No Other — Acts 17

0:00 It's great to be here. Thank you for allowing me to be here. I appreciate it very, very much. I don't know how to open up our little discussion this morning. I'm not sure how to open it up.

0:14 The more I live, or the longer I live, I guess I could put it that way, the longer I live, the more I'm convinced. I'm just really convinced of this. I see a lot of differing views that people foister on the world in terms of who God is and how people perceive him and these kinds of things. I know of an open air preacher that went to a foreign city, and he was preaching in the open air. And he also went to Jewish place too, and he was preaching.

0:55 And it was just interesting because a lot of times when you think about open air preaching, you think you have to really be accepted and all these kinds of things, and this guy was controversial. He was Major League controversial, but he was a wise, open air preacher. And what he did was, when he with the religious people that he was talking with, he actually argued with them. He actually argued with them, just probably maybe not the wisest from the human standpoint to do it, but that's what he did. He argued with them, and then when he got to started talking to people who really never even heard about Jesus Christ, he took them from what they knew to what they didn't know.

1:46 It's a teaching principle called apperception. You take a person from what they knew... Know to what they don't know. The open air preacher's name is Paul, and he went to Athens. And he disputed with the he disputed with the Jews, and we see this in chapter 17 of Acts.

2:04 It says in verse 17, he waited there and he was stirred among them. He was stirred among them, in Athens. He was waiting for others to come, and his spirit was stirred in him, and he saw that the whole city was given to idolatry. Now, what we have in grass and bushes, Athens had in gods. You could walk around Athens and you could see everything, you know, statues all over the place, personal, within the confines of a person's yard or a house or whatever.

2:42 They had the personal gods. They had their national gods. They had Zeus. They had Poseidon, they did all these different, the Greek pantheon of gods, right? And Paul wisely, when he went to Mars Hill, he went and preached and he saw, before he was there, before he started preaching, he saw this monument to a...

3:03 It was a monument to the unknown god. So in other words, the Greeks were trying to cover their bases. In other words, we have Poseidon, we have Zeus, we have all these different gods, and the ones we don't even know about the one we don't even know about, there might be one, we'll make a monument to him, the unknown God. Paul wisely says, I see you are very religious. I see you're very religious, and I want to tell you about the one, this one who is unknown to you.

3:33 And he preaches Jesus Christ. Powerful preaching, absolutely incredible. If you want to know how how to preach in the open air, take a lesson from Paul in Acts seventeen seventeen and... Or 16 and following. It's just really a tremendous, tremendous schooling in terms of us.

3:55 And the thing I like to look about is I look around and I look at the the culture of today, I was driving in from Mentor. I was staying with my friend John. I came in yesterday, last night, and I stayed at his house, and then I'm here. And as I was driving in, I saw these big RVs and this big bus that somebody purchased and painted it brown and orange and the browns, and they're all getting plastered, some of them at the tailgating guys, you know. And I thought to myself, isn't it really strange how we are making like the god of the NFL?

4:32 I thought that would be a tremendous article. The god of the NFL or the god of Major League Baseball, the god of the NBA, the... You know, I mean, all these different things in which we're... We as a society are supplanting the emptiness that we have with something trying to fill the emptiness. Paul goes and he talks to those people and he tells them about Jesus Christ, which is the only person, the only one who can fill that emptiness.

4:58 He's the only one that can do that. I mean, you have to... If if the Browns won the Super Bowl this year, not likely, but if they did, if they did, they'd have to do it again next year. If the Cleveland Indians... Oh, we're so thrilled that we got Terry Francona as a manager of the Cleveland Indians, and they're making some great moves, and somebody said they're going after Beltran now and all this kind of stuff.

5:23 They're actually going to pay some money to some players to get them, and, this kind of thing. But if they won the World Series in 2014, they'd have to do it again in 2015. And where is it with us as a society? Where is it with us? The title of our little message this morning is No Other.

6:25 We see this in Psalm one thirty nine. Because David is going show us four attributes of God. He's going to show us God. He's going to show us what God thinks, how God thinks about you, how God thinks about us. He's gonna show us how God operates in Psalm one thirty nine.

6:44 And I appreciate our brother reading Psalm one thirty nine, all 24 verses, so I won't read it again. But so he's going to explain, in explaining his relationship to God, which we can learn, comfort, actually be rebuked, and actually grow. In Psalm 139, everybody please turn there, if you please, because in verses one through six, David is going to show us the attribute of God, that God is all knowing, omniscience, omniscience. Science means knowledge, That's literally what it means. Omni means all.

7:22 All knowledge, all knowing. And then also in verses seven through 12, David is going to show us the attribute of God, that he's the all present God. He's the all present God or his omnipresence. And David, in verses 13 through 18, David's going to show us the attribute of the all powerful God, his omnipotence, his omnipotence. And then I...

7:50 By the way, I really loved what we just sang. You know, there... How great is our God? How great is our God? Let's sing it again.

8:00 How great is our God? I mean, we we sing this out and then we we have that. We've got the words but it's so true. There is no one like him. There is no one like him.

8:12 There's nobody like him. The god of the philosophy, the philosophers, there is no god of the philosophers. There is no other true God. I love this. And then the balance of these verses 19 through 24, David shows us the attribute of the all holy God.

8:30 And here's one for you. How about his omni holiness? Okay, so I wanted to stay true to alliteration. But actually, some writer wrote that. I mean, some theologian put, I'm the holiness.

8:45 I'm going, yeah, baby, that's exactly what I'm thinking. Okay, so David shows us the attribute of the all knowing God, his omniscience. Look at verses one through six. In verses one and two and verse four, his omniscience means he knows in total my personhood. Look at this, he knows me personally.

9:12 I mean, you know, somebody says, you you ever have these name droppers? You ever see these name droppers? Oh, yes, I know so and so. You do? Oh, yes.

9:23 I'm dropping his name because I want you to think I'm important. Well, the guy that can trump that one is, I know God. How's that one for you? I mean, think about somebody cool and that you would know that is really famous or world famous or whatever. Drop the name.

9:41 But how about this one, I know God. But more importantly, he knows me. This is amazing. Look at verses one and two and verse four because he says, oh Lord, Psalm 139 verse one, oh Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down sitting and my uprising.

10:11 You understand my thoughts afar off. There is not a word in my tongue. Lo, oh Lord, you know it altogether. Think about that just for a moment. I want you to think think about that God knows us in total in total in in our personhood.

10:33 He knows who you are. He knows your down sittings. He knows like you're sitting down right now. And he knows your uprisings. He knows everything there is to know about you.

10:44 When we talk about the omniscience of God, you have to understand a couple of things what the word of God has to say about the omniscience of God. He knows you totally. He did not acquire that knowledge. He's always known it. How about that one for you?

11:08 Now we say, I can't I can't... This is the euphemistic expression we use in our culture today, especially in The United States, I can't wrap my mind around that. The reason why you can't wrap your mind around that in total is because you're finite and he isn't. He's infinite. These attributes, when we talk about the attributes of God, it's not like a strip of attribute here and then another strip of his infinity here.

11:36 He is totally all knowing. He is totally all knowing. And this is going to have bearing on when we get to the issue of that he is ever present. He's not like partially present over in China and partially present right here. He is in his total being.

12:10 Now that's humbling because you know my down sinnings and my uprisings. You know what's going on in my life, you know. A lot of times when we sin or when we are alone and we think that we are totally alone, the answer to that is, no, you're not. He knows all there is. He knows what you're thinking.

12:31 That's his omniscience, of course, but he he knows everything about you. You know my down sitting, my uprising. You know everything. Notice what he says. You understand my thoughts afar off.

12:47 The deists and the agnostics and the agnostics are really weird, but the deists are saying that God wound up the universe and let it run. That's not our God. That's not the God of the Bible. They're wrong. The deists are wrong.

13:01 Yes, there is a God, no questions about it, but he hasn't wound it up and left it to run. He has... He is intimately involved. He knows your downsendings, your uprising. You know my thoughts.

13:15 You know me. You searched me. You know me. Now, I don't understand how that works, but it's not my job to understand how it works. My job is to believe what he says about this.

13:31 So a lot of times, you know, we hurt. A lot of times, we have fears. A lot of times, we wonder, does anybody care and does anybody know the trouble I've gone through? And sometimes we sing that song in our heart. Does nobody knows, just like that kid in the, Maritrade commercial or whatever that is, nobody knows the trouble I've seen.

14:02 Well, God does, and he knows it intimately. This is our God. There's no one like him. You can... The Muslims can't claim this kind of God.

14:14 Neither can the Hindus nor the... Nor anybody else claim this kind of God. We have a God who is incredible. We have a God who intensely loves. I mean, we talk about these attributes, but he knows us.

14:30 He knows our down sittings, our uprising. He knows our thoughts from afar off. He knows me. There's not a word in my tongue. But lo, oh Lord, thou knowest it altogether.

14:45 I don't know how your, you know, how your speech patterns are. I can only tell you about mine. And, but I don't know how your speech pattern, but he knows them. He knows them before he even spoken them. He's always known them.

15:03 So he knows us in our... Totally in our personhood, and then not only in our personhood, but he also... His omniscience means he knows in total my physical state. Notice verse three. Thou compassed my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

15:24 You're acquainted with all my ways, And then verse five, you have beset, thou hast beset beside me and before me and laid thy hand upon me. You are before me, I was thinking about this, you're before me, you're behind me, talk about the perfect comfort zone. And then he puts his hand on you. Jesus said, no man is able to take you out of my father's hand. Nobody is...

15:51 You're in my father's hand. Nobody is able to take you out of my father's hand. Nobody is able to do this. And you have it before me, you have it behind me, you have your hand over me. Because a lot of times, I want to tell you, a lot of times we're afraid.

16:08 We go into a bad quarter of a city or something like that, we're nervous about that. Or we're nervous that, you know, we have an alarm system on our house. And I'm not against that. I got one too. And we don't want to be stupid, that's for sure.

16:22 But God is there. God is protecting. So he knows my my personhood, he knows my physical state. And by the way, I I've noticed something about myself. I've noticed my step is a little slower as I get older.

16:40 How about you, senior saints? So all of a sudden, you're going like this, you know, and you think you're walking really fast, but everybody else is going, Boy, that guy's slowing up. Isn't that right? And then you young whippersnappers who still got the chondroitin in your knees and all that kind of stuff, you're going, Hey, what's wrong with that guy? You know?

16:59 Just give it 40. Just give it 40 here. Yeah, you guys, I know what you guys are thinking. Man, that Schroeder, and he said he could slam the basketball. Yeah, I don't believe it, man.

17:11 You know? Two hands reverse. But not anymore. I'd be seeing a chiropractor for the rest of my life. I'd do it once.

17:21 I'd have to be off a springboard too, by the way. But I would be going, oh, man, oh, man. And I'd be taking that Triflex from GNC a lot. In fact, I do take it. But he knows our physical state.

17:38 He knows it when you're a young guy, he knows it when you're an older guy, he knows it all the way through. He knows that. There's no escaping him. There there is no escaping him. And also, not only our personhood and our physical state, but also our our our praising heart.

18:00 Notice this. And when we think about this, and my suggestion for you and for myself is to meditate on this, and I have been. I've been thinking about this, and I was asking the Lord, okay, Lord, what do you want me to speak on at Westlake? Right here, write this passage. A week ago.

18:21 Right here, such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain unto it. How does God know about you? I don't know.

18:39 It's beyond me. How does God know all the hairs that I lost, let alone counting the hairs on my head? How does God know that? He never acquires this. He's always known it.

18:53 And think about that. I mean, I want you to think with me. This just blows me away. When we get to eternity, you know, we sing that song Amazing Grace, and when we've been there ten thousand years, right, it's going to be like a heartbeat. We are going to grow.

19:13 When we're with the Lord, we are going to grow like your husband with the Lord. We're going to grow in our knowledge of him forever. It's not... We're not gonna know it totally. We'll never know it totally.

19:31 For you to know God in totality and understand the word totality and its totalness, you'd have to be God to know him in his totality. And we're not God. So we're going to grow in our knowledge of him. We will find things out about God forever, every day forever. No wonder the psalmist says his ways are past finding out.

20:00 We won't know him in totality, but he knows us in totality. To me, I look at that and I say to myself, wow, how? You know, we use this word, we use it and we say it all the time, and sometimes when we overdo the word, it loses meaning. But truly, he is awesome. He is awesome.

20:28 There is no one like him. There is no one like him. When people start talking about God, you know, and and they and, you know, they get pretty cavalier about it. I'm amazed by it, you know, I I... Some people on the street, when I when I'm on the street, know, say, oh, yeah, I'm uptight.

20:45 I'm tight with the big man upstairs. Like when we see him, we're going to high five him. Hey, hey, what's up? No. Arguably, the guy who is the closest to the Lord Jesus as a disciple says in Revelation chapter one, when he saw the risen Christ, he fell at his feet as a dead man.

21:10 No high fiving. John, the apostle who wrote the book of Revelation under the power of the inspiration of the spirit of God. He didn't high five him and do it. He fell at his feet as dead. And the Lord says, fear not.

21:22 And he made him rise up. I think that's what we're going to do. We're going to be looking at God. We're going to be looking in the face of Jesus Christ, and we're going to be just going, oh my, oh, Lord. Boom.

21:35 If the Lord were to appear right here, right now, we'd be on our face. I don't see anybody thinking a high five on them. We would be so awestruck because he is awesome. He is totally awesome. He knows about us.

22:13 Look at verse seven through 10. He says, whether shall I go from your spirit or whether shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend up in heaven, up in heaven thou art there. I think of I think of Jonah with this one. He wanted to get thrown overboard, just throw me, I don't want to do what God wants me to do.

22:33 And he's down in the depths of the whale or the fish, the great fish, and the Lord allows that fish to burp them right out, right? And he comes and he preaches. Right? But you can't escape God. You cannot run from God.

22:49 You cannot do it. Whether shall I go from your spirit? Where shall I flee from your presence if I ascend up into heaven? It's like that guy, that cosmonaut. Former Soviet Union was shot up into space and he said, I don't see God, so God doesn't exist.

23:05 The psalmist says, if you're going... If I'm up in the highest heavens, you're there. If I'm in the deepest, you're there. If you went in one of those little spheres or whatever those things are that drops you under pressure and, you know, keeps you from becoming like a sardine can, you know, type of thing, and the marianna's trench, and you were to look at that, he's there. Where can I run?

23:31 I can't run. And not only can't you run, you can't run. Even... Notice what he says, if I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. That's verse eight.

23:41 And if I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there. And if I have... If I take the wings of the morning and and dwell in the uttermost part of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right hand shall hold me. So put yourself in the middle of the Pacific Ocean by yourself with maybe even a life vest. Is he there?

24:03 Yes. That's what he says. He's there. That's exactly what he says. I can't run from you.

24:11 I can't do this. And it also means you cannot only run, but you cannot hide. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about thee. Amazing, isn't it? I often think of that.

24:29 I think to myself, you know, when it get... When it gets dark and and I walk and I I just go, wow, you know, it's just so... It's so different when it's dark outside. But for him, it's not. It's not.

24:43 So how does this work for my life? I can't run from him and I can't hide from him. So my suggestion is, I don't know how you're feeling today, but I don't know what's going on in your heart, but my suggestion is stop running and stop hiding because it's futile. We're just like that kid, you know.

25:07 You can't see me. You can't see me. You can't see

25:16 me. How are we with that with the Lord? We think that's cute and we laugh at that because we've seen kids like that. We've seen it. We've even done that.

25:26 I used to do cereal boxes and milk cartons. Know? Put them right there, you know? And I'm going, you can't... I I did.

25:33 I remember that. It was like three years ago. And I remember, you know, and I... I'm going like that, and I'm going, you can't see me. You can't...

25:40 I'm hiding. You can't hide from God. This cool is thing about God, is it? I mean, it's not so cool if you don't want to be near God. It's not so cool if you don't want to be near God.

26:00 But I got to tell you something, he's near you. He's near you, and you can't hide, you can't run. So in our private times, they're not so private. In our thought times, they're not so private. They're not private at all, to him.

26:20 To him. And that's that's a rebuke, really. That's a rebuke. But it's also a comfort in the sense that I am not alone. He knows and he's there.

26:35 How how wonderful is this? How how wonderful is our God? He's not some idea. He's not some ogre sitting on the balcony of... Or standing on the balcony of heaven, you know, you know, just like in the Star Wars with that whatever the emperor guy, you know, with that little electricity coming off his fingers, you know.

27:02 Can you imagine trying to comb your hair like that? I mean, just... I just think to myself, you know, how great is the God that we have? There is no one like him. There is no one like him.

27:17 And not only not only, you know, so I wanna ask... I want to... Do we understand the attribute, not in totality, but the attribute that he knows everything and that he is everywhere at once? And like I said before, he's not partially in China and partially here. He is in his totality here.

27:38 In his totality, he's here. And so that's the that's the God that we have. That is the God that we have. He's totally here. I love this.

27:54 So when I drive alone tonight, this afternoon to go back home, I'm not alone. I'm not. And when you go back home, and if you're alone, you're not alone. How many of you have ever felt how many of you have ever felt, even in the midst of other people, so alone you can't take it? Sure.

28:25 You're not alone. We have to take God at his word on this one. You're not alone. Sometimes we feel so alone, even in the midst of people, other people, And it's not true. God is there.

28:46 And see, it's just not like God's there, like some phantom or something like that. He knows us, and he loves us. Let's look at that a little bit because... And I'm so sorry. I feel like when you preach on this chapter, this psalm, I don't know how anybody can do it full justice because it's so great.

29:55 In my mother's womb. I will praise thee. I will... I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Doctor Scott would like that verse.

30:05 It's true. Fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hidden from you when I was made in secret and intricately wrought. So my grandson, who is intricately being knit together right now in Kelly's womb, is just God knows him.

30:34 God's powerful. He did this. I mean, what magnificent thing. It's just not tissue. Just not...

30:45 Procreation, we can talk about this in terms of creation versus procreation. Procreation means it'll happen. That's why the unsaved can have children as well. And the moment the egg and the sperm unite is the moment there's a living soul. That's why I'm against abortion.

31:03 In theological terms, it's called the traducian theory. And the sin nature's passed through the male. For by one man sin entered into the world, death by sin, so death passed upon all men, for all have sinned. Adam was the seminal headship, seminal head of the human race. And the sin nature's passed through the male.

31:26 That's why the virgin birth was so necessary. But when you look at this, he's intricately wrought. My substance was not hid from you, and I was made in secret and intricately wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unformed, and in book, all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned when there was yet none of them. I look at this and I say, wow.

31:57 So I'm not... It doesn't mean that I'm born again. It does mean, however, that God knows every human being. God knows every human being. His power is in terms of procreation.

32:14 His power in terms of salvation. Look at verse 16. You know, you you've known me. You know this. It was written in your book.

32:22 By the way, an interesting study, if you were to look at the word in the book or in the lamb's book of life, those phrases, you would find out an incredible study of God's book, of God's book. And you see the culmination of that in Revelation chapter 20. Lamb's book of life, they were not written in the lamb's book of life. But you look at this in terms of the salvation of God, that he has done this for us. He has worked in terms of the Lord Jesus Christ.

32:59 I've got a quote. I don't want to blow the quote. I I try to memorize, but it's getting tough. So I'm going to use my little iPad on this one, and I'm going to look at a book. You know how sometimes when you look at books, the opening lines...

33:17 Can you think of the most famous opening lines in books? Can you think of one? Say again?

33:24 Call me Ishmael.

33:26 I'm sorry?

33:27 Call me

33:28 Ishmael. Call me Ishmael? That's in the title of a book? Call Me Ishmael. How

33:40 about if it the best of times it was the worst of times?

33:42 Oh, okay. There you go. Here's... I'm going to quote you a quote. I mean, it's the best of times, the worst of times.

33:48 You've got... Call me Ishmael. You know, know, you've got, hey, how you doing, Schroeder. No. I think this is the best opening line of any book, secular or non secular, ever all time.

34:05 And it comes from Bruce Shelley's The Church History in Plain Language. This is the opening line. Are you ready for this? This is the best opening line I have ever read. Christianity is the only major religion to have as its central event the humiliation of its God.

34:33 That's the opening line. Christianity is the only major religion to have as its central event the humiliation of its god. Islam will never claim that. Buddhism will never claim that. Hinduism will never claim that.

34:53 Only Christianity can claim that. To think that he would send his son before the foundational world he planned this, first Peter, to die on a cross, to send his only son to suffer the way he suffered, and to die to pay the penalty I deserved to pay, and still did it, to think he would do that for me. How could anybody rightfully say, God doesn't love me? God intensely loves you. God cares about you, and he has given and provided for us a salvation that no one, no philosophy, nothing, no other god, small g, could ever provide.

36:11 That I could be fitted for heaven because of the death, burial, and physical resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is none other. There is no other. He is all powerful, and we see this, you know, in terms of salvation. And also, he sustains us.

36:37 Look at verses seventeen and eighteen. He says, how precious also are thy thoughts unto me. Oh, God. How great is the sum of them. You know, think about this, God thinks about you.

36:54 God thinks about you. Oh, yeah. I'm not talking about your neighbor, I'm talking about you. I'm not talking about your husband or somebody you might think is worthy of his thoughts. I'm talking about you.

37:11 And how great are the sum of them? How great is the sum of your thoughts towards me? I'm nothing. How could we ever claim any arrogance or pride in this when we look at how great he is and that he is actually thinking about us, how could we claim any arrogance? The greatest minds in all the world, Einstein, think of the geniuses that ever, ever were, ever walked, or people who gave the greatest contribution to humankind in terms of medicine or mechanics or whatever, are as a drop in the bucket compared to our God.

38:08 The nations, the Bible says, are as a drop in the bucket compared to our God. There is nobody like him. There is no one like him. There's no escaping him, his thoughts about us. And if I should count them, verse 18, they are more than the sand.

38:33 When I awake, I am still with you. When I awake, I am still with you. You're still here. You haven't abandoned me. God, you have never abandoned me.

38:45 You will never abandon me. You're constantly thinking about me. You are powerful in my life. You're always there in my life. Thank you.

38:55 How could we not praise this God? How great is our God? How great is he? Here's no one like him. And he sustains us.

39:39 Thou wilt slay the wicked, oh God. Depart from me therefore, you bloody men, for they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. See, I don't know anything about God unless God reveals himself to me, and he has in this word. Keep your finger here in Psalm 139, and look at Psalm 119. Look at Psalm 119.

40:07 That's one of those short passages to memorize. Right? 176 verses. It's not like John eleven thirty five, Jesus wept. It's just as inspired, though.

40:20 That's for sure. I want you to look at Psalm 119, 103. How sweet are your words to my taste, yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through thy precepts, I get understanding. Now here, listen to this next phrase.

40:44 Therefore, therefore what?

40:49 I

40:50 hate every false way. Look at look at the next the next section, Psalm one, let's see here. One twenty seven, therefore, I love thy commandments above gold, yea, above fine gold. Therefore, I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right, and what? And I hate every false way.

41:23 I think what we need in our own lives is a good dose of hatred. Oh, no, no, Chris. Chris, Christianity is love, bro. Come on, man. We got to love everybody, right?

41:35 No. Not every... We need to love everybody, but we need to hate what God hates. It's holiness. It's uniqueness.

41:46 And his uniqueness is righteous and justice. But we need to hate what he hates and love what he loves. And he hates, and he's going to judge. He hates evil. Going back to Psalm one thirty nine, He says, you know, and I...

42:03 You know, take thy name in vain, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. I... Do not I hate them, oh, Lord, that hate thee? Am I not grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with a perfect hatred.

42:20 I count them mine enemies. So we look at the holiness leads leads to the judgment. God hates evil, but it also leads to loyalty, our hatred of evil. We need a good dose of hatred of evil. I think we need that in this country.

42:39 We are asked to be tolerant. Where God says, I am not tolerant. I am going to judge this. I want to say just like the psalmist, I hate every false way. I want to say that.

42:56 I don't want to I don't want to cozy up to false error. Or that's what error is, right? I don't want to cozy up to it. If it's against the word of God, I don't want to like it. In fact, I want to hate it.

43:13 I don't know how else to interpret that. I don't know how else to look at that. I want to be loyal to God. I had a friend of mine, it's just really interesting to me. This guy this guy is an intense guy.

43:32 He's an open air preacher, but kind of intense. And he was sitting with a friend of mine. My friend told me this story. He's sitting with a friend of mine. This guy won the Silver Star in Vietnam.

43:43 This guy is really, he really is intense, you know, unnervingly so. And so he's having lunch or dinner with my friend, and the next booth over, this guy was swearing like a sailor, taking the Lord's name in vain, telling God all these manner of... You know, swearing at God, all this kind of stuff. My friend, this guy who won the Silver Star, who is now a Christian, looks over at Guy and says, you better just shut up. And if you don't shut up what you're saying right now about my God, let's go outside and let's talk about it.

44:27 Not, I think, a good approach. Yeah. I don't think that was a good approach, my friend. But I understand his intense loyalty. He loves God more in his own life, and he doesn't doesn't care.

44:45 If God's being blasphemed, he wants to defend the honor of God. And I I don't think I would do that myself. I might... There might be other ways of approaching that. But I understand, and I want to have I want to have a heart of incredible loyalty to him, the one who is loyal to me, the one who is incredibly loyal to me.

45:40 How many times have you prayed this prayer? How many times have you looked at that and said, Lord, please, please minister to me, help me? You know my down sittings, my uprisings, you know me. Lord, please search me, oh God, and know my thoughts, my heart, and try me and know my thoughts. He does, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way of everlasting.

46:10 I look at this, and it seems to me that God, the psalmist, is saying, I want to be right with you. I want nothing else but this. I want nothing else but this. I want to know you. Because really, to know him is not only to like him more, but it is also your understanding from the word of God that you're nothing, he is everything, and that you can trust him, and he wants to work in your life.

46:46 How great is our God? There is no other. Father, we pray that we would... And we confess to you we don't know you as well as we should, And we're... For that, we're sorry.

47:10 And if there is sin in our lives, forgive us. You know it altogether, and we want to be right with you. We do not want to walk out of this building today the same. We want you to be Lord. You are Lord, but we want you to be Lord of our lives.

47:35 We want you to work in powerful ways, and we wanna see your hand. We thank you that you're ever with us, that you know all about us. You know our down sittings, our uprising, you know our thoughts from afar off. Search us and try us. Lord, we thank you.

47:59 And to the measure that we can say this, we love you. Thank you for first loving us. How great you are. We praise you. And we ask this, in Jesus' name.

48:22 Amen.