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[Music] if there is one thing that you could ask from god or from somebody else what is that one thing that you would like to have and i think if we were to be honest some of us are probably going to ask for a nice house probably a nice car probably a nice watch probably a nice job or many other things many of the things or that one thing that we would ask would definitely be something that's physical or material but then again when we examine david what was that one thing that he desired and in psalm 27 he reveals his very heart of hearts to us and i'd like to read to you psalm 27 verse 4 and it says one thing i have asked of the lord that will i seek after that i may dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life to gaze upon the beauty of the lord and to inquire in his temple so insofar as david was concerned that one thing that he was asking for is god himself that one thing he was asking for was to gaze into the beauty of the lord and i believe those of us who do have a genuine relationship with the lord those of us who have tasted the goodness of the lord those of us who are fully and totally surrendered to the lord the one thing that we truly desire in our lives is god and god alone and if we have god we have everything this psalm reveals the reason why david was called a man after god's own heart because the heart of david was aligned with the very heart of god it is the most righteous thing for us to do to align ourselves with the very will of god and what god requires of us is to worship him in spirit and in truth not in hypocrisy not a fake kind of worship but a worship that truly comes from our heart of hearts wherein we say lord only you really matter to me and nothing else really matters as we begin our worship just like david let's gaze upon the beauty of the lord as we sing our new songs before him let's all rise from our seeds [Music] [Music] [Music] his majesty that be over [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] forever let's proclaim his majesty that is [Music] [Music] drive forever [Applause] [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] is let us pray [Music] so who is like the lord god almighty who spoke the earth for he's the creator of all things the sun is set to rise upon the east the moon and stars declare for us to see the beauty of the lord to us the song of all creation now we see from everlasting to everlasting from age to life [Music] the word made [Music] crucified to set the captives free rose again jesus christ now death no longer has [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] the same [Applause] [Music] the oh [Music] [Music] again [Music] hmm [Music] [Music] every creature eyes to worship thee singing holy [Music] singing holy [Music] age [Music] is the same [Music] to love you is my heart's desire to know you as my lord [Music] to [Music] cleanse me from my sinfulness wash me with your [Music] precious [Music] fill me with your love o lord revive me with your [Music] me power your glory oh lord my god oh lord my god [Music] teach me with your holy word keep me faithful to the end may my life my words be pleasing to you oh fill me with [Music] use me for your glory oh lord my god oh lord my god fill me with [Music] my god oh lord my god oh my god indeed [Music] i [Music] he [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] we [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] please [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] hello living world family journey new here coming to you from the place we call home on sundays it's been almost nine months that we haven't gathered together this pandemic led us to our respective homes where we are attending online sunday services i know we miss the physical fellowship we miss everyone in church i am happy to announce that we are reopening our doors on the first weekend of december let's all get excited as god's people being under one roof praising one name in his presence i'll take you around the sanctuary and we'll show you the safety measures we've put in place [Music] to ensure everyone's safety and to prevent overcrowding the seats are limited and are open to reservation please don't forget to register online to secure your seats as we return physically let us prepare our hearts and our minds we can't wait to welcome all of you back and fellowship together once again [Music] [Music] do [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] good news brethren as you very well know we now have two services we have the virtual service for majority of our members who still cannot attend our in-person gathering and for those who are attending our virtual services let me exhort you once again to check out our facebook page living word christian searches of cebu international incorporated and also our website www.livingword.ph likewise you can check our youtube channel to view our services so for those of you attending our virtual services we enjoin you to watch the coverage of our service every sunday at nine o'clock in the morning kindly visit our sermon as well over radio on dyfrfm 98.7 every saturday and sunday 8 p.m for the in-person gathering i'd like you to know that we are now going to increase the number of services beginning january 16 we will now have two saturday services the first saturday service will be at nine o'clock in the morning which will be handled by pastor jun nino nalipai and it's going to be a cebuano english service likewise on a saturday at three o'clock in the afternoon all the way to five o'clock we have pastor dj barrios preaching in our english service on a saturday both pastors by the way will be preaching my own sermon series and so you will not miss out on anything even if you choose to attend the saturday service now on sunday of course i do the sunday nine a.m service and likewise beginning february my son aj will be preaching in another sunday service at four o'clock in the afternoon and so please watch out for these new services remember january 16th an additional saturday service at 3 pm by pastor dj barrios and then beginning this february another sunday service at four o'clock in the afternoon by pastor aj caparos preaching the same sermon so again friends you will not miss out on anything we will continue to serve you and will increase the number of services depending on the demand ibi would like to make an announcement we are offering a new course right now we are accepting enrollees in homiletics 306 homiletics 306 is about sermon preparation and delivery for more inquiries kindly read the details on this [Music] powerpoint [Music] we'd also like to thank our partners and those who of our members who have been consistently giving to partner with us in the work of the lord we'd like to share our giving channels to those who would like to partner with us in the work of the lord you can deposit your love offerings to the following banks banco de oro account name is lwcccii the account number is zero zero one zero zero zero zero six zero eight zero zero we also have a bpi account account name is living word christian ministries cebu incorporated account number is three 10210234 eight one finally we have rcbc account name is lwcccii account number is one four five two zero zero five two six you may also send your lab offerings and donations online through our website go to www.livingword.ph and click give and then a dialog box comes out of it kindly click on your giving preferences thank you and god bless the title of today's sermon is the heavenly court hearing we will take our text from psalm 50. shall we now read together psalm 50 a psalm of assad the mighty one god the lord has spoken and summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting out of zion the perfection of beauty god has shown forth may our god come and not keep silence fire divides before him and it is very tempestuous around him he summons the heavens above and the earth to judge his people gather my godly ones to me those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice and the heavens declare his righteousness for god himself is judge salah hear all my people and i will speak o israel i will testify against you i am god your god i do not reprove you for your sacrifices and your burnt offerings are continually before me i shall take no young bull out of your house nor mail goats out of your folds for every beast of the forest is mine the cattle on a thousand hills i know every bird of the mountains and everything that moves in the field is mine if i were hungry i would not tell you for the world is mine and all it contains shall i eat the flesh of bowls or drink the blood of male goats offer to god a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the most high call upon me in the day of trouble i shall rescue you and you will honor me but to the wicked god says what right have you to tell of my statutes and to take my covenant in your mouth for you hate discipline and you cast my words behind you when you see a thief you are pleased with him and you associate with adulterers you let your mouth loose in evil and your tongue frames deceit you sit and speak against your brother you slander your own mother son these things you have done and i kept silence you thought i was just like you i will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes now consider this you who forget god or i will tear you in pieces and there will be none to deliver he who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me and to him who orders his way a right i shall show the salvation of god shall we bow our heads in prayer once again at this time heavenly father we come before you and once again we humble ourselves before your heavenly court and we desire oh god to be blessed and to receive from your word we ask o god that your spirit might pervade every room where this video is being listened to we pray that it will penetrate our minds and our hearts even as i pray for myself oh god that you might use me as a vessel lord that will bring your word to your people whatever is going to be achieved today we will give you back the glory the praises and the thanks in jesus mighty name we pray amen and amen now this psalm happens to be the very first song that asap had composed now you very well know that asap in our previous uh sermons composed about 11 psalms and so this assault happened to be a very celebrated poet as well as psalmist and in this particular psalm psalm 50 you will find his creativity that's the reason why he was very much celebrated and what we find here is a picture of a heavenly court with god serving as judge and likewise as accuser and in this particular case we find unfaithful israel as the defendant and so the story here basically has to do with israel's infidelity their ritualism as well as their formalism and this is very much the sins that we find in the church as well sometimes we are able to see a very beautiful facade but behind this veneer we find that there is so much hypocrisy there is so much infidelity there is so much ritualism and formalism as the bible says in the last days there will be a form of godliness but people will not have the essence or the substance of true religion and somehow i feel that this psalm is very very relevant in our case and i pray to god that we will not only be a church or churches that are beautiful externally in appearance but we will be beautiful inside and out because that is the kind of fidelity that is the kind of faithfulness devotion and consecration that god requires of us in our study today we find very simple uh three points and i just like to outline it for you so that we will be able to see the creativity of asset as well as the flow of the sermon in verses one to six we find the summons and under that in verses one to six you find summoning the first witness as the first sub-point number two the location of the court hearing number three the prayer of asaph number four summoning the second witness and number five summoning the third witness and in number six we meet the judge now we segue into the second major point wherein we find god's sevenfold accusation in verses 7 to 22 first accusation hypocrisy in their animal sacrifices second accusation service third accusation hatred of god fourth accusation rejoiced in evil fifth accusation filthy mouth sixth accusation twisted perspective of god seventh accusation forgetfulness of god and as our third and final point we have the promise of reward for repentance found in verse 23. so allow me to unpack this sermon to you as we dive into our text and let's begin with our first major point the summons in verses 1 to 6 as we find god summoning the first witness in verse 1 it says the mighty one god the lord has spoken and summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting now one of the distinct things that you will observe with this verse is that there is a threefold revelation of god something that you do not always find in the other psalms and even in the other parts of the old testament and so what we find here are three words that are used of god first you find the mighty one and then the second would be god and the second one would be lord now this was the most apt way to somehow introduce this psalm and why do i say that because one of the accusations which i i feel is found in verse 22 is the forgetfulness of god the people of israel had spiritual amnesia and that is why here right at the beginning right at the four what asap does is he gives a three-fold revelation of god to somehow remind the people who their god is now this three-fold revelation by the way is likewise important because it is used by god when there was an accusation of infidelity towards the trans-jordanian israeli tribes those who did not go within the jordan river but those who remained outside the jordan river they were staying on the eastern side of the jordan and as you very well know uh there was an issue that took place between them because they had put up a structure to somehow remind them of the relationship their covenant relationship with the god of israel however the people on the other side the western side of the jordan felt that they were being unfaithful to the lord and that is why their loyalty was in question we find this in joshua chapter 22 verse 22 and so this three-fold revelation is somehow appropriate because what is being questioned here as well by assa and by god himself is the loyalty of the nation of israel and here again that is what is the issue this is what is in question this is the indictment of god on the nation of israel now god is calling earth here as witness let me just read to you once again verse one it says the mighty one god the lord has spoken and summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting so god is now calling earth as its first witness as it is witness to israel's way of life from the beginning of the day the rising of the sun and then a dawn at sunset and this is we what we find so in the beginning and in the end of the day now this of course is figurative and is a poetic way of saying that god is witness to everything that israel does god is witness to the way of life that israel was living this is called anthropomorphism which is the attribution of human characteristic to animals or objects and so here that is the figure of speech or the expression that we find here all right and so earth is being given the uh characteristic of a human being who is witness to everything that israel is doing now the picture here as i mentioned right at the introduction is that of a court case wherein god is the judge as well as the accuser now we go to our next point or sub-point the location of the court hearing it says in verse 2 out of zion the perfection of beauty god has shown forth so in this psalm which asap creatively made what we find is that the location of the court hearing happens to be in zion once again representing the religious capital of israel jerusalem where the temple court and the temple itself where and so this was the most appropriate location because this was where all the israelites would go at least once a year and it was here that they would offer their burnt offerings their sin offerings when whatever offerings were required under levitical law and so this place was the location where the so-called quote-unquote crimes of israel were being committed and this was the place where they were going to be tried now we find the prayer of assaf here in verse 3 he says may our god come and not keep silence fire divides before him and it is very tempestuous around him now the prayer of assab might have been occasioned by the fact that there seemed to be delayed judgment and that's why here we find asap praying to god to say lord finally you need to rule in this case against your people so many sins are being committed there's formalism there is ritualism there is hypocrisy there is lying and so on and so forth and asset was saying lord you have got to rule right now lord do not delay the proceedings lord do not delay the court hearing lord let this be the supreme court that will make a final judgment on this nation which is basically apostasized against you now again this was the prayer of assaf and notice here he describes to us the the fiery judgment of god this is what he says fire divorce before him and it is very tempestuous around him so asap was aware that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living god now you very well know that under levitical law there needs to be two or three witnesses before a person could actually be judged as being guilty or not guilty now of course when witnesses are being called in a jewish court hearing they require obviously people who are credible witnesses and so who happens to be the second witness that god summons in this case well the second witness is the heavens above look at verse 4 please it says he summons the heavens above and the earth to judge his people now heaven just like earth happens to be a silent witness to everything that happens in the whole world to everything that happens in the nation of israel and once again we find another example of anthropomorphism wherein an object or an animal is given human characteristics and once again here we find that heaven is being called upon seemingly as a human witness but then again the whole point really here is that god is the one who sees everything he sees everything happening in the heavens he sees everything happening on earth and so god happens to be the perfect witness and of course we are reminded of the fact that although our god is one god there are three persons in that one god you have god the father god the son and god the holy spirit and all three persons in the blessed trinity happen to be witness to everything that happens on earth not only in terms of what happens in a community such as the nation of israel or a community such as the church god knows everything that happens in each and every individual life in fact he even knows our thoughts our intentions our motives even before a thought crosses our mind the lord already knows what you and i are about to think and that is why god happens to be the perfect witness he is the perfect accuser if ever there is an indictment if ever there is something that people are guilty of then god is the most perfect witness in this entire universe and so we find in verse 5 a summoning of the third witness as i mentioned do you need two or three witnesses and in verse 5 it says gather my godly ones to me those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice according to the mosaic laws i mentioned right at the beginning you need two or three credible witnesses and the third witness here happens to be the godly remnant of israel and god expects them to be true witnesses not false witnesses because obviously people who sin against god the ungodly tend to exonerate and justify themselves they tend to exonerate and and justify their own sins but not the godly remnant the godly remnant happened to be very discerning people people who have observed the mosaic law not only externally but within their hearts we find a devoted consecration before the lord and this is what we know about the godly remnant of israel so they happen to be the third witness in this case we go to the judge it says here and the heavens declare his righteousness for god himself is judge now we find here that god is both the accuser as well as the judge now some might say well that's going to be an unfair indictment that is going to be an unfair trial how can it be that the accuser is also the judge as well but you know here's what verse 6 says and the heavens declare his righteousness so there is nothing to worry about this is going to be a fair and just trial and why do we say that because god is going to be very very objective about the trial we know that god happens to be not only the perfect witness but also the perfect accuser and likewise the perfect judge and there's something quite interesting here in um the hebrew again we go into the shades of meaning the the nuances that we find in the original it is with the word himself the word himself is a contrast emphasis and tells us that only god is judged by that i mean only god happens to be the perfect righteous fair just judge there's no one else i mean there may be good judges but we cannot say that they are not tainted we cannot say that they are perfect but insofar as god himself god himself is the only perfect fair just judge in the entire universe there's no one else and that is why if you want to bring things before the supreme court of heaven god would be the perfect judge and that is why here once again we know that this is going to be a fair and just trial and that is why if we come before the judgment seat of god i believe you and i will not complain to the lord and say lord you are unfair you are unjust i believe god will just be able to expose our hearts expose our thoughts expose our motives and our intentions and he will show to us beyond a shadow of a doubt that whatever judgment he makes about our own lives it is going to be perfect it is going to be accurate it is going to be without bias and without prejudice for god after all is no respecter of persons now let's go to the seven-fold accusation of god that we find in verses 7 to 22. the first accusation happens to be hypocrisy in their animal sacrifices in verse 7 it reads hear o my people and i will speak o israel i will testify against you i am god your god now god places himself as the very first and primary witness remember what i mentioned to you right at the very beginning that when it uses the antrophomorphism of earth and heaven it was really talking about god so god is now taking his stand here before this heavenly court hearing and he reminds people i am god your god and so again uh what happens here is asset and god himself of course is reminding the people of israel i am your god i am your covenant keeping god i'm the god who made um a covenant with abraham with your patriarch with isaac and with jacob this is what is being reminded this is what israel is being reminded of and once again god places himself as the very first witness the primary witness on the witness stand and this is what god has to say in verse 8 i do not reprove you for your sacrifices or your burnt offerings are continually before me the accusation of god here has nothing to do with their burnt offerings has nothing to do with whatever they had offered at the temple in jerusalem why because in so far as their external compliance was concerned they were complying with the mosaic and levitical law whatever was required of god whether it was a burnt offering a sin offering a thank offering a peace offering they were all doing that and so there was nothing in so far as the external was concerned that was wrong they were in fact faithful in their dispensing of their own duties god had no beef god had no complaint whatsoever with what they were offering to him so let's find out more of what the lord really had against them and by the way in verses 9 to 13 it segues into a very important passage in this psalm and i'd like to read that for you in verse 9 it says i shall take no young bull out of your house nor mail goats out of your folds for every beast of the forest is mine that cattle on a thousand hills i know every bird of the mountains and everything that moves in the field is mine if i were hungry i would not tell you for the world is mine and all it contains shall i eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of male goats so here what do we find the lord saying the lord is reminding them i'm not requiring any more animal sacrifices it's not like you have been lacking in this area you you have given me what i have required so i'm not asking you for for more animal sacrifices i'm not asking you to add or supplement whatever you have already given and then he reminds them after all that everything that they're offering belongs to him god owns everything the word mind by the way is a contrast emphasis which reminds the people of israel that all the things that they're offering belong to god and to god alone and sometimes i think we can be proud and be very arrogant in that lord i have given you this i've offered this to you i have dedicated this to you lord i've done so many things for you we forget one very important principle and david by the way was aware and conscious of this when he was making preparations for the building of the temple and he knew that his son solomon was going to be the one very much involved in the building of the temple he made sure that in his prayer he makes mention of the fact that whatever he had to offer to god really came from the hand of god and so let's remind ourselves of that let's be humble and not arrogant whatever we offer to god comes from his own hands in fact let us all be aware and conscious of the fact that whatever good we do in this life is really the work of god in our hearts in our minds and in our lives philippians 2 13 states to us for it is god who is at work in us both to will and to work for his good pleasure so this was a reminder to the nation of israel so the desire of god for the nation of israel was not animal sacrifices per se what was god after well what god was after was the very heart of the nation of israel this was what he was after god had no physical need he had no hunger he had no thirst it was not why he was requiring the people of israel to make those sacrifices by the way let me just tell you that during those times the other nations the pagan nations offered offerings as well to their gods even animal sacrifices why because they thought they were feeding their god that their gods were hungry and thirsty and god was really saying to the nation of israel don't compare me with the other pagan gods they are not gods at all and i am not a god who gets hungry i am not a god who becomes thirsty that's not the reason why i want you to make those sacrifices i want your hearts and by the way just as a sidebar here often a lot of believers a lot of christians complain why do they have to offer god their own tights or their own grace gifts if you would like to call it that way why do you need to make offerings to god and and sometimes we can complain and grumble about what we need to give or on the other hand we can be like the pharisees very proud and and very arrogant that they tithe even the smallest of seeds that they tied dill mint and cumin and we can be like that as well well let us remind ourselves that the reason why god asks us to give is not because he needs our money he doesn't need our money god can create anything out of nothing he creates uh he created the universe ex nihilo he created the universe out of nothing so it's not like god needs our money so why is it that he requires these things of us what he requires really is our hearts because the lord jesus christ himself said that we cannot serve two masters either we serve god or mammon and here let me just tell you something very important and something that you might uh not uh like but i speak the truth in love if you and i are not faithful and consecrated in our giving could it be that we have not yet fully surrendered our lives to jesus christ could it be that our confession or profession of faith is not really genuine because the truth of the matter is this when you have surrendered your life to jesus christ when you have made him your personal lord and savior there is nothing that compares with god and that is why it is an easy thing not a burden something is an easy thing for you to part away with your own money and by the way what is it that god requires he doesn't require that we give all of our money to him he just requires a small percentage why is it that we could not even give that to him after all what god is testing is our own hearts he is really asking us who is your god is your god money or is your god your god and this is where a lot of people are going to be tested and so again just like paul i just like to say to you test and see whether you really are in the faith so what god is condemning here is a religion that does not involve the heart it was merely a religion of externals bereft of genuine religious affection and this is what jonathan edwards would talk about many times the religious affections that should be present in a genuine relationship with the lord now question what therefore was god's holy desire well we're given the answer in verse it says offer to god a sacrifice of thanksgiving and pay your vows to the most high so here what we find that god was really what god really was longing along with the sacrifices was a heart of genuine gratitude a heart of genuine gratitude you know when you're offering something to god it should be offered with with sincerity and with with thankfulness and we say lord you've been so good to me you have loved me you have blessed me your favor has been upon me your mercy has been upon my life and so lord allow me to offer these things to you lord because i love you because i am deeply indebted to you because lord i have a heart filled with gratitude that is what god wanted likewise god wanted them to fulfill their vows many jews had made vows before god that lord if this happens i would give this to you and so on and so forth and yet when god delivers with his side of the bargain so to speak the people of israel would then forget that they ever made vows so this was something that god really was asking from them along with the animal sacrifices a heart of gratitude and the fulfillment of their promises and vows before the lord this verse is telling us that theirs was a religion of mere externals and hypocrisy there was no reality there was no substance in their worship of the lord and sometimes that is the kind of worship that we find it's empty hollow worship it's worship bereft of what god truly wants and that is a heart that is genuinely consecrated to the lord and that's why let us sanctify and guard our hearts let us continually remember and pursue this god who has done great and mighty things in our case and in verse 15 we find a promise it says in verse 15 call upon me in the day of trouble i shall rescue you and you will honor me now this verse somehow implies because obviously they were in trouble and israel had many national problems and and threats in internally as well as externally and the implication here was that the reason why god was not delivering them god was not rescuing them was because they were unfaithful to god in contrast the promise of the lord is this if you call upon me in the day of trouble i shall rescue you and you will honor me if only they were faithful god would have rescued them and as god delivered them they would have honored god and declared god as the lord of hosts the lord our victory the lord our banner let's go now to the second accusation lip service in verse 16 it says but to the wicked god says what right of you to tell of my statutes and to take my covenant in your mouth and again this proves to us that externally there was absolutely nothing wrong with them they knew their bible they knew their bible in fact they were talking about the statutes of god they were talking about the old testament they were bible preachers and yet the sad thing was their walk did not match their talk that is why here god was saying what right have you to tell of my statutes and to take my covenant in your mouth god was saying stop using the word of god there is so much duplicity in you there is so much hypocrisy and you try to pretend to everybody else that you are holy and living a sanctified life that is a lie you are deceiving people by having my word in your mouth and yet not living it out not apply not applying it not obeying it now the third accusation here is the act the hatred of god notice in verse 17 it says for you hate discipline and you cast my words behind you well they portrayed that they somehow loved god because of their sacrifices and because of their knowledge of the truth of god's word and their exposition of it the truth of the matter was that it was all a lie they really did not love god they hated god and how do we know that they hated god well it says here that they hated the discipline of god in other words they did not want to be corrected by god they did not want to be rebuked by god they did not want to be told by god what was wrong in their lives they just wanted to exonerate themselves they their the inner lawyer in their hearts was continually justifying them even with the many sins that they were committing even with their hypocrisy they were content with the status quo they were content with what they were offering to god and probably they were saying what what more what else does god need what else does god want from me i've given him my animal sacrifices and my burnt offerings that was the attitude the bad attitude the people of israel had they hated discipline not only that they cast the words of god behind them so there was not only failure to submit to god's discipline there was failure to obey the word of god didn't the lord jesus christ say that your soul will be at peril when you simply hear the word of god and not apply it in your life didn't the lord jesus use the parable of a house built on solid rock and a house built on sinking sand the truth of the matter is that there are many people who have built their lives on sinking sand and that parable is basically teaching that there are some people who hear the word of god they listen to the sermon but unfortunately they do not apply it and obey it so the floods come the troubles the storms come and the house cannot stand why because what god requires of us is not merely hearing god's word but obeying the word of god now the fifth accusation here or the fourth accusation i'm sorry is that they rejoiced in evil verse 18 when you see a thief you are pleased with him and you associate with adulterers the point here really is that while it may be true that they did not commit the physical act of stealing or committing adultery the fact is they were approving and even delighting in the things that other people were doing they were delighting in the evil that people were doing quite possibly because they may have benefited out of the evil or the corruption that some people were doing and again this just revealed the kind of heart they had their religion was basically a facade a spiritual facade which appeared beautiful on the outside but deep down in the inside it was like dead men's bones now the fifth accusation here is their filthy mouth in verse 19 it says you let your mouth loose in evil and your tongue frames deceit so what we find here is that their speech was filled with with evil and and lying perhaps they were cussing and cursing and speaking a lot of bad words and not only that they were deceivers they were liars they could not be found speaking the truth they were often lying and again this was something that they were being accused of not only that in verse 20 notice what it says here you s you sit and speak against your brother you slander your own mother son so what we find here is that they engaged in gossip and slander you know this is something i believe that the filipino church has to somehow overcome because gossip and slander happens to be something that has become a hobby in the church a lifestyle even and oftentimes when people do gossip and and slander and speak bad against other people they they don't feel guilty at all why because really it's part of filipino culture filipino culture is fond of of talking about their neighbors lives and and not only talking and and gossiping about their neighbors lives they they're fond of slandering people and making up stories and and listening to one side of the story not listening listening to the other side and yet they make their judgments straight away and then they spread the word around and a person's credibility and reputation is destroyed why because of this gossiping and slander and people don't realize that it is sinful people don't realize that there is something that god hates god hates gossip god hates slander i think if there's one thing that needs to change in church and you know that many splits many divisions many strained relationships many frictions have come about why because we have allowed incipient and gross slander and gossiping to take place in the church and before you know it there's a split that takes place before you know it there are strained relationships before you know it people's reputations and credibility have already been destroyed and we do a great disservice because we're supposed to build each other up remember the bible says that we are to speak for everyone's edification now what does edification mean it means building each other up the bible likewise tells us to season our speech with salt now what is salt salt is a preservative we've got to preserve the unity and the love and the harmony in the church by choosing our words by not engaging in gossip and in slander this is one of the things that we need to repent of and possibly one of the reasons why we are spiritually dry why we are backslidden and we don't even realize it we don't even realize why am i dry spiritually why am i empty why is it that when i worship and pray to god it feels like my worship hits the ceiling and goes back down to the ground well quite possibly it's because of the sins of our mouth we've got a filthy mouth we we speak evil we we lie we gossip and we slander it's about time that the 21st century church repents of this great evil the sins of the mouth remember the lord jesus christ warned us that every idle word is going to be judged by god and again those are not threats it's a promise coming from the lord now the sixth accusation here is a twisted perspective of god now it says in verse 21 these things you have done and i kept silence you thought that i was just like you i will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes so god's seeming silence on their sins and and perhaps as i mentioned to you right at the very beginning maybe this was the reason why asset was praying to the lord lord you need to make a final judgment you need to rule in this case and it was probably because god seemed to be silent but the truth of the matter was that god was just being patient wanting for the nation of israel to repent of their sins but then again the seeming silence of god meant to the people of israel the ungodly remnant it meant like god was approving of them that god was just fine with a religion of externals even when there was hypocrisy that was present so god was saying no i'm not like you and by the way the word silence is a conjunctive perfect in hebrew which is really the climax of previous things that had happened or taken place in other words the seeming silence of god was taken by the people of israel as laxity on the part of god they took the patience of the lord as laxity and again god was saying i'm not like you god states in very clear terms that he would disprove and reprove the nation of israel for their twisted perspective of god and we find that in verse 21 the last part of it i will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes now we go to the seventh and final accusation of god the forgetfulness of god in verse 22. it says now consider this you who forget god or i will tear you in pieces and there will be none to deliver now the jews were guilty of spiritual amnesia they kept on forgetting god probably god to them was just a sabbath thing and oftentimes isn't that true as well with us believers christians for us god is just a sunday thing we often forget god from monday to saturday and only remember him on a sunday and sometimes even in a sunday our full attention is not even given to him our full alertness is not given to him sometimes we're even distracted like like martha we're distracted and bothered by so many things whereas mary was simply sitting down at the lord's feet fully focused on the beauty of the teachings of the lord and oftentimes we can just be like that absolutely totally distracted and the people of israel were were people who forgot god and god was calling them to repentance and here god was threatening them with judgment a kind of judgment by the way wherein there will be no escape sometimes it so happens to us that we jump from the cliff and we can no longer unjump and i hope to god that we are not in that situation so for as long as we can still sense the thug in our hearts wherein god is calling us to repentance let us be obedient and yield ourselves to the spirit of god let us repent of whatever sins that is present in our lives whether it be ritualism formalism hypocrisy and so on in verse 23 we go to our third and final major point the promise of reward for repentance it says here he who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me and to him who orders his way a right i will show the salvation of god now if they would repent of their wicked ways it will be manifested in three ways as implied or as stated in verse 23 one it will be shown in their heart of gratitude number two it will be shown in their reverence and in their submission and finally it will be shown in the righteousness and when they do this when they have a heart of gratitude when they revere and submit themselves to god when they are righteous god is somehow assuring them that they would be delivered saved from all their troubles and all their afflictions let me ask you this question are you in deep trouble are there afflictions that haunt your lives is there great oppression taking place and i do not mean at all to say that this might be a chastisement on your part i'm just saying that is it possible that maybe the reason why there's so much trouble in your life is because your relationship with the lord is not right is it possible that you are not thankful enough is it possible you do not have a heart of gratitude is it possible that you are not submitting yourself to god in revering god himself is it possible that you are not walking uprightly now obviously only you can answer those questions and i pray that you might be forthright and and honest and transparent before god because after all we are all coat and coat naked in the eyes of god there's nothing that he does not see about us everything is crystal clear in the eyes of god and therefore should be motivation for us to just truly repent let us stop pretending let's stop being hypocrites let's stop uh doing a a religion of externals ritualism and formalism let's be genuine let's be real and as a conclusion let me just ask you this if we happen to be in a courtroom hearing before god and god happens to be our accuser and our judge what can we possibly say before god will it be a plea of not guilty but there is no truthfulness in that or will it be a plea of guilty but at the same time it is accompanied by repentance god has promised that he will pardon our sins that he will forgive us of all unrighteousness he will cleanse and wash us from all our iniquities and i pray to god that this sermon and by the way this is my last sermon in the book of psalms by next week i will be going into the sermon the mount which was disrupt disrupted by this pandemic and so i'm going to go back so to speak to our regular programming and so in this last song let me ask you how do you see yourself i pray that this message will truly convict you rebuke you and bring you to a right relationship with the lord may god bless you dear brothers and sisters let us pray our heavenly father we thank you and bless you lord for this wonderful day this wonderful time and dear god we just ask you that the word that was spoken will not return to you null and void but that it might accomplish the very purpose by which you sent it for dear god let your grace overflow in us and lord we thank you that we could give our tithes our grace gifts and our offerings lord use them for the glory of your holy name and whatever has been achieved today we give you back all the glory praises and thanks in jesus mighty name we pray amen and amen so praise the lord it's been a great sunday morning god bless you all and my team my wife and my son aj say hi and goodbye to you but stay tuned don't tune out just yet we have a promotional video for you to listen to pastor mel's new book more than enough is like a gift that has been sovereignly ordained by god because it deals with the subject of trials and suffering and this book is very correct in saying that trials are inevitable and that no matter how hard we try we just cannot avoid suffering and trials what pastor male did was to paint a backdrop of the unbiblical teaching that is so popular today that suffering is not the will of god for christians he hid the nail on its head when he said that this false view of suffering is causing many believers to feel confused and become depressed whenever they encounter trials many believers think that when they encounter trials they either lack faith or they are in sin while these could be possible causes of our suffering but pastor mill was able to make it clear through the word of god and through an honest narration of his own personal trials and the trials that faithful christians have experienced that adversity is really part of our sanctification but the wonderful thing that pastor mel was able to show through this book is that trials have a unique and a blessed way of causing believers to know christ more to experience his power more to know his grace in a way that ease and comfort could not do more than enough is rich with biblical truth and timeless wisdom yet it was written with simplicity so that both old and new believers can enjoy the book so if you feel you need to have a renewed biblical understanding of trials and suffering so that you can consider it all joy when you face trials of various kinds then friends this is the book that you should definitely get it has been a blessed privilege to know pastor mel and his wife sister marie up close and personal their struggles are real their way of life is simple and their love is consistent that is why it has been a blessing to read these books knowing pastor mel's heart for god and his love for god's people congratulations pastor mel for successfully writing more than enough we pray that this book will be blessed beyond your imagination by the central figure of your book who is our lord jesus christ who alone is more than enough to god be the glory [Music] hello living word family joining you here coming to you from the place we call home on sundays it's been almost nine months that we haven't gathered together this pandemic led us to our respective homes where we are attending online sunday services i know we miss the physical fellowship we miss everyone in church i am happy to announce that we are reopening our doors on the first weekend of december let's all get excited as god's people being under one roof praising one name in his presence i'll take you around the sanctuary and we'll show you the safety measures we've put in place [Music] to ensure everyone's safety and to prevent overcrowding the seats are limited and are open to reservation please don't forget to register online to secure your seats as we return physically let us prepare our hearts and our minds we can't wait to welcome all of you back and fellowship together once again [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] you