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Watch 2022-2023 online sermons » Creflo Dollar » Creflo Dollar - What Worship Really Is?

Creflo Dollar - What Worship Really Is?


Creflo Dollar - What Worship Really Is?
TOPICS: Worship

Now, we've been talkin' about giving as an act of worship, and today we're gonna spend a lot of time talking about what worship really is. You hear the word. You hear people talk about worship service, and somehow, we reduce "worship" to just a song or the speed of the song or the lifting up of hands, and we call that "worship", and, yet, ladies and gentlemen, it is not complete without giving. In fact, it's not genuine worship. And as you see these Scriptures today, I pray that it will bring you closer and closer to your heavenly Father, that you will experience a level of intimacy between you and God like you've not known before, amen?

Let me reestablish our foundation, and we'll get started here this morning. Galatians chapter 3, verse 13, let's read verse 13 out loud together, ready, read. "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written: 'Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.'" Now, look at this in verse 13, for a moment. It's important to understand Christ has redeemed us. The word "redeem" means to deliver, but it means to deliver by a ransom that's paid. So imagine someone who was kidnapped, and they're demanding ransom in order for you to obtain your freedom. You see, we were in bondage to the law, and we were not able to keep 613 of those laws, and the consequences were that you would die. You would be cursed for not being able to keep 613 of the laws. So Christ has paid the ransom so that we can go free from the curse of not being able to keep the law.

Does everybody understand that? Do you, or don't you? Talk to me. We'll be out of here quick. Sit there and look at me, and I think I need to use ten more examples, amen. All right, so "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law". Do you understand that statement? Say, "Amen". Somebody says, "Keep on goin', Pastor. We don't want no ten". He said, "Being made a curse for us", so Jesus did it by being made a curse for us, "for it is written that 'Cursed is every one that hangs on a tree.'" So Jesus took on the curse for us and paid a ransom so we can go free. It was like he took our place, and now you can go free. Well, why did he do this? Verse 14, "That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ".

So the Bible says he paid a ransom so we can go free so we're not going to be cursed, and he did all of that so that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentile. Now, if you're not Jewish, then you will be under the Gentile class. That means non-Jew. And so the blessing of Abraham can now come on you. Before, it would only be made available to Jewish people because of the blood type. But now that you're in Christ, praise God, that the blessing is now made available to all who are in Christ. So I want you to say out loud, "I have the blessing of Abraham". All right, now, this is an important question. How do you get the blessing of Abraham according to this verse of Scripture? He says we got it through... who? We got the blessing through... who? So it's through Jesus that we get the blessing.

In the Old Covenant, Deuteronomy 28, he says, "You're blessed if you do". So you have to do somethin' under the law to get the blessing. You have to qualify under the law to get the blessing. But under the covenant of grace, by believing Jesus Christ and receiving him into your life, you get blessed, not because of your performance, your self-effort, but you get blessed because of your belief in Jesus Christ. So how many of you believe in Jesus Christ this morning? So that's enough. He says you're blessed because you believe in Jesus Christ. Say out loud, "I have the blessing of Abraham because I have Jesus". And he says, "Now that you have the blessing of Abraham through Jesus Christ, that you will receive the promise of the Spirit through faith". So there is a promise of the Spirit that has been given to everyone who believe in Jesus Christ, everyone who now has the blessing of Abraham.

Now, move on down Galatians 3, verse 29. We now know we have the blessing of Abraham. What else does the Bible reveal to us about ourselves, now that we believe in Jesus Christ? Galatians 3 and verse 29, he says, "And if you be Christ's, then are you Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise". So how many of you say you believe in Jesus Christ? All right, so according to this verse, you're Abraham's seed. So verse 14 says you have the blessing of Abraham. Galatians 3:29, says you're Abraham's seed, glory be to God. So say out loud, "I have the blessing of Abraham, and I'm Abraham's seed". Now that you're Abraham's seed, that makes you a part of the family, amen, not because you have the same blood, but you're in Christ, and you're Abraham's seed.

Now what does this make you? This makes you an heir. An heir is somebody that has an inheritance. An heir is somebody that's got somethin' comin'. So now that you are Abraham's seed, you have the blessing of Abraham. You are an heir, which means you have an inheritance according to what God promised. So now blessing of Abraham, now seed of Abraham. Let's go see what the promise is. Go to the book of Romans chapter 4:13. The book of Romans chapter 4 and verse 13. Now, Romans 4:13, he says, "For the promise", well, what is that promise? "that he should be the heir of the world". So God promised Abraham, he said, "Abraham, you are gonna be the heir of the world".

Now, that promise is now made available to all who are in Christ. Now that you're in Christ, you have a right to inherit all that's in this earth. You have a right to inherit the promises. You have a right to inherit the privileges. You have a right to all of the earth's goods, all of the endowments, all of its riches, all of its advantages, all of its pleasures. You have a right to it all as a seed of Abraham, with the blessing of Abraham, and heir to the promise. You have a right to all of the riches, the pleasures, the advantages of this world. Now, that may be big for some people, but that means that, in this world, you should be successful, amen? Amen.

Now, notice what it says about the promise. "For the promise, that he should be heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law". What does that mean? That means, if you try to do something to deserve the promise, that's gon' be the number one reason why you're never going to get the promise. He says, "He did not make this promise to you through the law, but he made this promise through the righteousness of faith". So the reason why a lot of Christian people are not walking in greater blessings or not walking in the promised blessing is because they keep tryin' to do somethin' to deserve it. Under the law, you've got to do somethin' to deserve it. What is it that you're continuing to do to try to deserve what God wants to give to you? What is it that you keep doin' that God has already said, "This is yours if you believe it", and you're still tryin' to do somethin' to deserve it? You've gotta look at your life. Are you the kind of Christian that's continuing to try to do somethin' in order to get somethin', to do somethin' to try to deserve it?

"Well, I need to pray longer, then I'll deserve it". "Well, I need to be nicer, then I'll deserve it". "Well, maybe I need to give some more gifts away, then I'll deserve it". No, God says, "This is a free gift, and I want you to believe it enough to receive it and stop trying to deserve it". The reason why you won't walk in the blessing is 'cause you keep trying to deserve it. I have it because what? I believe it. If you understand that, say, "amen". Notice what he said in verse 14. He says, "For if they which are of the law be heirs", he says, "your faith is made void, and the promise is made of none effect". So he says, "If you're trying to do this by your own effort, if they which are of the law be heirs, and you're tryin' to inherit it through your own efforts, then your faith is made void, and the promise is made of none effect". Why?

Look at verse 15. "Because the law worketh wrath, for where no law is, there is no transgression". Look at the next verse, and then we'll go. "Therefore it is of", what? "Faith, that it might be by", what? "Grace, to the end", what happens? "The promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of", what? "The faith of Abraham". So here's what we have, ladies and gentlemen. God has presented us a gift, and that gift is called the blessing. The blessing of God is available to the seed of Abraham. Why don't Christians walk in the blessing? 'Cause they keep tryin' to do somethin' to deserve it rather than, "Oh God, it's a gift. I receive it".

Now, what happens when you try to earn a gift? It's no longer a gift. God intends on it being a gift. So by faith, you say, "I take it Lord". By faith, you say, "I receive it, Lord". By faith, you say, "Lord, the blessing is mine by faith, without me havin' to do somethin' to earn it". Does everybody understand that? Now, if that's the case, then why give? If that's the case, 'cause all my life, I heard, "You give in order to get blessed". And it did give the sense of I've got to give, kind of like, I got to buy the blessin' in order to have it, so I exchanged money for the blessing. If you got to do anything to deserve the blessing, that goes against everything I just said to you, everything I just taught you, but then, what is the purpose of giving? What is the purpose of passing the buckets and the collection plates at the church? Because God certainly doesn't need your money.

So what's the reason? Why, why do you give? I was told to give, to get. Well, that would make giving a quid pro quo. That would make giving, in order for God to do somethin', you gotta scratch his back in order for him to scratch your back. Is that what we're saying? Is that what we've been saying all this time? Yeah, we probably have, but we're bringing correction now to that. The blessing is already made available. I don't have to give to get what's already a gift. So why give? 'Cause you know this is gonna be comin' against everything we've ever heard. Why give? What is God's purpose for giving? Now, I'm not tellin' you that you're not gon' get your harvest. I'm not tellin' you, as long as the earth remains, the seed time and harvest doesn't remain. I'm tellin' you that the motivation behind your giving has been wrong. Your giving has been motivated by your getting.

You thought, "I have to give to get blessed", and I am saying you give because you're already blessed. You don't give to get blessed. You give 'cause you're blessed. Are y'all listenin' to me? You're giving because you're already blessed, and you're thanking God and worshiping God and praising God and showing gratitude to God that you're already blessed. So you're takin' the money that you have in your life, and you're saying, "I'm gonna present this to God as a worship, as a thanksgiving. I'm not giving this money to get blessed. I'm giving this money 'cause I'm already blessed, and the reason why it's money is 'cause it represents my time, my labor, my harvest".

Most of you spend eight, nine, ten hours a day, workin' to get a check, but it was God that allowed you to be able to work to get a check to inhale and exhale. You still think it was you, but it was God that gives you the ability to do it. All good things come from God. When are we gonna thank him, worship him, and show gratitude for what he's enabled us to do on this earth? I submit to you this morning, now I'm ready to preach, that giving is an act of worship. It is not a quid pro quo. It is an act of worship. The Bible makes it very clear in a couple of cases here.

Let's look at some real quick, and then I'll be ready. Psalms 96, verses 6 through 9. It makes it very clear, you know, and I'm gonna show you, those of you who are thinking, "Why would the Almighty God need our money"? He doesn't. Get that out your head. Can I talk like Carly Paul? "He don't need your money". Uh-uh, he wants to see who's gonna pass the heart test to say, "I am here to worship you, God. I'm here to worship you because I thank you for what you already done. And besides, I am giving to you what came from you in the first place". "All things come of thee, O Lord, and of thine own have I given thee".

Look what he says in verse 6. "Honor and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary". Verse 7, "Give unto the Lord, O you kindreds of the people, given unto the Lord glory and strength". Verse 8, "Give unto the Lord the glory that is due to his", what? "Name", colon, "bring an offering". Whoa, "Give unto the Lord glory due to his name". How do you do that? Colon. I'm gon' tell you how. "Bring an offering". What do you do with the offering? "Come into the court". Well, what do you do once you get in the court? "Worship the Lord in the beauty of his holiness. Fear before him in all the earth". Right here, he said the purpose for you comin' in the court with an offering in your hand is to worship the Lord, not to give so you can get the blessing.

See, we've been trained that it's necessary for us to give in order to get blessed. Look at 2 Corinthians chapter 9, and verse 7. 2 Corinthians chapter 9, and verse 7. Look what he says: "Every man according as he's purposed in his heart, so let him", what? "Give". How? "As you purpose in your heart". He said, "Not grudgingly". When somethin' is done grudgingly, that means you're unwilling to do it. He says, "Don't give grudgingly", or "Don't be unwilling to give, or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver". So he says, when you give because somebody told you, "If you don't give, you're goin' to hell", now you're giving because you think it's necessary for you not to go to hell. Or you start giving because somebody says, "Well, the reason why you ain't blessed is because you ain't giving", and now you start giving because you feel like it's necessary in order for you to be blessed.

He says, "Do not give out of necessity". And for most of the church, including myself, we've all been trained in giving because it was necessary to get blessed, and it was necessary not to go to hell. You know how the preachers say, "Some of y'all gon' go to hell by 12 o'clock, 'cause you ain't givin'". No, no, no, no, no, I don't give because it's necessary for me to get blessed. Jesus has already blessed me, and I receive that by faith, and I'm giving because of what he has already done, to worship him, and to thank him, and to give gratitude to him for what he's already done.

Some of you guys are moved by benefits, and not moved by relationship, keep seeking God for what you can get out of him and not because you wanna know him. I want God. Take away the car. Take away the house. As long as I have God and I'm still the righteousness of God, I'm still rich. As long as I got God and I'm born again, I'm still rich. I'm rich in God. That's what I wanna be rich in. I wanna be rich in my relationship with God. Money is the lowest asset in the kingdom of God, and you're seekin' the lowest asset. The greatest asset is a relationship with God where you can walk in your peace all day long because you know that it's already done, and it's already taken care of. Proverbs 3, in 9, "Honor the Lord with your substance, and with the firstfruit of all thine increase, so shall your barns be filled with plenty. Your presses shall burst out with new wine".

Somebody says, "See there, Brother Dollar? Under the law, which is spiritual substance". Go to the Amplified. Ain't no spiritual, every time you see somethin' because you don't have a relationship with God, you try to turn it into "spiritual", and you ain't doin' it with the spiritual part. I'm tellin' you that this is not what it's talkin' about. It's talkin' about how can you honor and thank a God who has magnificently blessed you in this physical world, and you ain't sayin', "Thank you", yet? He said, "Honor the Lord with your capital". That ain't spiritual. Try to call the water company and pay some spiritual amens for your water bill that month. Pay your car note with some spiritual car note. All right, so let's define "worship". What is it? Let's define "worship". And is it true what you're saying? Can you prove what you're saying?

Well, "worship" can be described as "an expression of devotion and love from the creation", that would be us, "to the Creator", that would be God. It is what comes from you to him as a gift, and you're not expecting anything back from him. It's "Lord, I worship you. I'm expressing my love and devotion, and it is somethin' that's comin' from me to you". Wow, because we all have to admit it. Most Christian relationship is all about what I can get from him to me. It's all about what can I get from him to me. And I think what has happened is we have drastically confused the essence of our relationship with God, with the benefits, and we're no longer after God. We're after what he can do for us. We're after what the Lord can do for us.

The whole thing, Christianity, is about a relationship. It's not about what you can get from him, but that's all it is. It's all about, and if God doesn't, any time you seek the benefits over the essence of relationship, you know, I use the illustration with my wife. I'm glad I didn't marry her just for the benefits because what would happen if I married her and some kind of, you know, God forbid, injury or somethin' happens, and I'm no longer able to hold her hand, I'm no longer able to have sex with her, I'm no longer able to reap the benefits of the relationship? If I sought her just for the benefits, then that relationship is probably over with, but I didn't come together with her just for the benefits. I wanna be with her. Like I told you before, she's not one of the women I could live with, eeny, meeny, miny, moe. She was the one I can't live without. You understand what I'm saying'? Get the one you can't live without. And I just wanna be with her.

So if anything happen, I'm there. I'm still there. I'm still there without the benefits 'cause the benefits, it wasn't my motivation in the first place. It was the essence of the relationship that was my motivation in the first place. Well, it's the same thing where God is concerned. What was your motivation for becoming a Christian? What was your motivation for having a relationship with God? Was it because he could bless you with a house or bless you with a car, or he could bless you with money, or he could heal you, or he could deliver you? What was the motivation behind why you became a Christian?

See, I'm like the apostle Paul. It's none of those things. It's not benefit-driven. It's the intimacy of knowing him. It's the intimacy of knowing that, because of him, I've been made righteous. Because of him, I'm delivered up out of a ditch. Because of him, I'm born again, and I'm saved, and heaven's my home. It's because of him, I have a relationship with him. So when I die and I walk right past him, I know who he is. I don't wanna seek him for the benefits and then, when I die, I don't even know who he is.

I have no idea who it is. I don't know if it was, you know, if that was Jesus. I don't know if that was Jesus. But most Christians in the Body of Christ are benefit-driven. People join the church because they're benefit-driven. They're not joining 'cause, "Oh, it's an opportunity for me to know God more". They're joinin' because, "Hmm, let me see what I can get out of this", "Hmm, I got a business, let me see if I can use the church", all the wrong reasons. And so, likewise, if you'll get an intimate relationship with the Lord God, you won't have to sit there and negotiate with whether or not you're going to be blessed. It happens because of the relationship. Turn to two people and tell them, "I am in it for the relationship, I'm in it for the relationship". Amen?

Now, there is no genuine worship without gift giving. There's no genuine worship without gift giving. Giving itself is an act of worship. Now we know the real reason. You remember the, the magi, they came to Jesus? Look at Matthew chapter 2 and 11, the magi came to Jesus. Those were the, the kings that saw the star in the east, and they came to Jesus. And there's something so interesting happened here that by time they found him, he was about one or two. And looking at this man, you know, they had gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And I'm like, Well, why did they bring the gifts because they were trying to help Jesus pay his electric bill? Why did they show up with gifts? Why didn't they just show up? Why did they have to bring gifts? And the Bible never told us how much they bought. There were kings coming to the King of kings and they showed up with gifts.

Now watch this. "And when they were come into the house, they saw the young man child, the young child with Mary his mother". So, they saw Jesus, and what does the Bible say they did? They did what? They fell down and they did what? And they worshiped him: colon. Now, why am I mentioning the colon? Because it's gonna explain to us how they worshiped him. They bow down, they fell down and they worshiped him. All right, this is so significant. "And when they had opened their treasure", did you see that? They fell down, they worshiped him. Question, when did they worship him? When they opened their treasures, when they opened their treasures. You see what happened? They took the gold, the frankincense, and the myrrh, and they used that to worship him. That blew my mind. They came to Jesus, fell down, the Bible says they worshiped them: colon.

Watch this, they worshiped them: colon, how? When they opened their treasures, when they opened their treasures. You see, you're giving, your worship is not genuine worship without the giving of gifts. I didn't make that up, he did. I didn't make that up try to get your money. That's what you just read in the Bible. If kings knew to worship him with their treasures, I think it's time for Christians to know that we worship him with our treasures. Are you listening to me? And that treasure in the Bible is not always money. That treasure was sometimes something that was more valuable than money.

Look at Genesis chapter 22. Look at Genesis chapter 22 and in Genesis chapter 22, you see Abraham who already has demonstrated how he worshiped God when he won the battle of the kings. And the Bible says, that the Lord has delivered your enemies into your hands. And right after that statement, the Lord, Abraham, the Lord delivered your enemies into your hands. And the Bible said and Abraham gave tithes of all, all that he won in the battle. We've been missing something. Even when we give, we bucket plunk. There's not even a thought to worship God with our gift. It's sometimes, "Well, I'mma give, praise the Lord, thank you", or "I don't want to, but I'mma do it any way". And because we think that we're giving to get. We think that we're scratching God's back and we don't realize what I am giving is something that God has allowed to come into my life, and it is representing my health. It's representing everything.

And I need to take some time over my treasure to say, "Thank you, God. I worship you, God. I praise you". Because what I am saying, I not saying that you no longer are gonna get your harvest but what I am saying is if you don't change your motivation behind your giving, it's always gonna be zero. Other than that, why is it that some people give and they seem to get blessed and other people don't? I mean, if all it was to it is give and it shall be given unto you, wouldn't nobody have no financial problem because you give. What's going on? "I give, it ain't been given unto me".

How many of y'all have given before and it hadn't been given unto you. Don't raise your hand. I don't want to see your hand. I already know. And why is that? You know, it's got to be a lot more. It's the motive behind, motive. God wants your motive. Your motive is more valuable to him than the gift, and we're not understanding that. It's more valuable to him than the gift. Look at what happened here to Abraham. "It came to pass after these things, God did tempt Abraham, and he said unto him, Abraham, and he said, Behold, here I am".

So, God's getting ready to take him through the same test that David mentioned in Chronicles where he says, "I will test your heart. I'm gonna see if I give something to you, will you worship me because of what I gave to you"? He says, "I'll give you houses you didn't build. I'll give you wells you didn't dig. Just don't forget me". Verse 2, "And he said, take now thy son, thine only son Isaac". Now, you know story behind Isaac, hundred-year-old man, ninety-year-old woman, her womb's dead. Everything is dead. Didn't nothing happen that night in that tent until God came up in that tent, amen? And he blessed him, empowered him to do what he couldn't do in the natural, hallelujah.

"Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there, offer him there". So, the gift is gonna be his only son God gave to him. "Will you be willing to worship me with what I gave to you"? How you gonna withhold from God what came from him in the first place? How you gonna withhold from God what came to him in the first place? He said, "And offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I'll tell thee of". Verse 3, "And Abraham rose up early in the morning, saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for a burnt offering, and rose up and went into the place of which God told him". Next verse. "Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and he saw the place afar off". Verse 5, "Abraham said unto his young men", watch this, "Abide ye here with the ass".

Now, you know, that's the donkey, I'm not cussin'. Y'all say, "Look at this, the preacher in here just cussin' just ass, ass". I'm not cussin', it's a donkey. "I ain't going to that church no more. He said ass twice". I'm just reading the Bible, you know. And Abraham said unto his young men, "Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad", watch, he said, "I and the lad". He's referring to Isaac. Oh, my God, "We will go yonder". Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, look what he said we're gonna do, and what? All right, what were they actually gonna go do? What were they actually gonna go do? They were going to sacrifice his son as a gift or an offering to God, and Abraham called this worship. Abraham called it worship.

We thought worship was limited to singing and dancing, and that's a part of worship, and praying, and all the things we do in the worship service. But Abraham said, "I'm going to offer God a very valuable gift, something he gave to me, I'm gonna offer it back to him". But what he said to the guys with him, he said, "Me and Isaac, we going to worship God. But since I have a relationship with him, I know God gonna have to do something 'cause he said I'm gonna have a seed that outnumbers the stars. So, I'm telling you right now, I have faith in what God's already done, so we coming back". We're gonna go and worship. We're gonna go and worship.

Some of y'all so scared to give anything to God because you think he's trying to take something from you because you think he needs something from you. And all God wants to see is, "I gave it to you, will you at least worship me with what I gave to you"? "Yeah, ain't it time for you to go? I mean, dear God, hurry up". Some people, I don't know, I can't get it in their head that God doesn't need your... look at Psalms 50. I'll just show you one. Look at Psalms 50, verse 10 through 12. "What God need with my money, What God need with my son? What God". You don't understand. God don't need nothing from frail you. God doesn't need you to be God. You need God. God doesn't need you to be who he is. You need him to be who you are. Don't get it twisted. You get mad at God. "I'm mad at God".

Well, you the only one still jacked up stranded on the side of the road. You mad at the only one that can help you, seriously? "I'm mad at God 'cause he did that. I'm mad at God 'cause he let that happen. I'm mad at God 'cause I don't understand that". You think you hurting God? You ain't hurting God. "Well, I ain't coming to church no more, ain't gonna have nothing else to do with God". You the one stranded 'cause you have strife against the only one that can help you. Look at what he said. He said, "For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle upon a thousand hills, mine. I know all the fowls of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I wouldn't tell you". Why? "For the world is mine and t fullness there is mine". God like, "I don't need you".

Look at Acts chapter 17:24 and 25. It's all over the Scripture. Your God is mighty, God don't need your money. "What God need with my money"? He don't that's what I'm telling you, he don't. It's what's behind it. He wants to know you want him because you want him. You ain't testing him. You ain't testing him. "God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is the Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands". Verse 25, "Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things". Uh-uh.

Can I show you one more real quick? Look at Romans 11:35 and 36. Let's look at that in the NLT. God, this is not well, even though they sacrifice and they gave gifts to God. In the Old Covenant, he's talking about giving gifts to God. Now, it's not the physical gift. It's the act of worship. I like this verse 35, "And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back? For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen". Look at this in The Message real quick. This is you gotta get that out your head. And people want to have a relationship with God, and they just, they hate giving because mammon has gripped their life, and mammon says trust money, don't trust God. Mammon says need money, don't need God. And when you're out of mammon, you'll do anything to get it.

Look what it says here. "Have you ever come on anything quite like this extravagant generosity of God, this deep, deep wisdom? It's way over our heads. We'll never figure it out. Is there anyone around who can explain God? Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do? Anyone who has done him such a huge favor, that God has to ask him advice"? Everything comes from him. Everything happens through him. Everything ends up in him. It's always glory! It's always praise! Yes, yes, yes. Some of y'all looking at me like, "What the heck"?

All right, go back to, where were we? Genesis 22, Genesis 22. So, this act of worship is going on, and it was to bring a gift to God, to give to God what God had already given to Abraham and his son. Genesis chapter 22, and whatever the verse was. It says, "And Abraham said unto him", verse 5, "Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you". Verse 26, now let me show you. "And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac's son, and he took the fire in his hands, and a knife, and they went both of them together". Verse 7, "And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father and said, My father, and he said, Here am I, my son? And he said, Behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb"? And Abraham wanted to say, "You it, boy". He says, "Where's the land for the burnt offering"?

We talked about Abraham's faith. Imagine how much faith Isaac had to have that his father wasn't, you know, missing some stuff. Verse 8, "And Abraham said, My son", look what he said, "God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. We're just gonna worship him". Now, now, understand Abraham and God were covenant partners. God cut a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15. The covenant partnership says this, whatever one covenant partner requires of you, the other one has got to be willing to do the same thing. So, if God asks for Abraham to sacrifice his only son, there will come a day where God would have to sacrifice his only Son. If God tells Abraham to go to a specific spot in Moriah, Golgotha's hill, then God would have to present the sacrifice that the same spot that Abraham did.

So, he said to him, "Where's the lamb"? He said, "God's gonna provide the lamb. But until the lamb gets here, until Jesus can show up, I'm gonna let you use the blood of an animal to cover your sins until I can show up". So, this is significant. In the next verse he says, "And they came to the place which God had told him of, and Abraham built an altar there and laid wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood". Man, this is powerful. You gotta have a relationship with God to do this. You can't be coming to church once every three months, and then putting your son up getting ready to kill your son. You've got to know you know God.

And I want to make sure that I know God so if any strange thing comes to pass that I'm hearing in my ears, I'll be able to do it because I know his voice, that I'm not just playing around wearing some Christian T-shirt going around, "Look at me, I'm a Christian". But I know him, praise God, because I have intimate relationship with him and that he is first in my life. "And Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order, and he bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon that wood". Verse 10, "And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and he took the knife".

He's getting ready to slay his son. But you gotta realize what Abraham had. He had this vision in his head, "I'm gonna be a father to many nations. I'm gonna be a father to many nations. I'm gonna have a seed that outnumbers the stars". He's been meditating on the stars, been meditating on the sand that's on the seashore. "I'm a father of many nations". So, he knew that if he had to kill his son, that God's gonna have to do something, raise him up from the dead or something because in order for God not to be a liar, then in Isaac shall your seed be.

So, something had to happen. So, Abraham wasn't afraid or anything. He's like, "I know God. I know God, I've been meditating. I've been fellowshipping with him at nighttime when the stars were out. I've been fellowshipping with him while I was working on my tan on the beach. I was fellowshipping with him". Amen. So, he took that knife and he's getting ready to kill his son and to present him as a gift to God. But what he said was, "I gotta have faith. If God gave him to me, the only reason I have him 'cause he came from God anyway. If he asks for him back, I'm ready to do what I got to do". And you can't even do that with the lowest asset in the kingdom, money.
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