute. Is it stuff? What could His reward be? Giving you power? He says His reward is with what? Him. I'll bet you his reward is to be with him. I'll bet you that's what it is. You say, well, I seek him. Maybe, but not likely. Romans chapter three. Romans chapter three, starting in verse nine, so you don't get a misconception that he's talking about somebody else. What then, are we better than they? No, in no wise, for we have before proved Jews and Gentiles that they are all under sin. And as it is written, there is none righteous. No, not one. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after God. They're all gone out of the way. They are all together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. You think, oh, that's before I was saved. And that deceitful heart that's desperately wicked will convert everything that you do for God into a self-righteous attitude and make you think you're better than they are. And that's the stuff God can't stand. He can't stand it. And he'd have more fellowship with that woman that came and just slobbered all over his feet than he had with the Pharisee. And that Pharisee in his heart said, if he knew what she was like, he wouldn't have anything to do with her. And in our hearts, that's exactly what our heart's like. And it compels us to think exactly that way. That's a sad state of affairs, but it is true. Now that's all without distinction. You say, what are you talking about? Well, there are a few that seeketh after God. Which ones? David did. David sought after his God. You know, that's what God actually wants. He wants our attention. That's like liars, you know, he says, all liars shall have their part in a lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. Well, are you a liar? Well, then you're gonna burn. No, I'm not, I'm saved. Well, then it's all without distinction, not all without exception. The Bible says, it's needful that offenses come, but woe unto the man by whom they come. What he said there is a mouthful. He said, bad things are going to happen, but you don't have to be the one by whom it happens. Somehow he brings this stuff about and he picks the ones that he wants to pick like Pharaoh. Why do you think he picked Pharaoh when Pharaoh was at his time of power and rule there to bail the Israelites out? Because of the kind of heart the man had. Because of the kind of person that he was. He said, okay, now you're just the one I want. He didn't force Pharaoh to do that stuff. Pharaoh hardened his heart first. I didn't harden it, he did. And then God says, okay now bud, You want to play that game? I'll play that game with you, but you don't know who you're playing with. And he had no clue. I mean, we think God is a man like as we. You start messing around with God, you're messing around with somebody who can part the Red Sea, dry it out, send them across and drown you in the bottom. That's who you're messing with. And we as Christians, we just go through life day by day, just the same old routine, nothing changes, nothing gets better. It's just the same old set of problems and we keep on putting forth the effort, you know, just duty, duty. You think you're better? You think you seek Him? Do you? Tell me then, what grabs God's attention? I mean, grabs His attention. You think it's your needs? You think it's when you do something, you give money to God, and boy, that got his attention. I helped this homeless guy, that got God's attention. What do you think grabs God's attention? What do you think actually stirs him? Down deep inside, what stirs God? What gives him pure pleasure? What does he desire from you? You think he desires your time? You think he desires your money? You think He desires your sacrifice or your service? What does God actually want? Well, He wants my love. Well, go ahead then, you go ahead and increase your love. You just go ahead and start loving Him anytime you're ready. Pretty easy, isn't it? Matter of fact, it's nearly impossible. Are you gonna give Him what He wants or are you gonna give Him what you think He wants? You can't give God what he wants. You can't stir him. You can't grab his attention unless you're giving him what he wants. As long as you're giving him what you think he wants, you're just like Cain. Just like him. You're offering him stuff that you think ought to be good enough for him, that was good enough for you. I've impressed me, God, so I'm bringing you the best I had. God said, that's not what I wanted. Why don't we know what God wants? That's pretty bad, isn't it? Think about these things. What are the things best between you and your Heavenly Father? When you're serving Him, when you're reading your Bible, when you're praying, when you're in church, when you're giving money, when you're singing. Come on, when is it the best? Between you and God. One of those periods of time when between you and God something happens and it's glorious. I'm broad-minded, you know. But I actually believe in cause and effect. Come, let us reason together, saith the Lord. It's as though your sins be as scarlet. Well, how about studying the rest of it? How about reasoning together? Well, if it's best here with you, God, why do I keep trying to make it over here? It's because we keep giving him what we think he wants. We're throwing them vegetables up on him, turnips and the carrots and the celery and everything else. He's not impressed. He says, so then, because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. And when you begin to think like I'm talking this morning, you can see how clearly that is spoken and how those things are connected together. God says, this stuff just makes me sick. What makes you sick, God? Vegetables. What makes you sick, God? Bringing me a football when I don't play football. I'm 80 years old and in a wheelchair. You say, you saying God's 80 years old in a wheelchair? No, but some teenage kid or some little kid buying a football for his grandfather has that same kind of effect. And that's the effect we have on God because we're giving him what we think he likes. When's it the best? After repenting of some sin that you couldn't get victory over? After repenting of your wickedness? After you ran your mouth about some Christian? After you ran down somebody else? because your deceitful heart is making you feel better than them and so you are perfectly equipped to criticize them? This is where the rubber meets the road. How come you're being so tough? Because there's benefit to be had from this. This is real. The things I'm talking about right now are not feel good. They're the things that will change lives. They're the things that God desires. So how do I know God desires them? Because I've seen the results. I know when the things are the best. For 30 some odd years, anything that I did, that was not what impressed God. You say, how come? Because those were works. And when I've done that which was my duty to do, I'm to say I'm an unprofitable servant. Well, how can I be unprofitable if I'm serving you, God, because you're not serving me with the warmth that I desire? I want some temperature involved in it. Where's that come from, God? It comes out of your heart. They're just going through the motions. They're going to church routinely. They're praying routinely. Thank you for this food, and I hope it don't poison me. Oh, you're gonna get sick now you didn't pray. Hogwash. He says, and let it be received with thanksgiving. Is that really thankfulness in your heart or is that routine? You're better off to not pray a single prayer and to be actually thankful. He say you had to pray and say thank you? Well, no, but the Lord did, you know, fish and so forth. Good example there. Anyway, come on, when are things the best? You say, when he, no, not when he, it's not when he, it's when you, it's when you focus your attention on him through his mighty works. Speaking for me, it began when I focused my attention on his mighty work of my salvation and I began to love him. And my affections for him were stirred, and his affections for me were stirred, and I was rejoicing in the presence of the angels. And then something happened. And some Laodicean church member robbed me. He cooled me off. Oh, you'll cool off. You'll get over it. Yeah, and you'll see to it, won't you? Not because they're mean, not because they intended to. It's because they got a deceitful heart that deceives them own selves. And it's because of the period of time we live in. So when was the next time that happened? It wasn't until the mighty work that God performed in my wife. And when that happened, boy, I was impressed. In fact, I was impressed to the point of being overwhelmed. And that led me back into that same affection that I had for him. And it wasn't just pure sense of overwhelming gratitude. It wasn't like, oh, thank you, God, thank you, God, thank you, God. No, I just fell in love with him again all over. We love him because he first loved us. The first time he did something for me, it was a miracle. Second time he did something for me, it was a miracle. I know who he is. I know what he did. It wasn't her being healed by any doctor. And God did that, it was He working in me, both the will and the do of His good pleasure. And He did it for His glory. That's why He did it. And that glory is a wide subject. That thing's not just narrowed down to one specific thing. Oh, whoso offereth praise glorifieth me, yeah. Yeah, and the stars in heaven glorify Him. I guarantee you those stars up there that are just burning balls of fire bring more glory to God than we do. The heavens declare the glory of God. When was the last time you did? Hmm. We try, though. Been trying more lately than we did in the past. We should be getting better at it, actually. Anyway, now I see a lot more. I see his heavens that declare his glory, and that draws my attention to his mighty acts, his mighty works. What's that do to me? That impresses me more with who he is. I see His creation, all these things that we've been talking about, you know, these bugs and these critters and these animals and all that stuff, that stuff draws my attention to Him. For it is God that worketh in me both to will and to do of His good pleasure. The reason we don't change year to year is because we respond the same way to what He's doing in our lives. He won't change. We must. And until we change, nothing's gonna change. I was the same for 30 some odd years. And until God did something inside of me that made a difference, I just keep on going along. You say, why did he do it? Of his good pleasure. What do you think he's trying to do in every one of us, in everything that we go through? He's trying to get our attention back on him. And yet all we do is we focus on what's in it for us. John 3 30 says, he must increase, but I must decrease. When was the last time you found him increasing? Oh, he increased last time I had this major problem, then I was really praying hard, boy, he was big then. That's not him increasing, that's your problems increasing. When did he actually increase? When are you impressed by him? Until he becomes more important to you than you are, nothing's gonna change. And as long as your attention's focused on you and your problems, he's little and you're big. and you keep praying and praying and praying for relief and for deliverance and stuff and you don't get it. Why? Because he doesn't want to. Can he fix our problems? Well, it's because he doesn't want to. Why don't you want to, God? You may consume it upon your lusts. It's about you. When you begin to recognize his might, his power, his magnificence, then you begin to understand who he really is. You remember when that leper got healed and he turned around with a loud voice and glorified God? Because that's exactly what he understood. For that short period of time, he understood this one's power. And with a loud voice, he glorified God because of what he was capable of doing. Then his attention turned back on himself. And it's okay for your attention to turn back on yourself in thanksgiving, but that should produce more love. not greed for another prayer answered. Oh, he answered that one, maybe I got his attention right now. I've felt like that in the past, I have. Until you begin to see his genius and what he does for his own pleasure, you'll continue to focus on what he does that benefits you personally. That's profound right there. Until you begin to see his genius in what he does for his own pleasure, you'll continue to focus on what he does that benefits you personally. Your salvation, your protection, your provision, your deliverance, et cetera. Let's have a word of testimony. I thank God he saved me. I thank God he did this for me. I thank God he did that for me. I thank God for his blessings on me. I thank God for His pure genius and what He made here and somehow put me inside of this thing. And I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. He didn't say that about any of His other creation. I thank God He's given me the ability to understand who He is. I thank God most of all that He turned my life around. He changed everything. My life has been so different ever since He changed this stuff. ever since I began to understand who He was and be impressed by Him. You know when things are great in your life? It's when you're impressed by Him. That's the only time. You can pray all you want, you can read your Bible all you want, you can stop sinning all you want or try. That's not when things get good between you and Him. Things are only good between you and Him when it's all about Him. How's it gonna be all about Him? One generation shall speak of his mighty works and his mighty acts to the next. And we've been cheated out of our education. We have. And we're not the only ones. The rest of the world is suffering in the same plight. When you start thinking about those things, for example, you're focused on what he does for you personally. You know, your salvation, your protection, your provision, your deliverance, all the things that you pray for routinely, with affection because those are the things out of your heart, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. If nothing else, what you pray for should be a reflection of what's in your heart, and what should be in your heart is His glory. But instead, it's still about me. This isn't seeking Him, it's seeking self. And until we change in our response to His work in our lives, things will stay exactly like they have been this last year. If you want a different year next year, start thinking different. Start responding different to Him. You say, well, do you get all your prayers answered now? No, and thank God I don't. Because I know immediately that would change me from appreciating who He is to appreciating what He can do for me. And I don't want to go back there. I've got a desperately wicked heart that constantly tries to pull me back there. And the way I know that I'm messed up is when that warmth between him and me is not there. And I can tell you without any hesitation, it's not my sin that changes that relationship, it's my focus and my attention. Well, isn't that sin? All unrighteousness is sin. But the sin that grieves him is when I replace him with me. Let's close in prayer.